LAST season’s wooden spoon recipients Swingers won the first game of the new Swan Studley Skittles League campaign to top the fledgling table, if only for 24 hours.
Several new players have joined Swingers, who could well be the surprise package of the season.
Against Well Developed, Swingers took the first leg by a healthy ten pins but found their advantage dwindle to only four after leg three as Well Developed fought back.
Leg four then proved decisive with Swingers having a great leg score to increase their lead to 18 before edging the final leg to win the game by 20 pins.
Swingers newcomers John and Paul Marsh top-scored with 37 each – a total matched by team-mate Christine Hallam. Well Developed’s best scores came from Jim Child with 39, Ron Skidmore 35 (11-stack) and Ros Pottinger 34.
The following evening, Alcester Nomads took top spot with a resounding win against Maudslay. Nomads won the first four legs – each by more than ten pins – to build a 44-pin advantage and finally left their opponents requiring more than 100 pins to win.
Maudslay were never remotely in the hunt to make that total, but had the consolation of at least beating Nomads’ last leg score. In good form for Nomads were James Marshall with 43 (13-stack), Graham Hanley 40 (11-stack) and Alan Cummings 36. For Maudslay, Keith Fryer made 37, Dean Watson 34 and Mark Sanseverino and Stu Griffiths 33 each.
Champions Engineers initially steamrollered opponents Team BG to take the first three legs and hold a 37-pin lead. However, any thoughts Engineers had of taking maximum points by winning the last two legs were quickly squashed as Team BG recovered to narrowly win each of those legs.
Engineers finished with the week’s best team total of 345 pins, boosted by top scores of 39 from Ian Greenway, Andy Clewlow with 38 (13-stack), 36 each from Luke Saunders and Mark Ganderton and all other players making above 30.
In reply, Margaret Sanders made 37 (11-stack), Ray Cartwright 36 and Gail Stringer 35 for Team BG.
The final game was a tight affair between Lodge Farmers and Alley Cats. Down six pins after leg one, Lodge Farmers bowled a better second leg to then have a single-pin advantage.
That lead was maintained when leg three was halved, before Lodge Farmers extended it to eight pins after leg four. Alley Cats were finally left 74 pins to win but, despite topping Lodge Farmers’ last-leg score, they fell just short of the target.
Lodge Farmers had Roger Powell (10-stack) and Glyn Morley making 38 each and Keith Elvins and Tim Jones 35 each. For Alley Cats, 36 each was the top score for Anne O’Connor (12-stack), Malcolm Batchelor and Tony O’Connor.
Results: Swingers 8 (328) Well Developed 3 (308); Maudslay 2 (293) Alcester Nomads 9 (331); Team BG 3 (312) Engineers 8 (345); Alley Cats 3.5 (325) Lodge Farmers 7.5 (332).
