THE RETURN of the Swan Studley Skittles League fixtures brought a fluctuating and exciting game between Nomads and Jumbo Jet Set which ended in the rare result of a tie.
Nomads opened with a below average first leg score of 60 but Jumbos did not take advantage and could only match that score before posting an 81-pin total in the next leg.
Nomads kept the game close by making 73 to be only eight pins down after leg two and bowled well in leg three to bring the teams level again.
After leg four, it was Jumbos’ turn to be eight pins adrift when Nomads made 74 pins. Nomads then had a poor last leg score of 56 to leave Jumbos wanting 65 to win.
Although Jumbos were always up with the scoring rate, they had to settle for a 64-pin total to tie the game which was a fair result.
Nomads had debutant Elaine Morgan making 39 (13-stack), Gordon Povey 38 and Alan Cummings 37, whilst Jumbos’ best were Len Quartly 41 (11-stack), Dennis Compton 38 (13-stack) and Geoff Turrell 37.
Another close encounter was between Swingers and Well Developed. The first leg was shared before Swingers pulled away, winning each of the next three legs, but only narrowly to open a nine-pin lead.
Well Developed’s last leg score of 61 then left Swingers needing only 53 to win. Swingers, though, nearly squandered the chance as two tail-end bowlers could only manage poor scores.
Last man Gary Marsh, however, rescued the situation to get his team over the line.
Well Developed were disappointed not to have won more of the closely-fought legs in their push to avoid the wooden spoon and had Margueritte Bayley scoring 35, Liz Hindson 34 and Pauline Withers 33.
For Swingers, Larry Hanks made 43 (12-stack), Gary Marsh 37 and Paul Clifton 34 (10-stack).
By contrast, C&G Show scored well to comfortably take all five legs and record their first maximum points return of the season at the expense of Team BG who could only muster eight players.
Two players short is a recipe for disaster and, although Team BG might have snatched one or two of the legs, the result leaves Team BG in some difficulty at the foot of the table.
Swingers’ Dave Orton equalled his own and his team’s top individual score to finish with 42 (13-stack). Team-mates John Hall made 40 and Paul Hollis 35.
Team BG’s best scores came from Ray Cartwright with 33 and Jordon Cockette and Alex Beard with 32 apiece.
Results: Nomads 5.5 (332) Jumbo Jet Set 5.5 (332); Swingers 8.5 (307) Well Developed 2.5 (303); C&G Show 10 (323 – ten players and 283 – eight players) Team BG 1 (247 – eight players).
