Congratulations to Lads’ Night Out & Cross Keys, champions of Division 1 & Division 2! Both teams got the job done with a week to spare, with the Lads not even playing as the title was won, which marks their second win on the trot. Next year, we are back to the original format of two divisions with home & away games against all teams in your league, which should present a new challenge for all of us. Well done too to Rollin’ Pins who confirmed their runners-up slot with a 10-0 thumping of Newcomers, and will join the Keys in Division 1 next year. The Keys recorded their 16th win of the campaign with a tight 6-4 result over Maclean Smilers. Smilers actually won the pins in this one, 168-167, but the pub side snatched the competitive 1st leg 36-35, and completed their victory with 35s in legs 3 & 4. Richard Williams was best in show on the night with a tidy 36; Sugar Ray Shergold may still harbour hopes of overtaking his brother in the averages after his 32. Rollin’ Pins 10-0 thrashing of Newcomers was something of a procession, with Newcomers 5 or more pins away in every leg. Ben Seymour whacked 35 to go to the top of the new player averages, with a peal of Bells in support - Andy (34) and Dexter (33). Genuine Newcomer Izzy matched Div 2 averages leader John Underhill’s 31. Elsewhere in Div 2, Sianie’s Angels took 4 points off Spare Ribs to widen the gap between themselves and Wooden Spoon ignominy at the bottom. The Angels have improved their pin-average by more than 3 pins since the divisional split, and can look forward to next year in good spirits. Ribs will need to regroup over the summer for a renewed assault on Division 2 next year after confirming their 3rd place finish. Chris Bennett & Adam Mattison were top skittlers here with 33, whilst James Crosby & Ralph Weldon made Angelic 30s. Late Knights have a mountain to climb to avoid last place after their 8-2 defeat to Remnants left them 6 points adrift in the table. Remnants were well ahead throughout, with Knights only putting a leg together in the 4th which they won with 34 pins. Josh Barton was on tremendous form for Remnants, hitting a personal best 35, while Paul Ingrem was the Queen’s champion for Late Knights with 31. There were only 3 games in Division 1 this week, due to some fixture clashes with the World Cup, but that does leave a bumper 9 game week for the last before shutdown - those YouTube superfans are gonna be eating a hell of a lot of cold turkey over the summer… Absolutely Skittled needed to take all the spoils from their game against Last Six, and were looking good after winning four straight legs from the off, including the high-scoring 1st which they took 41-37. Six were well off their usual form in the middle legs, with AbSki smacking 39 & 38 in the beer & 4th legs, but pulled themselves together to snatch the last 34-32 and destroy the newbies dreams of glory; they can still finish runners-up though, but face a three-way tousle with Gutter Nutters & BGS. Mike ‘The Spin’ Norris was top of the pops with his 36, and Ben Collis & Ray Smiles managed 33 for their sides. Splitz ‘n’ Giggles had their biggest win of the 2nd half of the season as they spanked Living on a Spare 9-1, a result that pushes them almost clear of relegation. Splitz were in control throughout, with winning legs of 34, 35, 39 & 42. They were only pegged back in the 4th, with LOAS matching Splitz lowest total of the night (32 all). The mysterious Jason was all Giggles with his 35, and Les Beard hit 33 in support; Ian Prior also hit a 9 spare in Splitz best leg. Kieran Parsley was the best LOAS had to offer with 31. Finally, Gutter Nutters kept themselves in the mix for a podium finish after beating Best Sellers 7-3. Sellers remain rock-bottom, 2 points behind Alsorts and both have one game left to save their bacon. Wadsworth’s charges will at least know the size of their task by the time they face BGS on Tuesday night - let’s hope they’re not concentrating too hard on England vs Ghana. As ever with Best Sellers, there was little in this one, but Nutters were in strong voice toppling 187 pins to Sellers 176. Nutters put another performance together for their 13th victory of the campaign, walloping winning legs of 41, 39 & 34 and drawing the 4th, 38 each. Gerry O’Garr rolled back the years with his 39, his best score since before Covid; he also whacked his second spare of the season in leg 2 (13). Captain Dave ‘Mighty’ Quinn backed up with 35, and this was matched by veteran Nick Copley, his best score for a decade. See you down the alley from Monday for the last knockings of this Winter League!

WEEK 32