Author Archive | Roger Nichols

Well, week 13th has come and gone and the most surprising things about the 2026 Summer season is that time flies and the sun keeps shining!

Last week Premier Division leaders Berinsfield SC A were undone by Red Lion A losing 4-2 despite 11 dolls from Stuart Wilson, for the Lion Dean Bowler matched that and he was well supported by 3 of his team mates who all added 9 dolls each to secure 4 points for the visitors. The A section is still dominated though by Steventon Sports who “whitewashed” the Plum Pudding 6-0 to strengthen their advantage over the Lion who remain their nearest rivals, but a 7 point gap may be difficult to close with just 6 matches remaining (5+England postponement). Terry Downes was once again top man for the Plum with another 11 dolls, but it was the consistency scoring of the Steventon team that secured the win with Colin Brind’s 10 dolls and all of the rest of the team adding between 6 and 9 dolls each.

Abingdon Con Club closed the gap at the top to just 1 point as they were 4-2 winners against Abingdon United A. The Con Club were ably led by skipper Dave Dix with another 13 dolls, a total equalled by Phil Adams, and Paul Barrett chipped in with 11. For United Bertie Newman “rolled back the years” with 11 dolls and Jason Bowler also contributed 11 including a third leg maximum. 

Other player to hit their first double total of the season were Martin Robinson and Dave Butler for Croft Nomads who beat the Wheatsheaf 5-1. Martyn Bolton top scored for the Didcot side with 10 dolls and Ollie Saunders secured their point in the first leg, needing 5 to take the leg he just fell short with the last stick, but his 4 was enough for the point.

In the B section 4-2 wins for both The Vine and the WADS Bar maintained the tight position at the top of the table as the two sides are separated by just 1 point with the WADS leading, but with the Vine having a much superior doll count should it come to level points at the season end. 4-2 was a popular score in this section last week with 4 of the 5 matches ending in that score line with wins for The Croft Bar and The Royal Oak by that margin whilst Abingdon RBL and The Plough shared 3 points apiece. Top scorer on the night was Matt Dingle for The Vine with 11 dolls and remarkably of the 30 legs played, with 80 players in action and 240 sticks thrown there were only 9 scores of 4 dolls recorded!

The C section is led still by Grove RFC, but again only 1 point keeps them ahead of the Earl of Abingdon B. The D section saw The Fox and the Earl of Abingdon A both record 6-0 wins and retain their leadership and second spot positions whilst the other 3 matches ended 4-2 with wins for WADS B, Long Wittenham AC and The Bell A.

Hanney RBL retain top spot in the E section winning 4-2 against the Red Lion B. There were a couple of walkovers in this section last week disappointingly giving the Lamb B and Challow & Childrey CC 6-0 results, but I am sure they would rather have had the games played!

The F section produced some good individual performances, including a leg with 5 dolls for Tony Blissett for the White Hart A as they shared the spoils with The George. 9 dolls for stalwart Joe Moxon in the RAL’s as they also drew 3-3 with The Crown B for whom Jamie Butcher hit 8 dolls and best of the night was Jonathan Hutt’s 11 dolls for the Brewery Tap’s 6-0 win over Harwellian A for whom Ian Cooksley recorded a very credible 9 dolls. Marcham Centre B were 4-2 winners against the Lamb A in this section which is led by the Brewery Tap with an impressive 10 point advantage.

Finally the G section where the Seven Stars suffered only their second defeat of the season going down 4-2 to section leaders Oxford RFC who brought to an end the Seven Stars run of 5 straight 6-0 victories these 2 sides are just 2 points apart at the top of the section. In a local derby The Black Swan and The Old Anchor shared the honours with 3 points apiece. Gary Kaveaney followed up his 6 last week with another 9 doll haul for the Anchor. The Red Lion at Northmoor were 6-0 winners against The Plough Appleton and a special mention for the White Hart B whose 4-2 result over the Black Horse was their 6th successive win!

I am going to be on holiday for a few days, but I am sure that our erstwhile Chairman, Paul Stone will keep you all updated until I return on August 8th. If you need any help, additional registrations, scores posted please contact Paul and the best route is Team Support. 

Well, I did promise a couple of weeks ago to update news from week 11 and also a review of the season at the halfway point and unfortunately I failed on both counts! So apologies, but I guess my posts don’t really create a big readership following so maybe it’s not too bad!!

Here goes then with a recap of week 11 highlights and also of the 12 games that were played last week which means that an awful lot of games have or need to be arranged before the league season closes which now will be officially on September 2nd which coincides with the planned date for the team 3’s and 4’s competitions.

Week 11

Let’s first look back a couple of weeks to the games that were played on July 8th. There were some good collective team performances, lots of double figure totals and, maybe with the continuing good weather, that’s helping the overall dolls count!

Berinsfield SC A had another fine win 4-2 against Stanford in the Vale FC with good contributions of 11 dolls from both Secretary Geoff Lee and Captain Tony Beechers. Richard Jones looked on course to double figures as well, but followed his second leg 6 with a “blob”.

The Plum Pudding also had a welcome 5-1 win at home to the College Oak. Paul Leach with his best of the season 10 dolls, a doll count shared by Terry Downes. Croft Nomads had their best night of the season emerging 4-2 winners over A Section leaders Steventon Sports SC A. Skipper Steve Enock hit his third successive double figure score with an impressive 13 dolls and Chris Jenkins, Barry Townsend and Tosh Woolloff all added 10 apiece as Croft scored 70 dolls on the night for only the second time this season. For Stivie Scott Humphries with 11 and Nick Baldwin with 10 helped the visitors to gain 2 points to maintain their A section leadership.

Abingdon Con Club were 4-2 winners at The Wheatsheaf who, whilst finding their elevation to the top sections tough, are both great hosts and clearly enjoying their Aunt Sally. Phil Adams was a “sixer” so is clearly well on the way back to his best after 2 bouts of surgery already this season. Dave Dix was once again Con Club’s leading scorer with 10 dolls. Ian Rogers top scored for The Red Lion with 10 as they overcame Abingdon United A 4-2 for whom Jason Bowler also top scored with 10.

Other notable individual scores in week 11 games came from Dan Hamilton in The Vine’s 6-0 win against the Fleur de Lys B, Mick Whiskin and Derrick Brown for The Wads Bar A as they beat The Croft Bar all manged 10 dolls each in the B section.

Week 12

Last week only 12 of the 30 matches were played but those 12 games produced some notable performances Phil Soden hit his first maximum of the season of the season for the College Oak as they enjoyed a rare 6 point maximum result against Abingdon United A. Dave Dix following his “disappointing ” 10 dolls the previous week went some way to redeeming himself and restoring his “average” with 15 dolls at Steventon Sports, unfortunately even 15 dolls were not enough to stop the home side edging home 4-2 on the night. Berinsfield maintained their top of the table form winning 6-0 at the Wheatsheaf with Stuart Wilson top scoring with 13 dolls ably assisted by Martin Rawlings and Richard Jones with 11 apiece.

Some individual scores to note as well and one of which may be a “first” when Gary Kaveaney hit a first leg 6 and just missed 13 dolls in the G section helping The Old Anchor to a 6-0 victory over The Black Horse B. Other double digit scores in last weeks limited programme were Colin Brind for Steventon Sports A, the aforementioned Phil Soden for the College Oak A, Stephen J Fisher for the Royal Oak. Last week also saw The Fox, Denchworth enjoy their fiirst win of the season. Also a mention for David Brown of The Plough, John Mackay with 11 dolls each for their sides and for Mr RAL SC Joe Moxon who managed to score 9. These were some of the highspots last week, but The White Hart B and The Ladygrove in section E might point out that their 23 dolls over 3 legs which secured 6 points in the G section for the White Hart B against the Horse & Jockey and, for the Ladygrove their aggregate 26 dolls saw them home 4-2 against The George in the F section were indeed “highspots” at least for them. 

I guess the rest of us, instead of enjoying a leisurely game of Aunt Sally last Wednesday we were sat in front of a TV somewhere getting angrier and more frustrated watching a performance by England which, for the last 30 minutes, looked about as lacking in passion and ability some of our very worst Aunt Sally performances!!

League Overview

So how are the leagues looking with just a third of the season remaining?

In the G section The Seven Stars top the table with The Old Anchor and Oxford RFC level on points as they vie for second place. The Brewery Tap are 7 points clear heading the F section and in the E section it is tight between Challow & Childrey CC and Hanney RBL separated by only 2 points. The Fox, Boars Hill top the D section again pulling clear of The Earl of Abingdon A following their win over The Earl last week.

Grove RFC an The Earl of Abingdon B look to be well clear in the C section, but the B section sees just 1 point separating near neighbours The Vine and WADS Bar A. Steventon Sports SC A continue to “boss” section A with a 6 point advantage over second placed College Oak A wo have climbed above The Red Lion A who still have a game in hand.

Berinsfield are 3 points clear of Abingdon Con Club in the Premiership helped by the 6-0 win last week and with their doll count boosted with a 77 aggregate total from the 3 legs played.

Looking at individual stats (don’t forget though it’s a team game!), Dave Dix, not surprisingly leads the way with 139 dolls at an average of 4.2. Paul Barrett, Richard Jones and Stuart Wilson have all reached 3 figures in terms of dolls scored and average over 3 dolls also with a 3+ average are Colin Brind and Dean Bowler who both play in the A section. This week there are another 10 or more players who, with a good week, will reach 3 figures in terms of dolls scored and some of those will also have the opportunity to take their average beyond 3 for the season.

Top dollers in the other sections are

B Dan Hamilton, The Vine 87

C Andrew Wilson,  The Plough,  66

D John Mackay,  WADS Bar B  70  

E John Gould,  Red Lion 53

F Ian Kelly, The George 51

G Ben Green  The Seven Stars 79

Last week heralded the start of the second half of the season and the return fixtures from week 1.

Looking first at the Premier and A sections Abingdon Conservative Club exacted revenge when they entertained The Red Lion who had been 6-0 victors on the opening day of the season at the Lion. This time it was a 5-1 win for the Con Club with their irrepressible skipper Dave Dix leading the way with another 14 dolls including yet another maximum, Paul Barrett and Phil Adams each added 10. Jumbo Mott of Abingdon United was another player hitting a maximum 6 doll leg and 14 in total, but his contribution was not enough to save United as they went down 5-1 at home to Stanford in the Vale FC who are enjoying a good season. For the football club Rob Glen hit 10 dolls and was ably assisted by Will Glen and Darryl Kitchen’s contribution of 8 dolls each, Jason Bowler and Steve Martin hit 8 dolls for United.

The return match at the Croft between next door neighbours College Oak provided a repeat result to the opening night, a 4-2 win for the Nomads with Captain Steve Enock top scoring with 12 dolls and Oak skipper Phil Soden almost matching that with 11 dolls of his own. Plum Pudding, strengthened by the recent return to the team of Kevin Davies who, together with Terry Downes hit 9 dolls, had a welcome 4-2 win at Berinsfield.

In the B section leaders The Vine fell to a 4-2 defeat against Abingdon RBL in a fairly low scoring match, Paul Ealey providing 9 dolls to help the Legion to victory. WADS Bar A continued their good form and Gareth Brown’s 11 dolls were his best of the season as they defeated The Fleur de Lys 4-2. Mark McCutchen’s 10 dolls helped The Bear & Ragged staff to a maximum 6 points over the Croft Bar and The Plough, West Hanney overcame The Royal Oak 5-1

The Earl of Abingdon prospered thanks to some low scoring by their visitors The Bell in the C section, the Bell only mustering 29 dolls over 3 legs which helped the home side who only scored 34 dolls themselves in a 5-1 win. The C section also saw wins for Marcham Centre A 6-0 against a below par Waggon & Horses and despite 10 dolls from Gary Duluz Pera Harwellian B were on the wrong end of a 5-1 scoreline against The Fleur A team.

The North Star are starting to find their “feet” on their return “home” winning 6-0 their first maximum points of the season against Long Wittenham AC. The D section saw 6-0 wins also for The Prince of Wales and for The Earl of Abingdon whose 2 sides completed an aggregate score of 12-0 against the Bell on the night. Mickey Neal top scoring for the Earl with 11 dolls. The Fox returned to winning ways after their first defeat of the season in week 9, they were 4-2 winners against near neighbours WADS B and both skippers Steve Fernback and John Mackay led the way for their teams with 9 dolls each. College Oak B won 4-2 against the Black Horse A.

The E section there were 4-2 wins for Challow & Childrey CC, The Crown Marcham A and a 6-0 win for the Eight Bells.

Marcham Centre B and the Brewery Tap both enjoyed 6-0 wins and to cap a good night for the village the Crown A had a 5-1 win against the George.

The G section produced some interesting results and scorelines as the battle for the leadership between Oxford RFC and The Seven Stars continues. The Rugby Club were 6-0 victors against The Plough Appleton in a match, which in 6 legs produced only 30 scoring dolls, I think that’s an average of 5 dolls a leg each, but even better (or worse really) was the match between The Black Horse B and The Horse & Jockey which produced only 26 dolls on the night, but at least that game ended in a share of the points 3 a piece!

To redeem the G section though The Red Lion Northmoor emerged 4-2 winners against visitors The Black Swan and the The Old Anchor, doing well to date on their return to the Aunt Sally “family” this season succumbed to a 6-0 loss on their trip to Marsh Baldon with The Seven Stars 3 legs collectively hitting a very impressive 64 dolls!

Now to take a quick look at the league tables, of the 8 sections in the Premier and A and B sections only 1 point separates the top 2, in the C section Earl of Abingdon hold a 4 point advantage over Hanney RBL who have a game in hand; The Earl also lead the D section, but just by 1 point. The Brewery Tap are well clear in the F section at the moment, In the E section top spot is shared by Challow & Childrey CC and Hanney RBL both with 30 points and the G section sees Grove RFC and The seven Stars level on 43 points each.

So with just 7 or 8 league matches to go and a few re-arranged matches still to play it promises to be a close call as we head further into the season and remember where teams finish level on points at the end of the season it may will be dolls scored that decide final position.

Well the halfway point of the Summer season has now passed and we enter the home straight with the week 10 fixtures being the reverse fixtures from week 1 with many clubs looking to do the “double” over their first week opponents whilst others will simply be looking to reverse that opening week result which were 9 clean sweeps, 5 games ended in 5-1 victories, 8 games ended 4-2 and in 4 of the matches in week 1 the points were shared.

So back to last week, Berinsfield SC A return to the top of the Premier section after their 4-2 victory over the College Oak A, Richard Jones top scoring with 10 dolls for the villagers. Red Lion A were also 4-2 winners against the College Oak A with Dean Bowler again top scoring for the Lion with 9 dolls.

Croft Nomads shared a rare sign of consistency across 3 legs and that secured a 5-1 win over an underpar Abingdon Conservative Club. Top scores for the Nomads was Steve Enock with 11 dolls aided and abetted by Tosh Wooloff with 10 dolls, Chris Jenkins and Ian Brook added 9 each. For the Con Club Dave Dix included another maximum and contributed another 13 doll total, but sadly only the consistent Paul Barrett with 9 dolls provided real support for his skipper.

Abingdon United had a somewhat surprising 6-0 victory over Steventon Sports who have for much of the opening half of the season been leading the pack in the A section. Consistency was the key for United as Jason Bowler with 10 dolls was ably supported by Dave Hudson (9) and Steve Martin’s 8. United’s 63 doll haul over the 3 legs was not only their best of the season but was the highest of the night equaled only by the Plum Pudding for whom the first appearance of the season for Kevin Davies yielded 10 dolls and Terry Downes include his fourth 5 doll leg of the season in adding 9 dolls (must be due a maximum leg soon Terry!), but despite their efforts and the overall team performance it still resulted in that 4-2 defeat by the Red Lion. 

The Wheatsheaf are finding it tough following their elevation to the A section this Summer and they went down 6-0 to Stanford in the Vale FC who have had a good first half to the season. This was a low scoring game with the highest individual score was 8 dolls from Stanford’s Darryl Kitchen.

Thames Cable proprieter and valued League sponsor John Pownceby top scored in the B section with his 10 dolls helping The Vine to a 4-2 victory over The Croft Bar in the B section for whom Nick Ridge top scored with 7 dolls. Elsewhere in the B section Bear & Ragged Staff were 6-0 winners over The Fox, Denchworth. The Plough West Hanney overcame WADS A 4-2, Abingdon United C had a welcome 4-2 win over Abingdon RBL and Trevor Harrhy hit only the second 6 of the night in the second leg. A real achievement spoilt only by his first and third leg contributions of 2 blobs!! Highs and Lows Trevor!

Fleur de Lys B skipper David Bartlett’s 10 dolls helped his side to a 5-1 win over in a local derby with Didcot’s Royal Oak.

The C section yielded wins for The Bell B, The Fleur A (a double on the night for the Hagbourne side) and The Earl of Abingdon B. The Plough Long Wittenham secured their first clean sweep of the season thanks in part to Andrew Wilson’s 10 dolls against The Boundary House.

In the D section The Fox, Boars Hill fell to their first defeat of the season, but retain top spot when they went down 4-2 to the College Oak B.  

In the E section Challow & Childrey CC came out 4-2 winners against Hanney RBL but the Legion still retain their advantage a the top of the section leader board. The Earl of Abingdon A clearly enjoyed their visit to the newly refurbished and opened North Star returning to Abingdon after winning 5-1. This section also produced wins for The Lamb B and for The Crown Marcham A.

RAL SC had a welcome 6-0 victory in section F and Marcham Centre B and The George were also winners on the night whilst The Crown and the White Hart A shared the spoils!

The G section is proving to be a competitive section with first timers Oxford RFC and The Seven Stars leading the way and the Old Anchor, also fellow newcomers hanging on to coat tails in third place. 6-0 wins for the Rugby Club and the Seven Stars were matched by The White Hart B and the Black Swan last week.

That’s it for today, but in the next 48 hours we will complete a general review of the first 9 weeks , share the outcome of the Competitions held last weekend and confirm the draw for the semi finals of the Skol Trophy Team 8’s competition now that the quarter final ties have now been completed.