Archive | Newsletter

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.

Quick Summary of week 12 and week 13 highlights

By Roger Nichols on 6th August 2025 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Week 12

Starting with the belated week 12’s results pride of place must go to Premier section leaders Abingdon Conservative Club and in particular Phil Adams who fell just 1 doll short of the magic maximum 18 dolls, a feat not achieved in the league for many, many years. Phil’s 17 dolls aided and abetted by Dave Dix’s 12 dolls including a 6 of his own and 10 from Bob Duff all led to a convincing 5-1 win for the Con Club at Berinsfield and a total of 84 dolls scored including a 33 doll leg! (Highest ever leg score was set at 37 in 1992).

I should mention another “sixer” Derrick Brown for the WADS Bar and there were also double figure hauls for Roger Clarke of the North Star’s A team who hit 14 dolls, Barry Townsend’s 12 for Croft Nomads and 11’s for Geoff Lee and Dean Bowler.

There were a few surprises in the league with Challow & Childrey CC beating the Bystander 6-0 in the E section and the Lamb B securing a 4-2 win over higher placed Ladygrove in the F Section.

In the 2 local Marcham derbies the Community Centre edged the spoils with the A side winning 4-2 at the Crown and in the battle of the B sides at the Community Centre the points were shared 3-3.

Week 13

Moving on to last week, there were no sixes recorded, but lots of good individual scoring. Chris Jenkins led the way with 14 dolls for Croft Nomads as they defeated Red Lion A 6-0 denting the visitors hopes of closing the gap on Section A league leaders Berinsfield SC A who themselves were defeated 4-2 at the Vine. The win for the Croft enabled them to edge into second place ahead of the Plum Pudding who were 4-2 winners against the College Oak. The most entertaining match in the Premier looked to be the one which saw Abingdon Conservative Club held to a 3-3 draw against Abingdon United A. 3 players hit 12 dolls each in this match Dave Dix and Phil Adams for the Con Club and Jumbo Mott for United. The share of the points was secured for the Premier would be champions with a 26-22 third leg win after the first leg was drawn 27 apiece and United won the second by the narrowest of margins 24-23.

In other sections the Royal Oak slipped to a 4-2 home defeat against the Croft Bar in the B section, The Plough West Hanney scored well in the first 2 legs against Steventon Sports B with 19 and 20 dolls, but their visitors hit back scoring 20 themselves to secure the leg and 2 points.

The Fox, Boars Hill also had a good night winning 6-0 against Harwellian A putting together 3 good legs and a total of 48 dolls. The Plough Long Wittenham also won 4-2 against the RAL SC an that included a 20 doll leg.

Other worthy mentions from last week go to the other “double digit” scorers who were Danny Hamilton of the Vine, Mick Greenaway, Berinsfield SC A, Derrick Brown, WADS Bar, Wayne Robbins, The Plough West Hanney all with 12 dolls.

Bob Faulkner, Bear & Ragged Staff, Colin Brind, Steventon Sports A, Paul Longford, Plum Pudding and Paul Ealey, Abingdon RBL all recorded individual totals of 11 dolls on the night.

Summer 2025 Week 13 Results

By Paul Stone on 4th August 2025 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Match Results

P/A – Abingdon Conservative Club 3 – Abingdon United A 3; Legs (27-27, 23-24, 26-22)

P/A – Croft Nomads 6 – Red Lion A 0; Legs (20-19, 25-22, 24-20)

P/A – Plum Pudding 4 – College Oak A 2; Legs (21-24, 26-21, 28-24)

P/A – Steventon Sports SC A 3 – Stanford in the Vale FC 3; Legs (18-20, 22-17, 22-22)

P/A – The Vine, Cumnor 4 – Berinsfield SC A 2; Legs (23-31, 24-21, 25-21)

B – Abingdon United C 5 – The Bell A 1; Legs (15-12, 11-8, 9-9)

B – Earl of Abingdon A 2 – Bear & Ragged Staff 4; Legs (9-17, 11-14, 15-14)

B – Harwellian B 1 – Abingdon RBL 5; Legs (13-16, 9-9, 8-17)

B – Royal Oak 2 – The Croft Bar 4; Legs (10-11, 12-10, 11-15)

B – WADS Bar 4 – Fleur De Lys A 2; Legs (15-14, 17-12, 16-20)

C – North Star A 4 – Brewery Tap 2; Legs (12-6, 10-9, 7-11)

C – Red Lion B Drayton 2 – Boundary House 4; Legs (5-8, 6-10, 8-5)

C – The Bell B Grove 2 – The Wheatsheaf, Didcot 4; Legs (12-11, 9-19, 6-14)

C – The Fox, Denchworth 2 – The Earl of Abingdon B 4; Legs (10-13, 16-12, 12-15)

C – The Midget 2 – Eight Bells, Eaton 4; Legs (8-10, 12-14, 16-13)

D – College Oak B 2 – Prince of Wales Shippon 4; Legs (9-16, 11-9, 10-14)

D – Fleur de Lys B 4 – The Lamb Wantage 2; Legs (14-4, 8-11, 7-5)

D – Plough West Hanney 4 – Steventon Sports B 2; Legs (19-6, 20-11, 18-20)

D – The Fox Boars Hill 6 – Harwellian A 0; Legs (16-10, 14-10, 18-8)

D – The Plough Inn Long Wittenham 4 – RAL Social Club 2; Legs (13-5, 8-9, 20-13)

E – Berinsfield SC B 0 – Challow Cricket Club 6; Legs (8-10, 13-14, 6-8)

E – Bystander 6 – Hanney RBL 0; Legs (15-10, 10-7, 12-9)

E – Crown Marcham A 2 – Black Horse E.Hanney 4; Legs (9-10, 10-8, 7-12)

E – Marcham Centre A 6 – Queens Arms Didcot 0; Legs (9-7, 13-9, 13-9)

E – The George Sutton Courtenay 0 – Waggon and Horses B Southmoor 6; Legs (4-9, 5-13, 7-11)

F – Grove RFC 4 – Crown Marcham B 2; Legs (10-11, 11-6, 12-6)

F – Horse & Jockey Stanford in the Vale 6 – Black Swan 0; Legs (8-6, 11-7, 15-4)

F – Ladygrove A 6 – Marcham Centre B 0; Legs (13-5, 7-6, 6-4)

F – Plough Appleton A 0 – North Star B 6; Legs (3-10, 5-10, 3-13)

F – The Lamb Wantage B 0 – Long Wittenham AC 6; Legs (9-11, 11-14, 12-14)

Blobbers

Adam Sanford (Black Swan), Adrian Carey (Plough Appleton A), Claire Wright (Marcham Centre B), Ed Hoolihan (Boundary House), Elanor Reiszner (S) (Harwellian A), George Horton (The Bell B Grove), James Blackler (Queens Arms Didcot), John Colgrave (North Star B), Kevin Higgs (Waggon and Horses B Southmoor), Kirsty Blake (The George Sutton Courtenay), Martyn Kingsbury (North Star B), MIck Wright (Marcham Centre B), Mike Russell (Red Lion B Drayton), Olivia Cooper (Bystander), Paul Oliver (CS) (Plough Appleton A), Pete Hogan (C) (The Lamb Wantage), Peter Wiblin (Red Lion B Drayton), Phil Neale (Plough Appleton A), R Pike (The Lamb Wantage), Richard Moran (Marcham Centre B), Vince Tyrrell (Marcham Centre B).

Sixers

No sixers this week so here are the best of the rest.

Fivers

Andrew Wilson 3-1-5 (The Plough Inn Long Wittenham) – Week 13

Bob Faulkner 5-4-2 (Bear & Ragged Staff) – Week 13

Chris Jenkins 5-5-4 (Croft Nomads) – Week 13

Colin Brind (S) 3-3-5 (Steventon Sports SC A) – Week 13

Danny Hamilton 3-5-4 (The Vine, Cumnor) – Week 13

Dave Dix 5-3-4 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 13

David Mott 2-5-5 (Abingdon United A) – Week 13

Derrick Brown 4-5-3 (WADS Bar) – Week 13

Donny Towlerton 2-5-1 (Fleur De Lys A) – Week 13

John Simmons 5-2-0 (Abingdon United A) – Week 13

Mick Greenaway 5-3-4 (Berinsfield SC A) – Week 13

Paul Ealey (S) 2-4-5 (Abingdon RBL) – Week 13

Paul Hedges 1-0-5 (Steventon Sports B) – Week 13

Paul Longford 3-3-5 (Plum Pudding) – Week 13

Phil Adams 4-5-3 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 13

Scott Humphries (C) 2-1-5 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 13

Tommy O’Sullivan (L) 2-2-5 (Eight Bells, Eaton) – Week 13

Wayne Robins 5-2-5 (Plough West Hanney) – Week 13

Summer 2025 Week 12 Results

By Paul Stone on 31st July 2025 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Match Results

P/A – Berinsfield SC A 1 – Abingdon Conservative Club 5; Legs (23-23, 25-33, 22-28)

P/A – College Oak A 4 – Abingdon United A 2; Legs (22-23, 23-19, 24-19)

P/A – Red Lion A 3 – Steventon Sports SC A 3; Legs (21-25, 18-18, 21-20)

P/A – Stanford in the Vale FC 2 – Croft Nomads 4; Legs (25-21, 17-27, 21-22)

P/A – The Vine, Cumnor 2 – Plum Pudding 4; Legs (17-21, 22-20, 21-24)

B – Abingdon United C 5 – Earl of Abingdon A 1; Legs (16-9, 15-14, 8-8) (MATCH ABANDONED)

B – Bear & Ragged Staff 4 – Abingdon RBL 2; Legs (19-10, 13-9, 6-11)

B – Fleur De Lys A 3 – Royal Oak 3; Legs (14-10, 11-11, 12-13)

B – The Bell A 0 – Harwellian B 6; Legs (8-9, 7-16, 14-15)

B – The Croft Bar 0 – WADS Bar 6; Legs (6-15, 10-16, 11-15)

C – Brewery Tap 4 – The Bell B Grove 2; Legs (7-10, 8-7, 13-10)

C – Eight Bells, Eaton 2 – Red Lion B Drayton 4; Legs (13-10, 11-12, 8-10)

C – The Earl of Abingdon B 4 – Boundary House 2; Legs (13-11, 9-13, 15-11)

C – The Midget 3 – The Fox, Denchworth 3; Legs (10-13, 10-10, 11-10)

C – The Wheatsheaf, Didcot 4 – North Star A 2; Legs (11-18, 20-13, 17-12)

D – Harwellian A 2 – The Plough Inn Long Wittenham 4; Legs (16-7, 10-17, 12-15)

D – Plough West Hanney 5 – College Oak B 1; Legs (14-8, 14-12, 8-8)

D – Prince of Wales Shippon 5 – The Lamb Wantage 1; Legs (11-6, 10-10, 15-10)

D – RAL Social Club 0 – The Fox Boars Hill 6; Legs (7-8, 5-6, 8-10)

D – Steventon Sports B 4 – Fleur de Lys B 2; Legs (12-10, 8-12, 15-14)

E – Black Horse E.Hanney 0 – The George Sutton Courtenay 6; Legs (5-14, 10-13, 5-11)

E – Challow Cricket Club 6 – Bystander 0; Legs (13-10, 17-12, 11-6)

E – Crown Marcham A 2 – Marcham Centre A 4; Legs (6-11, 10-12, 12-11)

E – Hanney RBL 4 – Berinsfield SC B 2; Legs (14-10, 10-11, 15-10)

E – Queens Arms Didcot 4 – Waggon and Horses B Southmoor 2; Legs (10-7, 11-16, 11-10)

F – Black Swan 6 – Plough Appleton A 0; Legs (7-6, 9-5, 12-4)

F – Long Wittenham AC 2 – Grove RFC 4; Legs (9-5, 9-13, 10-15)

F – Marcham Centre B 3 – Crown Marcham B 3; Legs (12-10, 7-8, 11-11)

F – North Star B 1 – Horse & Jockey Stanford in the Vale 5; Legs (9-11, 13-14, 12-12)

F – The Lamb Wantage B 4 – Ladygrove A 2; Legs (14-5, 7-6, 9-10)

Blobbers

Andrew Latimer (North Star B), Anna Antell (Plough Appleton A), Anthony Perkins (North Star B), Charlotte Newbold (Steventon Sports B), George Horton (The Bell B Grove), Julie Alner (North Star A), Liz Downthwaite (Plough Appleton A), Michael Harvey (The Vine, Cumnor), Phil Neale (Plough Appleton A), Richard Kenny (Berinsfield SC B), Robert Beasant (Black Horse E.Hanney), Ryhs Lewis (Plough Appleton A), Sharon Murphy (Long Wittenham AC), Stephen Gardner (Red Lion B Drayton), Thomas Daman (Black Horse E.Hanney).

Sixers

Dave Dix (Abingdon Conservative Club), Derrick Brown (WADS Bar), Phil Adams (Abingdon Conservative Club).

Fivers

Barry Townsend 3-4-5 (Croft Nomads) – Week 12

Bob Duff (S) 2-5-3 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 12

David Butler 1-5-1 (Croft Nomads) – Week 12

Dean Bowler 2-4-5 (Red Lion A) – Week 12

Geoff Lee (S) 2-4-5 (Berinsfield SC A) – Week 12

Paul Longford 3-1-5 (Plum Pudding) – Week 12

Phil Adams 5-6-6 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 12

Roger Clarke 5-5-4 (North Star A) – Week 12

Summer 2025 Week 11 Results

By Paul Stone on 21st July 2025 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Match Results

P/A – Abingdon Conservative Club 4 – Red Lion A 2; Legs (26-25, 24-26, 30-28)

P/A – Abingdon United A 2 – Stanford in the Vale FC 4; Legs (19-16, 15-26, 19-24)

P/A – Croft Nomads 3 – The Vine, Cumnor 3; Legs (23-20, 23-23, 18-28)

P/A – Plum Pudding 4 – Berinsfield SC A 2; Legs (33-23, 25-28, 29-25)

P/A – Steventon Sports SC A 3 – College Oak A 3; Legs (20-22, 25-17, 20-20)

B – Abingdon RBL 2 – The Croft Bar 4; Legs (11-14, 14-12, 11-16)

B – Earl of Abingdon A 5 – The Bell A 1; Legs (9-9, 15-10, 15-10)

B – Harwellian B 2 – Fleur De Lys A 4; Legs (12-13, 11-17, 21-7)

B – Royal Oak 3 – Bear & Ragged Staff 3; Legs (9-14, 14-12, 12-12)

B – WADS Bar 0 – Abingdon United C 6; Legs (14-15, 15-18, 14-16)

C – Boundary House 6 – The Wheatsheaf, Didcot 0; Legs (18-13, 11-10, 18-13)

C – North Star A 4 – The Midget 2; Legs (4-13, 12-11, 9-7)

C – Red Lion B Drayton 3 – Brewery Tap 3; Legs (9-9, 6-8, 10-5)

C – The Bell B Grove 3 – The Earl of Abingdon B 3; Legs (13-13, 15-8, 16-20)

C – The Fox, Denchworth 6 – Eight Bells, Eaton 0; Legs (13-9, 13-9, 12-9)

D – College Oak B 2 – Steventon Sports B 4; Legs (15-8, 10-15, 8-11)

D – Fleur de Lys B 3 – Harwellian A 3; Legs (15-14, 13-15, 16-16)

D – The Fox Boars Hill 0 – Plough West Hanney 6; Legs (13-17, 8-12, 7-12)

D – The Lamb Wantage 1 – RAL Social Club 5; Legs (10-12, 10-12, 9-9)

D – The Plough Inn Long Wittenham 3 – Prince of Wales Shippon 3; Legs (8-9, 12-11, 8-8)

E – Berinsfield SC B 4 – Queens Arms Didcot 2; Legs (7-13, 13-9, 13-12)

E – Bystander 4 – Crown Marcham A 2; Legs (13-10, 17-13, 9-11)

E – Marcham Centre A 4 – Black Horse E.Hanney 2; Legs (12-11, 10-8, 11-12)

E – The George Sutton Courtenay 1 – Hanney RBL 5; Legs (8-8, 9-17, 5-12)

E – Waggon and Horses B Southmoor 2 – Challow Cricket Club 4; Legs (13-20, 13-11, 9-10)

F – Crown Marcham B 0 – North Star B 6; Legs (10-12, 10-11, 12-15)

F – Grove RFC 6 – Black Swan 0; Legs (11-5, 12-7, 12-9)

F – Horse & Jockey Stanford in the Vale 2 – The Lamb Wantage B 4; Legs (7-9, 11-10, 9-13)

F – Ladygrove A 4 – Long Wittenham AC 2; Legs (8-14, 7-6, 10-7)

F – Plough Appleton A 2 – Marcham Centre B 4; Legs (5-8, 6-8, 8-6)

Blobbers

Adam Challenor (The Plough Inn Long Wittenham), Brian Trotman (Black Horse E.Hanney), Caitlin Tansey (Brewery Tap), Chris Dennis (C) (The George Sutton Courtenay), Derek Edwards (The Bell A), Jim Hawkins (The Plough Inn Long Wittenham), Les Rillinson (Marcham Centre B), Peter Kilby (The Fox, Denchworth), Sam Wiley (RAL Social Club).

Sixers

Dave Dix (Abingdon Conservative Club), Ian Cooksley (Harwellian A), Phil Adams (Abingdon Conservative Club).

Fivers

Colin Brind (S) 3-5-5 (Steventon Sports SC A) – Week 11

David Bartlett (C) 2-3-5 (Fleur de Lys B) – Week 11

David Bradshaw 2-3-5 (Plum Pudding) – Week 11

Ed Wilkinson 2-5-2 (Plough West Hanney) – Week 11

Ian Taylor 5-0-2 (Plough West Hanney) – Week 11

Leigh Clapton 5-3-3 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 11

Matty Cook 2-2-5 (Boundary House) – Week 11

Michael Neal 2-4-5 (Earl of Abingdon A) – Week 11

Paul Leach 3-5-4 (Plum Pudding) – Week 11

Paul Longford 5-2-4 (Plum Pudding) – Week 11

Robert Glen 3-4-5 (Stanford in the Vale FC) – Week 11

Russell Flower 4-4-5 (Fleur de Lys B) – Week 11

Stephen Jackson 1-1-5 (North Star B) – Week 11

Week 11 – Highlights and a quick resume of the League tables

By Roger Nichols on 20th July 2025 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Well another fine and warm Wednesday evening saw some fine, warm and hot performances! Pride of place must go to Abingdon Conservative Club, their 4-2 victory over the Red Lion doesn’t really tell the story of the night. Firstly 4 of their side hit double figures with Dave Dix leading the way with 14 dolls, Phil Adams was only just pipped to “pinchers” with 13 dolls and then Leigh Clapton and Alex Chamberlain scored 11 and 10 as well. The Con Club also recorded the highest leg of the season when chasing a very challenging 28 in the third leg they hit 30 dolls and remember that is with no handicap advantage! Anchor man Phil Adams secured the leg with a magnificent 6 after Dave Dix had also hit his maximum in the same leg!

There were also wins in the Premier/A section for Plum Pudding 4-2 victors over Berinsfield SC A. For the Plum Paul Leach top scored with 12 dolls ably assisted by Paul Longford with 11 and Dave Bradshaw with 10 dolls. The win takes Plum level on points with Croft Nomads who were held to a 3-3 draw by the Vine whose third leg tally of 28 dolls proved out of reach of the Croft and secured a share of the points for the Vine.

Stanford in the Vale had a welcome win at Abingdon United winning 4-2 with Robert Glen leading the way with 12 dolls. For United “Jumbo” Mott hit 10 dolls. Steventon Sports A beat the College Oak by the same score with Colin Brind hitting 13 dolls.

Lots of other notable performances last week in all sections and Ian Cooksley deserves a special mention with a 6 for Harwellian A in the D secti0n against the Fleur de Lys B and his clubmates Andy Shipman and Richard Vincent both hit 10’s for the Harwellian A side in the B section, but they still went down 4-2 to the Brewery Tap.

Other results in the B section saw WADs Bar fall to a surprisingly heavy defeat 6-0 against Abingdon United C fior whom Ronnie Pepperell making a rare appearance was in fine form with 11 dolls a score matched by Micky Neal for the Earl of Abingdon who beat The Bell A 5-1.

In the C section The Wheatsheaf suffered their first defeat of the season and in doing so failed ro secure any point as the Boundary House inflicted a 6-0 defeat on the league leaders and Donald Southey hit his first double figure score of the season with 10 dolls.

There were double figures scored on the night in all sections with Joe Moxon’s 10 for the RAL in D section, Tom Ricketts and Dan Rolls in the E section for Marcham Centre A and the Queens Arms and Andy Stoter for Grove RFC in the F section.

The league positions are starting to look very interesting. Abingdon Con Club have a very healthy lead in the Premier and some way behind are the Plum Pudding and Croft Nomads who are separated only by dolls scored. Berinsfield are topping the A section and in the B section Royal Oak and The Croft Bar are sharing the lead both on 40 points. In the C section the Bell and the Wheatsheaf are sharing top spot both on 49 points. The D section is led by and the E section is also a deadlock at the top with 3 sides The Bystander, Marcham Centre A and the Waggon and Horses all level on 42 points and the E section it’s the Plough, Hanney leading the way and in the F section Grove RFC have established a healthy advantage, but the second place is being tightly contested between The Ladygrove and Long Wittenham AC.

All still to play for!

Finally a quick apology to The Fox, Boars Hill who I inadvertantly relegated from the D section to the F section in my summary last week!!

Another week with some close encounters

By Roger Nichols on 15th July 2025 in Newsletter

Last week saw some quite close encounters. With 30 matches played on the night 11 resulted in 6-0 victories, 3 in 5-1 wins and 16 ended 4-2. Although there were no shared points on the night of the 90 legs played 20 of those were either tied or were separated by only 1 doll and that 1 doll often makes a difference between winning the match or losing! Indeed in 2 of the matches played last week the losing side outscored, in terms of dolls scored, that the winning side! This was in the games between the Plum Pudding and Croft Nomads in the Premier (66 dolls v 70) which ended in a 4-2 win for the Plum and in the E section where despite losing 4-2 Black Horse scored 35 dolls against Berinsfield B’s 33. Funny old game!!

Lots of good performances last week only one “sixer” and that honour goes to Steve Browning of The Bell A in section B and teammate Steve Weeks also hit a 5 in the same leg, but despite hitting 11 between them it was still a leg lost by the Bell as they went down 4-2 to the Royal Oak.

Whilst Steve scored the only maximum of the night we had, for the second week in succession, a 15 doll score with Dave Dix, like Steve Taylor last week hitting three 5 doll legs for his 15 dolls the highest individual total of the week which helped Abingdon Conservative Club extend their lead at the top of the Premier section with a 4-2 home win against the Vine. Dave was in good company with Leigh Clapton showing his best form of the season hitting 12 dolls and Phil Adams also contributing 11. Collectively the Con Club hit 76 dolls, that’s, as a team, a 52% success rate and remember none of their dolls are “freebies” by way of handicap!

There were lots of other double figures recorded last week including Alan Bell (11) and Tosh Wooloff (10) for Croft Nomads and Paul Longford (10) for the Plum Pudding. Jason Bowler and Steve Martin both hit 10 for Abingdon United A, as did Andy Phelps of Berinsfield SC A. Danny Hamilton for the Vine scored 11 and Scott Tabor of the Red Lion hit 10 that’s 2 double digit scores in 3 weeks for Scott.

Some notable “big” scores also recorded in Sections C, D and F with Andrew Wilson notching 12 for the Plough, Long Wittenham as they, Jack Wrigglesworth’s 10 for the Bell B in the C section and Bobby Baker’s 10 for the North Star B in the F section.

I mention the big scorers and I should look at the other end of the scoring and mention that, of the 30 matches played only 2 featured no “blobs”. Overall there were over 300 blobs on the night, so there are nights to remember (and to forget!). For those who recorded blobs we should be charitable and say there are many “substitute” players co-0pted in during July and August as many regulars are on holiday! And so as not to make anyone feel too bad 25 of those “blobs” were actually teams in the Premier/A section!

It just shows that hitting dolls or recording “blobs” are both essential ingredients of our game!

The league tables did not significantly alter as a result of last week’s results, but worth mentioning that The Wheatsheaf maintained their 100% winning record in the C section with a 4-2 win against the Earl of Abingdon B, Martyn Bolton top scoring for the Wheatsheaf. Elsewhere the Prince of Wales recorded their third successive win after amassing a total of just 27 dolls in 3 legs, but those dolls were enough to earn a maximum 6 points!

Some really good leg scores in all sections last week worth mentioning. Notably leaders Grove RFC in Section F hit 17 in their second leg and then topped that with 21 dolls in the 3rd leg. Berinsfield B amnd the Black Horse Hanney shared 31 dolls in their 3rd leg with Berinsfield edging home 16/15 to secure the 4-2 win. Likewise Bell Grove B hit legs of 17 and 19 in defeating the Eight Bells 6-0, Croft Bar’s 4-2 win against the Bear & Ragged Staff featured a 19 doll leg and there were was a winning consolation leg securing 2 points for the Plough West Hanney when their 19 dolls in the 3rd leg was just enough to overcome the Fleur B’s 18 dolls, but the Fleur still secured a 4-2 win on the night.

Finally I should mention the “Battle of the Fudgies” when the Earl of Abingdon A secured a 4-2 win over the WAD’s Bar in the B section a battle where Andrew Fudge, a long time supporter, of Abingdon Aunt Sally had a vested interest in both sides!

That’s about it for this week. I apologise for any errors and omissions in this weekly review as always!!

Oh as well as a full league programme this week we will also be hosting the Team 4’s and 3’s Competitions at the Croft Bar on Thursday evening with a 7.30 start so if you have time on your hands and the weather is fine why not come along and have a pint (or two!) and support the competing teams as they strive to reach the Finals of both to be played in September.

Summer 2025 Week 10 Results

By Paul Stone on 14th July 2025 in Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Match Results

P/A – Abingdon Conservative Club 4 – The Vine, Cumnor 2; Legs (25-19, 25-26, 25-21)

P/A – Abingdon United A 1 – Red Lion A 5; Legs (20-24, 21-21, 21-23)

P/A – Plum Pudding 4 – Croft Nomads 2; Legs (19-26, 23-22, 24-22)

P/A – Steventon Sports SC A 0 – Berinsfield SC A 6; Legs (23-25, 22-23, 20-23)

P/A – Stanford in the Vale FC 6 – College Oak A 0; Legs (22-18, 22-17, 19-14)

B – Abingdon RBL 6 – Fleur De Lys A 0; Legs (10-9, 12-9, 11-10)

B – Earl of Abingdon A 4 – WADS Bar 2; Legs (10-10, 14-14, 17-11)

B – Harwellian B 2 – Abingdon United C 4; Legs (12-15, 14-8, 6-14)

B – Royal Oak 4 – The Bell A 2; Legs (14-13, 15-8, 12-18)

B – The Croft Bar 4 – Bear & Ragged Staff 2; Legs (13-8, 19-14, 11-13)

C – Boundary House 6 – Brewery Tap 0; Legs (15-8, 12-6, 12-9)

C – Red Lion B Drayton 5 – The Midget 1; Legs (13-8, 11-11, 11-9)

C – The Bell B Grove 6 – Eight Bells, Eaton 0; Legs (13-8, 17-5, 19-13)

C – The Fox, Denchworth 2 – North Star A 4; Legs (5-10, 15-11, 9-17)

C – The Wheatsheaf, Didcot 4 – The Earl of Abingdon B 2; Legs (19-9, 17-10, 14-17)

D – College Oak B 4 – The Fox Boars Hill 2; Legs (10-11, 14-10, 18-11)

D – Fleur de Lys B 4 – Plough West Hanney 2; Legs (11-5, 17-10, 18-19)

D – RAL Social Club 0 – Prince of Wales Shippon 6; Legs (4-7, 6-10, 6-10)

D – The Lamb Wantage 6 – Harwellian A 0; Legs (10-9, 10-8, 12-5)

D – The Plough Inn Long Wittenham 6 – Steventon Sports B 0; Legs (11-9, 15-8, 17-8)

E – Berinsfield SC B 4 – Black Horse E.Hanney 2; Legs (8-12, 9-8, 16-15)

E – Challow Cricket Club 4 – Queens Arms Didcot 2; Legs (10-11, 11-9, 13-11)

E – Marcham Centre A 4 – Bystander 2; Legs (7-9, 12-11, 14-8)

E – The George Sutton Courtenay 2 – Crown Marcham A 4; Legs (7-9, 7-6, 7-12)

E – Waggon and Horses B Southmoor 4 – Hanney RBL 2; Legs (15-13, 10-12, 14-12)

F – Crown Marcham B 4 – Black Swan 2; Legs (6-11, 12-9, 7-5)

F – Grove RFC 4 – The Lamb Wantage B 2; Legs (7-10, 21-12, 17-15)

F – Horse & Jockey Stanford in the Vale 1 – Ladygrove A 5; Legs (7-7, 5-13, 5-7)

F – North Star B 6 – Marcham Centre B 0; Legs (15-6, 15-5, 12-5)

F – Plough Appleton A 0 – Long Wittenham AC 6; Legs (5-7, 5-9, 9-10)

Blobbers

Andy Mills (Brewery Tap), Brian Trotman (Black Horse E.Hanney), Bryan Pert (The Fox, Denchworth), Claire Wright (Marcham Centre B), Colin Trinder (Marcham Centre B), Dave Old (The Bell A), David Mills (Brewery Tap), Gurlie Lonsdale (The George Sutton Courtenay), Jayne Bolton (Long Wittenham AC), Joe Rowley (Long Wittenham AC), Keith Buckle (Abingdon RBL), Lee Constable (RAL Social Club), Martin Cousins (Black Swan), MIck Wright (Marcham Centre B), Nick Blacow (The George Sutton Courtenay), Nigel Jones (The Fox Boars Hill), Paul Oliver (CS) (Plough Appleton A), Pete Fryett (C) (The Midget), Phil Waddy (The Fox Boars Hill), Sam Wiley (RAL Social Club), Simon Busby (Berinsfield SC B).

Sixers

Steve Browning (The Bell A).

Fivers

Adam White 1-5-3 (The Bell B Grove) – Week 10

Alan Bell 5-4-2 (Croft Nomads) – Week 10

Andrew Wilson 3-4-5 (The Plough Inn Long Wittenham) – Week 10

Andy Morton 1-2-5 (Abingdon United A) – Week 10

Anton Wooloff 5-3-2 (Croft Nomads) – Week 10

Chris Jenkins 2-2-5 (Croft Nomads) – Week 10

Danny Hamilton 3-5-3 (The Vine, Cumnor) – Week 10

Dave Dix 5-5-5 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 10

Jack Wrigglesworth 3-2-5 (The Bell B Grove) – Week 10

Leigh Clapton 4-3-5 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 10

Mark Weston 0-1-5 (Plough West Hanney) – Week 10

Martyn Boulton 5-3-1 (The Wheatsheaf, Didcot) – Week 10

Pete Whiting 1-5-2 (Grove RFC) – Week 10

Robert Baker (C) 5-2-3 (North Star B) – Week 10

Roy Harrison 1-5-1 (The Vine, Cumnor) – Week 10

Shaun Gilsenen 1-1-5 (The Earl of Abingdon B) – Week 10

Steve Weeks 1-1-5 (The Bell A) – Week 10

So into the second half of the season we go!

By Roger Nichols on 8th July 2025 in Competition News, Newsletter, Summer League Reports

Last Wednesday saw 28 matches played to round off the halfway point in our league season. 2 scheduled games didn’t take place last week, one being forfeited due to unavailability of players and the other mutually postponed because of a sad bereavement.

Of the 28 played on another fine Wednesday evening 12 ended in 4-2 wins, 8 of these being in the 10 games played in the Prem/A and B sections so quite tight contests, only one match ended in a share of the points and that was in the D section, there were 2x 5-1 results and unfortunately 12 teams were on the wrong end of a 6-0 scoreline, or put another way 12 teams secured maximum points last week!!

There were some very good individual performances and the highest accolades go to Andy Shipman playing for Harwellian B in the B section and Steve Taylor playing for the Fox Denchworth. Andy recorded the only maximum leg of the night, but his 15 dolls together with 8 from Ryan Cload couldn’t prevent Harwellian B losing 5-1 at home to the Bear and Ragged Staff as unfortunately the other 6 Harwellian players could only muster another 9 dolls between them! Steve Taylor’s 15 dolls came with 3 legs of 5 so a great effort and perhaps the closest anyone has come to a maximum for a long time and at least Steve’s contribution helped his side to a 6-0 win against the Brewery Tap.

Lots of other excellent individual and team performances to report last week. Double digit scores from Barry Townsend (12) and Chris Jenkins (11) for Croft Nomads in their 4-2 victory over Berinsfield SC A for whom Richard Jones top scored with 12 and Jack Hawkins hit his best of the season landing 9 dolls.

League leaders Abingdon Con Club were also 4-2 victors over the College Oak and both Phil Adams and Dave Dix contributed 12 apiece and Alex Chamberlain weighed with 10. For the Oak Matty Belcher top scored with 10 dolls.

Steventon Sports A beat Abingdon United A 4-2 and the Brind brothers led the way with 10 dolls for Colin and 9 for Graham.

Other results in the Premier/A section saw wins for both The Vine, their first 6-0 of the season and the Red Lion with a 4-2 result against Plum Pudding.

In the B section notable scores were recorded by Derrick Brown with 9 dolls in the WADs bar 4-2 win against The Bell A for whom Trevor Hetherington’s 3 leg scores were blob, 5, blob!

Skipper Dave Sapey top scored with 9 dolls for Abingdon Legion in their 4-2 win over the Royal Oak.

Croft Bar had their best result of the season and their captain Andy Hallett contribution of 11 dolls was a personal best as they beat Abingdon United B 6-0.

Although Fleur de Lys A went down 4-2 against The Earl of Abingdon Tim Payne’s 10 dolls were also his best of the season so far.

The C section leaders The Wheatsheaf maintained their unbeaten run, their 9th successive win and James Harvey top scored with 9. The 6-0 win for the Wheatsheaf did have some comfort for the Midget with both Harry Fryett and Simon Hamblin hitting 5 doll legs. There were 6-0 wins for the Bell B and the Earl of Abingdon B against the Boundary House and the Red Lion B respectively with Jack Wrigglesworth’s 9 dolls for the Bell and Shaun Gilsenen with 8 for the Earl top scoring.

Brewery Tap were on the wrong end of Steve Taylor’s 15 for The Fox and it means that the Tap after winning their opening 2 games of the season have now suffered 7 straight defeats!

Richard Selby led the way for College Oak B , 6-0 winners at RAL and the Prince of Wales came away from Hagbourne 4-2 winners with Helen Harris topping the scoring for the Prince outscoring and earning bragging rights over her “old man” and captain Dave for the second successive week!

In the E section there was also some good individual scoring with Paul Brewerton, Gareth Thomas, Nick Hill and Richard Bunce all hitting 9 dolls for their teams but Richard and Gareth were both on the losing side for Black Horse and Berinsfield B whilst Nick and Paul saw their sides, Crown A and Waggon & Horses returning 4-2 wins.

in the F section Ladygrove recorded their 5th successive victory, but it is still Grove RFC with another 6 point haul against Marcham Centre B who retain their place at the top of the table.

SUNDAY 6th JULY – COMPETITIONS

Sunday saw many of our individual and pairs championships take place at Abingdon United and apart from a brief, but torrential shower the weather was very kind to us on what proved to be quite a long afternoon of Aunt Sally held on two pitches. With 35 entrants for the Singles, 8 for the Captains and 8 for the Secretaries we got underway with the Pairs Competition which had 18 entries. Entries were primarily drawn from sides in the Premier and A sections, but there was also entrants from the B section and thanks to Steve Fernback and his teammates at the Fox, Boars Hill, a first with 4 players from the F section who certainly did themselves proud on the day!

We are pleased to say that of the entries there were only 2 “no shows” on the day and 2 withdrawals in advance because of holidays and self inflicted injury!

There was some excellent performances throughout the afternoon and none other than Alex Chamberlain’s superb double maximum in the pairs which left his partner Paul Barrett not needing to throw!

The Captains and Secretaries had a limited entry and a number of nominated reserves were forced into action, but the finalists on the day were David Sapey, Captain of Abingdon RBL and Scott Humphries, of Abingdon Conservative Club SC A and they will meet in the final on Wednesday September 10th, when all of the finals other than the Singles and Pairs will be played.

The Secretaries final to be played on the same night will be between Geoff Lee of Berinsfield SC A and Colin Brind of Steventon Sports SC A.

The Pairs and the Singles were played down to the semi finals and they, together with the finals, will as is the practice be played on Presentation Night which is due to take place on Friday October 10th.

The successful pairs who progressed on Sunday are Paul Barrett and Alex Chamberlain, Ken Fisher and Phil Adams both representing Abingdon Conservative Club, Paul Longford and Terry Downes, Plum Pudding and John Pownceby and Matt Dingle from The Vine.

The singles 4 players who reached the semi finals after a long afternoon were Stuart Wilson, (Berinsfield SC A), David Sapey, (Abingdon RBL), Phil Adams, (Abingdon Conservative Club) and Matt Dingle (The Vine).

The draws for the semi finals will take place on the Presentation Night.

Congratulations to all those winners on the day and particularly to those who have progressed to the final stage of the Competitions. Furthermore thank you to all of those who took part, winners and losers alike, and to all of the teams who provided the participants!!

These Competitions are an important part of our season and it was very encouraging to have sufficient numbers to make all of them competitive.

Thanks to Claire, Paul, Tosh and Brian Clapton for all of their commitment help before, during and afterwards and to Mick James (Moffy) who prepared all of the dolls used.

Thanks also to Abingdon United and to the bar staff for supporting the day and for providing both liquid and food sustinence throughout the afternoon, early evening well at least until the pumps ran dry which luckily co-incided with the end of play!

The next round of Competitions involve the Team 3’s and 4’s which will be held on Thursday July 17th at the Croft Bar details of registration and start times will be sent to all entrants in the next couple of days.

[If you have any feedback on Sunday’s competitions please email Team Support.]

← Previous 1 2 3 4 … 76 Next →