Author Archive | Roger Nichols

The 2023 AGM will be held on MONDAY JANUARY 23rd not as I mistakenly previously posted JANUARY 29th which is, in fact, a Sunday not a Monday as previously stated! I was obviously suffering with the excesses of Christmas and New Year when posting the date last week!

There is however a change of venue as Abingdon United can’t host us on a Monday as they have both Darts and Boxing every week utilising both bars at United.

The meeting will now take place at The Croft Bar in Peachcroft commencing at 8pm. There’s plenty of car parking adjacent to the Croft.

Any items to be raised at the AGM either for discussion or to  propose changes to the rules will be discussed at the meeting and every club/team registered for the 2022 season is entitled to 1 vote each in the event of any voting necessary on the day.

I would remind everyone that through 2022 we had only 4 serving Committee members and that’s just not enough resources  to maintain the league to the standard needed. So any volunteers will be welcomed with open arms, but will be subject to both a nomination and election process on the night.

Full details of the Agenda will be sent to Secretaries and Captains early next week and we really want all 48 teams entered last year to have the opportunity of making their contribution to the way the league is organised and administered going forward.

Well another year is almost over and it is has been a year when many of us have got back in the routine of a Summer of Aunt Sally.

48 teams entered the League in 2022 making it a successful season for the league  after an absence of 2 years due to Covid restrictions.

We can now all look forward to the Summer of 2023 and hope we can continue, not only to welcome back all of the teams that played last Summer, but also look to recruit more teams to get us back near to our pre Covid entries of 60 teams.

The first step on the journey to Summer 2023 will take place on Monday January 29th when we hold our 2023 Annual General Meeting at Abingdon United FC starting at 8pm, hopefully representatives from all teams old and new will be represented and an Agenda will be published ahead of the meeting.

If anyone has any issues to raise  please feel free to raise them in advance or at the meeting, any proposed rule changes will be discussed at the meeting, but if you would like to submit any proposed changes, preferably at least 7 days prior to the actual meeting. Any proposed rule changes from the Committee will be included with the agenda.

We know there are some  lessons to learn from the previous 62 seasons and particularly from 1 or 2 of those changes introduced in 2022  which were designed to get us “back in the game”. 

Mentioning the Committee brings me to our lack of numbers. Last year we functioned with only 4 Committee members, we survived, but it was hard work so a few new willing volunteers would be enthusiastically welcomed! It really isn’t too onerous either in terms of effort or time and it will take pressure of the 4 existing members assuming of course they all elect to stand again and are re-elected!

So the Committee would like to wish all teams, players, supporters and our many long  suffering partners the very best of health and happiness for 2023 and look forward to welcoming you back in May for our 63rd year!

The Abingdon & District 2022 Aunt Sally season reached it’s conclusion last Friday with a very well attended Presentation Night held at Abingdon United FC. The highlight of the evening was the semi-finals and finals of both the Pairs and Singles Competitions which set the scene for what was to follow, the awarding of all of the league and team and individual competitions Trophies that had been competed for throughout the Summer. Amongst other things the evening provided a memorable and emotional finale with the last throws of the 2022 season in the Singles final. More of that later.

The evening started with the pairs, in the first of the two semis Ian Brook and Steve Enock from Croft Nomads were pitted against Geoff Lee and Stuart Wilson from Berinsfield Social Club who, on the night, were just a little more consistent and proceeded through to the final where they were facing Barry Townsend and Phil Adams from the Plum Pudding who had taken down the father and son pairing of Leigh and Brian Clapton from Abingdon United in the other semi-final. Brian was a late replacement for Scott Humphries who unfortunately had to miss the night due to work commitments.

Then it was time for the Singles semi-final’s featuring 2 previous Champions in Dave Butler and Barry Parker.

The first semi saw a battle of the “Daves” with Dave Sapey overcoming Dave Butler in a tight encounter.

The second semi-final was between Paul Barrett and the legend that is Barry Parker, who because of health problems, had only managed a handful of games through the season, but was clearly determined to compete in spite of his ongoing health issues. And compete he did, defeating his Abingdon United teammate to advance to the final.

So the singles final was to be a battle of old “Abingdonians” Dave of Abingdon Royal British Legion against Barry of Abingdon United. 

Before then though was the Pairs final and that ended in a comprehensive win for the Plum Pudding pair in 2 straight legs chasing Geoff and Stuart’s sets of 5 dolls in each leg Barry Townsend contributed 11 dolls, a magnificent 6 in the first and followed that with a leg equalling 5 dolls in the second! This meant that the contribution from Phil Adams was not necessary in the first leg and then Phil was only required to throw 2 sticks in the second leg (he missed with his first surprisingly), but the title was theirs with 12 dolls scored from 14 sticks thrown!

So, to the Final with Dave Sapey making his first appearance against one of the legends of Aunt Sally and former world champion Barry Parker who has more than a little experience of playing in Finals having made well over a dozen appearances in individual competitions in his career and even more in team competition finals and as a key “anchor” for several league winning teams over many years.

The final produced drama and emotion, but not the high scoring that both players are more than capable of. In the first leg Dave was only able to hit 1 doll and Barry passed that with his 4th stick to win the first leg. The second leg was tighter. Dave setting hit 3 and Barry matched that, so it was down to 3 sticks apiece to decide the leg. Dave’s 1 doll was not enough with Barry equalling that , so it was 1 stick apiece………….both missed so back to 6 sticks to decide the second leg and Dave again set and it was 2 dolls so Barry needed 3 to win the final and he duly obliged with a stick to spare. The reception Barry received was the one he deserved as a true champion, an example to all who play the game at whatever level.

It was then on to the presentation of the Trophies all presented by our Chairman Reg Couch and there was a really good turnout from teams representing both winners and runners up of each of the 6 sections, the top doll scorers in each section, the various competitions and of the newly named Founders and Legends Trophy which was won by Derek Fletcher of Steventon Sports Club aptly at Steventon Sports.

The evening ended with a grand raffle with most of the prizes generously donated by members, teams or pubs (including AllSports who provide our trophies) who are members of the league in 2022. Thanks to a few who helped the evening run almost smoothly including our master of ceremonies, Paul Stone, to Ellen our photographer who took over 60 snaps throughout the night (these will be online in a couple of days –ed: ONLINE NOW), to our callers and “sticker uppers” namely Terry Downes, Ken Fisher, Dave Davies and Bob Duff, our “groundsman and caretaker” Brian Clapton who spent 3 hours helping to set up the room in the morning when he probably wanted to be “having a lie down” to prepare for his appearance later in the day and a very special thank you to Mick Samways who stepped in to oversee our raffle sales to ensure that we recovered all our costs of the evening through the raffle sales (Mick once a shopkeeper, always a shopkeeper!)

A full list of all of winners and runners up for the season will be on the website soon, all that remains is for me to close with a big thank you to all, who despite all of the challenges, made the 2022 season as successful as we could have hoped for back in the early part of the year!

And don’t forget the AGM in January 2023!

Don’t forget tomorrow night is Finals night to be held at Abingdon united and, weather permitting, all finals will be held outside. The evening will feature 6 Finals and whilst both Abingdon United and Plum Pudding dominate the line- up both Abingdon Conservative Club and Geoff Lee from Berinsfield will have some say in the outcomes with Abingdon Con Club facing Abingdon United B in the final of the 8’s and Geoff Lee playing Terry Downes in the Captain’s final.

The other finals of the 5’s, the 4’s and the 3’s and the Secretaries will be won by either sides or individuals from either Abingdon United B or Plum Pudding which is consistent with their domination of the Premier section with these sides finishing as the 2022 winners and runners up respectively.

One thing is certain, we are sure to be entertained with some good Aunt Sally, and no doubt some excellent individual performances. so come along and support all of our finalists as we wrap up the final outdoor event of the Summer 2022 season. We will start with the 8’s at 7.30pm prompt.

The semi- finals and finals of both the pairs and the singles competitions will, as always, be played indoors on Presentation Night which will take place on Friday November 4th at Abingdon United where we hope to see many of you particularly those of you who are deserved Trophy winners or runners up.,

Let’s start with an update on the 8’s semi=final between Berinsfield A,  fresh from topping the A section, and Abingdon Con Club from Section C. The game was played at Berinsfield and even with a 4 doll handicap in favour of the visitors  the home side looked favourites on paper, particularly as their final league game of the season, had seen them defeat Premier section runners up Plum Pudding 6-0.

The old adage “never take anything for granted” certainly proved true last night as Abingdon Con Club confounded most expectations (probably even their own) by defeating the home side 2 legs to nil to earn themselves a final place against Abingdon United B next Wednesday when as a Section C side they will benefit for a 6 doll handicap against the Premier Dsection champions. The final will take place at Abingdon United with a 7.30 start. 

Also last night 29 players competed for the Founders & Legends Trophy open to for registered players aged 50+ at Steventon Sports.

It was a great turnout on a chilly night and with an 8pm start. 26 games later and with quite a few legs going to 3 and 1 stick shoot outs we had more than a few surprises and deservedly both Nick Baldwin and Derek Fletcher competed for the title of the re-named and new trophy.  Nick’s excellent form unfortunately deserted him, a little in the final and the ever consistent on the night “Fletch” finally took the 2022 title on what was a long, but enjoyable night with a really good turnout. 

Thanks to all who took part and for taking their share of sticking up and calling and special  thanks to Steventon Sports for hosting a tournament which is really all about remembering and honouring both the Founders of our Association back in 1960 and the many legends of Aunt Sally past and present who have played the game over the years.

Their names and the many stories that they created are still revered and talked about fondly from those who knew and played with them. We should be grateful for their contribution which, in some cases, several of our most senior, senior players are still giving!

Big apology to Paul Barrett from Abingdon United who, for a few hours today, inadvertently became Paul Townsend. my senior moment, sorry Paul and congratulations on reaching the semi-finals of the singles competition.

Well the League may have finished last week, but there’s still much more to come over the next couple of weeks. 

Firstly,  last week the Singles competition took place and the 4 semi- finalists who emerged from the two venues were Paul Townsend, David Sapey, David Butler and remarkably the legend that is Barrington Parker who has barely thrown a stick since the start of the season. So 2 former winners and 2 “newbies” will compete for the prestigious Singles title on Presentation Night which will take place on Friday November 4th at Abingdon United. There were some keen games with several legs going to 3 sticks.

So what’s to come. Tomorrow night at Steventon Sports it’s the first staging of the re-titled Founders & Legends Trophy, open to all registered players aged 50+. With registration at 7.30 followed by the draw entrants just need to turn up on the night and it would be good to see lots of you and not just from the top sections. There can be only 1 winner, but everyone can play a part in making this a good night.

Then next week it is Finals Night on Wednesday 21st at Abingdon United with the finals of then 8’s, the 5’s the 4’s and the 3’s with the finals of the Captains and Secretaries also scheduled to take place. All finalists will be reminded through their team Captains and, weather permitting, all games will be played outside (it is the Summer season finals! Should be some good Aunt Sally so if you can turn up and encourage all of those who have earned the right to be throwing on the night.

Tomorrow night the remaining semi final is taking place with Berinsfield A hosting Abingdon Conservative Club from the C section who have a 4 doll leg handicap advantage on the night.

Finally for those of us who haven’t had enough Aunt Sally, or those who want to maintain their season’s good form or, like me are still trying to throw a few decent sticks the Annual Frank Treacy Memorial Charity day is taking place at The Croft Bar on Saturday is open to everyone, it starts at 2pm with teams selected on the day and is guaranteed to be a good day with all monies raised on the day going to the late Frank Treacy’s favourite charity. Entry fees are £2 per person. The bar will be open all day, a giant raffle with lots of prizes will also raise funds in memory of a much loved and memorable character who loved his pubs and his pub sports.

So why not come along and enjoy the day and share the memories and stories of Frank with his family and friends over a beer or two!

I will, later this week, update the week 18 results and league outcomes  when we chase in the last few outstanding scores.

FOUNDERS & LEGENDS SINGLES COMPETITION WILL TAKE PLACE AT STEVENTON SPORTS CLUB THIS WEDNESDAY 14th SEPTEMBER

OPEN TO ALL REGISTERED PLAYERS AGED at least 50! (That’s most of us!)

NO ENTRY FEE

JUST TURN UP ON THE NIGHT AND REGISTER BY 7.30pm

DRAW WILL TAKE PLACE ON THE NIGHT AND GAMES WILL COMMENCE AT 8pm

COME ALONG AND HAVE WHAT WILL BE A FINAL THROW OF THE SUMMER SEASON FOR MOST OF US. YOU WILL BE PLAYING FOR A MAGNIFICENT NEW AND RE-NAMED TROPHY KINDLY DONATED BY OUR CHAIRMAN, REG COUCH.

THIS TOURNAMENT IS IN RECOGNITION AND TRIBUTE OF THE FOUNDERS & MANY FORMER PLAYERS OF OUR GAME OVER THE PAST 62 YEARS MANY OF WHOM ARE NO LONGER WITH US BUT WHOSE CONTRIBUTION OVER MANY YEARS HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT AND WHY OUR GAME IS STILL GOING STRONG. 

Due to my holiday absence I haven’t been able to update the past 3 weeks action so here is a condensed version of the highlights of the past 3 weeks. Let’s start by looking at the new highest individual 3 leg total recorded so far and that honour goes to Phil Adams of the Plum Pudding who hit 16 dolls against the Prince of Wales Veterans  16 dolls in week 16! Brilliant Phil!

Elsewhere Dave Dix has continued his amazingly consistent form of the Summer with scores of 13, 14 and 13 over the past 3 weeks contributing to Abingdon  United B’s 14 points from the 18 available over that 3 week period. Plum Pudding went one better over the same period with 15 points, but to pip Abingdon United to the Premier section title Plum Pudding would need a couple of  remarkable and unlikely results in their favour as they trail the league leaders by 5 points with only 3 legs remaining for both sides.

Terry Downes who has had a good season overall weighed in with 11 dolls including a 6 against POW and Barry Townsend  hitting double figures in the last 3 matches has helped Plum Pudding pull well clear of third placed Croft Nomads and ensure that the race for the Premier league title goes right to the last game of the season.

In the A section there is only 1 point separating the top 2 sides Berinsfield A and Red Lion A so winners and runners up will that be decided this week with Berinfield hosting the Plum Pudding and the Red Lion hosting The Vine. All to play for there!

In the other sections it is also pretty tight with Fleur de Leys and SIVFC still contesting top spot in Section B, Red Lion C are assured of the title in Section C, but the runner up spot is still to be decided  with Abingdon United facing the Croft Bar and The Bell meeting The Grapes A in their last fixtures. Section D has their Champions and Runners Up sorted already with Harwellian B heading Berinsfield B, but Berinsfield can narrow the gap when the two sides meet this week. In the E section The Midget have already claimed the title, but runners up is still to be determined between the 2 Hanney pub sides, with the Black Horse having a bye this week, The Plough only need to secure 1 point to pip Black Horse to the runners up spot. 

There is till healthy competition in the race to the top doll scorer honour particularly in Section B where individual scores on Wednesday will decide who claims that prize!

Next week we will give a full round up of all the highlights and learning points from the season. In the meantime I will be chasing some missing results (there appear to be about 8 outstanding) adjusting any scores necessary (no shows) and chasing outstanding league and competition registration fees from a few of you.

Enjoy your last league games and let’s hope the weather holds good as it has for most Wednesday’s this season.

Don’t forget next Wednesday (14th) it’s the inaugural Founders & Legends Trophy for over 50’s to be held at Steventon Sports Club with registration from 7.30 with and 8pm start. No need to pre- enter, just turn up on the night to compete for this brand new (smaller and lighter!) trophy which has been kindly donated by our Chairman Reg Couch in memory of all of the players who have graced our game in the past.

Also this week we have the eliminating rounds of the singles tournament to be held at Steventon Sports and Abingdon Conservative Club with an 8.15 start. The draw was made on Finals Day and is available on the website. Also Finals night for all of the Competitions (including 8’s but excluding pairs and singles) will be held at Abingdon United on September 21st, weather permitting outdoors, but in the event of poor weather indoors.

That’s about it until next week.