This category is for the newsletter posts – as these are automatically emailed out to mailing list subscribers, it should only be used for important announcements and updates.
Congratulations to the teams through to the semi finals of the 8s Handicap Knockout Competition and thank you for the others who took part.
The semi final draw was done tonight at the Committee meeting and the result is:-
Abingdon Con Club vs The Bell @ Grove
Abingdon Utd@Con Club vs Plum Pudding
The teams will play at the ‘home’ venue above and matches need to be completed as agreed by both teams before Finals Night on 13th Sept. (Ed: Founders is on the 20th)
Well, it seems only a few days since we were looking forward to a new season and yet here we are halfway through the season already! Where does the time go when you are enjoying yet another year of Abingdon and District Aunt Sally.
Week 9 should have been the first week of this season when we had a full fixture lists with all the teams numbers listed as byes in Sections through C to F were actually drawn against each other (team 2 v team7). Unfortunately the withdrawal of the Black Swan spoilt and Bystander C were the only side not playing last week as a consequence.
Now to last week’s matches and top scorers. In the Premier Steventon Sports remain at the top of the table despite their first defeat of the season going down 4-2 when they visited bottom of the Premier Croft Nomads. In Stevie’s defence they were missing their leading doll scorer Colin Brind and his absence clearly upset them as in the first leg 4 of their 8 players act failed to trouble the doll!
Elsewhere in the Premier both Abingdon Utd/Con Club and the Plum Pudding both recorded 6-0 victories against The Hart and Stanford FC respectively. The Bystander continued their recent good form and Jumbo Mott was the week’s leading doll scorer including the week’s only 6 doll maximum and hitting 14 cracking dolls at Berinsfield and he was ably supported by Captain Steve Martin with Bystander winning 4-2.
Lots of double digit individual scores last week With Jumbo at the top of the tree with his 14, Barry Townsend and Dave Dix both hit 13 for Plum Pudding and Abingdon Utd/Con , Steve Enock hit 12 for the Croft and there were 11’s recorded by Phil Adams, Alan Bell, Paul Barrett in the Premier and Dean Bowler for the Red Lion in the A section and Paul Ealey for Abingdon RBL in the B section. Lot’s of 10’s as well last week including Dave Butler a welcome first double figures of the season, Geoff Lee. Paul Kelsey and Phil Soden for the College Oak A in the B section Richard Bunce and Ian McCregor for the Chequers, Charney and Steve Soden for the Grapes (matching his old man for bragging rights! Dave Heard for the Queens Arms Didcot and Karl Humphries for Abingdon Arms B also showed again that high scoring individuals don’t just belong in the higher section both contributing 10 dolls apiece for their sides.
I should also mention that Fox Denchworth who last week (8) recorded their first win of the season and probably against the local rivals who they would most like to beat from up the road in Charney!! They followed that up with a share of the points against the Royal Oak.
A few interesting encounters tonight including the “battle of the Taps” in the E section as Brewery Tap A and B meet, College Oak A entertain Abingdon United C with both sides including a Worrell in their line ups and The Chequers have another West Berks derby when they travel to play the Bell at Grove.
Finally for this week we have a lot of discussions and sometimes debate about the handicap system, how fair it is, and why we need it. I think the reasons we need it are pretty obvious it’s to make the section’s as competitive as possible and also to give encouragement so that all games are competitive. It’s for broadly the same objective as the handicapping of racehorses based on previous form, golf uses handicaps and so does table tennis it’s a form of “levelling up”.
Out of interest and of no particular importance I have looked at the results in terms of average leg scores for the Premier/A and B sections after 9 games have been played and removed the handicap received by each of the teams in the Premier and A sections. The total dolls and leg averages in rank order show the following:
Using the actual leg average and the handicap added together means, shows that at this stage of the season there is only 1.9 doll difference between the highest scoring team (no handicap) and the lowest scoring team (+5) in the Premier/A section. Without a handicap there would be a massive 7 doll difference and that would be neither competitive nor challenging for most sides in the Premier and A section.
The comparison of scores for all teams based on actual results of the top 8 players is a much more useful way of determining the sections rather than straightforward promotion and relegation as is the norm in most sports.
My final word for this week is that the closing date for the final 4 competitions, Captains, Secretaries, Pairs and Singles is Monday 17th July. The Competitions will take place on Sunday August 6th at Abingdon United and the draw will be made on the day based on both entries and attendance.
Have a good week
Well, tomorrow night marks the halfway point in our league, yes it’s already week 9 so we are halfway there and it is worth looking at who is currently leading the pack in each of the section’s as we approach the second half of the season.
In the Premier section Steventon Sports have established a 6 point gap over Abingdon United and last week in defeating The Hart 4-2 they hit their highest leg score so far this season, more of that later.
In all of the other sections after 8 weeks things are all a little tighter in the A, B, C and E sections only 12 points separate the top 2 in each section and in F section the gap is only 1 point whilst in D section the margin is 3 points. League leaders in the A section are Red Lion A, in the B section College Oak A head the table and in sections C and D it is The Grapes on top at this stage of the season. In the E section Harwellian A are clear of The Midget although there is an outstanding online score correction from week 4 to make which will reduce the gap between the 2 to just 2 points and in the F section it is very tight with Abingdon Arms B taking over at the top by 1 point from The Fox, Boars Hill.
So all to play for in the second half of the season!
Back to last week’s matches and a quick resume of some of the highlights both in terms of individual scores and team scores.
It’s worth starting by some very good team and individual scores in the game between Plum Pudding and Abingdon Utd/Con Club in the Premier section. Abingdon United put together their best performance of the season winning 4-2 at Milton winning the first two legs with scores of 28 and 29 to which Plum Pudding could only reply with 20 and 21 dolls. Plum did however recover to and take the 3rd leg 24-22. The legend that is Barrington Parker hit a second leg 6 (the only one of the night!), but leading the honours for Utd/Con Club was Leigh Clapton with 14 dolls ably assisted by Dave Dix with 12 and both Barry and Tom Lach both hit 10 apiece. For Plum Phil Adams led the way with 12 dolls supported by skipper Terry Downes and Barry Townsend who both hit 10 dolls .
Elsewhere in the Premier/A section Steventon Sports recorded 30 dolls in the third leg of their 4-2 win against The Hart with leg scores of 23-15, 16-25, and 30-24 and I think Hart’s score in that third leg might have been their highest leg score of the season so far. Croft Nomads and The Vine shared the spoils in a 3-3 result leaving Croft still adrift at the bottom of the Premier, but, by virtue of the draw now level with Plum Pudding on 21 points.
Other results in the Premier/A Section saw wins for Red Lion 6-0 against Berinsfield A who had a disappointing week as the following night they went out in the quarter final of the 8’s Competition. For the Red Lion Dean Bowler and Scott Tabor both hit 10 dolls (Scott your first double figures?) Stanford in the Vale FC also had a win when they hosted Bystander A and won 4-2.
That’s a round up from the Premier and A section matches last week, next week we will have a more detailed review at the results from some of the other sections where there were also some good and not so good individual and team outcomes last week. I will start by highlighting the leading double figure scorers. Moffy for Abingdon United C, Geoff Organ, College Oak A, Dave Sapey, Abingdon RBL, and John Curry (didn’t he used to be a skater?) for Harwellian A in Section E all contributed with 10 dolls each for their teams last week.
Elsewhere many, I am sure many had “funny” old nights, but none more so than Steve Bartholomew and Jack Wrigglesworth. Steve plays for the Black Horse Hanney and his night started with a “blob”, then he hit a 5 with his second throw and then his third blow was, yes you guessed it was another blob! How does that happen? Jack Wrigglesworth playing for Abingdon Arms B at the Fox, Boars Hill followed his first leg “blob” with 1 doll in his second leg and then he turned his what looked like being a bad night into a much better one with a third leg 5. As they say it’s a”funny old game”!!
Finally the 2 outstanding quarter finals in the Team 8’s competition were completed last week and C section sides Abingdon Con Club defeated their Premier Division opponents Croft Nomads 2 legs to 1 and their Section C colleagues The Bell Grove also advanced into the semi finals with a 2-0 victory against their Premier Division opponents Berinsfield A. These results would suggest that the handicap system does really provide teams from outside the Premier and A sections with the opportunity to progress through to the later stages of this Competition and Abingdon Conservative Club, semi finalists now, remember reached the final of this Competition last season! So maybe these results will encourage more sides , outside of the top sections, to enter in 2024!!
So the 4 semi finalists are The Bell Grove, Abingdon Conservative Club, Plum Pudding A and Abingdon Utd/Con Club. The draw for the semi finals will take place next week and the ties will be played by mutual arrangement by the end of August, with the final scheduled to take place as the opening game on Finals Night on the 13th September.
Hopefully the weather will improve and it will be warmer tomorrowevening , it’s p’ing down with rain right now which is why I am doing last week’s update a little bit earlier than usual!!
Enjoy!!
Well the warmer weather certainly seems to have led to some improving individual scores and 14 players manged double figures last week with Barry Townsend (Plum Pudding), Alan Bell (Croft Nomads) and Ian Morrison (Steventon Sports) all leading the way with 13 dolls each. Titch shaded the honours though with a maximum 6 in his 13.
Dave Dix (Ab Utd/Con Club) and teammate Scott Humphries together with Robert Glenn of Stanford FC were hot on their heels with 12 dolls apiece. Phil Adams, Mr Consistent, for the Plum Pudding hit 11 dolls and 7. There were a good smattering of 10’s scored and amongst these were Andrew Wilson of the Plough, Simon Armstrong of the Queens Arms in Section E and I must mention Barry Parker returning to the Abingdon Utd/Con Club side after a n illness enforced long lay off hitting his first double figures of the season, I suspect there’s more big scores to come from Barry before the season is out!
Other sixers last week were Derek Fletcher (Steventon Sports) and Billy Collett of the Plough, Long Wittenham. Lots of 5’s scored last week for many with 13 throwers just failing to make 1 stick count to make the magical and elusive maximum. Really encouraging to see several of these scores coming from the lower sections including Andy Barrett for the Croft B playing in the D section, Darragh Murphy for the Plough in B section, together with Les Giles from the Fleur at Hagbourne also in the B section and Alistair Brewis for the Chequers in C section. Well done to all of you.
Just a few interesting stats so far after 7 weeks of the 18 week season 600 players have picked up the sticks and thrown them for the 51 sides entered in the league this year. Of those 11 players are averaging over 3 dolls a leg leading the way is Dave Dix closely chased by Phil Adams and his teammate Scott Humphries. Really encouraging is that within the top 25 in terms of doll average you will find Rick Selby of the College Oak B, and Dave Harris of the Prince of Wales Shippon also within the leading pack you will see Andrew Wilson (Plough), Dave Worrell (College Oak), Steve Taylor, (Fox Denchworth) Richard Burns (Chequers ), Steve Fisher (Royal Oak) and landlord Tony O’Sullivan (Eight Bells) so there is plenty of consistent talent playing outside of the Premier/A section and hopefully we will see some of these entering the singles and pairs competitions later in the season.
The scorching hot and breezy Sunday afternoon saw the 3’s, 4’s, 5’s Competitions take place at Abingdon United Football Club.
The Chairman proudly announced that with the Honorary President role agreed at the AGM in January Mr John Simmons accepted the appointment. John’s deep-rooted connection to Aunt Sally, much like his father Tom Simmons before him, added a touch of legacy to the event. The Tom Simmons trophy for the 5’s competition is the one that we were playing for today.
With four teams bringing 18 sides to the competitions we kicked off with the 3’s.
With 8 sides in the 3’s a straight 4 games got us to the semifinalists. Kicking off with a luck of the draw Plum Pudding A vs Plum Pudding B the A side won 9-6, 7-6.
Next Abingdon United B saw off a hard fighting Berinsfield A to 3 legs and a 3 stick decider with scores 6-5, 4-6, 7-7 and 4-3 in 3 sticks.
Croft Nomads also got themselves to play with and the A side winning 7-3, 3-2.
Abingdon Utd A side also took out Berinsfield B with straight 7-1, 2-1.
On to the semifinals and Plum A took Ab Utd B a straight 2 legs with 8-7, 9-2.
Ab Utd A then took the Croft A to 3 legs to win 7-9, 5-4, 7-6.
The Summer Breeze, unlike the song, provided an unexpected challenge for players. The gusts played tricks on even the most precise sticks, sometimes veering a whole foot or more to the left during doll approach. It added an extra dimension of excitement to the proceedings you could say.
On to the 4’s and 6 teams meant 2 preliminary games first of which was Croft vs Plum B which Croft won 4-3, 8-5. Second prelim saw Ab Utd A beat Plum A 12-10, 8-7.
Croft Nomads then went on to secure their final place beating Ab Utd B over 3 legs 6-5,9-10,12-10. Utd were not out to though with their A side seeing off Berinsfield A with a 2 leg 3 stick decider of 7-6,12-12, and 6-5 in 3 sticks.
With a short break to refuel with scrumptous pizza (thanks Roger) the 5’s had 4 teams to go straight into semi finals.
First off Plum Pudding beat the Croft 11-3, 18-11 and just when we thought we only have a couple of fives as the highest individual score, like buses, two 6’s arrived by Plum’s Phil Adams and Barry Townsend in the second leg leaving the crowd in awe and delight.
Ab Utd then saw off Berinsfield 14-13, 11-10 to get their place in the final.
So the next competitions are the Captains, Secretaries, Singles and Pairs which are on the Sunday 6th August.
Finals Night on the Wednesday 13th Sept will therefore have the following teams.
3’s – Plum Pudding A vs Abingdon Utd A
4’s – Croft Nomads vs Abingdon Utd A
5’s – Plum Pudding vs Abingdon Utd A
8’s – still all to play for.
And the finalists from the Captains and Secretaries being played this month.
The pairs and singles semis/final will be played on Presentation Night in November promising an unforgettable evening of sporting excellence.
In the world of Aunt Sally, where remarkable shots and near-impossible feats unfold, we encountered today dolls lying flat on the swivel and even one that seemed to defy gravity, standing on its head! Not to mention the dolls that teased us, tantalizingly wobbling, evading our efforts despite being kissed, caressed, and scraped. It truly is a funny old game!
A special thanks goes to Brian Clapton for meticulously preparing the dolls, ensuring they were “match fit.” We also extend our appreciation to the unsung heroes who willingly stepped in to call and stick up without being asked. The committee deserves a round of applause, particularly Roger Nichols, the Treasurer and Doll Secretary, for flawlessly organizing the competitions (and pizzas), and Claire Foster (along with her husband Alan) for lending her PA system, saving precious vocal cords and providing invaluable assistance with scoring and note-taking for this update. Also a heartfelt thank you to Roy Taylor for his unwavering presence—because you can never have too many committee members, as one might be needed at any moment! Last but not least to the bar staff and Abingdon United FC club for hosting us.
Lastly, we extend our gratitude to the players and teams whose spirited participation made these competitions a true joy. Throughout the fierce battles, not a single cross word was heard, a testament to the camaraderie and sportsmanship on display.
Now, let’s keep the excitement alive! Let’s discuss ways to encourage even more participation in these captivating competitions. Share your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions with the Committee during the upcoming AGM in January or at your earliest convenience!
Thank you once again, and we eagerly anticipate seeing you on August 6th!
Paul
Chairman
Don’t forget that the first of the competitions for teams of 3, teams of 4 and teams of 5 will take place this Sunday at Abingdon United.
The Competitions will start with the 3’s, followed by the 4’s and finally the 5’s. Play will commence at 2pm and each of the competitions will be played down to the final 2 teams with the 2 remaining teams of each Competition playing the final on Finals Night on September 13th.
There has been a disappointing low number of teams entered this year with only 4 clubs represented, partly that is because many do not want to play on a Sunday and, I suspect largely because teams from outside the top sections are reluctant to enter competitions because there is no incentive for them to compete against the Premier/A section sides unlike in the 8’s competition which is handicapped. Spectators will be most welcome on Sunday and the Bar will be open!!!
We will need to rethink our Competition programme for 2024 and put any proposed changes either to format, dates etc to next year’s AGM. The Competitions represent our lowest income and our highest expenditure so the need for them to be attractive and encourage more participation needs careful consideration.
Draws for each of the Competitions on Sunday will be made 15 minutes prior to each of the Competition’s.
On a more positive note entries for the Pairs, Singles, Captains and Secretaries competition are much healthier and we have extended the closing date for entries until next month. These Competitions will take place again at Abingdon United, again on a Sunday, August 6th. More details later in the season.
In the 8’s Competition 2 of the 4 quarter finals have already been completed with wins for Plum Pudding against the Bystander A and Abingdon United/Con Club overcame The Fox Denchworth 2 legs to 1 in their tie. The remaining games will take place in the next few days when Croft Nomads will entertain Abingdon Con Club and The Bell Grove will face Berinsfield SC A.
Well, at last I think we have sorted out all of the problems caused with the week 5 scores, several of which found there way into week 4 obliterating the correct week 4 scores that had already been correctly entered. All week 6 scores (with 1 exception) are now all entered so tonight it’s week 7 and the correct week number has already been set and, more importantly I remembered to press the update button!
Well week 5 was a better scoring week for many with Phil Adams of the Plum Pudding leading the way with 14 dolls , ably assisted by Tosh Wooloff who contributed 11 dolls, their efforts were not enough to stop Croft Nomads edging home 4-2 on the night with Martin Robinson and the ever reliable Steve Enock both hitting 11 dolls. Also in the Premier/A section AbingdonUtd/Con Club ruthlessly despatched Stanford in the Vale Fc 6-0 with Dave Dix, Leigh Clapton and Scott Humphries hitting a combined total of 36 dolls, that’s an average on the night of 4 dolls a leg each…………..that’s class throwing!
Elsewhere in the Premier/A section there were wins for Steventon Sports A for whom Colin Brind hit 10 dolls against Berinsfield, a 6-0 win for Red Lion over The Hart Harwell for whom Paul Leach’s 10 dolls was the outstanding contribution, but was to no avail in terms of points .
Bystander recorded their first win of the season beating The Vine 4-2 and quickly followed that up with a second win last week , this time 5-1 against the Hart with Jumbo Mott hitting 14 dolls including a 6.
Elsewhere in week 5 there was another maximum 6 recorded by Matty Cook for the Boundary House against the Bear & Ragged Staff in Section C.
Good week for the Worrell brothers who both hit 10 dolls, Jono for Abingdon United C against Berinsfield B and Dave for the College Oak B against Red Lion B
Week, 6 threw up some interesting results with Abingdon Utd/Con Club both Plum Pudding losing and despite one exceptional leg of 28 dolls from Abingdon United the scores for both sides were disappointing against Steventon Sports and Red Lion respectively. Berinsfield with stalwarts Geoff Lee (14 dolls inc a 6) and Stuart Wilson (12) dolls in fine form saw off the challenge of Croft Nomads winning 6-0 with leg scores of 23-21, 25-22 and 21-17. For Croft Paul Stone and Steve Enock offered some resistance with 9 dolls apiece, but Berinsfield were worthy winners and rubbed it in by winning the beer leg as well!
There was an interesting second successive 6-0 win for College Oak B in the D section against Hanney RBL with Rick Selby top scoring with 12 dolls for the Oak. Hanney had the somewhat unfortunate and unenviable record of hitting 12 blobs from their total of 24 throws! Just one of those nights that the game sometimes throws up (or down)!
A couple of other interesting observations…Richard Bunce playing for The Chequers at Charney in C section has only played 2 games to date, but is currently averaging 3.5 dolls per throw and Dave Harris playing this year for his “local” the POW at Shippon who has already recorded a 6 this season is “topping”, at 3.11 the averages in Section E. Ashley Jerome playing for Harwellian A also in section E hit 11 dolls for them last week when they claimed their third straight 6-0 victory and, to date, Harwellian A lead the way in that section having dropped only 2 points.
Finally, in looking at the League table I know Steve Fernback (ex Harwellian) will be delighted to see that his new side The Fox, Boars Hill, after the recent adjustments, are leading the way in Section F!
After Roger’s hiccup in week 5 I believe we now have the scores sorted so please check and email team support if you spot any mistakes remaining. I’ve slapped his wrists and he promises he won’t do it again. HOWEVER when you put the card it the week number is at the top right so let us know if you think its wrong. (Next year I’ll make sure the week numbers are on the fixture list).
We’ve also caught up with previous forfeits for teams not turning up on the night. We’ve always said that it’s courteous, because the home team provides food, to give AT LEAST 24hours notice to the home team if you are going to forfeit a game (and hence lose 6 points). There is of course the option to play on another night (in effect rule 14 although strictly for rained off games) – contact team support if this is an option for you – we’d rather you play a game than miss it.
We have also removed the Black Swan from the F Section – there was only one ‘game’ which was a forfeit anyway. It’s shame because the Black Swan was where the league started in 1960 – see Basil Collins The First 30 Years.
On another note we have had a couple of enquiries to see if we have a portable pitch to hire out for fetes, weddings etc. If anyone has any ideas of where or how to get one built please get in touch. For information we did look at having a ‘stand’ at the Abingdon event in the Abbey grounds but they said we couldn’t play the game without our own public liability insurance. Having a portable pitch would probably absolve us from that liability (TBC).
Some old players will know we used to name (and put them in the Oxford Mail etc) the blobbers – those with X-X-X or zero, zilch, nada dolls. Just to let you know over the weeks so far we have 49 blobbers some are repeat offenders and one in the A section so a bad week can affect anyone! Just keep playing and the accuracy and consistency will come, that’s what I tell myself anyway.
For information here are the Sixers so far this season
Sixers Darren Holmes 2-6-2 (Abingdon United @Con Club) - Week 3 Dave Harris 1-6-4 (Prince Of Wales Shippon) - Week 1 Garry Gibbard 2-6-3 (Stanford in the Vale FC) - Week 2 Geoffrey Lee 4-6-4 (Berinsfield SC A) - Week 6 Jumbo Mott 6-3-5 (Bystander A) - Week 6 Matty Cook 6-3-2 (Boundary House) - Week 6 Scott Humphries 5-2-6 (Abingdon United @Con Club) - Week 1
Don’t forget if you want a bit of friendly player to player competition take a look at the Player Rank by Average score sheet. See if you’re in the top 10, 50, 100, 300….!
Talking of Competitions if you want to have a late entry GET IN TOUCH AS SOON AS because the comps are on Sunday 25th June.
AND FINALLY… we have a new Facebook page so check out https://www.facebook.com/OfficialAbingdonAuntSally
We are one third of the way through the season so lets hope for good throwing weather and higher scores.
Paul
Chairman
Well, we have nearly sorted out all of the confusion that I caused last week by not updating the right week number before last Wednesday’s results started to be input. The remaining scores and amendments should be sorted by the weekend and the team and individual player scores for weeks 4 and 5 and therefore the league tables should be accurate by then! Once again apologies to those of you who are avid followers of scores and results, at the moment there are still some that need to be changed or updated.
As a result our week 5 high and low lights report is running a little late, but that again should be available by the weekend.
Some good news for you who diligently put your results in as son as the match is over and thank you for that it is, if I have done my job right, very helpful. So this week the week number is already set at week 6 (tonight!) so there should be no repeat of last week’s debacle!
Enjoy your games tonight and as importantly enjoy what promises to be what is really promising to be our first really warm Wednesday summer’s evening.
Unfortunately late on Wednesday afternoon we were advised that Black Swan Abingdon were withdrawing from the League. Black Swan who had been absent from the league for a number of years had only rejoined this season and had been placed in Section F.
Unfortunately despite the best efforts of their landlord and team captain a number of circumstances had left them unable to fulfil their opening fixtures. With the very real likelihood of that being a continuing problem we recommended that they withdraw and on Wednesday when, once again, they had been unable to raise a side they reluctantly agreed.
Any points awarded to opponents because of the Black Swan’s inability to fulfil their fixtures in the opening weeks will be removed.
Regrettably this means that for teams in Section F another 2 weeks without fixtures and reduces the league size to 7 and 12 games.; We would have wanted to avoid this, but hopefully as we know a number of sides have already arranged friendlies to fill “gaps” and hopefully this will continue as there are sides in other sections who also have “gaps” in their fixture list.
We will send to all secretaries details of all sides and their contacts who are without scheduled league fixtures for the rest of the season so those sides wanting to arrange friendlies know who might be available and when!