HAVING taken until their 11th attempt to win their first Swan Studley Skittles League game of the season, Well Developed have now won two in a row thanks to victory against champions Maudslay which lifted them two places off the bottom of the table.
Maudslay’s lead after leg one was eight pins but it was all square as Well Developed won leg two before also taking leg three by a single pin. That narrow lead was extended to 14 pins when Maudslay returned a poor fourth leg score and Well Developed finally left Maudslay 82 to win – a total they rarely looked likely to make.
Well Developed’s team score was their highest of the season, helped by Martin Brennan with 40, Mike Gunnell’s 36 and 34 each from Liz Hindson, Ros Pottinger and Margueritte Bayley.
Best for Maudslay were Stu Griffiths with 43 (11-stack), Paul Matthews’ 38 (ten-stack) and Carlo Sanseverino’s 33.
Lodge Farmers took advantage of Maudslay’s loss to consolidate second place by taking maximum points when completing the double over close rivals Alcester Nomads.
However, the game might have been much closer had Nomads not lost three of the legs by only a single pin.
Lodge Farmers’ top scorers were Glyn Morley with 38, debutant Ron Lewis 37 (13-stack) and 36 each from Graham Hingley and Patsy Kane, while Nomads had Margaret Povey with 38 (11-stack) and 34 apiece from Geoff Loat, James Marshall and Alan Spreckley.
Team BG had heavily beaten Swan a few weeks ago but in the return fixture Swan gained some satisfaction when winning comfortably with their highest team score of the season.
After two legs, Swan held just a one-pin lead before taking the remaining legs. Team BG finally left Swan only 47 pins to get in the last leg and this was achieved with two players to spare.
For Swan, Sally Racki scored 34 and Helen Racki and Andy Reynolds 33 each. Team BG’s best were Alex Beard with 37 and Gail Stringer’s 32.
It was a regulation win for Jumbo Jet Set over Alley Cats, playing a man short. Twenty pins ahead after leg one, Jumbos narrowly lost leg two before comfortably pulling away in the remaining legs to complete the double over their opponents.
Mick Stanton made 37 for Jumbos, backed up by Rob and Len Quartly with 34 each. Alley Cats had Neil Harrison making 35, Ann Harrison 32; and Pete and Sue Sollis 30 each.
With Well Developed winning again, it meant Swingers went to the bottom after they went down heavily to table-topping Engineers who took maximum points.
Ian Greenway made 43 (13-stack), Andy Clewlow 41 (12-stack) and Craig Ellis 37 for the winners, whilst Margaret Hendy made 33, Paul Clifton 31 and Norman Sutton 30 for Swingers.
Results: Maudslay 3 (311) Well Developed 8 (322); Alcester Nomads 1 (311) Lodge Farmers 10 (332); Swan 9 (311) Team BG 2 (293); Alley Cats 2 (248 – nine players) Jumbo Jet Set 9 (294 – nine players and 312 – ten players); Engineers 10 (326) Swingers 1 (280).
