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Last won in 1992 by Abingdon RBL
Did you know the League has a Highest Leg Score trophy? Last won by Abingdon RBL in 1992 with a leg score of 37, yes THIRTY SEVEN!
I mention it now because we’ve been given a newspaper clipping from the occasion. If you have any old clips, programmes or photos let us know!
Well, the Summer 2023 season has finally come to an end yes I know it’s November, but it was the Finals of 3 of our Summer Competitions followed by the Presentation of Trophies for all of our League, team and individual winners and runners up!
The presentation Night was well attended and kicked off with the final of the Captains competition which had been held over from Finals Night back in September. Participants were Mick Greenaway for Berinsfield SC A and Dave Sapey representing Abingdon RBL. It was surprisingly a low scoring contest which Mick won 2 legs to 0 setting 2 in the first leg which was matched by Dave, but then set another 2 with his 3 sticks and Dave could only manage 1 in reply, so first leg to Mick who also took the second leg by 2 dolls to 1 to clinch the title.
Next up were the Pairs semi final and the first of these featured Ken Fisher and Barry Townsend of the Plum Pudding pitched against Scott Humphries and Leigh Clapton from the Abingdon United @Con Club side. Again this first semi final was won in 2 straight legs, the first leg saw all 4 players hit 3 dolls each, but Ken and Barry clinched the leg with 2 dolls apiece with their 3 sticks and Scott and Leigh’s efforts fell short by 1 doll. The second leg was a 5 doll to 4 clincher by Ken and Barry to take the first semi. Barry incidentally was replacing Phil Adams who despite qualifying for both the Pairs and Singles semi finals was unable to take part due to a recent operation, but he was there supporting both his team mates and the evening.
The second semi final featured Tony Beechers and Martin Rawlings from the Berinsfied B side who did great to reach this stage against the second Plum Pudding semi finalists Dave Butler and Paul Longford. This was the first game of the evening to go to 3 legs and in another low scoring first 2 legs which were shared 1 apiece, a first 5 doll haul of the evening from DLB supported by a 2 from his partner Paul Longford secured a place in what was to be an all Plum Pudding final.
Next up was the scheduled singles semi finals which actually due to Phil Adam’s unavailability presented a bye straight to the final for Leigh Clapton with the other semi final contested between Steve Enock from Croft Nomads and Paul Longford. Another disappointing low scoring game with the first leg being won on a 3 stick shoot out Paul edged Steve, who had been in really good form throughout the Summer and in the early days of the Winter season, but couldn’t find that form on the night and Paul reached the final, winning in 2 straight legs.
So to the Finals, first up it was the Pairs final featuring the 2 Plum Pudding teams. This was probably the closest game of the evening even though it was won in 2 straight legs. It was also the best scoring game of the night featuring another 5 doll hit from Ken Fisher and a pair of 4’s from Dave Butler in response, but Dave’s efforts were in vain as Ken and Barry emerged victors winning the first leg 7-6 and the second leg 6-5.
Then it was the last game of the evening, with the coveted Singles title up for grabs Paul Longford taking on Leigh Clapton. This went to 3 legs with Paul Longford winning the first after a 3 stick shoot out both players hitting 2 dolls with their first 6 sticks and then Paul’s 1 doll with 3 sticks clinching the opening leg. In the second leg both players improved and both hit 3 dolls so again it was a 3 sticker, and they still couldn’t be separated hitting 1 doll apiece and then it was down to 1 stick each and this time Leigh secured the leg by scoring with his 1 doll and with the pressure on Paul he just failed to make a doll with his 1 stick. The 3rd leg was another close affair, but Leigh secured the 2023 Singles title with a 3-2 success.
Congratulations to all who played on the night as well as the will to progress and win one of the titles on offer they had to do it against the backcloth of a large and sometimes noisy, but always supportive group of the wider Aunt Sally family.
So it was then onto the Presentations of all of the Trophies which our President John Simmons duly presented. I imagine John’s right arm was aching by the end of the night as there were not only the trophies to hand over, but also the shaking of so many hands as so many of us were so pleased to see John back amongst us. The night also featured our usual grand raffle which saw The Vine scoop many of the prizes including two mystery cash prizes of £50 and £25.
A final thank you to everyone who attended and made the night a successful one to close our 2023 Summer season. A special thanks to Mick Samways and Kevin Lewis for taking responsibility for selling raffle tickets on our behalf, the proceeds of which paid for most of the evening’s expenses. Thanks also to Ellie once again for taking all of the photographs on the night,(Photos available here) and to all the bar staff at Abingdon United who made sure that empty glasses didn’t stay empty for long!
Merry Xmas!!!!!
Will be held at Abingdon United FC at 8pm on
Friday November 3rd
Entry & Competitor Practice 7.00pm
The Captains Final Will Be Played at 7.15pm
Draw for the Pairs and Singles Semi Finals and Finals will take place at 7.40pm
and the Semi Finals will start at 7.45pm
League Section Winners/Runners-up, Top Dolls should be there to receive their plaques/trophies.
Trophies believed to be from the 2000 season. Note the wooden spoons and the plate which is probably the Sam New Memorial Plate*. (click to enlarge)
As you know, if you don’t please explore the menus, the website has quite a few historic photos, news clippings etc and having just got some of the old programmes (thanks to our President John Simmons and Brian ‘1988’ Clapton* -the covers are available for browsing) plus a couple of handfuls of new clippings (from Graham Brown). One clip includes a photo of the young Mr Martin Sheridan who was top dolls that year (year unknown!).
Roger Nichols and I are also compiling our Roll of Honour which will list all the winners/runners up over the years – see Roll of Honour but bear with us as it’s a labour of love and currently incomplete.
Also with Graham’s items were some balance sheets from decades past.
I’m sure our older members like to relive memories and past victories even if playing is out of the question. Plus there are always those who are now overseas who can’t play or watch, until we get our Sky Sports channel of course. 🙂
*Brian Clapton, singles winner 1988. Sam New Memorial Plate
Thankfully we were able to get the Founders & Legends trophy played on a dry but chilly October evening. Many thanks to the 27 entrants and to Abingdon Conservative Club and particularly Micky Neal for organising at such short notice after the original postponement. Special thanks to the 27 entrants which was exactly the same number as in 2022!
There were a few surprises on the night with early exits for 2 of the likely favourites, Phil Adams losing out to Tony Barrett and Barry Parker losing out to Colin Brind in their first round matches. There could have been another big surprise when Dave Dix met Stuart Wilson. Stuart won the first leg 4-3 and then Dave edged home 3-2 in the second leg before setting 3 dolls in the final leg. Stuart responded by hitting his first 3 dolls, but then failed with his next 3 so to 3 sticks a piece which saw Dave emerge victorious and Stuart rueing the missed opportunity. The second round saw the first 5 of the night when Brian Clapton defeated Tony Barrett in 2 straight although the first leg was only decided with a 1 stick shoot out.
The quarter finals brought together 2 interesting ties with a clash of the Clapton’s and Dad Brian earned bragging rights beating son Leigh in 2 straight legs and with a very impressive 5 with hi s second leg throw.
it was also a battle of the Stevie Sports pair when Colin Brind just edged out last year’s title winner and teammate Derek Fletcher.
The semi finals brought together Dave Dix and Colin Brind and Dave secured his place in the final winning 3-2 and 4-3.
The second semi final saw surprise packet and league sponsor John Pownceby winning in 3 legs against Brian Clapton who had played so well on the night and makes you wonder how well he would score over the season if he played a little more often!
The final was a little predictable despite John’s fine form on the night there was no stopping Dixie and he won in two legs although both legs went to 3 sticks before John succumbed and Dave clinched the Founders & Legends Trophy for 2023.
A really enjoyable and well supported and competitive night played in a really good spirit and despite the cold a fitting conclusion to our outdoor Summer season.
Thanks to everyone for making it happen.
Looking at the ol’ scoreboards…..
1st Round (byes for C.Smith, M.Neal, L.Clapton, J.Miles,P.Barrett)
2nd Round
Quarter Final
SEMI FINAL & FINAL
Open to the over 50s in the League this trophy is up for grabs tonight at Abingdon Conservative Club at 7pm for registration and 7.30pm games start.
Despite the fact that it’s the month of October next week we are going to take a chance on the weather (which is forecast to be OK) on Tuesday next week and have another attempt to play the Founders & Legends Trophy which is open to all registered players aged 50+!
We have considered a number of options including indoor, outdoor, holding over until next year, but on balance we have decided to give it a go next Tuesday 3rd October at the original scheduled venue Abingdon Conservative Club with registration from 7pm until 7.20 when the draw will take place and play will commence at 7.30pm. As always entry is on the night, but once registration is complete the draw will take place and no late entries will be possible.
This is a long established Competition and we hope that many players will want to compete for this trophy which was new and kindly donated by our former Chairman, Reg Couch and replaced the former Founders shield which many will know was rather large and one which was probably not suitable for any trophy cabinet or mantlepiece! The holder of the trophy currently is Steventon Sports Derek Fletcher who beat Abingdon United’s Nick Baldwin in last year’s final. Which was well attended with over 27 players taking part!
Please make sure all of your eligible team mates know of the date, time and registration details and let’s try to make this, the last outdoor competition of the 2023 season, a good finish with lots of competitive Aunt Sally played in the right spirit and with all the usual Aunt Sally banter!
Well the 2023 league season has finally come to an end with the two play offs last night for the Runners Up spots in both the C and D sections.
At Steventon Sports the Royal Oak Didcot faced The Bell Grove who were the recent finalists in the Team 8’s competition only to be defeated in that by Abingdon Utd/Con Club.
Last night it was The Bell’s chance to be victorious and they secured the runners up spot in a 2-0 victory over the Oak. Scores were 10-8 and 11-7.
The other play off was held at the Croft and featured 3 sides who had all finished level on 49 points. College Oak B, Bystander B and the Grapes A therefore a one leg eliminator was needed to determine who progressed to the final best of 3 leg play off final. The eliminator saw both The Grapes and College Oak hit 11 dolls each before the Bystander took their place at the oche.
Unfortunately the Bystander had suffered a number of late withdrawals on the day and were only able to field 6 players and the total of 11 proved too much for them so it was College Oak and The Grapes contesting the runners up spot. It was “nip and tuck” between the two and went to three legs after College won the first, the Grapes had a subline 6 from Danny McArdle in their 17 dolls to take the second leg.
So it went down to the third and final leg and with College setting a 11 doll target it went right to the wire and with the Grapes last man at the oche 2 dolls were still needed and his first and last sticks were just enough to clinch the leg 12-11 and the runners up spot for The Grapes who incidentally had the highest doll count of the 3 play off contenders so probably had dolls scored through the season counted (which it doesn’t!) they would have finished runners up on that count!
Thanks to Dave at the Croft for hosting, to Andy Hallen for helping set up the throw and helping out with the calling and to players from all 3 sides for providing the “stickers up”, and enough banter and friendly abuse to make it a fitting end to the league season!!
If you’re not playing a friendly in the Winter League there are two summer league playoffs tonight
The C section play off between The Royal Oak and The Bell will be played at Steventon Sports at 7.15pm.
The D section play off at The Croft Bar is a 3 sided situation so all 3 teams will play one leg apiece and the two highest scoring teams will then play off in the best of 3 legs runners up play off at 7.30pm.
Good dolls everyone and fingers crossed for a fine evening.
Very short notice, but if anyone has time on their hands today The Croft Bar are once again hosting an afternoon of Aunt Sally in memory of Frank a much loved individual and long time Aunt Sally player and darts player in and around Abingdon.
Anyone who knew Frank will have lots of memories of him, he was a memorable character and if you can join his family and friends today all proceeds will go to Cancer Research and for £2 you get to play Aunt sally with the randomly selected teams competing for the Memorial Trophy and a barbeque will be available throughout the afternoon, as well as the Croft’s well stocked and much used bar! Start is at 2pm, but will be open to all all day!