Well tonight we start the second half of our season with the reverse fixtures from the opening week back in May. The start of the season was a bit of a concern with less teams entered, lots of uncertainty about sides having enough players week in and week out and worries that enthusiasm for our game would have been lost after a 2 year absence. Thankfully though a lot of those concerns have so far not presented too many issues, but the holiday season is approaching and that will provide additional challenges for many teams with players taking time out for their family holidays.
The Committee have tried top be flexible by registering additional players without the usual late registration fee and 1 week “waiting time” before being allowed to play and we will continue that until the end of the season for all teams in sections B, C and D. Teams in the Premier and A can also add players, providing that they don’t affect the already established handicaps for teams in those sections. Our objective is to help all sides field a full side every week.
The first half of the season saw over 200 games played across the leagues with only 4 scheduled games not taking place, that’s brilliant and thanks to everyone for making the effort both in fulfilling their fixtures and, in many cases, recruiting new (and returning) players to our game.
Week 9 unusually was another week without any 6’s being recorded in any section. Having said that there was still some excellent scoring throughout the sections led again by Abingdon United’s Dave Dix who hit 14 dolls for the 5th time this year (in his other 2 games he only hit 13!) He is in crazy form,. This week he was matched with 14 dolls by Steventon Sports, Ian Morrison for his best haul of the season.
Elsewhere there were lots of double figure counts and special mention to Robert Glen for Stanford in the Vale FC who hit 13 dolls in their game against the Fleur de Leys.
I promised a quick review of the League tables at the halfway stage and generally things are very tight at the top! In the Premier section unsurprisingly Abingdon United and Plum Pudding are closely contesting the top spot followed closely by Croft Nomads with, at this stage, only 3 points separating the 3 sides. In the A section only 2 points separate the top 3 who are The Vine, Berinsfield and Red Lion A so all to play for there.
In B section Stanford in the Vale FC lead the way closely pursued by their near neighbours from Denchworth,The Fox .
Section C is led by the Red Lion C with the Boundary House in pursuit just 4 points behind. Section D sees the only remaining team Harwellian B 11 points clear of Berinsfield B and it looks like they are looking likely champions even with half a season to go!
In Section E again it’s a close run thing at the moment with The Plough Hanney leading the way one point ahead of The Midget with all to play for in the second half of the season.
I mentioned last week that Caroline Baker playing for the Red Lion B deserves a special mention not only because she has already hit a 6 this season (is she the first ever lady to do this in our league?) , but also after 9 games she features in the Top 10 doll scorers in the D section with some very consistent scoring every week.
Finally this week a couple of reminders and a warning to a few!
The Competitions are all set for Sunday August 21st with a 1pm start at Abingdon United. We have a good crop of entries but would like more especially from teams and individuals outside of the Premier and A sections who traditionally dominate tjhe entries. Give it a go! We are going to accept entries up until the 6th August and we want to make it both a serious and a fun day and perhaps include a couple of “open” Competitions for all registered and non registered players, (maybe ladies and under 21’s) on the day. More about that nearer the time!
And the warning, we need to collect some remaining registration fees and competition entry fees over the next few weeks so don’t be surprised if a very reasonable demand for payment arrives in your inbox!
Have a good night and enjoy this unusual Aunt Sally good weather!