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Martock & District Skittles League

Hello Everyone.

This is some season isn’t it! 4 league weeks left, and nothing is decided for league honours and relegations. In Division 1 the talking point is VIPS spectacular fall from the promise land of their 1^st Division 1 title, and with 4 losses in a row now its Stoke WMC who have overtaken and look favourites now. Stoke WMC have the bit between their teeth now, but they had a tough match this week as they were home to in form but unpredictable Pornstars, nothing certain there! VIPS needed to arrest their slide quickly as not only are they battling to win Division 1 there are teams ready to pounce behind them as they were at Bakers to face Bakers Big Arms who are very much in form. Duke of York are in a rich vein of good form and from 10^th in October they are now 3^rd and chasing down VIPS for an unlikely runners up trophy. Duke hosted Bakers Rogues who could overtake Duke with a win here. Seahawks form has gone south in recent weeks and the potential of runners up has all but gone. They looked to get back on the winning trail with an away game against Nelsons Nomads who are in decent form. Lower table action had Monkey Spankers trying to get a rare home win against a battling Lamb Shanks fighting for survival and a big match in the fight for survival was between Yorkies who are nearly safe against Stoke Buoys who needed a win to give them hope, a bad loss for the Buoys could confirm relegation for them. Nobbys Nuts had the bye this week.

In Division 2 the promotion scrap has been hotting up in recent weeks with twists and turns every week. Leaders Hit & Hopes are looking likely now to win it and they had a home match against Lord Nelson who can throw up surprises! S Club 8 have timed their promotion run impeccably and they have now pushed themselves into the promotion spot of 2^nd . Their game was massive in their quest as they went to Stoke Club to face Dolphins who still harbour hopes of promotion but have gone south in recent weeks. Lower table action saw Mucky Ducks up against Wooden Spoon challengers Rosies Rebels, Mandys Bell Boys were home to Split Pins and Thorns & Roses were home to Ham Boys. There was also a back match in the week as Mucky Ducks hosted Split Pins and in Mini League action we had a Lark Derby as Hotspots hosted Lamb & Larks.

Could both divisions sway decisively in Round 23! Lets find out!

Division 1

All the talk has been the demise of VIPS! The champions elect for a sizeable chunk of this season have fallen apart and with 4 losses in a row we now have new leaders at a crucial stage of the season. They are Stoke WMC whose form has been impressively consistent and a win at home this week could be decisive. They had a tricky game though as they hosted Pornstars who have been dominant in recent weeks but a shame as they are capable of producing great form most weeks. Stoke knew they would be in a battle, but they started decently as a spare (13) from Mike Harper gave Stoke impetus and despite spares from Rob Lock (13) and skipper Liam Male (13) for Pornstars, Stoke WMC led by 12 pins after the first two hands, Pornstars are a team that always scrap for the win and they put Stoke WMC under immense pressure wit 2 60+ hands to reduce the lead for Stoke to 7 pins. This now was a scrap to the end and although this wasn’t a classic performance, Stoke WMC got an important win here 9-3 by 20 pins to extend the lead at the top to 8 points. Pornstars had their chances, but couldn’t get over the winning line as they are 6th.

VIPS are a team in serious freefall bigger than a skydive right now as was once a 20 point lead at the top has been wiped away mainly because of poor form in the last month! They are still in the hunt for the title though, so it needed a badly needed win as they travelled to Bakers Arms to face Bakers Big Arms who have had really good form recently with wins over Seahawks and Nobbys Nuts, so they wouldn’t be overawed by their opponents and looked to take another scalp for the season. The alley has become very difficult this season with changes to the pins mainly, but this makes for tight matches and after 3 hands VIPS were 1 up and hoping to get the win they craved, but a 4^th hand 66 swung the game into the hosts favour and knocked the stuffing out of VIPS, and they couldn’t respond as Bakers Big Arms got another great win 10-2 by 7 pins to stay 10th. VIPS 5^th loss in a row is alarming now as they stay 2nd , but with their bye next they will be looking over their shoulders.

We now go to arguably the team of 2025 so far as Duke of York who were 10^th in October have lost 1 league game since November in a recent game against Pornstars and have jumped to 3^rd and can pinch runners up if they push hard in the closing weeks. They did have a difficult assignment despite being at home as they hosted Bakers Rogues who despite a drop in form are always tough to beat and there’s always good fun between these teams as well! The alley as ever was difficult but a first hand 59 including a bolted spare from Simon Male was a good start, but Rogues were 4 up with a bit better consistency of scoring. What was entertaining was Simon Male as he hit another spare (12) but that was after a 2! But the majority of the team showed much better scoring and overturned the deficit into a lead of 4 pins. You need some luck as well to win here and Keano had a nightmare with 31! Duke were glad and ground out another win as they won 10-2 by 3 pins to stay 3^rd and look to push VIPS in the final weeks of the season. Rogues were a tad unlucky and played pretty well as a whole but the loss means they are 5th.

Off to Lord Nelson now where hosts Nelsons Nomads have struggled with consistency of form all season but they are safe for another season and have the Nomination Plate Final to look forward to next week! Their opponents were Seahawks who have tailed off after a fabulous 1^st half and in 4^th really could do with a late push to maybe go into 3^rd and maybe runners up. Despite Nomads having a player short they played very nicely and consistently all the way through as they kept it tight with Seahawks as Nomads went 1 up then Seahawks went 1 up but Nomads better consistency won the match as they won 10-2 by 9 pins to stay 9th. Seahawks are meandering to the end of the season and hopes of runners up are all but gone as they stay 4th.

Mid table action was at South Petherton Club where hosts Monkey Spankers have not had any sort of form here and looking at the table probably prefer being away from home as they seem to play much better than they do here. Their visitors, relegation threatened Lamb Shanks knew they needed to get wins now as weeks are running out to save themselves, a tall order here but you never know especially Spankers form here. Spankers home struggles continued as they were indebted to Rosco for keeping them in it early on with a 15 spare as they went only 2 up, but from then on Spankers could not live with their weaker opponents as Rob C with 57, Trev with 53 and a last hand flopper from skipper Darren Cousins for 54 made for an impressive performance from Lamb Shanks as they won 9-3 by 6 pins to stay 12^th and still scrapping away to save themselves. Monkey Spankers home woes continue as they are 8th.

This next match at Rusty Axe was the skittles version of a 6 pointer as we had hosts Yorkies and opponents Stoke Buoys both desperately needing the win in their bids for survival and especially Stoke Buoys who had to win to keep themselves in the hunt and a big loss could be fatal for them. Yorkies for all their lack of form this season have been really competitive at home and produced a really chunky performance again as they overpowered their opponents with Chris hitting a big spare (18) for 52 and Paul also with a spare (15) for 52 was too much for Stoke Buoys as Yorkies won big 12-0 by 52 pins to give themselves a great chance of staying up and are 11th. The big loss for Stoke Buoys means with their next match against the leaders Stoke WMC and needing the maximum 12-0 to win they are the first team relegated to Division 2. On my head if they do win 12-0 mind!

Nobbys Nuts had the bye this week and drop to 7th.

Division 2

The Division 2 title and promotion race has take a decisive turn towards leaders Hit & Hopes and S Club 8 in recent weeks but the topsy turvy nature this season with Division 2 you never know what could happen.

Leaders Hit & Hopes looked to extend their lead with not many games left as they were home at Black Swan to mid-table opponents Lord Nelson and if they had serious chances of winning the title & promotion they needed to be clinical here, opponents Lord Nelson were looking to spoil here with an unlikely win. Hit & Hopes dominated from the start and Nelson could never get close as the leaders won big here 12-0 by 50 pins and stretched the lead at the top to 10 points. One to forget quickly for Lord Nelson as they are 6th.

Two teams vying for promotion clashed in this next match as we go back to Stoke Club and to the bottom alley where home team Dolphins still have faint hopes of getting back into Division 1 at the first attempt but their form has waned and their opponents S Club 8’s form has risen at a crucial time and find themselves in that promotion place so this was a crucial match for both teams. This as expected was tight with two tied hands, but a 62-3rd hand from S Club 8 swung the match in their favour and they held on in the last hands to win here 10-2 by 8 pins to move clear in 2nd. Dolphins look likely now to stay in Division 2 as another loss means they are joint 3^rd with Lamb & Larks.

Off to Eli’s next for host team Mucky Ducks who in general have had a good season on the whole and despite not featuring in the promotion shake up they have been good value for their results this season. They hosted Rosies Rebels who have struggled all season long and may even wrestle the Wooden Spoon off Ham Boys! Despite this Rosies Rebels are always a fun competitive team to play against. A typically high scoring game with an individual high score of 60 for Mucky Ducks went their way as they cruised to a 11-1 win by 25 pins. Rosies played well but got a bit of a hiding here as they are bottom in 12th.

Lower table action was at Bell Ash as Mandys Bell Boys have been in the lower half all season, but an improvement in form in the 2^nd half has risen them into mid-table and they had a fairly good chance of a win here as they faced Split Pins who like their opponents have had improvement in form in 2025 and the 1 place between them meant a close game here. Opener Dan for Mandys was superb again with 51 and likewise Kev for Split Pins with 50, but Mandys Bell Boys got the better of the result here with a 9-3 win by 12 pins to go into 8th..

A bottom of the table clash was at Rose & Crown at Bower Hinton as host and bottom team Thorns & Roses are in that battle for the coveted Spoon were against the holders of the Spoon in Ham Boys in a match that would be tight between both teams who generally struggle for consistent wins. Thorns powered to an 18 pin early lead, but Ham Boys made a game of this and cut Thorns lead to 5 going into the final hands. Thorns held on though to win 9-3 by 5 pins to drop to 11th. Thorns & Roses rise to 10th.

In the back match played in the week Mucky Ducks hosted Split Pins and with both teams looking for added points for a decent end to the season this match promised to be very decent albeit a home win was expected here. Mucky Ducks won by 19 pins 9-3 and with their Friday result they are now 5th. Split Pins 2 losses means they are 9th.

In Mini League action there was a Lark Derby as Hotspots faced their rivals Lamb & Larks in a match where both teams have nothing to play for in this mini league tussle. Lamb & Larks won by 11 pins 9-3 to be 7^th and Hotspots winless mini league season means they are 10th.

Lots to look forward to in Round 24 as Stoke WMC could make themselves nearly champions and there’s a late battle for runners up as Duke of York are closing on VIPS. Division 2 has Hit & Hopes one hand on the winners trophy with S Club looking likely to go up with them. Not forgetting Nomination Finals Saturday!!

Cheers all

Steve