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.
I will be on holiday from July 20th to August 3rd but in my absence you will be in the very capable hands of your Committee and, in particular our Chairman Paul Stone!
If you need any help in registering additional players, inputting results Paul will be your man! You can contact him either by e mail via the team support link on the website or directly via email to paulmjstone(at)gmail.com
You will be in very safe hands over the next couple of weeks!
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!!
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.
Match ResultsP/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)
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).
Steve Browning (The Bell A).
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
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 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.]
Match ResultsP/A – Abingdon Conservative Club 4 – College Oak A 2; Legs (24-15, 21-19, 21-22)
P/A – Croft Nomads 4 – Berinsfield SC A 2; Legs (27-24, 23-24, 25-24)
P/A – Plum Pudding 2 – Red Lion A 4; Legs (16-19, 19-20, 22-17)
P/A – Steventon Sports SC A 4 – Abingdon United A 2; Legs (19-18, 17-24, 23-17)
P/A – The Vine, Cumnor 6 – Stanford in the Vale FC 0; Legs (19-17, 30-16, 21-18)
B – Abingdon United C 0 – The Croft Bar 6; Legs (14-19, 12-16, 11-14)
B – Earl of Abingdon A 4 – Fleur De Lys A 2; Legs (12-11, 10-19, 14-10)
B – Harwellian B 1 – Bear & Ragged Staff 5; Legs (12-12, 8-16, 13-15)
B – Royal Oak 2 – Abingdon RBL 4; Legs (12-22, 10-16, 15-14)
B – WADS Bar 4 – The Bell A 2; Legs (9-11, 15-14, 13-6)
C – Eight Bells, Eaton 0 – North Star A 6; Legs (0-0, 0-0, 0-0)
C – Red Lion B Drayton 0 – The Earl of Abingdon B 6; Legs (5-16, 9-12, 9-12)
C – The Bell B Grove 6 – Boundary House 0; Legs (12-11, 13-11, 13-12)
C – The Fox, Denchworth 5 – Brewery Tap 1; Legs (16-8, 13-10, 15-15)
C – The Midget 0 – The Wheatsheaf, Didcot 6; Legs (13-14, 7-15, 12-16)
D – College Oak B 6 – Harwellian A 0; Legs (17-9, 15-13, 13-11)
D – Fleur de Lys B 2 – Prince of Wales Shippon 4; Legs (12-13, 18-10, 10-12)
D – Plough West Hanney 6 – RAL Social Club 0; Legs (16-8, 14-8, 14-5)
D – The Fox Boars Hill 3 – Steventon Sports B 3; Legs (12-12, 8-12, 15-13)
D – The Plough Inn Long Wittenham 6 – The Lamb Wantage 0; Legs (16-6, 14-7, 15-7)
E – Berinsfield SC B 0 – Waggon and Horses B Southmoor 6; Legs (7-13, 10-16, 7-13)
E – Bystander 4 – Black Horse E.Hanney 2; Legs (14-12, 9-9, 10-10)
E – Crown Marcham A 2 – Challow Cricket Club 4; Legs (12-14, 13-16, 12-5)
E – Marcham Centre A 2 – Hanney RBL 4; Legs (16-17, 13-14, 13-12)
F – Grove RFC 6 – Marcham Centre B 0; Legs (16-8, 15-9, 12-10)
F – Horse & Jockey Stanford in the Vale 1 – Long Wittenham AC 5; Legs (7-7, 7-12, 4-14)
F – Ladygrove A 6 – Black Swan 0; Legs (10-4, 12-3, 11-4)
F – Plough Appleton A 0 – Crown Marcham B 6; Legs (6-9, 6-7, 5-13)
F – The Lamb Wantage B 1 – North Star B 5; Legs (7-11, 6-19, 14-14)
Adam Sanford (Black Swan), Alistair Brewis (Black Horse E.Hanney), Caroline Pask (Black Swan), J Campoli (The Lamb Wantage B), LL Aziz Scott (S) (Ladygrove A), Lloyd Woodington (Berinsfield SC B), Roy Loron (Red Lion B Drayton), Sylwia Lelowittis (RAL Social Club), Tim Jerreat (Black Swan).
Andy Shipman (Harwellian B).
Andy Hallett © 4-5-2 (The Croft Bar) – Week 9
Andy Shipman 6-5-4 (Harwellian B) – Week 9
Andy Stoter 5-2-0 (Grove RFC) – Week 9
Barry Townsend 5-4-3 (Croft Nomads) – Week 9
Chris Jenkins 5-4-2 (Croft Nomads) – Week 9
Dave Collett 5-2-4 (The Plough Inn Long Wittenham) – Week 9
Dave Dix 4-5-3 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 9
David Sapey © 5-3-2 (Abingdon RBL) – Week 9
Harry Fryett 5-0-2 (The Midget) – Week 9
Nick Hill 5-2-2 (Crown Marcham A) – Week 9
Paul Brewerton 2-2-5 (Waggon and Horses B Southmoor) – Week 9
Pete Garland 1-5-1 (The Plough Inn Long Wittenham) – Week 9
Phil Adams 3-5-4 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 9
Rene Laporte 5-1-1 (Bystander) – Week 9
Richard Jones 4-3-5 (Berinsfield SC A) – Week 9
Richard Selby 3-2-5 (College Oak B) – Week 9
Simon Hamblin 0-1-5 (The Midget) – Week 9
Steve Taylor 5-5-5 (The Fox, Denchworth) – Week 9
Terry Downes 5-2-2 (Plum Pudding) – Week 9
Trevor Hetherington 0-5-0 (The Bell A) – Week 9
The draw for the 8s Handicap Knockout competition was done at Competition Sunday.
The fixtures are below, both to be played by end of August….
Abingdon Conservative Club vs Abingdon RBL
Croft Nomads vs Steventon Sports A
Final will be on Finals Night Wednesday 10th September.
The first week in July marks the end of the first half of our summer 2025 season and I think for most it’s been an enjoyable season with good Wednesday evening weather, good competition, some successes and some disappointments for both teams and individuals. One of the highlights for us is the very welcome addition of the new entrants all of whom have acquitted themselves well, particularly as most of their players are new to our “game”.
Not surprisingly it’s the well established teams that get most attention and particularly those in the top sections and that’s largely because it’s those teams and individuals who capture the headlines. Whilst it’s important that we recognise this, it is equally important that those who who have just joined the league or their teams in the last couple of years are also recognised because without new additions we would be significantly weaker as a league and our 46 pubs and clubs who represent our 60 teams would not have the “pleasure” of over 500 people visiting their local every week or every other week to play our game!
Well, back to a review of last week’s matches. There was some outstanding scoring and individual performances and the top billing must go to Abingdon Conservative Club in the Premier who extended their lead at the top of the section with a 4-2 victory against Croft Nomads. Phil Adams led the way with an overall score of 14 dolls including a maximum, but his contribution with 4 dolls from anchor in the first leg saw the home side hit 26 dolls chasing a set of 25 by the Nomads. Nomads set again in the second leg and a set of 27 was just too much for the Con Club to level the tie, but setting again in leg 3 Croft tailed away setting only 17 dolls which was easily overtaken by the Con Club to secure the victory.
Also a very close encounter in the top section featured both sides sharing the points when only 1 doll seperated Abingdon United A and Berinsfield SC A over the 3 legs with combined scores of 71 for United and 70 for Berinsfield so 3-3 looked to be a very fair reflection of the game!
In the B section there were also some close legs amongst them a fine 3rd leg between Harwellian B and WADS Bar which saw WADs Bar rescue 2 points when they overcame a Harwellian leg of 19 dolls with 20 of their own to deny Harwellian maximum points.
Lots of notable individual scores last week and the 2 sixers the aforementioned Phil Adams (who was also a semi finalist in the hot and windy Charlbury World Championship last Saturday) and the other was hit by our league sponsor John Pownceby playing for the Vine who have had a tough first half of the season so a very welcome tonic for John and his team although they still went down 4-2 on the night. Lot’s of double figures recorded last week as well, Phil’s 14 led the way and John also hit his best of the season with 12 dolls matched by Terry Downes for the Plum Pudding, Dave Dix for the Con Club (looks like Dave will be first to treble doll figures this season and probably hit that milestone this week as he only needs 8 more dolls!), Scott Tabor’s 11 for the Red Lion A was his best of the season (good job someone in the family line can throw!) and there was a host of 10 scores including Chris Jenkins and Alan Bell for Croft Nomads, Simon Winterbourne (Plum Pudding), Steve Martin and Jason Bowler (Ab Utd A), Alex Chamberlain (Ab Con Club), Richard Jones (Berinsfield SC A), Dean Bowler (Red Lion A), Andy Shipman (Harwellian B), and F section’s Michael Rainbow (Long Wittenham AC). Well done to all double digit scorers!
There were also some very good scoring throughout the sections with several leg scores of 16, 17 and 18 dolls in the lower sections with the best being 19 dolls from league leaders The Wheatsheaf in the C section.
I think though the stand out score of the lot, and for all the wrong reasons, was the first leg of the match between the Plough Appleton and the Lamb B in section F.
Overall the match resulted in a 6-0 victory for the Lamb B. The first leg saw 12 “blobs” recorded (a league record?), but the Lamb edged home 3-2 thanks to a leg winning 2 dolls from captain, Simon Hamlet!! I am sure both sides will be looking for something better in terms of scores this week, but every credit to the players from both sides and remember it’s the taking part that counts and everyone can have an off night whatever the level!!
The league tables remain largely unchanged after last week’s results with the only unbeaten side still the Wheatsheaf who top Section C and the good news at this stage is that there is no team in the league who has yet to record a win.
Don’t forget as we are approaching the peak holiday season you can still register additional players (if you can find them!) simply by email, text to either myself or through team support.
This Sunday sees the annual singles, pairs, captains and secretaries competitions take place at Abingdon United FC. There are plenty of entries for the Singles and Pairs and the Competition will get underway from 1 for registration and games from 1.30. The bar will be open all afternoon. So why not come along, bring the family and enjoy an afternoon of very good and probably some not so good Aunt Sally hopefully in the sunshine!
Results delayed this week due to a card being sent in with nicknames not registered names. If you are going to send a card in and beg Roger to do it for you do make sure the names match the registered players - he's had to guess so check your scores! (and answer your emails).
P/A – Abingdon Conservative Club 4 – Croft Nomads 2; Legs (26-25, 25-27, 22-17)
P/A – Abingdon United A 3 – Berinsfield SC A 3; Legs (23-21, 25-25, 23-24)
P/A – Steventon Sports SC A 4 – The Vine, Cumnor 2; Legs (17-16, 19-20, 19-16)
P/A – College Oak A 2 – Red Lion A 4; Legs (18-24, 22-20, 17-26)
P/A – Stanford in the Vale FC 2 – Plum Pudding 4; Legs (25-26, 24-19, 22-26)
B – Abingdon RBL 2 – The Bell A 4; Legs (8-14, 11-8, 12-14)
B – Bear & Ragged Staff 5 – Fleur De Lys A 1; Legs (10-10, 12-9, 12-11)
B – Harwellian B 4 – WADS Bar 2; Legs (16-11, 18-12, 19-20)
B – Royal Oak 4 – Abingdon United C 2; Legs (12-15, 18-13, 15-9)
B – The Croft Bar 4 – Earl of Abingdon A 2; Legs (7-14, 13-12, 13-10)
C – Boundary House 4 – Eight Bells, Eaton 2; Legs (10-8, 16-7, 12-14)
C – Red Lion B Drayton 2 – North Star A 4; Legs (10-6, 5-10, 11-13)
C – The Bell B Grove 6 – The Midget 0; Legs (12-7, 16-10, 16-12)
C – The Earl of Abingdon B 4 – Brewery Tap 2; Legs (10-13, 9-8, 13-10)
C – The Wheatsheaf, Didcot 4 – The Fox, Denchworth 2; Legs (14-16, 19-9, 16-12)
D – Fleur de Lys B 4 – The Fox Boars Hill 2; Legs (13-8, 15-12, 8-9)
D – Harwellian A 2 – Prince of Wales Shippon 4; Legs (6-10, 12-16, 10-8)
D – RAL Social Club 2 – College Oak B 4; Legs (7-11, 14-9, 8-9)
D – The Lamb Wantage 4 – Steventon Sports B 2; Legs (11-7, 14-13, 10-12)
D – The Plough Inn Long Wittenham 4 – Plough West Hanney 2; Legs (13-11, 15-13, 7-9)
E – Challow Cricket Club 2 – Marcham Centre A 4; Legs (8-11, 14-7, 11-18)
E – Crown Marcham A 6 – Berinsfield SC B 0; Legs (0-0, 0-0, 0-0)
E – Queens Arms Didcot 1 – Hanney RBL 5; Legs (10-15, 11-11, 8-10)
E – The George Sutton Courtenay 0 – Bystander 6; Legs (6-10, 5-14, 9-13)
E – Waggon and Horses B Southmoor 6 – Black Horse E.Hanney 0; Legs (13-7, 16-11, 15-10)
F – Crown Marcham B 4 – Long Wittenham AC 2; Legs (14-12, 13-9, 11-13)
F – Grove RFC 6 – Horse & Jockey Stanford in the Vale 0; Legs (14-7, 13-6, 19-10)
F – Marcham Centre B 2 – Black Swan 4; Legs (9-11, 6-7, 8-7)
F – North Star B 2 – Ladygrove A 4; Legs (13-9, 10-11, 4-8)
F – Plough Appleton A 2 – The Lamb Wantage B 4; Legs (3-2, 4-12, 2-7)
Anna Antell (Plough Appleton A), Caroline Baker (Red Lion B Drayton), Clive Rayson (Bear & Ragged Staff), Dennis Ruffels (The Earl of Abingdon B), Gill Ebberson (RAL Social Club), J Campoli (The Lamb Wantage B), Keith Buckle (Abingdon RBL), Michael Littlechild (Horse & Jockey Stanford in the Vale), Nick Blacow (The George Sutton Courtenay), Phil Waddy (The Fox Boars Hill), Ryhs Lewis (Plough Appleton A).
John Pownceby (The Vine, Cumnor), Phil Adams (Abingdon Conservative Club).
Alan Bell 5-4-1 (Croft Nomads) – Week 8
Alex Chamberlain 5-3-2 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 8
Bernie Stimpson 0-1-5 (North Star A) – Week 8
Dave Dix 5-3-4 (Abingdon Conservative Club) – Week 8
David Mott 1-2-5 (Abingdon United A) – Week 8
Gary De La Ruiz 3-0-5 (Harwellian B) – Week 8
Geoff Lee (S) 5-2-1 (Berinsfield SC A) – Week 8
Jake Nutt 2-5-1 (Steventon Sports B) – Week 8
Jonathan Hutt 5-2-2 (Brewery Tap) – Week 8
Kevin Billington 1-1-5 (Red Lion A) – Week 8
Rory Mangan 1-5-2 (The Fox Boars Hill) – Week 8
Russell Flower 3-5-0 (Fleur de Lys B) – Week 8
Simon Winterbourne 2-5-3 (Plum Pudding) – Week 8
Steven Soden 3-0-5 (The Earl of Abingdon B) – Week 8
Terry Downes 5-3-4 (Plum Pudding) – Week 8
Well last week’s 30 fixtures only produced one maximum 6 from the 180 legs played and that came courtesy of Phil Adams third leg for Abingdon Conservative Club in their 4-2 victory over the Plum Pudding in the Premier section. The Con Club’s win saw them retain their 2 point advantage at the top of the table ahead of Croft Nomads who were also 4-2 winners on the night against Steventon Sports SC A.
For the Con Club Phil, Adams and Dave Dix shared the top dolls of the night with 12 dolls each and Paul Barrett also contributed 11 dolls. For the Plum Simon Winterbourne top scored with 10 dolls and Plum had the consolation of winning the 3rd leg with the best leg total of 27, but the consistency of the Con Club with two legs of 24 and one of 25 saw them home.
Croft Nomads 4-2 victory against Steventon Sports who were missing Derek Fletcher won the final leg setting 23 dolls in the which was just out of reach of the home side who left anchorman Steve Enock requiring 5 from his last throw to draw, but he just fell short and the visitors secured their 2 points. Chris Jenkins, new to the Abingdon League this year, top scored for the Nomads with 11 dolls.
Elsewhere in the Premier/A section Berinsfield continued their good form ad now lead the A section following their 6-0 defeat of the College Oak. For Berinsfield Richard Jones top scored with 11 and he was aided and abetted by Martin Rawlings who hit 10 dolls, both recording their highest scores of the season so far. Paul Kelsey top scored for the Oak with 9 dolls.
There was a welcome first win of the season for The Vine, with them winning 4-2 against Abingdon United A who were without skipper Steve Martin, but who still had 4 players hitting 9 dolls notably John Simmons (our President), Dave Hudson, Jumbo Mott and Jason Bowler, but unfortunately their efforts were not enough as the rest of the team could only manage 13 doll between them!
Red Lion remain in second place in the A section after they defeated Stanford FC 6-0. Scott Tabor led the scoring for the Lion with 10 dolls, his best of the season and for Stanford, Guy Checketts matched that with 10 of his own!
Other double digit scorers on the night were Andy Shipman of Harwellian B, Carl Jeffries of the Ladygrove, Billy Shellington for Marcham Centre B, Michael Rainbow, Long Wittenham AC and Tony Barrett of Abingdon RBL. Really good to note that 3 of these players are in sides in the F section so lots of promise down in the lower sections and while I am at it I should mention the Black Swan Abingdon (where the league started 65 years ago!), new to the league this season and in the F section who surpassed, I suspect even their own expectations, when they hit 17 dolls in a leg against the North Star B. Their leg score was bettered when fellow newcomers and also in the F section hit a highly commendable 19 doll leg against league leaders Grove RFC.
Elsewhere there was some very good individual and team scores. Although only 1 maximum on the night there were 17 5’s recorded and these included players from all sections so there are lots of players who were tantalisingly close to joining the exclusive “6” members club. In the B section best leg score of the night came in Abingdon RBL 5-0 win against the Earl of Abingdon A in the B section with 19 dolls, also in the B section both the WADS Bar and the Royal Oak recorded leg scores of 18 dolls and the Earl B also matched their A team’s 18 doll leg in their 6-0 win over the Eight Bells.
Quick summary of the league tables show that only 2 teams remain unbeaten and lead their respective tables that is The Wheatsheaf in Section C and The Plough West Hanney in the D section both of whom have 7 straight wins under their belts! Grove RFC remain top of Section F, just 1 point ahead of Long Wittenham AC, in the E section Marcham Centre A have the top spot leading The Bystander by just 2 points and in the B section WADS Bar are top, level with the Royal Oak on points, but ahead only on dolls scored.
Disappointingly we are already aware of one match that cannot be played this week because of a shortage of players and it is just worth reminding everyone as we approach the peak holiday season that additional players can be registered throughout the season simply by advising us of any additions to your teams and they can be immediately eligible to play.
We really don’t want teams to be unable to fulfill fixtures if they have other individuals who want/wish and are able to play.