THE SWAN Studley Skittles League took on a familiar look as Engineers regained top spot.
In their game against Lodge Farmers, they virtually settled the result after just the first leg when they posted an 80-pin total in reply to Lodge Farmers’ 59 pins for a 21-pin lead before widening the gap to 32 pins after leg two.
Shellshocked Lodge Farmers finally got into the game by halving leg three and then scoring 76 pins – their highest leg of the game – to win leg four and be ‘only’ 18 pins adrift.
That was as close as it got though as Engineers produced a 79-pin score in their last leg to finish with a team total which equals their best so far this season.
Leading the way for the winners with 44 (14-stack) and equalling Engineers’ highest individual score for the season was Brandon Kelso, with good backing from Darren Sanders 41 (13-stack) and Mark Ganderton 37.
Best for Lodge Farmers were Tim Jones with 42 (10-stack), Franks Morris 38 (11-stack) and 33 each from Jason Kirk, Richard Long and Glyn Morley.
Previous leaders Nomads lost top spot when playing a man short in their loss to Jumbo Jet Set, although Nomads were always well in the game though for the first three legs.
They took leg one by a single pin and were only four pins behind after the third leg but the gap was 12 pins after leg four as Jumbo Jets anchorman Len Quartly made a 15-stack.
Jumbo Jets also took the last leg but only by a single pin despite stacks of 13 by Alan Cummings and 12 by Alan Spreckley, both of whom finished with 40-pin totals for Nomads who also had Eddie Upright making 36.
Jumbo Jets had Len Quartly with 46, to equal his team’s highest individual score for the season, Dennis Compton 39 and Rob Quartly 36.
Team BG also played a man short but still won leg one, only lost leg two narrowly and won leg three to be just two pins behind at that stage against C&G Show.
Then a disastrous fourth leg score by Team BG put the game beyond them as C&G Show stepped on the gas to open a 21-pin lead.
Team BG were finally left 79 pins to win but never looked likely to make such a daunting total. The win was C&G Show’s third on the trot as they jumped up to third in the league and had Dave Charlesworth scoring 33 and Lily Orton and John Hall 32 each.
For Team BG, Alex Beard made 33 and Jordan Cockette, Kevin Dillon and Maggie Reynolds 32 each.
The basement battle between Well Developed and Swingers was a close, low-scoring affair. The teams halved leg one, leg two saw Well Developed take a three-pin advantage and it was back to all square after leg three.
Well Developed then nosed in front again by six pins after leg four and their first win of the season looked likely. However, in their last leg, Swingers made the game’s highest leg score, which proved to be enough to consign Well Developed to a fifth straight loss.
Well Developed’s Liz Hindson scored well in making 42 (10-stack) to record her team’s highest individual score of the season and team-mates Martin Brennan (34) and Mike Gunnell (33) impressed.
Best for Swingers came from Andy Norris with 39, Paul Marsh 37 and John Marsh 34.
Results: Lodge Farmers 2.5 (318) Engineers 8.5 (352); Jumbo Jet Set 8.5 (331 – ten players and 315 – nine players) Nomads 2.5 (302 – nine players); Team BG 3 (254 – nine players) C&G Show 8 (295 – ten players and 278 – nine players); Well Developed 3.5 (291) Swingers 7.5 (296).
