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Week 16 an with just 3 weeks of the league season left there’s still a lot to play for!

By on 28th August 2024 in Newsletter

Well, last week saw the race for the Premier section title take shape with Bystander A looking to be the major challenger to Abingdon Utd/Con Club’s recent years dominance of the title ! Bystander A made it 6 wins on the bounce as they saw off close rivals Croft Nomads 4-2 to take a one point lead over both the Croft and Abingdon United/Con Club who themselves were 5-1 winners over Berinsfield at the top of the table levelling their points total with that of the Croft who visit them this Wednesday. Both remain a point adrift of the Bystander with both Abingdon United and The Bystander having a game in hand so this week’s fixture between the two “chasers” and the final game of the season next month when Abingdon Utd/Con Club and Bystander meet will almost certainly determine where the Premier section title goes!!

Last week Bystander’s all round performance was enough to see off the Nomads with Dave Hudson, Jason Bowler and Andrew Morton all hitting 9 dolls apiece and skipper Steve Martin and Duncan Taylor both contributed  8 dolls of their own to see the Bystander to victory. This despite the best efforts of Dave Butler and Alan Bell who both hit 10 dolls and they were well supported by Martin Robinson, Barry Townsend and Steve Enock who all hit 9 dolls for the Croft.

Foe Abingdon Utd/Con Club Dave Dix top scored with 14 dolls, Phil, Adams hit 12 and Paul Barrett included the only 6 doll leg in his 11 as they overcame Berinsfield A 5-1 and for Berinsfield this represented their 6th straight defeat which is both surprising and really unusual! Their  leg scores of 24, 16 and 12 probably illustrates how inconsistent they have been this season!

Phil Adams 12 dolls on the night makes him the second player with a doll average in excess of 4 per leg. Phil is now only headed in terms of average, of course, by Dave Dix who has played a game less so Phil atually leads on dolls scored!

Elsewhere in the Premier/A section there were wins for The Red Lion Drayton who beat College Oak 4-2 bringing an end to the Oak’s run of 4 straight wins. Dean Bowler’s recent  return to his usual good form saw him hit 11 dolls whilst Phil Soden top scored with 9 dolls for the College. The Vine had cause to celebrate last week with their first win since week 5 in beating Steventon Sports A 4-2 . Danny Hamilton again led the way for the Vine with 10 dolls and in a disappointing night for Steventon no-one player was able to manage more than 6 dolls on the night!

The B section saw Abingdon Utd extend their unbeaten run to 8 games with Trevor Harrhy for United and Andrew Wilson for the Plough both hitting 10 dolls each as the teams shared the points 3 apiece.  League leaders Stanford in the Vale FC had a really disappointing night and lost the top spot after a 5-1 defeat at Abingdon Legion and they only managed to score 27 dolls over the 3 legs!  Both the Bell Grove teams in the B and C sections enjoyed a maximum 6 points against The Croft Bar and the Prince of Wales respectively.  Also in the  B section there were wins for the  Fleur de Leys A  and in the  C section there were wins for leaders Abingdon Con Club and for The Bear and Ragged Staff  for whom Rick Bailey top scored with 11 dolls as they beat the Royal Oak 4-2.

The D section produced wins for The Lamb Wantage A, The Chequers and the Wheatsheaf Didcot and the best individual doll haul in this section was from Cam King for the Brewery Tap but his 10 dolls weren’t enough to prevent the Tap going down  4-2.  The E section saw RAL gain their third successive win overcoming Hanney RBL 4-2 and in the F section league WADS Bar registered their 4th successive win as Gareth Brown led the way with 10 dolls as they beat Sutton Courtney FC 6-0.

So how has last week’s results affected the League tables? Well I have already mentioned the Premier race which still features 3 teams still with a chance, but Croft having played a game more  are probably the outsiders in a 3 team race to the title. Red Lion look favourites for the A section as they head second placed Plum Pudding and although Plum have a game in hand they trail the Lion by 14 points so with the Lion still having just 2 games to play they require only 4 more points to secure the title.

In the B section the defeat last week’s defeat of Stanford FC has let The Bell A take over at the top with just 3 games remaining for both including a head to head this week!  The C section still has Abingdon Con Club well clear with just 2 to play, the  D section looks to be a race between The Midget and Harwellian A who are separated by just 5 points. The E section   and the F sections are both all still to play for as only a couple of points sit between the North Star A and Wheatsheaf teams in the E section and similarly there is little between the current leaders WADs Bar and Fleur de Leys B in the F section.

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Error on week 15 Premier results

By on 20th August 2024 in Newsletter

Some of you with  eagle eyes may have noticed that the Abingdon Utd/ConcClub score for week 15 was incorrect. I had to amend the original scorecard because of an error on the Steventon team scorecard and in doing so Phil Adams score was omitted from the re-entered scores which meant that the score was registered as a 6-0 win for Steventon when of course it should have been a 4-2 win for Abingdon Utd/Con Club.

That has now been rectified and Phil Adams scores re-instated!

Apologies to those who noticed my error which was probably caused by wishful thinking!

 

 

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Week 15 highlights and a look at the league tables with just 4 weeks to go

By on 20th August 2024 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Well certainly the highlight of last week was a cracking 14 dolls including a 6, one of only 3 last week, for Derrick Brown who plays for the WADS bar in the F section. His doll hall, the highest individual score of the week also took Derrick past 100 dolls for the season so far, the first player outside of the Premier/A sections to become a centurian this season. Congratulations Derrick!

The Premier league continues to be a tightly fought contest with the Bystander A side recording their sixth successive victory with a comprehensive 6-0 win over Berinsfield SCA. Jason Bowler with 11 dolls and Roy Taylor on one of his rare appearances weighed in with 10 of his own.

Elsewhere within the Premier there were 4-2 wins for both Abingdon Utd and Croft Nomads against Steventon Sports and Red Lion so it continues to be a 3 horse race in the Premier with Ab Utd and Berinsfield both having a game in hand over the Croft. Dave Dix and Phil Adams jointly top scored with 13 dolls apiece for Utd and Alan Bell with 11 dolls was ably assisted by Dave Butler with his first double figures of the season for the Croft. For the Red Lion Dean Bowler continued his good run of form with 11 dolls. 

Elsewhere within the Premier/A Section College Oak made it 4 successive wins with a 4-2 victory over the Plum Pudding for whom Dave (Foxy) Worrall hit an opening leg 6 only to follow that with a second leg blob! For Plum Pudding missing the holidaying Terry Downes, Mick Samways and Simon Reeve both hit 10 dolls.

The B section highlight was Abingdon United making it 6 games unbeaten when they drew 3 each with The Bell A.

Stanford in the Vale FC maybe viewing the prospect of a return to the A section in 2025 had Darren Kitchen top scoring with 10 dolls in a 5-1 win over The Plough. Harwellian B with 2 legs featuring both 5 dolls and blob legs from Ryan Cload and Neil Campbell beat the Grapes, for whom Lee Brown top scored with another 10 doll haul, 4-2.

Brian Hudson top scored for the Croft Bar when they returned from the Fox, Denchworth with a 4-2 win.

The C section saw Abingdon Con Club victorious 5-1 over the Boundary House. Like one of the other “sixers” on the night Con Club’s skipper Mickey Neal promptly followed his magnificent first leg with a third leg “blob” which probably led to the “chicken” being brought out by his team mates!

I promised a look at the league tables and the race towards the individual top doll counts for each of the sections as we approach the last month of the league season.

As already mentioned it’s a 3 horse race in the premier with Bystander’s recent run of 6 straight wins probably making them slight favourites at the moment, but the top 3 all still have to play each other so it could go right to the last game of the season, the match postponed from week 10 between them and Ab Utd/Con Club on the 14th September.

The A section sees Red Lion A 10 points clear with just 3 to play and it could still be tight as their last week of the season is a bye so they will be hoping to remain at least 6 points clear by then!

The B section seems to be a fight between Stanford in the Vale FC and the Bell A who are separated by just 2 points and the Croft Bar are 5 points behind but these top 3 all still have to play each other.

The C section is Abingdon Con Club’s to lose as they have a very healthy 15 point lead with only 3 games to play and the D section looks to be between the Midget and Harwellian A who are 5 points adrift.

The E section is led by North Star A with a 6 point lead, but that could be narrowed when second placed The Wheatsheaf play their game in hand this week.

The F section looks to be a straight contest between two newcomers – WADS Bar and the Fleur de Leys and they meet next week so that game may prove to be decisive come mid September!

Looking at the top dolls for each of the sections there’s still lots to play for! In the Premier teammates Dave Dix with 135 and Phil Adams with 132 are well clear of the rest, in the A section Dean Bowler, Paul Leach and Danny Hamilton are all within 3 dolls of each other, the B section is equally as close with just 7 dolls between the top 4 who are Paul Ealey and Dave Sapey from Abingdon RBL, Lee Brown of the Grapes and Andy Shipman of Harwellian B and they are all likely to reach their 2024 centuries when they next play as is Tom Lach of Abingdon Con Club who just needs 6 dolls to reach his “ton”.

In the D section the race to top doll scorer is led by Roly Bunce from the Chequers followed by Ian Cooksley of the Harwellian and in the E section Darren Bennett from the Wheatsheaf leads the way just ahead of Jim Lister from the North Star. In the F section Derrick Browns’ magnificent 14 dolls last week took him to 102 dolls for the season which not only puts him well in the lead to become the F section’s top “doller” it puts him into the top 10 doll scorers for all of the combined sections including the Premier probably time Derrick to appoint an agent!!

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Week 14 Review

By on 13th August 2024 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Week 14 is now behind us so the close season is only a matter of  a few weeks to go and with that the prospect of the end of summer, and certainly the Wednesdays seem to simply fly by!

So last week’s round up. With Abingdon Utd/Con Club having a Wednesday bye their nearest challengers Bystander A and Croft Nomads both took the opportunity to record 4-2 victories with the Bystander’s having a 4th successive win at Steventon Sports with Steve Martin leading the way with 11 dolls and Jason Bowler contributing a further 10 for the Bystander.  For the Sports Derek Fletcher top scored with 10 dolls.

Meanwhile at Berinsfield a very tight encounter with only 3 dolls separating the teams over the 3 legs. Croft Nomads just edged the win thanks largely to Barry Townsend who included a second leg 6  (the only one of the week) in his 11 dolls, shame as anchor man he needed 7 to level the leg, Martin Robinson with 11 and Ian Brook contributed 10. For Berinsfield Shaggy Phelps top scored with the highest individual tally of 12.

Elsewhere in the A section College Oak secured their 3rd straight win 6-0 over The Vine and Dave “Foxy” Worrell and Mattie Belcher top scored with 10 and 11 dolls retrospectively and Danny Hamilton also hit 10 dolls in reply for the Vine and the Red Lion beat the Plum Pudding 5-1 with the reliable Dean Bowler top scoring with 11 dolls for the Lion.

The B section Abingdon United made it 6 straight wins when returning with a 5-1 result when visiting Harwellian B, Abingdon RBL also were victorious beating the Plough, Wittenham 6-0 and skipper Paul Ealey hit the best score of the night with his 13 dolls ably aided by his the team secretary, Dave Sapey who added 10 dolls of his own! There were also wins for The Bell A and for the Croft Bar against  The Fox, Denchworth and the Grapes B respectively.

In Section C League leaders Abingdon Con Club were winners on the night beating visitors Royal Oak 4-2 with 10 doll contributions for Tom Lach for the home side and Max Winterbourne for the Oak.

Also winners on the night in the C section were The Waggon and Horses, Prince of Wales and the Bell B, in the D section winners were Queens Arms , College Oak B, Harwellian A, and The Chequers, Charney in the E section Marcham Centre A, RAL SC, and North Star and in the F section Bystander C, Fleur de Leys B for whom Tom Baptie and David Bartlett both hit one leg of a 5 leg each in their 8 doll haul and the WADS Bar were all winners in that section.

A maybe interesting (to some!) facts of the night were that there were only two 3-3 results last week and they features both the Lamb Wantage sides and a less welcome fact (again to some!) was the two Grapes sides were both on the wrong end of 6-0 defeats, for the first time this season and maybe for the first time ever!

That’s all folks about last week (still 1 result outstanding!). Next week we will have a closer look at the league tables and the individual leading doll scorers as we reach the last quarter of our Summer season.

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Competitions Sunday August 11th at Abingdon United FC

By on 10th August 2024 in Newsletter

Tomorrow’s Competitions for the Pairs, Singles, Captains and Secretaries will remain open for entries until 12.45pm at Abingdon United. The draw for each of the Competitions will take place at 1pm and play will commence at 1.30pm.

All players that have already entered should have been notified of the start time by their Captains, but we are still open to entries on the day and are desperately in need of at least 1 more captain to give us the minimum number of entries as we have had a fairly late withdrawal.

The draw will only include those players and late entrants who are actually present at 1pm to minimise both  the risk of  walkovers and  to reduce the number of  byes in the early rounds.

At the moment we are expecting  around 28 entrants for the singles, 16 pairs, 8 for the secretaries and if we can find at least one more 8 for the Captains, but hopefully we will have a few more on the day to make all of the Competitions truly competitive. Practice will be available, hopefully,  from 12.30

All legs will be the best of 3, but one change this year is that in the event of a tied leg the former 3 sticks rule which applied to each leg will only apply should a third leg be necessary. This should reduce the time taken to complete ties.

The order of play will be determined on the day, but it is probable that the singles will be the final competition and all being well we will be finished by late afternoon. (the bar will be open throughout!)

If anyone not entered wants to add their names please feel free to contact me in the next 24 hours (roger,nichols@hotmail.com) or 07768 427268  as that will make the planning on the day a little easier!

News about the remaining competitions (team 3’s, 3’s and 5’s and Founders) will be sorted out in the next couple of weeks, but at the moment we do still need a couple of more entries for all of the team competitions and the Founders will take place during September and is open to all registered players aged 50+ and is a turn up on the night event.

Competitions  are an essential part of the League’s heritage and have taken place since the league was founded over 60 years ago and have been fiercely competed by so many over the years.

We, as a Committee, are absolutely determined to maintain the tradition, but we can only do that f teams and individuals choose to enter. This year has been difficult to get  a really representative entry to several and we will continue to strive to find a format which encourages more entries for all of our competitions in 2025.

Hoping for a good turnout and some great competitions tomorrow with the promise of very warm weather and cool beer!

 

 

 

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Week 13

By on 6th August 2024 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Last week saw some more interesting results and a mix of results across the sections. In the Premier/A section AbingdonUtd/ConClub were surprisingly beaten 5-1 by a determined College Oak A in what was a tight encounter the first leg being drawn with both sides registering 27 dolls, the second leg edgesd it by 1 doll and then the next leg Oak scored 28 to secure the 5-1 result.. College Captain Phil Soden top scored with 12 dolls and he was ably supported by Kev Chapman who notched 11 dolls. For Ab Utd/Con Club Phil Adams led the way with 13 dolls, Dave Dix added another 12 to his tally and Scott Humphries added 11 of his own. 

Elsewhere in the Premier Croft Nomads registered their highest leg score with 32 dolls in the opening leg against Steventon Sports which included a 6 from Ian Brook. Steventon Sports set 23 in the second leg anchor man Barry Townsend needing 5 dolls to win the leg duly clanged them off to enable the Nomads to “steal” the leg 24 -23. The third leg saw Steventon Sports set 28 and that was more than enough for the leg and earn them 2 points. For Steventon Sports Grahame Brind top scored with 10 dolls, for the Nomads and Barrie Townsend led the way with 12 dolls.

Red Lion A were 4-2 winners against Berinsfield and The Vine went down by the same score at home against The Plu Pudding despite Danny Hamilton top scoring on the night with 10 dolls for the Vine.

2 more players reached their hundred dolls for the season last week joining Phil Adams and Dave Dix who had already hit their first hundred dolls a couple of weeks earlier and are now joined by Leigh Clapton and Ian Brook. In the next couple of weeks the “100 club” will be joined by many more as 11 players are going to reach that significant milestone within the next couple of weeks and not all of those are playing in the Premier/A sections!

The B section saw a first 6 of the season for Abingdon United from Eddie Jeffries and a 5 from Mick James put the first leg way beyond their visitors from the Croft and set up the United side for a welcome 4-2 win. Also in the B section 10’s from both Dave and Billy Collet were not enough to stop The Bell securing a 5-1 result for whom Steve Weeks also hit 10 dolls. 

The Fox Denchworth also had a welcome second successive win with Steve Lambert’s 11 dolls helping them to a 4-2 win over The Grapes B for whom Lee Brown also hit 11 dolls.

In the C section Cumnor’s Bear & Ragged Staff with Mark McCracken hit his best of the season with 11 dolls to lead the way to a 6-0 result at the Waggon & Horses.

Finally a mention to the Midget who defeated the Chequers 6-0 in the D section on what must have been a difficult night for the home sides players as tragically, their former Captain and long time regular  player Kev Kogel died as a result of an accident a few days previously whilst he was on a golfing trip in Cyprus.

On behalf of all of the Aunt Sally community our condolences are extended to all of Kevin’s family especially his to his wife and children, his Mum and Dad, Andrea and Paul, his brothers Lee and Justin and all of his extended family and his many, many friends. RIP Kevin

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Week 12 review plus a new and unexpected challenge and a final call for Competition entries

By on 30th July 2024 in Competition News, Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Before I start with a review of last week’s highlights I need to highlight a totally unexpected situation which we experienced last week and one which led to the unfortunate abandonment of  a league match in Section E between the Bystander B and Horse & Jockey A teams. It was a situation which previously we, as a league were totally unaware of, but which we need to bring to all of our teams attention. the Horse & Jockey had a number of players unavailable so the young daughter of the team  captain was playing. She was a registered player, but is only 14 years old (there is no age restriction for registering players).

If the game had been played at the Horse & Jockey there would have been no problem, but the match was at the Bystander and although there is signage displayed at the pub entrance stating the conditions there is a licensing condition imposed on the Bystander licence which restricts under age children/young adults using the pub after 9pm including the garden where Aunt Sally is played. On this occasion, and at 9pm the 14 year old from Stanford in the Vale was told she had  to leave and as she was 14 and no way of getting home alone that caused the match to be postponed midway through the second leg. Quite rightly other members of the team had to ensure she had transport home from Wootton!! All very unfortunate.

We were unaware of this restriction as indeed were the visiting side from the Horse & Jockey before last Wednesday. After questioning this “rule” with the Area Manager from Greene King it appears this is just one of several “special conditions” that can be applied to licensees by the licensing authority. Breaches of this can, if reported, result in fines being levied and potentially the pub licence being  revoked.

Whilst on this occasion it was addressed by the licensee and affected one of our  players the restriction  would also apply to ANY under age child on the premises. So if a player was to take an under age child to the Bystander as a spectator on a warm and balmy Summer’s evening particularly during the school holidays they would/should be asked to leave at 9pm and in most events with games starting  8.15  this would be midway through the match. Fortunately, both sides were mature enough to agree a match outcome, but the evening was spoilt for both sides due to this previously unknown (until last Wednesday) restriction.

A lesson for us is that we need, before registering any team in future years,  to understand whether there may be any restrictions limiting the prospect of Aunt Sally being played there or even spectated by children!! Really disappointing at a time when we are trying,  and this year succeeding,  to “grow” the league again post Covid as well as most  importantly, getting people, via the game of  Aunt Sally back into pubs spending money on Wednesday evening’s throughout the Summer.

If that was the lowlight of last week let’s now move on to look at last week’s highlights.

In the Premier/A section the two leading teams in the Premier both fell to defeat to sides,  who are now the leading 2 teams in the A section.  Abingdon Utd/Con Club retained the Premier top position despite their 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Red Lion Drayton whose win made this a league double over Ab Utd/Con Club. This defeat was despite a contribution of 13 dolls from Dave Dix, together with 12 from Leigh Clapton (including a 6) and 11 from Phil Adams for Con Club/Utd. For the Lion Dean Bowler led the way with 11 dolls and Scottie Tabor also returned double figures with 10.

Croft Nomads lost 4-2 at the Plum Pudding and this defeat enabled the Bystander to move into second place following their comprehensive 6-0 victory over The Vine. This was The Bystander’s third win on the bounce and The Vine’s 5th straight defeat. Croft Nomads top scorer was Alan Bell with another 13 doll haul and Barry Townsend also weighed in with 10 dolls, but Paul Leach’s 11 including a second leg 6 was a major contributor for the Plum in a game where over the 3 legs were separated by only 1 doll but crucially 2 points! The Bystander top scores were all 10’s from Dave Hudson, Jason Bowler and Jumbo Mott and the collective team amassed 76 dolls on the night!

Elsewhere in the Premier Alec Chamberlain was another star with a 13 doll haul for Berinsfield SC A but his efforts were in vain as College Oak ended a 3 match losing run with a 4-2 victory.

Elsewhere last week in the B section The Croft Bar got back to winning ways with a 4-2 home win against The Plough Long Wittenham and the Fox Denchworth enjoyed their first win since the opening week of the season beating Abingdon RBL with a maximum 6 points. Notable other individual double digit scorer on the night was Mark Newman for the Prince of Wales Shippon with 10 dolls.

COMPETITIONS

I need now to move to make a last impassioned plea to save our competitions for 2024. At the recent AGM it was agreed that any Competition with less than 8 entries would not be held this summer. We have tried, now on several occasions to enrol more entries by both sending out reminders to Captains and Secretaries as well as on the website.

I am pleased to say that has, in part, been successful and we have now sufficient entries in both the singles and pairs, but we are still short in others. To run the Captains and Secretaries competitions we need 2 more entries for each, so come on, there must be some Captains and Secretaries out there who are prepared to enter and ensure the future of these competitions. Also we need at least 2 more entries for both the team 4’s and the Red Drive team of 3’s to enable those competitions to go ahead.  In our last desperate plea we have decided to allow late, late entries and we will accept entries right up until after next week’s league fixtures on Wednesday August 7th.

The singles and pairs competitions will take place at Abingdon United FC on Sunday August 11th with, probably, a 1pm draw and a 1.30 start. If we do get the additional entries we need we will play the Captains and Secretaries Competitions on the same day. The 3’s and 4’s if we do get some late entries will need to be arranged although we could possibly play those on the same day using the second throw. Unfortunately it doesn’t look as we will generate sufficient entries to stage the Tom Simmon’s 5’s trophy this year. That is really unfortunate because our President John Simmons has a vested interest in this Competition having both previously been on the winning side (more than once) and as the Trophy was presented and named in memory of his father. 

SO DO TRY TO RUSTLE UP ENOUGH PLAYERS TO MAINTAIN THE LONG ESTABLISHED TRADITION OF BOTH INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM COMPETITIONS TAKING PLACE EACH SEASON AND PROVIDING EVERYONE WITH THE OPPORTUNITY OF COMPETING! WITHOUT THESE COMPETITIONS IT WILL BE LIKE FOOTBALL WITHOUT THE FA CUP AND WE ALL KNOW THAT OFTEN THE UNDEDRDOGS BEAT THE FAVOURITES IN ALL SPORTS!!

The 8’s competition is taking place and has reached the semi final stage with ties to be played before the end of August and there is only one team from the Premier/A section left so that should give us all the hope of causing an upset!! The semi draw is available in a separate post.

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Week 11 review

By on 24th July 2024 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

A very quick resume of last week’s results and individual performances across the sections. 

Let me start with the Premier and A section where Phil Adams and Dave Dix both posted maximum 6’s in Abingdon United/Con Clubs 4-2 home win over The Vine to maintain their lead at the top of the Premier. Phil actually posted the top score of the night with 14 dolls and he was well supported by team mates Dave Dix with 11 dolls and both Leigh Clapton and Ken Fisher who hit 10 apiece, so 45 dolls from 4 players on the night illustrates the strength of the league leaders. For the Vine Danny Hamilton hit 10 dolls.

Elsewhere in the Premier the Bystander were also 4-2 winners against the Plum Pudding at the “new” temporary venue for the Bystander who are playing their next 3 home matches at The Vine. David Mott hit his best of the season with 13 dolls ably assisted by Steve Martin and Andrew Morton who both scored double figures with 10 dolls each.

Also hitting 10 dolls were Alan Bell and Richard Berry for Croft Nomads in their narrow 6-0 win at home to College Oak A. Thanks to Phil Soden for reminding me that the closest of last week’s local derbies was this one! Where the College Oak A side didn’t even need to cross the road for their away trip to the Croft!! Perhaps I should have  known that!!

10 dolls from Colin Brind wasn’t enough to earn Steventon Sports A anything other than 1 point as they went down 5-1 to The Red Lion for whom Ian Rogers top scored with 11.

In the B section Stanford in the Vale FC secured another 6-0 victory over The Fox Denchworth and the Croft Bar experienced their first 6-0 result of the season, but unfortunately they were on the wrong end of that score line with hosts Abingdon RBL securing the 6 points. The Plough, Long Wittenham with Dave Collett top scoring with 10 dolls were also 6-0 victors against Harwellian B for whom Gary Daluvzvieira following his first 2 leg 1’s with a 5 in the third. In a section of 6-0 wins it was also the same result, a victory for The Bell Grove when they visited the Fleur de Leys at Hagbourne.

The C section individual highlight was John Miles a recent world championship entrant hitting 10 dolls for league leaders Abingdon Con Club as they defeated hosts The Grapes 5-1.

In the D section Harwellian A defeated Berinsfield SC B 5-1 and Marshall Muldoon included a 5 doll leg on the night. The Plough Hanney were also defeated 4-2 by visitors Queens Arms with the Plough only hitting 19 dolls on the night 8 of which were scored by Steve Dingle! Also in the D section there were very credible scores from Ian Northover with 10 dolls in the Tap’s 4-2 win against the College Oak B and Richard Pike scored with 9 dolls for the Lamb A at the Red Lion Drayton.

Other outstanding individual performances to note last week  were Chris Judkins who hit the E section’s first maximum leg in his 11 dolls for Hanney RBL against The Bystander B and Gareth Brown’s 12 doll total for the WADs bar as they maintained their chase for the F section championship with a 6-0  win over the Bystander C.

This week the most local of derbies will take place at the Vine Cumnor who welcome their new “lodgers” Bystander A,

Finally the draw for the semi finals will be made this week and decisions taken in the next few days and confirmed online about all of the other Competitions due to take place either on Sunday August 11th, or in the case of the other team competitions on dated to be arranged (subject to sufficient entries being received before next week’s meeting of the Committee).

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They think it’s all over, well it is for England but not for Abingdon Aunt Sally, we are only halfway there!

By on 16th July 2024 in Competition News, Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Well, most of us have been distracted by the Football, some of us by the Tennis at Wimbledon and we also had 3 days of Test Cricket and that’s all in the last week and like most sports there was a mix of good and bad, highs and lows, disappointments and ecstasy depending on who you support. The European Championship Cup Final was a major disappointment, but also a good performance reaching the final of a major championship which France, Germany, Portugal and 19 other countries didn’t!

The tennis saw us have a really good number of English players reach the main competition, but there was never any real expectation of an English player making it through to the final stages of the singles competitions. In cricket we enjoyed a resounding win in the first test against the West Indies, but that was only the first of leg with two still to play!

So after missing last week to enable us to focus on our national sports it’s back to the bread and butter with the focus well and truly back on our own Aunt Sally league. We still have 50% of our games still to play so nothing can be decided or assumed yet! The one thing that is certain is that there will be winners and losers in all of our sections at the end of the season and like all sports we will be either delighted with our individual or team performances or disappointed that we didn’t play as well as we could or should have done! That’s what team sports and games are all about!

Talking of Competitions we have still not received any additional entries for the team 3’s, 4’s, and 5’s  nor the Secretaries and Captains competitions and with the closing date only a couple of days away it really does look as if we will be unable to stage these comps this year simply because of a lack of entries which is extremely disappointing when you think we have 56 teams in our league each with a Captain and a Secretary and over 600 registered players! Still not to late though, but the closing date is Thursday and that cannot be extended any further!

So what does this Wednesday look like in terms of fixtures? Well, there are a few local or near local derbys. In the Premier/A section Steventon Sports entertain Red Lion Drayton who are just 3 bus stops down the road, in the B section league leaders host their near neighbours from Denchworth, the Fox, though I doubt there are any buses from Denchworth to Stanford on on a Wednesday evening!  The Grapes B make the short trip to Abingdon United. The C section sees Abingdon Con Club make the short trip up Ock Street to play the Grapes A and might pass the Brewery Tap players as they make their way to North Abingdon to take on the College Oak B in section D where the Plough Hanney renew rivalry with near neighbours from the Chequers at neighbouring Charney Bassett. In the E section there’s a battle of the Causeway when the teams from Steventon Sports and the North Star meet at the Star, but the closest of all the near derbys will take place in Wootton where the Bystander C have to cross the road to get to the WAD’s bar!

Have a good week and don’t forget those last minute Competition entries!!

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It’s a belated week 9 round up and a halfway review of the league tables

By on 12th July 2024 in Newsletter

Firstly, apologies for the delayed post. Blame my pre-occupation with the Euro’s and, together with the rest of the Committee, trying to determine how to manage the week 10 programme after England’s progress to the semi final stage which, in the games before last Saturday’s quarter final, seemed pretty unlikely. Last night’s semi final and our progress to Sunday’s final did, I think, justify our decision to postpone all of our scheduled week 10 fixtures which will now all be played on September 11th.

It does mean we will need to re-arrange the team competitions (3’s,4’s and 5’s) which we had scheduled provisionally for that day assuming that in the next few days (closing date next Thursday July 18th) so we do still need more entries to get the minimum numbers for these Competitions. At the moment we are still short of the 8 team entries per competition required.

Well, time to look back at week 9 results and some of the highlights across the sections. In the Premier section Abingdon Utd/Con Club’s 5-1 victory over the Plum Pudding enabled them to go 6 points clear at the top of the table. They were well served by Dave Dix and Leigh Clapton both  top scoring with 12 dolls apiece and Phil Adams weighed in with his customary double figures this time with just 11!

Also in the Premier Bystander closed the gap to second placed Croft Nomads to just 1 point when 12 dolls from Jumbo Mott and 10 from Jason Bowler saw them get a maximum 6 points against College Oak. Also Steventon Sports  enjoyed a 6-0 return against Berinsfield despite another 12 doll haul from Alec Chamberlain for the home side.  For the Sports it was Father and Son Derek and Ricky Fletcher both hitting 11 dolls and Doug Bolton with 10 of his own who helped Steventon to their bets result of the season to date.

The B section saw a game of 2 halves,  2 legions  and 2 competitions take place on the same night at Abingdon RBL when the home side entertained the Harwellian side who play at the former Harwell RBL club. The 2 sides played  a double header firstly playing their 8′ s quarter final which Abingdon won 2 legs to 1 Then they followed that with their scheduled league fixture, and perhaps the Harwellian side’s concentration and stamina was superior to their hosts because they turned that 8’s defeat into a 6-0 league win with 9 the dolls apiece from Rick Vincent and Andy Shipman leading the way.

There were 2 other 6-o victories in the B section that night when Lee Brown’s 11 dolls helped the Grapes B to a 6-0 win against The Bell and also Karl Ford hit 10 dolls when the Boundary House saw off the Bear & Ragged Staff by the same score line 

In the C section Royal Oak beat he Bell Grove A 4-2 despite Liam Brooks 10 doll return for the Bell 

Some other notable individual scores on the night were in the E section where Jim Lister’s 11 dolls for North Star A enabled the Star to win their encounter 6-0 against The Bystander B side and again in the E section Nick Moore hit a magnificent last leg 6 for  visitors RAL SC who turned over Steventon Sports B on the Green 6-0 to record probably their best result of the season to date.

So, how do the league tables look at the halfway stage of the season. As mentioned earlier Ab Con Club/United lead the Premier by 6 points and the battle for second place is looking tight with only the one point now separating Croft Nomads and The Bystander A. Remarkably in the Premier/A section when you look at the total dolls (including handicaps) 8 of the 9 teams are  separated by only 34 dolls! Who says the handicap system doesn’t work!

The B section sees Stanford in the Vale FC still leading after their 4-2 win over the previously unbeaten Croft Bar who in turn drop to 3rd place behind the Grapes who have a superior doll count.

Abingdon Con Club who had their bye in week 9 still lead the way in the C section and in the D section Harwellian  are heading the table, one point above The Midget. Newcomers Horse & Jockey A are at the foot of the table and are still looking to register their first points! 

The E section is also tight with The Wheatsheaf heading the table by 2 points from second placed North Star A and in the F section it looks like a battle between 2 new entrants with the Fleur de Leys just the one point head from the Fleur de Leys B. 

Looking at the top dolls at the midpoint of the season it looks as if Phil Adams will be first to the 100 dolls mark needing just 4 dolls next Wednesday to pip team mate Dave Dix who has played a game less than Phil so has a higher doll average. The Premier top 10 includes 5 of the Ab. Utd/Con Club, 4 from Croft Nomads and skipper Steve Martin of the Bystander. In the A section Paul Leach of the Plum Pudding leads the doll count by just 1 doll from Danny Hamilton from the Vine followed by Terry Downes who is just 1 doll further back.

Tight at the moment in the B section with Andy Shipman of the Harwellian  just a couple of dolls ahead of Dave Sapey and in the C section Liam Brooks is being chased by Steve Soden in the doll race, Roly Burns heads Rick Selby having played a game more than Rick at the halfway stage in the D section. The Wheatsheaf’s Darren Bennett comfortably leads the E section’s highest dolls, but in the F section the WAD’s Derrick Brown is shading North Star’s Rob Baker by just the one doll.

So in summary the Competition for both league honour’s and top dolls  in each of the sections is, after 9 weeks of competition,  being fiercely contested and if  the second half of our Summer season stays that way we are in for some tight finishes come September!

My final reminder this week about Competition entries all of which will close next week.  The 8’s are approaching the semi final stage, the singles and pairs will take place at Abingdon United on Sunday August 11th with entries still open, but all of the remaining Competitions are still in doubt unless we get more entries this week, that’s the team 3’s, 4’s, and 5’s and the individual Captain’s and Secretaries. We, on the Committee,  want all of these Competitions to take, they are a big part of our heritage, but if we don’t get th entries it won’t happen this year! So get those entries in now! 

 

 

 

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