Author Archive | Roger Nichols

Well, the first week of the season was greeted with a dry, but cold Wednesday evening and lots of interesting results across the 6 sections. What I will try to do is cover all of the sections this season individually, but for this, the first week of the league I will try to cover notably results, team and individual performances across all! Forgive me if I don’t highlight your team., your result or mention a particular member of your team, but there are 60 teams and that’s 480 players taking part each week so a few too many to cover all!!

Let me start with the Premier and A section where the defending Champions from 2024 Bystander A, now playing at and as Abingdon United A fell to a surprising 5-1 defeat at the hands of The Red Lion A despite the very best effort of skipper Steve Martin who top scored for United with 11 dolls. For the Lion Dean Bowler top scores with 8 dolls, but he was well supported by a solid all round team performance and the benefit of a handicap advantage of 3 dolls saw the Lion draw the first leg 18 apiece, but then take the next 2 legs 26-17 and 23-13.

Elsewhere in this section Abingdon Con Club (formerly Ab Utd@Con Club) got off to a winning start with a 4-2 victory over The Vine. Dave Dix hit the highest individual score of the night 14 dolls and Danny Hamilton claimed the first 6 of the season in his 12 dolls for The Vine. Dave was well supported by both Alex Chamberlain and Phil Adams who both hit double figures for the visitors and The Vines John Pownceby also scored 12 dolls. 

There were also winning starts for Croft Nomads who entertained The Plum Pudding, for College Oak A against Stanford in the Vale FC and for Steventon Sports SC A who travelled to Berinsfield SC A. All of these were 4-2 wins. Leading scorers for the Croft was Steve Enock with 12 dolls, Terry Downes with 11 for the Plum. Jamie Knight followed his first leg “blob” with a second leg 6 for the Oak, the only other 6 of the night across all sections! Robert Glen top scored for the FC with 8 dolls.

In the B section there was a battle between two sides of particular interest to Andrew Fudge when the Earl of Abingdon a new venue for 2025 entertained The WADS bar who were playing in this section after winning the F section in 2024. It is fair to say that many of last year’s WADs side were more than a bit worried about their meteoric rise to the B section, but that didn’t seem to be a problem as they turned their first fixture into a resounding 6-0 win led by the Brown boys, Derrick with 10 dolls and Gareth with 9! For the Earl Mick Brown was the best performer with 7 dolls, but his 7 team mates could only manage 24 dolls between them over 3 legs! 

Elsewhere in the B section The Fleur de Leys A were worthy winners beating Abingdon RBL 6-0 who collectively seemed to have an unusually bad night. Ian Heapy led the charge for the Fleur with 11 dolls.

Other results in this section saw wins for the Royal Oak, Abingdon United C and the Croft Bar.

The C section produced a couple of 6-0 results for the Bell Grove B whose captain Jason Lowe was the major contributor with 11 dolls against the Eight Bells and The Fox at Denchworth also were 6-0 victors over the North Star A. Brewery Tap, The Wheatsheaf and the Midget were all also  first week winners in this section.

In the D section there were winning starts for College Oak B, the Prince of Wales, Harwellian A, The Plough, West Hanney and Steventon Sports SC B. 

The E section brought an opening clash between 2 new sides to the league for this season  when The Crown A entertained the George from Sutton Courtenay and they shared the points in a 3-3 draw.

There were, in this section, some good individual performances and despite a 5-1 loss Brian Bosley and Tom Ricketts both playing for Marcham Centre hit 9 and 8 dolls respectively against The Bystamnder but Bystanders  skipper John Mackay with 10 dolls led Bystander to the victory. Elsewhere in the E section John Thomas and Spencer Walton both contributed 7 dolls but Gareth Thomas topped that with 9 dolls as Berinsfield B defeated The Black Horse 6-0. 

The F section saw newbies Long Wittenham Athletic Club ( with a couple of former Plough Long Wittenham  making the short move down the road0 got off to a flying start with maximum points victory over the Plough Appleton and Grove RFC matched that defeating the Lamb B.9 Obviously both the Sports teams had taken their pre season training a bit more seriously than the pubs!)

Not surprisingly so0 early in the season and with lots of teams featuring players who are new to our game there were a fair share of “blobbers”, but we are sure that tthose who failed to record a score in week 1 will soon be celebrating their first doll and going on to score many more over the season so don’t despair we have all been there!

It was noticeable that one ore two teams in the lower sections struggled to turn out full sides so don’t forget you can all add players to your teams to make certain you have enough players each week to cover those on holiday, working away or just unavailable all you need is to do is add their names your teams and they will be eligible to play straight away, but no transfers are allowed during the season if players have  already played for 1 side .

Looking forward to week 2 and the promise of a warm Wednesday!

Welcome to the Abingdon & District Aunt Sally League Summer season! Tonight sees 30 matches taking place across the region with hopefully 60 teams and 480 players old and new on the oche from 8.15 at 30 venues.

We are delighted that a very late additional team were registered late last week to bring our 6 sections all to 10 teams apiece so no byes necessary over the next 18 weeks. The Horse & Jockey at Stanford in the vale were those late entrants after fears over the future of the pub were resolved only in the last couple of weeks. Your Committee had strived to achieve a total of 60 sides so we, together with all of the other teams in the F section who have warmly welcomed back this season.

We are pleased to welcome some new teams to our league and also welcome back some who have missed a season or two and of course we are delighted that our stalwarts who have been with us for many years and have maintained the league through some tough times are all still with us. We especially welcome everyone who is playing Aunt Sally competitively for the first time. Remember it’s not always about the result it’s the taking part that counts and our game can be competitive, it is often frustrating, it can divide opinion, but most of all it is both enjoyable and fun and always played in a good spirit and with lots of banter.

The other thing that stands Aunt Sally apart from other sports is that there are no referees, no automatic technology interventions, no VAR, no appeals or reviews! Every decision is made by humans and always by people who play the game!

So like in any other sport there may  be a few errors over a season, but rest assured any of these these will have been made in good faith and like in other sports mistakes and errors often level themselves up over the course of the season!

Enjoy your evening and may the weather on Wednesday’s be good to us throughout the Summer! That would be a first!

The season starts in earnest next week, but while the sun is shining many teams have been preparing for their season with practice sessions and many friendlies. The enthusiasm seems to be high this year and although we fell just short of our target of 60 teams entered (we actually have 59, a 4 team improvement from 2024) a host of new and some returning teams are most welcome. We hope they all enjoy the next 4+ months of competitive, friendly Aunt Sally and we especially welcome all those players who are looking to play our sport for the very first time!

All the fixture packs etc have now been distributed and left either at venues, or with secretaries or team captains. Many of you have already checked your team lists for name and spelling accuracy so thank you for that, especially those of you who have spotted our not deliberate mistakes!

Tonight our first competition gets underway with the opening round of the Skol Trophy 8’s which this year has attracted 13 entries. All of the remaining competitions take place during the summer months and the closing date for entries is only 6 weeks away and this includes for the 2 new pairs competitions where entries are restricted to team members from Sections B and C or Sections D, E  and F. Competitions are an essential part of our season and we really want as many entries for all of these. Most Competitions have already scheduled dates and venues, details of which are already published on the fixture lists.

Don’t forget you can continue to register additional players throughout the season subject to Committee approval which will, in most cases, be immediate unless the “new” player has significant previous “form” which would either affect the handicap (Section Premier/A) or create a significant inbalance in one of the other sections.

Looking forward to the next 18 weeks and as always enjoy, be good hosts and/or visitors, be grateful to our pubs and clubs who look after us and enable our sport to maintain it’s long tradition of representing Abingdon & District Aunt Sally!

Registration Night at Abingdon Conservative Club – Monday 17th March from 7.30pm

Just a reminder that Registration Night for both the Summer League and Team 8’s Competition will take place next Monday.

Registration fee per team is £45 (up to 15 registered players) and the registration forms should be completed and available on Monday for registration. All teams are advised to keep a copy of the forms for their own records (no photocopying facilities will be available at the venue). If more than 15 players are registered the additional cost is £1 per player.

All registered players will be eligible to play in the 8’s handicap knockout competition for which the entry fee is £8 and as the Competition gets underway before the league season entries need to made and paid for next Monday. The first round of this competition will be scheduled for Wednesday 30th April.

Unfortunately, we cannot process digital payments, so fees need to be paid in cash or by cheque on the night. Cheques should be made payable to Abingdon & District Aunt Sally League. Receipts will be given if required.

On Monday it will also be possible to order equipment including sticks, dolls, swivels and irons which will then be collected and delivered before the start of the season.  Payment, cash or cheque, will need to be made, ideally upon ordering or alternatively on delivery.

KIT PRICES

• Sticks are £55 a set,
• dolls are £15 each,
• irons are £25 each and
• swivels are £15 each.

Arrangements for all other team and individual Competitions entries, complete with entry forms and dates will be included in the team Captains/Secretaries Summer 2025 packs which will be compiled and distributed once the league formations are sorted. The forms will also be available on the website, together with closing dates for entry, fees (where appropriate), dates, times and venues for all competitions.

It is expected that these packs, which will include section formations, fixture lists and match cards will be available and distributed mid April.

The League season will start on Wednesday 7th May.

It is confirmed that Barry’s wake following his funeral on the 28th February will be held at The Earl of Abingdon bar on the corner of Ock Street and Stratton Way Abingdon.

Barry’s funeral will take place on Friday 28th February at 12noon.

The service will be at St Michael & All Angels Church, Park Road,  Abingdon and will be followed by a burial at Spring Road Cemetery, Abingdon.

We are sure that there will many attendees not just from the Aunt Sally Community, but also from Barry’s many friends, and from his golfing and cricketing colleagues, two sports which Barry also demonstrated considerable proficiency and enjoyed much success during his life.

We are sure that Barry will, after much suffering, bravely borne, over a long period, appreciate, as will his family and friends, an appropriate send off in recognition of  both his very life taken tragically too soon and his demonstrably long and successful sporting career.

It is with some real sorrow that we share the news that Barrington known to most, as Barry, sadly lost his long and brave fight against illness and passed away yesterday. Our sincere condolences to Barry’s family and to his many, many friends across the Aunt Sally, Golfing and Cricketing communities.

Barry was a true legend amongst the Aunt Sally community, not just our own Association, but wherever Aunt Sally is played.  His name was known and his superb talent was recognised by so many who have played the game over the many years that Barry represented our game, as one of  the very best Aunt Sally  players to have ever graced the oche! As a solid anchorman he earned the nickname ‘Iceman’ because of his coolness under pressure.

And I mean no disrespect to all of the great players past and present when I suggest that Barry ranks that highly amongst his peers.

Barry Parker 2016 World Aunt Sally Champion

Barry won probably every individual, pairs and team trophies that has ever been played several times and though much of his Aunt Sally career was spent playing for Abingdon United (where he has the shed named after him!) he also helped,  and led several other teams and individuals to titles in both our league and in our Competitions. Barry, of course, most fittingly won the World Championship in 2016 after finishing Runner up in 2014.

Barry’s sporting prowess was not limited just to Aunt Sally, he had many sporting loves. Barry was a long term member of Frilford Golf Club where, not surprisingly, he claimed many trophies and was one of the founder members of the CBF Golf Society. Barry was also a very talented cricketer playing at County  level with Cowley St John, locally with B H Polley’s x1, not forgetting his “one off” appearance for one of the Caribbean Islands. His footballing career was not quite so successful as his Aunt Sally, Golf or Cricket, but he did feature for Osberton Radiators for several seasons in the Oxford Senior League.

We will, in due course, share,  on this site, details of Barry’s funeral arrangements so that we can all take the opportunity, if we can, to show our respect and say an appropriate goodbye to Barry.

We will, I am sure, in conjunction with his team mates past and present  also hold an appropriate competition as a long term memorial serving not only in Barry’s memory, but also revering his Aunt Sally achievements.

Well apart from 1 outstanding Section D game which will be played next week the league season has come to an end on a bitterly cold September evening.

All section winners and runners up have now been decided after 18 weeks of competition and some of the winners and runners up only confirmed their positions as a consequence of last night’s results so the season for some really did go down to the wire!

Here is a list of all of the section winners and runners up, the normal weekly round up will follow in the next couple of days, but first of all let’s congratulate all of those who, in their respective sessions emerged as winners or runners up!

PREMIER

Winners….. Bystander A                                   Runners up….. Abingdon United/Con Club

A SECTION

Champions….. Red Lion A                                Runners up….. Plum Pudding

B SECTION

Champions….. Stanford FC                              Runners up….. The Bell A

C SECTION

Champions…..Abingdon Con Club                 Runners up…..The Bell B

D SECTION

Champions…..The Midget                                  Runners up…..Harwellian A

E SECTION

Champions…..The Wheatsheaf                        Runners up…..North Star A

F SECTION

Champions…..WADS Bar                                   Runners up…..Fleur de Leys B

Well done to, not just the winners and runners up and their players, but to everyone who has taken part throughout the Summer especially those teams and players who have made their Aunt Sally “debuts” in 2024! 

The Final Countdown

(with one more to go)

Well, the end is nigh! That is, to this year’s Summer league programme and there is still much to play for particularly in the lower sections where in the D,E and F sections both the Section champions and the runners up positions are still to be decided – this week’s fixtures will determine just who finishes where in these sections. The D section Harwellian A lead The Midget by just one point and travel to The Red Lion on Wednesday whilst The Midget will entertain Berinsfield SC B so whilst both teams are certain of a top 2 place in which order will only be sorted after their last games!!  The E section is similarly poised with The Wheatsheaf Didcot needing at least 3 points from their visit to RAL SC to pip their nearest rivals North Star A to the title and North Star have a short trip along the Hanney Road to play Hanney RBL in their final match knowing only a win will give them any chance of overhauling the Wheatsheaf. The F section is a straight fight between two newcomers with the WADS Bar at home to The Plough and the Fleur de Leys travelling to face Marcham Centre B. Both new teams to the league have done really well and can look forward to possibly stepping up at least one section in 2025 (subject to the usual averages calculations!).

The other league titles are sorted and although, in the Premier Abingdon United@Con Club can still draw level on points with league leaders Bystander A with a 6-0 victory when the y meet on Wednesday but the newly introduced rule at this years AGM of final positions being determined by total dolls it seems impossible that even a 6-0 result for the Premier league champions for several seasons will enable them to retain their crown for 2024! The A section is already sorted before this week’s game with Red Lion A finishing as Champions and the Plum Pudding runners up. Both sides have done well and with their respective handicaps and performances have managed to influence the outcome of the final league tables having taken points off all of the Premier sides during the season.

Abingdon Con Club have secured the C section as champions but the runners up spot is still to be decided and if The Bell B secure 4 points from their final game at the Waggon & Horses on Wednesday they will ensure they cannot be caught as their nearest rivals are the Boundary House can only watch and wait as their week 10 fixture is a bye and even a 4-2 victory for the Bell should be good enough with only 4 dolls separating the 2 teams! Finally the B section is sorted with Stanford in the Vale FC once again winning the league with the other Bell side finishing runners up.

Week 18 Round-up (but not the last game)

So what about last week’s fixtures and results? Well the most notable result in the Premier was Plum Pudding’s 4-2 win over Abingdon United@Con Club which effectively brought to an end, at least for one season, Abingdon United’s brilliant and long domination of the Premier section having won it for every season since 2014. United, as they have done throughout the season, set themselves very high standards and as usual both Dave Dix and Phil Adams led the way with 14 and 12 dolls and Phil’s 12 included another maximum 6, but a solid team performance from the Plum saw them notch 24 dolls to win the first leg and United then hit 29 dolls to take the second leg before a very narrow third leg saw the Plum edging it 28-27. An overall good performance from the Plum with solid scoring throughout with Terry Downes and “Bert” Chambers both scoring 9 to top the individual scoring for the home side.

Bystander took full advantage with Jason Bowler netting 13 dolls and Dave Hudson another double figure score when they beat the College Oak 6-0 with consistently good leg scores of 25, 28 and 28 and although the Oak also scored well with legs of 22, 21, and 27 it just wasn’t enough to stop the Bystander gaining maximum points and one hand on the Premier trophy! 

Elsewhere Berinsfield made in 10 points from their last 2 games, in what has been a lean season by their standards when they overcame Steventon Sports 4-2 and Richard Jones with 13 dolls top scored which included a maximum 6. Also in the Premier/A section The Vine had a welcome 4-2 victory over the already A section Champions Red Lion A. Roy Harrison top scored for The Vine alongside Danny Hamilton both with 9 dolls, but needing 1 for double figures the normally Mr Consistent Dan with 9 dolls to his name managed to record his first “blob” of the season in the 3rd leg!

In the B section Abingdon United C lost for the first time in 10 weeks going down 5-1 at The Fox despite a 10 doll haul from Matt Ashmall.  Stanford in the Vale FC’s 6-0 victory over the Croft Bar clinched the B section championship for them. William Glen with 12 dolls and Darren Bungay in support with 9 led the way for the football club who are the “boomerang” team of Abingdon Aunt Sally as they seem to spend their seasons with alternate spots in both the A and B sections! For the Croft a really good season is tailing off with them gaining only 1 point from their last 3 games!

The C section saw Boundary House winning 5-1 making a late bid for the runners up spot in their defeat of The Bear & Ragged Staff. The Waggon & Horses beat the Eight bells 4-2 and there were 3-3 draws between The Bell Grove B and the Royal Oak and between the Grapes A and the Prince of Wales.

In the D section a fine 10 dolls from Darren Mace was not good enough to stop Berinsfield B sealing a 5-1 result. Harwellian A won 6-0 at the Brewery Tap and Queens Arms won 4-2 at home to the College Oak B. Steve Dingle was the sections highest individual scorer clanging off 11 dolls for The Plough when they drew 3 apiece and it was a similar result between The Lamb A and The Chequers. 

Bystander B (now playing at their original home at the Fox, Boars Hill) were 5-1 winners against the North Star A in the E section and Marcham Centre A overcame Hanney RBL, Wheatsheaf inflicted another defeat on the Horse & Jockey A side despite Dave Stallard registering the highest individual score of the season for the Jockey with 8 dolls and Kate Dewar also set her personal highest of the season for Steventon Sports B 5-1 who were winners at the RAL Social.

There were 6-0 wins for both the Fleur de Leys B and the Bystander C sides over North Star B and Marcham Centre B. The Plough Appleton and Sutton Courtenay FC shared the points and the Horse & Jockey B were 5-1 victors over Grove Rugby Club in the E section.

Competitions

So it’s the last week of the league, but tomorrow night the much delayed team 3’s and team 4’s competitions will take place at the Croft Bar, next week it’s the turn of Abingdon United to stage the Finals Night when the finals of the 3’s and 4’s will take place together with the team 8’s final and the finals of both the Captain’s and Secretaries Competitions the earlier rounds have already taken place on Competition Sunday and the 8’s in previous weeks. 

The final competition to be held will be the Founders & Legends trophy which is open to all registered players aged 50 plus! This requires no pre-entry just turn up on the night which will be held next week on Thursday 19th (yes the day after Finals night I know, but there aren’t many days of late Summer left!) at Abingdon Conservative Club with a 7.30pm start.

For your diaries the last event of the season is our Annual Presentation Night which includes the semi finals and finals of both the Pairs and Singles Competitions, the semi and finalists all earned the right by qualifying at the Competition Sunday back in early August. This event will, this year, due to the unavailability of Abingdon United, be held at the Croft Bar Abingdon on Friday October 4th. More details to follow.