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Wednesday July 1st England v RR Congo 5pm Kick Off

By on 29th June 2026 in Newsletter, Special Events, Summer League Reports

With the early kick off for England’s game in the last 32 of the FIFA World Cup on Wednesday there are many teams thinking of making alternative arrangements for Wednesday’s Aunt Sally Fixtures. With the earlier kick off in theory the game should be over by 7pm, but in the (and hopefully, unlikely) need for extra time and penalties it could in fact be nearer 8pm before the game is over so you may need to make some alternative plans, particularly as pubs and clubs may be busier than usual and many customers (again hopefully not your players), whatever the result may have taken more than the scheduled 2 ‘hydration breaks’ during the game and not necessarily taken on water!!

So the suggestions from your Committee are:-

  • That you plan and agree a slightly later start time to allow travelling team members time to watch the game locally
  • You mutually re-arrange for an alternative night, preferably this week, if the venue has shown the game and is likely to be too busy with too many people “celebrating a England progress to the last 16”
  • Both sides agree to “no change” to the normal, scheduled start time of 8.15

Ideally home team Captains or Secretaries need to talk to their counterparts and determine what works best for both sides and mutually agree the best solution and this will avoid any confusion or misunderstandings.

The good news for Aunt Sally is that assuming that England do progress their last 16 game will be on a Monday morning !!

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Week 8 Review

By on 24th June 2026 in Competition News, Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Tonight we complete the first half of the 2026 Summer Season, time flies and we started the season with cold and windy conditions and 9 weeks on we face playing in record breaking temperatures, possibly the highest June temperatures ever in the UK. It only goes to show the weather is as unpredictable as many of our own Aunt Sally form!!

I want to start this weeks update unusually from the Committee for with a big thank you despite the attraction of England’s opening World Cup tie last week 28 of the 30 planned week 8 fixtures took place and that was due to the co-operation of all teams who re-arranged match nights, start times and adjusted formats (excluded the beer leg in some cases). So well done to all.

Secondly, I just want to remind everyone that this coming Sunday the Singles, Pairs, Captains and Secretaries Competitions will take place at Abingdon United FC with play starting from, 12.45, and registration from 12.15 for all entries. Overall entries are down on previous years so if anyone wishes to make a very late entry we will be prepared to consider any late entries until 6pm on Friday of this week, simply because we want these competitions to be both popular and competitive. Play will be held on 2 pitches and food will be provided free of charge during the afternoon and all being well we expect to complete the competitions down to semi final (Pairs and Singles) and final (Captains and Secretaries) by 5pm. We have amalgamated the Captains and Secretaries into a combined competition this year as we did not have the required number of entrants to stage 2 separate comps.

I should also mention that Tony Ward one of the stalwarts of our game for many years, Summer and Winter was given a good send off last Friday and his funeral included many memories of his Aunt Sally career and reminded us of just how good and successful a player he was for so many years. I was a little surprised that more of his former teammates across several teams that Tony played for or against were not in attendance. So Doreen’s wish, Tony’s wife, that the celebration of his life would be commemorated with a game of Aunt Sally really didn’t happen despite the efforts of our Chairman! (Chairman: we, Tom Lach and I, did get them throwing some sticks though and they got to appreciate Tony’s skill!)

Well back to last week and pride of place, not surprisingly, goes to Dave Dix whose 16 dolls for Abingdon Con Club was not only the highest individual total of 2026, it also contributed to Abingdon Con Club’s sixth consecutive victory and taking them 2 points clear at the top of the Premier. Dave’s haul also established his doll average at over 4 dolls, a remarkable 82% strike rate and regrettably for the rest of us, entirely consistent and predictable from Dave!

Tom Lach also weighed in with a first leg maximum for the Con Club as the Con Club overcame The College Oak 4-2 with a first leg of 27 dolls their best of the season. The Oak’s excellent 25 dolls in the second leg helped them salvage a leg. Other results saw Steventon Sports SC A 6-0 winners in the A section, Berinsfield with both Stuart Wilson and Richard Jones leading the way with 10 dolls each enjoyed a 5-1 win at Abingdon United to remain in second spot in the Premier whilst Croft Nomads inconsistency this season was seized upon by Stanford FC who returned to the Vale 5-1 victors. Steventon Sports were clear winners in the top of the A section tussle with second placed Red Lion. The Sports won 6-0 with 3 winning legs totaling 70 dolls 11, of those courtesy of Derek Fletcher a season best for “Rod” b. Dean Bowler was “sixer” on the night for the Lion. 

Plum Pudding were another side to record a welcome win and recorded their highest leg score (26) when winning 4-2 against The Wheatsheaf.

I mentioned earlier the very good individual performances last week and Terry Downes, the most consistent performer for the Plum was one , Terry along with Bob Glen for Stanford, John Mackay WADS B, Dean Costar, Earl of Abingdon A and Andy Hallett all registered 5 doll legs for their sides. Matt Rushton playing for the Fleur didn’t register a 5 doll leg, but hit 10 dolls for his side. lastly two more special mentions, Micky Neal playing for the Earl Of Abingdon was the forth player to hit a maximum last week and finally congratulations to Ben Green playing for The Seven Bells in section G. With 4 players scoring maximum legs and 5 others scoring legs of 5 dolls and several others reaching double figures over their 3 legs it does, at last seem like the league is belatedly “waking up” to Summer 2o26!

In the other sections the B section saw wins for Abingdon RBL, The Bear & Ragged Staff, The Croft Bar, The Vine (another with a top scoring leg of 23 dolls) whilst The Plough West Hanney and The WADS Bar shared the points

The C section saw the Grove RFC defeat the Earl B 4-2 with both sides hitting 17 in separate legs, The Boundary House were too strong for Harwellian B winning 6-0, The Fleur de Lys won 4-2 against Marcham Centre A and again some good leg scores in this game with an 18 for the Fleur and a 21 doll leg scored by Marcham. The other game in this section saw The Bell B come out on top against The Plough, Long Wittenham.

In the D section the re-opening of the North Star welcomed Aunt Sally back after a long wait and the home team enjoyed their return, but were held to a 3-3 share of the points, Elsewhere in Steventon the Sports B side defeated The Bell A 4-2 and it was the same scoreline for Long Wittenham AC winners against College Oak B. The Fox, Boars Hill continue to set the pace in this section remaining unbeaten, but they were held to a share of the points by The Black Horse, Hanney.

The E section saw some close encounters with The Ladygrove returning as 4-2 winners from their trip to Hanney RBL and The George and The Crown Marcham A were also 4-2 winners, The Red Lion B and The Lamb B drew 3-3 in a low scoring encounter whilst the Eight Bells Eaton saw off Berinsfield SC B 6-0.

The G section is probably the most unpredictable section of all with so many new sides and players taking part. Oxford RFC, The Old Anchor and The Seven Stars all seem to be enjoying their season so far with the first two winning 5-1 last week and The Seven Stars scoring a maximum 6 points and The White Hart B another side new to the league this year were also winners on the night.

Worth mentioning that we have a player from the G section in the Top 20 doll average list, well done 

The league tables are beginning to take shape despite one or two of the league leaders being pegged back last week and next week we will have a fuller review of the season as we will have reached the halfway stage and also, unbelievably, the point of the year when the nights start to draw in!!

Don’t forget Sunday at Abingdon United and it’s still not too late to enter! Friday evening is your final, final cut off for any “stragglers” 

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Week 7 review

By on 15th June 2026 in Newsletter

An interesting week’s Aunt Sally brought a few surprise results and now, more than a third of the way through the league season the sections are starting to take shape. To date there are clear leaders in every section with The Fox, Boars Hill in section D having achieved the most points to date with 35 from a possible 42.

 

 

 

 

Before I lead us into a review of last week’s game I would just like to put out a few reminders. Firstly it is the late Tony Ward’s funera this coming with a service at South Oxfordshire Crematorium at  1pm on Friday followed with a gathering of friends and family at the Abingdon RBL club where it is suggested that an impromptu game of Aunt Sally may take place.

The second reminder is that this week amany games have been re-arranged to enable the much anticipated England  v Croatia can be watched by all. Many matches have been re-arranged for an alternative night this week, some teams have arranged early start times and some matches have been postponed to a later date (remember that these postponed need to be completed as soon as possible, with the date mutually agreed between the teams  and played, ideally by the end of this month). For games NOT played this week the match cards will not be able to be entered online so a copy (photo) will need to be sent to me to enter as the week number will be incorrect and compromise the online scoring system.

My thir reminder is that the Competitions for the Singles, Pairs, Captains and Secretaries will take place at Abingdon United a week next Sunday (28th) at Abingdon United FC. Entry levels are, disappointingly down on last year for each of the competitions. We can and will continueto accept entries until this weekend, but NO LATER. Tjhe only reason for extending the date is simply we want all of the competitions to be both as well supported as possible and as competitive as has been the case in recent years which have produced more than a few big surprises.

 

My final reminder is that games that have been postponed already this season with the teams agreeing to re-arrange. These games do need to be re-arranged on a mutually agreed date and that date confirmed otherwise the original defaulting side will, unfortunately lose the points as the original postponement was down to them. Whatever the re-arrangement needs to be as early as possible and within the scheduled 18 week season.

 

Well that’s enough reminders it’s time to turn our attention back to last week!  In the Premier section Abingdon Con Club recorded, after a poor start to the season,  their third successive victory beating The Wheatsheaf 6-0. It is the first time that Dave Dix and Phil Adams have both been in the line up for the Con Club and it was Dixey who led the way, including another maximum in his 12 doll haul, Phil back from his most recent surgery contributed 11 dolls of his own. The reigning 2025 champions are now 3 points clear at the top of  the Premier.

Berinsfield whose season started with 5 successive wins suffered  their second successive defeat going down 4-2 to Croft Nomads who, themselves recovered from 2 successive losses.    For the Nomads Ian Brook was the second maximum scorer of the week hitting a leg maximum and 12 dolls overall. Alan Bell  weighed in with 10 dolls and both Chris Jenkins and Barry Townsend hit 5’s for the Croft. Jack Hawkins was best for the home side with 9 dolls and Richard Jones also had a 5 doll first leg

Elsewhere in the Premier/A section Steventon Sports leading the A section were surprising losers to The College Oak despite Colin Brind hitting 14 dolls the highest score of the night, Plum Pudding and Abingdon United shared the points at Milton Jason Bowler with 10 dolls for United  and  with a season’s best of 9 dolls, Dave Bradshaw for the Plum top scored on the night. 

In the B section the points were shared between The Vine and  near neighbours The Bear & Ragged Staff. John Pownceby afor the Vine and Richard Wilsdon for teh Bear both landed 10 dolls apiece. Abingdon RBL were 4-2 victors over the WADS Bar A and the Fleur de Lys were too strong on the night with a 6-0 result against The Fox who returned to Denchworth with their tails between their legs.

The Croft Bar had a good 5-1 return over visitors The Plough Wittenham with Nick Ridge and Kevin Luck top scoring for the home side.

What was particularly noticeable in the B section last weekwas  that other than the Cumnor derby overall individual and team scoring in this section appeared to be significantly lower than normal.  

By comparison, the C section produced some good individual and team scoring. Both Brian Boseley and Andrew Wilson both hit double figures, “Bose” in his side’s Marcham Centre A 4-2 victory over the Boundary House and Andrew in The Plough’s 4-2 defeat by The Earl A for whom skipper Mick Brown top scored with 9.

In the C section Grove RFC were beaten for the first time in this season going down 4-2 at the Harwellian and there were wins in the d section for The Prince of Wales with Dave Harris leading the way with 9 dolls, The Fox, Boars Hill who took their unbeaten start to the season into week 8 with a 4-2 result against Long Wittenham AC. The Bell Grove’s Steve Browning  had another good week with 10 dolls helping his side to a 4-2 win against WADS B and in the same section the Earl A defeated the Black Horse A 6-0

 

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Week 6 Summary

By on 8th June 2026 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Last year’s Premier division champions were able to field a full strength side for the first time and narrowed the gap to just 1 point with a 6-0 win against current leaders Berinsfield with skipper Dave Dix leading the way for the Con Club with 13 dolls ably supported by the returning Phil Adams with 9 dolls and Leigh Clapton weighing in with 9 of his own. Stuart Wilson top scoring for Berinsfield also with 9 dolls.

Croft Nomads, for the second successive week were beaten by a side seeking their first win of the season. This time it was the Plum Pudding for whom Terry Downes led the way with 11 dolls ably supported by Simon Winterbourne and Paul Longford. For the Croft Steve Enock, Martin Robinson and Alan Bell all contibuted in vain with 9 dolls each, but the Croft were let down with Tosh Wooloff having an off night and a truly dismal display by yours truly! 

In the A section Steventon Sports had a 4-2 victory over Stanford FC Colin Brind leading the way for Stivie with 11 dolls and the College Oak had a welcome and perhaps surprising maximum points haul against the Red Lion, a loss which means that Steventon Sports retain the lead position from the Lion in the section. 

The B section saw wins for league leaders The Vine for whom Danny Hamilton scored 12 (a commendable 3-4-5 flush) in their 5-10 win against The Fox, Denchworth and all of the other fixtures in this section ended in 4-2 wins for the Croft Bar, Abingdon RBL, WADS Bar, and The Plough West Hanney.

The C section produced a 3-3 result with league leaders Grove RFC being matched by The Plough, Long Wittenham which means only 1 p0int separates the top 3 teams in this section again in this section tight games resulted in all the other results ending 4-2.

The D section produced the first win of the season for the College Oak B over Steventon Sports B both without a win in their previous games. The Fox B retained top spot with another 6-0 against The Prince of Wales for whom the climb up to Boars Hill obviously proved too arduous!! Declan O Neill led the Earl of Abingdon A to a 4-2 win over Long Wittenham AC and The Bell Grove A enjoyed a 6-0 win against the North Star for whom Jimmy Lister notched a 5 doll leg. For the Bell both Steve Browning and Tom Swinney hit 9 apiece. Richard Farmer also had a 5 doll leg against the Eight Bells, but it was not enough as the Eight Bells returned to Appleton with 4 points and Jerry Salmon top scorer with 8 dolls. Hanney RBL who have had a good start to their season went down to their first loss against The Lamb B.

The F section saw The George fall to their first loss of the season on their travel to league leaders Brewery Tap whose 32 points is the best in the league to date. The G section saw 4 games played and all resulted in convincing 6-o wins for Oxford RFC, The Red Lion, Northmoor, The Seven Stars, Marsh Baldon and The Old Anchor.

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Matches scheduled for Week 8 Wednesday June 17th…… England v Croatia

By on 7th June 2026 in Newsletter

The  England v Croatia World cup group match  which kicks off at 9pm (GMT0 on the 17th looks to be the only fixture that really affects or league programme in June and we have received several requests to provide guidance on matches scheduled for that evening as many players will want to watch the game and pubs and clubs showing the game are likely to be very busy early in the evening despite the 9pm kick off. So even if you and your team do not necessarily want to watch the game the fact that it is on will be disruptive to playing Aunt Sally and teams also have to travel and are likely to want to watch the game close to home.

So we have agreed the following options for games scheduled for that evening:-

OPTION 1   An agreed early start time to enable the game to be finished by 8.30, this option is OK if teams are able to start by 6.45 or 7pm at latest and may not be feasible for some because of work commitments/travel time

OPTION 2  Games may be postponed and  re-arranged earlier or later  that week or on another suitable date but not later than July 1st. Re-arranged games can be on any night of the week or potentially at a weekend.

OPTION 3  (not an option preferred by the Committee, but nevertheless  acceptable as a last resort) Games can be conceded and the points awarded equally 3-3.

These are the 3 options that will enable the week 8 fixtures to be fulfilled. It will be left to the respective captains to agree as whatever option is preferred BOTH  captains need to agree and should discuss with their team members before confirming the arrangement.

Unfortunately there is no straightforward simple solution as our Wednesday league and team competition season takes us through to mid September.

We ask all Captains to be reasonable, both in proposing and agreeing, to one of these options so that games take place although not necessarily in the week they were scheduled. We will deal with any similar problem in July if, as we hope will be needed and that will only be if England qualify for the last 32 and have to play on Wednesday July 1st.

Any games re-arranged and  played before June 14th or after June 21st will not be able to be entered online. Match cards will need to be sent to Team Support or to Roger Nichols for entry and once  re-arrangements have been agreed can you let us know again, via team support or myself, what those re-arrangements are.

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It might rain tonight, so what do we do?

By on 3rd June 2026 in Newsletter

We have had one or two questions about what should we do if it rains tonight? Well, the answer is simple Aunt Sally is predominently a Summer game and it rains every Summer  and often on a Wednesday evening so what happens when it does? Well , we play, we dodge the showers take our umbrellas and utilise those garden brollies available in the garden, we pause between showers and most try to keep their sticks dry!  If it’s really bad we abandon the beer leg, but we do not postpone or abandon the match unless it is monsoon like and constant rain or outbreaks of thunder and fork lightning.

A 3 l3gged match probably last a maximum of 90 minutes so a later finish than normal shouldn’t be  a problem for most. We don’t want to jepoardise any players comfort or safety, but equally we do not want postponements as we have a full 21 week  Wednesday season and fitting in games that need to be re-arranged often proves difficult because so many dedicate just Wednesday evenings to Aunt Sally and won’t/can’t play on an alternate evening if games are postponed.

So, our simple message is play whatever the weather, it’s our 6th week and already we have endured cold evenings, a very warm evening and now probably tonight, a wet one!

Who knows what next Wednesday will bring!!

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Week 5 Highlights, lowlights and Competition Last shout out!

By on 2nd June 2026 in Competition News, Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Well, the inevitable happened last week, Dave Dix hit 14 dolls for Abingdon Conservative Club as they recorded their second successive 6-0 win over Plum Pudding whose defeat continued their disappointing start to the season. Paul Barrett also continued his good form with another 12 doll haul! Paul has now hit 5, 5 doll legs in his last 4 games. Surely a maximum will soon happen!

Dave shared his best of the season with Richard Jones who also hit 14 dolls as Berinsfield SC A continued their excellent start to the season with a fifth consecutive victory as they beat the previously unbeaten Steventon Sports A 5-1.

Abingdon United A secured their first win of the season as they overcame Croft Nomads 4-2, Jason Bowler top scoring for United with 9 dolls. Ian Brook led the fight for the Nomads with 10 dolls.

Darren Bennett with 10 dolls and Martyn Bolton with 9 helped The Wheatsheaf to a 4-2 win at The College Oak and The Red Lion were also winners at Stanford FC 5-1 being the scoreline with Scott Tabor and Ian Rogers leading the way with 9 dolls apiece for the Lion. The B section saw Abingdon RBL land their first win of the season 4-2 against The Fox, Denchworth whilst the WADS Bar were 6-0 winners against The Bear & Ragged Staff. but with 23 points still trail the Vine by 1 point as they overcame The Plough, West Hanney 4-2 with a 10 doll contribution from Matt Dingle aided and abetted by 9 dolls each for Jerry Brandish and Steve Peedell and 8 dolls for Ethan Taylor making his first appearance for the Vine. The Croft Bar suffered a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Royal Oak whose Steve Jones top scored with 10 dolls.

A first appearance of the season for skipper Brian Bosley with 8 dolls was not enough to get Marcham Centre A to stop Grove RFC landing their 5th win on the bounce as they continue to lead the C section. There were a share of the points between The Earl of Abingdon B and The Fleur de Lys A where 9 dolls was the order of the night. Russell Flower for the Earl and Darren Sargison and Danny Towlerton all falling just one doll short of making double figures. 

The D section saw The Fox Boars Hill land their 5th win on the bounce at Steventon Sports with a maximum 6 points.  The Earl of Abingdon were also 6-0 victors against The Prince of Wales despite 8 dolls scored by skipper Dave Harris for the Feathers. Craig Hillier for the Earl also hit 8. Debutant Matt Davies hit a first leg 5 dolls but it was not enough to secure a leg for the WADS Bar B as they also suffered a 6-0 loss against Long Wittenham AC for whom Michael Rainbow led the way with 9 dolls and it was a welcome 6-0 win for The Bell A in the same section for whom Steve Browning scored 11 dolls and Martin Bland added 9 more.

The E section also saw two 6-0 wins, as Hanney RBL carried on their successful start to the season at the Eight Bells and The Crown Marcham A turned over the Lamb B by the same score. Red Lion B and Challow & Childrey CC shared the points. In the F section Brewery Tap continue to lead the way and there were also wins for The George, Harwellian A and the Queens Arms.

Newcomers in the G section Oxford RFC had a 5-1 win, The Seven Stars were 4-2 winners at the Red Lion and the White Hart B side were also winners on the night.

 

Overall last week there were some good scores (maybe the warmer weather helped!) with 24 dolls being the best legs of the night, a 23 leg from the Vine in Section B and leg scores 0f 16, 17 and 18 being recorded across the B, C, D and E sections. On the night there were no sixes, lots of individaul 5’s and there were 23 “blobbers” who failed to score on the night, but not for the lack of trying!

Just a reminder about the Competitions for singles, pairs, Captains and Secretaries which officially closed yesterday. As I write this we have only received entries from 4 teams! As both Paul and I haven’t been around for a few days I think we have to extend the date until this coming weekend, but not beyond then. At the moment we do not have enough entries for any of the planned competitions so if that doesn’t change significantly this week there will be no competitions held on the planned date (28th June) and personally I think that will be tragic for a league that has 66 teams and over 600 active registered players!!!

One final note regarding fixtures on June 17th when England play Croatia in the FIFA World Cup, with a 9pm GMT kick off time. We recognise that some teams will want to change their games scheduled for that night so in the next few days the committee will issue some guidance and options for fixtures scheduled to take place on that night. The guidance and outcome will need to be mutually agreed between the competing sides and based on being reasonable.

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By on 27th May 2026 in Newsletter

Week 5 and for the first time this season just a reminder don’t forget your sun screen and hats!

Well for the first 4 weeks of the season it has all been about how cold it is and where’s your coat, but tonight it’s probably going to be complaints about how hot is is and we need to go inside to cool down!

As with many of our players and scores our it’s often the talk  about inconsistency and the weather is certainly matching that so far this summer! The only thing lacking so far is rain, but I am sure that won’t be long coming and it will be the gardeners wishing for it, but hopefully not on a Wednesday anytime soon!

Some interesting fixtures tonight the pick of which are Berinsfield SC A entertaining Steventon Sports SC A in a battle of the leaders of the Premier and the A section. In the B section The Vine host leaders WADS Bar A and in the D section there’s a  local derby between The Black Horse A and The Bell Grove, a less local derby in G section  when the Seven Stars travel from Marsh Baldon to The Red Lion Northmoor. (I understand The Red Lion provides very reasonable overnight accomodation should you require it after probably your longest trip of the season!). Finally again in the G section Horse & Jockey Stanford host section  leaders Oxford RFC many of whom played for the Horse & Jockey last summer!

Enjoy your evening.

 

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Another Aunt Sally Legend lost, Week 4 round up and Competition Reminder

By on 27th May 2026 in Competition News, Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Again with apologies for the late post again! I will try to do better after tonight’s fixtures!

Firstly though I want to start by sharing some very sad news. Tony Ward one of the top Aunt Sally players in both our Winter and Summer Leagues over many years passed away last week. Many will know that Tony had battled against illness for several years and that illness had caused his retirement from our game in recent years. Our thoughts and sympathy go out to Doreen and all of Tony’s family and friends from all of the Aunt Sally community. Tony’s funeral will be held at the South Oxfordshire Crematorium at 1pm on Friday 19th June and will be followed by a gathering at Abingdon British Legion, just one of the venues that Tony played his Aunt Sally so successfully at.

Tony was a serial winner both as an individual and as a team member. Tony played for many teams in both our seasonal leagues including the Saxton Arms and Football Club, Abingdon Legion, Penlon, Heineken and Abingdon United. It was with the Legion that he featured in the highest single leg score in 1974 contributing 5 dolls in a 37 leg total when Abingdon Legion had 2 players who each hit maximums 3 others, who like Tony hit 5, one player with 5 and surprisingly one who managed only 1 doll. In that line up that night for the Legion were current players Dave Dix and Paul Leach and that was over 50 years ago!

Tony won the Singles title at least twice firstly whilst playing for the Saxton and also for Abingdon United and many, many other team awards for all the teams he represented.

Now, to last week’s results. In the Premier section there was a welcome return to winning ways for Abingdon Conservative Club even without the missing Dave Dix and Phil Adams. They still managed a 6-0 victory at their old stamping ground Abingdon United. Despite the margin of the win the doll difference on the night was only 7 dolls! Rolling back the years for the Con Club Brian Clapton hit 10 dolls and Paul Barrett for the 3rd successive week hit double figures. For United it was Dave Hudson leading the reply with 9 dolls. 

In the Prem/A section the clash between the 2 previously unbeaten sides was another close encounter which resulted in a 4-2 win for Berinsfield SC A courtesy of a 1 doll winning 3rd leg at the Red Lion which puts the Berinsfield boys very well placed as leaders of the Premier section. Malcolm Jones recorded a maximum for the visitors and promptly followed it with a blob in the next leg!

Croft Nomads enjoyed a very sociable evening at the Wheatsheaf Didcot, helped by a 6-0 victory with double figure contributions from Steve Enock and Barry Townsend with 11 dolls each well supported by Alan Bell and Chris Jenkins both weighing in with 10 dolls

In the A section Stanford FC continued their strong start to the season winning their game at the College Oak 4-2. Steventon Sports A strengthened their position at the top of the A section beating the Plum Pudding, Scott Humphries and Derek Fletcher top scoring for the Sports with 9 dolls apiece and Terry Downes matched that score for the Plum.

In the B section it is WADS Bar heading the table with a 4th consecutive win 4-2 against The Fox Denchworth but on the night The Fox may have felt a little disappointed as they actually scored 42 dolls against the 40 scored by the winners! Derrick Brown scored 11 dolls for WAD’s. It was a similar close encounter at the Croft Bar whose 4-2 victory over the Fleur de Lys B side only featuring 66 dolls in total across the 3 legs.

A 4-2 victory was also secured by The Plough West Hanney against Abingdon RBL for whom Paul Ealey hit a maximum, only the second one of the night throughout the league, but the home side with a strong contribution from Mark Wheeler came out with the win with only a 1 doll advantage overall and ironically that was in the leg which saw Paul hit his maximum!!

The C section saw wins for Grove RFC, Harwellian B who included an equal top scoring 11 dolls on the night from Gary Daluz Veira and The Earl Of Abingdon A, In the D section had wins for The Bell A, Earl of Abingdon B to complete a winning double for the Earl sides and The Fox, Boars Hill for whom Rory Mangan top scored with 10 dolls against the soon to be “home again” North Star. We should mention our thanks to The Plough who have kindly “hosted” the Star whilst renovations have taken place. The pub should re-open next week!

The E section saw Challow & Childrey outscored by 1 doll on the night by Berinsfield SC B, but were still able to emerge winners on the night. Eight Bells Eaton had a very welcome 6-0 win when they visited The Crown and in the section it was a 4-2 win for current leaders The Brewery Tap and The Lamb A.

The G section which is made up almost entirely of new teams this season saw The Old Anchor claim local bragging rights when they defeated near neighbours The Black Swan and fellow newcomers The Seven Stars were 4-2 victors against The White Hart B.

The G section also included something last week that is/maybe/probably is a record that is a first in all of the history. There are 6 of the 7 sections led by teams who have won all their games played so far. Interestingly 2 of the teams are Rugby Clubs, 4 are predominately social clubs and only 2 are traditional “hostelries”, that together with our 3 football club based teams is confirmation that Aunt Sally is a game for everyone. This maybe/probably is representative of our licensed premises in these times, but it is good for our game that Aunt Sally is still able to be played in so many places.

An apology from me to anyone whose individual total scores I have missed in recent weeks (including this one) which I know includes Steve Fernback of the Fox Boars Hill, Dean Bowler of the Red Lion and I am sure several more. Not deliberate I promise!!

And now for a couple of  reminders:- 

Firstly, Competition entries for the Singles, Pairs, Captains and Secretaries (all open to all registered players from any section) need to be with us by next week with a closing date of May 31st (all competitions need a minimum entry of 8 and entry is just £1 per person) and will be played at Abingdon United on Sunday 28th June.

Secondly, already a number of fixtures have been postponed for sound reasons and these need to be re-arranged. Would the Captains/Secretaries please confirm the new dates as soon as possible to me please because the re-arranged games will need to be entered by the Committee in the week when they should have originally been played. Any fixtures not mutually arranged or played by the end of June may see the points to awarded against the side who originally requested the re-arrangement.

Thirdly, On Wednesday 17th June England are in World Cup action and will almost affect out fixtures that night with, hopefully, most it not all players, wanting to watch the game live. We will within the next week issue some guidance as to what the options (again they need to be mutually agreed) for fulfilling the fixtures scheduled that night.

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