Archive | 2023

Week 4 Round up and review

Well, unless I missed it, last week was almost unique in that nobody managed to hit the ultimate leg score of 6.There were plenty of 5’s recorded, but the magic 6 proved elusive.

Top individual scorer on the night was Phil Adams with 13 dolls, but his efforts were not enough to secure a win for the Plum Pudding against Steventon Sports SC  who shared the spoils in a 3-3 drawn encounter and retained their unbeaten record in the Premier/A section.

Elsewhere Richard Berry hit 12 dolls for Croft Nomads who put on their best performance to date in beating Red Lion A 6-0 at Drayton, their first win at the Lion in their last 3 visits. Richard included a 5 in his 12 and in the first leg hit his first 5 sticks, but missed with his final stick. Berinsfield A secured top spot in the Premier section after their convincing win at Stanford FC.

Dave Dix returned after missing the previous week to top score for Abingdon Utd/Con Club in their win at the Bystander

 

In Section B Simon Skelly’s 10 dolls helped early season league leaders Fleur de Leys to a 6-0 win against Eight Bells and in the same section Andrew Wilson also recorded 10 dolls for The Plough, Long Wittenham but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 4 -2 home win for Abingdon Arms A.

Also in Section B Berinsfield B had a night to forget going down 6-0 to The College Oak A.

In the C section  Steve Fisher hit double figures and his namesake Stephen J. Fisher also contributed 9 dolls in their win against The Bell. In the same section Richard Bunce contributed 10 dolls for The Chequers Charney at The Grapes in a 4-2 win against the home pub’s B side.

In section D Croft Nomads secured their first win of the season 5-1 at home to Hanney RBL and  the RBL’s village neighbours The Plough  also went down to their heaviest defeat of the season against Bystander B  despite Mark Wheeler’s 8 dolls. For the Bystander Kevin Higgs top scored with 9 dolls.

So after 4 weeks how are the league tables looking? Berinsfield A are leading the way in the Premier, taking top spot from the unbeaten Steventon Sports A last week.

In the A section despite their second successive defeat Stanford in the Vale FC still lead the way and in the B section Fleur de Leys top the table closely followed by the College Oak A.

Section C is led by Abingdon Con Club and in the D section Bystander B have already opened up an 8 point gap  over their nearest rivals. E section  is led by The Midget who have a 100% record, but they are being closely pursued by both Harwellian B and the Prince of Wales Shippon.

Finally section F is led by The Wheatsheaf Didcot also with a 100% record, but the Fox, Boars Hill are on their tail!

 

Early days yet and there will be lots of chopping and changing over the next 13 weeks of the season and maybe even some warmer Wednesday nights for us to enjoy!

 

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Aunt Sally on Socials!

You may have noticed our old Facebook account has been closed. This is because Facebook required a profile account to be linked to an identifiable person (with id). SO we’ve now launched a new page based on a ‘business’ setup (it’s still free). From your perspective it looks and feels the same but gives us better control and functionality.

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialAbingdonAuntSally

Or search for     OfficialAbingdonAuntSally

(we couldn’t reuse the old name).

Just ‘Like’ the page and you’ll be kept informed.

We still have our Twitter account @AuntSallyLeague 

So you can keep up with new posts with Twitter or Facebook as you choose.

And of course you can add comments so keep it respectful and let’s spread the word about the great game we love (and hate!).

Paul Stone – Chairman

P.s. I’m looking into why the email system isn’t working so we’ll get that fixed soonest – this works by registering on the site with an email address obviously and emails new post notifications straight to your inbox.

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Week 3 with a few surprises

Well, last Wednesday saw a few shocks and in one or two cases some shocking performances!

Let’s start with the shocking performance the match between Croft Nomads and Bystander A in the Premier/A section where no fewer than 9 blobs were registered and in the case of yours truly and your Chairman both playing for the Croft, the shed door looked to be in more danger of being hit than the doll! Fortunately for the Croft the Bystander also struggled on the night and the collective score form the 16 players on the night was 81 dolls. To put that in perspective Steve Enock, Martin Robinson and the “handicap” were joint leading scorers with 9 for the Croft and the handicap of 12 was the “highest performer” for the Bystander!

 

Elsewhere a 6 from Darren Holmes, the only maximum of the week, (welcome back Darren) in his 10 and  10 from  Leigh Clapton was not enough to stop Abingdon Utd/Con Club, missing Dave Dix,  slipping to a 6-0 defeat to the Red Lion Drayton for whom captain Kevin Regan top scored, also with 10 dolls. Red Lion hit, without their handicap,  a remarkable 24 dolls in the 3rd leg, but in the first two legs the teams were only separated by only 1 doll and that was with a handicap advantage of 5 in favour of the Red Lion so it was a close encounter!

Plum Pudding also slipped to a defeat, losing 4-2 to The Hart Harwell. Again 10 dolls was the top score on the night for The Hart it was Paul Leach who and for the Plum Pudding it was Phil Adams who hit double figures. Again overall the scores were very close with only 1 doll between the sides on the night in the first leg with the other 2 legs shared.

Stanford in the Vale FC’s heady start to the season came to  an end at the hands of Steventon Sports who by virtue of their 4-2 victory are the early season leaders of the Premier whilst Stanford retain their place at the top of the A section.

There was a good smattering of individual scores again last week with double figure contributions from Jono Worrell in Abingdon United’s narrow 4-2 defeat by the Abingdon Arms A side, Mark Jones hit double figures for Berinsfield A, and Andy Phipps, Billy Collett, Steve Fisher, John Allnutt all contributed with double figures as highest individual scorers for their teams. It is really encouraging to see so many different players from hitting the what seems to some of us the dizzy heights of double figures from each of the sections.

Early Pacesetters in each of the sections (it is early days, I know) are Fleur de Leys, Hagbourne in the B section, Boundary House and Grapes A in the C section, Bystander B in Section D, Prince of Wales, Shippon in Section E and The Wheatsheaf Didcot in Section F.

Surprisingly after only 3 weeks there is no team in any of the sections with a 100% record in terms of points although a number of teams have yet to lose a match, but all teams have lost or drawn at least one leg!

Next week’s review will concentrate on some of the scores, players  and results from Sections B, C and D.

 

Would secretaries and team captains look out for an e mail in the next day or so regarding the forthcoming Competitions to be held at Abingdon United on June 21st………….we need more entries to make these competitions work for everyone and at the moment it is not looking good in terms of numbers!

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Week 2 Summary and highlights

Firstly let me start with a week 1 apology to Scott Humphries who I failed to mention recorded a 6 in his 13 dolls against Berinsfield A, sorry Scott.

Week 2 saw some very good individual scoring across all sections so for some obviously week 1 was a necessary early season excursion after, for many, a long lay off. Week 2 was a statement of having had the initial game many of you are back on it with 18 double figure scores recorded and unusually individual double figure scores were recorded in every section. Maybe, for some, improved scoring was helped by the fact that last Wednesday was  a  little warmer than previous weeks.

Top doll man last week was Barry Townsend  who hit 13 dolls in Plum Pudding’s 6-0 win over Bystander A. Jason Bowler hit a fine 11 for the Bystander in reply.  Another 6-0 victory in the Premier/A section  saw Stanford in the Vale FC comfortably beat Croft Nomads with Garry Gibbard hitting and Rob Glen both hitting 11, but Garry was the star of the night with his excellent second leg 6 and the result leaves newly promoted Stanford with a clean sweep of 12 points from their first two. matches

12 dolls were recorded by Dave Dix for Ab Utd/Con Club, Paul Leach for The Hart Harwell,and  Phil Soden for College Oak A whilst mention should be made of Dean Bowler,Danny Hamilton, Matt Dingle, Steve Taylor , John Allnutt, Rick Selby, Billy Collett, George Gregory, Bob Duff and Mark Newman all of whom made double figure contributions for their sides last week.

Just a reminder that the Competition entries are due in by the end of the month for all of the remaining competitions which will take place on Sunday June 25th (3’s, 4’s and 5’s) and Sunday 6th August (pairs, singles, Captains and Secretaries)m so please get your entries in asap either direct to a member of the committee or via the team support link on the website.

Finally it was good to hear that some of the teams with byes in sections C and below are taking the opportunity of arranging friendlies when they have no scheduled league fixtures. That’s encouraging and ensures that not only are people playing when they don’t have a  competitive match, but most importantly we are still supporting our pubs and clubs every week.

Hope week 3 goes well for everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

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Week 1 Round up and Highlights

Well the season is now well and truly underway and on a typically cool, but refreshingly dry early May evening 42 welcomed in the 62nd year of the Abingdon & District Aunt Sally League.

Remarkably of the 21 fixtures there was only one “sixer” on the night and that was for the Prince of Wales in Section E. Not surprising the “sixer” was Dave Harris who hit another 5 dolls to record a very commendable 11 dolls for the “feathers” in their 6-0 win against visitors Sutton Courtenay FC.

There were only 3 other clean sweeps on the night (6-0) and that included newly promoted Stanford in the Vale FC who hosted Red Lion A in Section A . Grapes B also had a 6-0 home victory over the Fox Denchworth in a match notable for some individual good scoring, for The Grapes Mick Brown, Wayne Waldron and Mick Christopher all contributed 9 dolls apiece and in response the ever consistent Steve Taylor replied with 10 dolls, but if was not enough to stop The Grapes winning  the three legs with scores of 19-16,21-15, and 16-13.

In the Premier section Abingdon Utd/Con Club won 4-2 at their new home in Ock Street against Berinsfield A with contributions of 13 from both Scott Humphries and, of course, Dave Dix (at least I got to the 3rd paragraph before mentioning Dixie!)

There were plenty of other double figures recorded on the night with Ian Morrison and Colin Brind both recording 11 for Steventon Sports A against the newly established Bystander A side, Simon Reeves hitting 11 for The Hart in their 3-3 share of the spoils against Croft Nomads for who Ian Brook top scored with 10 dolls. Elsewhere Paul Ealey (Abingdon RBL), Danny Hamilton (the Vine), Stuart Wilson (Berinsfield A) all started their seasons with 10 dolls apiece.

There were a few less notable scores on the night, but on the basis it’s early days we won’t mention those who failed to know it’s good because they didn’t hear the wood! It’s early days and whilst the top scorers deserve the mentions it is the rest of you who make this game so enjoyable and frustrating in equal measures!

So 11 players out of 168 managed double figures in week 1 so 157 of us have lots of room for improvement as we approach week 2 tomorrow!

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Tonight’s the Night

The Coronation of King Charles the Third might have been the highlight of the last weekend and the excitement seems to be building for the Eurovision song contest weekend coming (although I doubt that too many Aunt Sally players will get too excited about that!) There’s also a bit of interesting football with the Champions Leagues semi finals taking place midweek and at least one Aunt Sally player I know will be looking forward to the Europa Conference League semi final, but only because it’s so long since the team he supports were in a semi final of any kind!

But in reality the highlight of the week must be the return of the Abingdon & District Aunt Sally League tonight and with an increased number of teams taking part up from 48 lin 2022 to 52 in 2023. Welcome everyone!

So what does it really mean? Well for a start it means that we enter our 63rd year as a functioning organisation and despite all of the gloom and doom that seems to surround us it means that over 200 of us will turn up to play at 26 locations every Wednesday for the next 18 weeks playing the game that keeps us both captivated and frustrated every year. It means that the good natured rivalry and banter will be back and old friendships and acquatancies  will be renewed.

It probably means that the evening will be damp and cold which so often typifies the opening weeks of our season!

Our game is really important to the pubs and clubs that we support and who support us because how many of us who play and support us would be heading off to the pub or club every Wednesday through May until September and for the publicans/managers and stewards that’s so welcome considering the financial hit they have taken over the past 2 or 3 years.

Our game is open to everyone with no minimum or maximum age, any gender, any colour, creed or religion, no minimum entry levels of ability (if there were we would soon see a deduction in the number of players!). It’s not an easy game to play, but it is both fun and often very competitive. It’s  a social game with sometimes a bit of gamesmanship thrown in, there’s no VAR to decide whether it was a doll or not, no throwing ourselves to the ground, abusing officials  and it is not likely to be recognised as a spectator “sport” or admitted to the  Olympic games anytime soon, but never say never! 

It’s a game we all enjoy and just going back, for a moment, King Charles the Third and the new Prince of Wales have both thrown sticks in the past and the photos are on our website to prove it!!

 

Enjoy the season, play hard, play fair and respect each other and your opponents!

 

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2023 Fixtures ONLINE!

The 2023 Fixture list is now available on line.  See 2023 Fixture List PDF

NOTE There is a minor problem with the fixture as printed (and PDF) for the Harwellian B, Abingdon Arms A/B, Abingdon RBL and Wheatsheaf Didcot due to a home game clash due to two team venues. Team captains have been contacted that are affected and have agreed to reversing the home/away status for some matches. Ask your captain/secretary for details.

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2023 8’s Competition is underway

Last week saw the launch of the 2023 season with the 1st round of the team 8’s competition and the 4 matches held on  a typically “cool” early May evening were closely contested, none more so than the one between Premier Section “giants” and the relative newcomers to Aunt Sally from Steventon Sports B.

It obviously helped the newbies from this years Section F to receive the cushion of a 10 doll handicap advantage but nonetheless they did the Stevie boys did themselves proud before bowing out 2-1 and losing the deciding leg by only 1 doll 22-23. Credit to the Stevie team, they are in the lowest section and I think the first side to enter the competition from the lowest section, that result shows that with the handicap system in place even the very best teams can be seriously challenged and under pressure in this Competition. Both teams reported that it was a very enjoyable evening and Steventon Sports despite losing the competition had the enjoyment and satisfaction of winning the beer leg!

 

Other results also showed this with Section C teams The Bell Grove, and The Fox Denchworth defeating Section B sides Abingdon United and Abingdon RBL in close encounters. The other tie saw Berinsfield A ease out Steventon Sports A in an all Premier section tie.

The next round draw, to be completed by the end of June, will see The Bystander A  pitted against Plum Pudding, Berinsfield A entertaining The Bell Grove, Croft Nomads at home to Abingdon Con Club and Abingdon Utd/ConClub hosting The Fox Denchworth.

 

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2023 8s Handicap Knockout Competition

We had 12 teams entered into the Team 8s competition this year so there are 4 preliminary matches….

Don’t forget there is a handicap in place 2 dolls for each section difference so A playing Prem would have 2 dolls up to a max of 10 dolls for Premier vs Section F for instance.

Prelims will be played on 3rd May and the 1st Round matches on a mutually agreed night during June.

Handicaps, where appropriate,  will be determined by the Section position of competing clubs and will be confirmed once league sections have been published (late April)

Preliminary Home Away
1 Abingdon British Legion Fox Denchworth
2 Berinsfield A Steventon Sports A
3 Abindon Utd C Bell @ Grove
4 Plum Pudding Steventon Sports B

1st Round Matches

Match Home Away
A Bystander A Winner of Prelim 4
B Winner of Prelim 2 Winner of Prelim 3
C Ab Utd @ Con Club Winner of Prelim 1
D Croft Nomads Abingdon Con Club

 

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40th Winter League Finals

Well the 40th Abingdon & District Winter Aunt Sally League Finals and Presentation Night took place last Wednesday. 

We had a great set of competition finals including a long fought battle for Singles champion between Leigh Clapton and Anton ‘Tosh’ Woolloff with Tosh becoming the winner. Presentations were given by World Aunt Sally Champion Barry ‘The Iceman’ Parker.

Best Performance of the Night was a tight run thing but Dave Dix clinched it with his 5-5-5 performance in the 5s. If you need full details, the obvious question is why weren’t you there, but Brian Clapton has the record.

I know Tosh would want to remind Winter League teams that there is an Extraordinary General Meeting on the 26th April to discuss the Winter league and he’d like all teams represented. Tosh has run the league for probably the best part of that 40 years so I know he’s got some important things to say on the night.

 

 

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