Author: TC

Looking for that first win if the season, a still depleted Hustlers set out on a miserable night to face British Legion Extras. 

Normal service appeared to have resumed as first leg opened the match.  But then a glkimmer of hope appeared as Lofty got our only spare on his way to a top score, while Lloyd & Chris were both left trailing as we ended the leg 7 pins down.  Second leg was a different story as TC’s rare 40 saw him lose to his man, while bottom-scoring Dave drew with his man and Gary beat his,  Despite being the lowest scoring leg, they only dropped a further 4 pins, to leave us down by 11 pins at the midpoint. 

Third leg once more stepped up to bring the game back, with AS getting our third 40, ably supported by Pete, pulling back 10 pins in style.  And so the game was perched on a knife edge as the anchors faced off.  With Clive and Neil battling for top honours (Neil scraping that one narrowly to match Mart), it all came down to the final hand.  And the highest leg score proved more than enough, as they turned the game around and we finally got our season under way with a 6-pin victory.

We return to the Suffolk next week, hoping to continue winning ways as we host Golden Miller.

15/10/14 v British Legion Extras @ Hatherley & Reddings CC

1st leg total 108 v 115

2nd leg total 104 v 108

3rd leg total 110 v 100

4th leg total 127 v 120

Grand total 449 v 443

WON by 6

Back in league action once more, Hustlers were looking to restart their season as they took on Flyers at Fortress Suffolk.
 

And first leg got us off to a flying start with an early 7-pin lead, although that was not to last too long, as Flyers then took the lead.  Despite Marty getting our first Beaver of the season, he still managed to outscore their bottom scorer and kept the gap to a respectable 4 pins.  Second leg were to fare little better, despite regaining the leg after our first hand.  With 1s from TC and bottom-scoring Dave (who rounded off his night by taking possession of Barry from Lofty), Rob managed to keep the losses down to just another 4 pins with his 9 helping him to our first 40 of the night.
 

Third leg saw a little recovery, as Rich added another 9, while Clive became host to Mo as he hit our third "almost" spare in as many weeks  Although they improved our score, they also had the misfortune to concede a further 12 pins, leaving the anchors a little challenge.  And they set about about the task with some success as Chris added another 9 to claim joint top score with Rob as they became our first winning leg.  But that win proved once more to not be enough, as we fell short by a mere 15 pins.

It’s a road trip next week as we head out to Hatherley to face their cricketers.  A good wicket could give us a sniff at victory.

6/1014 v Flyers @ Suffolk

2nd leg total 95 v 99

3rd leg total 104 v 116

4th leg total 108 v 103

Grand total 402 v 417

WON by -15

At maximum depletion this week, Hustlers faced off against Victory A in a cup match at Victory Club.  A chance to get our season back on track.
 

First leg saw Lloyd collect his first beaver and possession of Barry on his way to bottom score.  Although our lowest leg score to dte, we only dropped 8 pins, staying within reach of Victory.  Second leg were to fare a little better, showing signs of recovery, despite dropping a further 6 pins to leave us trailing by 14 at the halfway mark.
 

Improvement continued with the third leg, with Clive getting our first 40, as they only dropped a further 3 pins, setting the anchors an interesting total to claw back  And more improvement was to come, as Neil opened by gaining possession of Mo with a Hustler spare.  Chris capped his 40 fith our first 9, while Neil’s real spare helped him equal Clive’s top score, but still lost to his man, who scored a superb 50 on a hard alley.  Top-scoring leg also became our first winning leg of the night, but they couldn’t quite do enough, and we fell to another defeat  

But we can now focus on the league as we return to the Suffolk next week to face Flyers next week.

29/9/14 v Victory A @ Victory

2nd leg total 100 v 106

3rd leg total 112 v 115

4th leg total 117 v 111

Grand total 423 v 434

WON by -11

Back at a former home, Hustlers were looking to make up for last week’s loss, despite their growing absentee list.
 

First leg got off to a fair start, with  Lloyd getting his maiden 40, despite losing to his top-scoring opponent.  Trailing by nine pins, second leg saw Chris get our first 9 and second 40 of the night, while debutant Dave was unfortunate to take bottom score  But they only conceded 5 pins, leeaving us trailing by fourteen at the midpoint.
 

Losing the raffle seemed to inspire third leg, as they racked up our highest leg score to date.  Swayner got his season off to a grand start by wresting Mo from Lofty’s tight grip, yet still failed to lose to his man.  Rich and Lofty traded nines as they fought for top score, Lofty ultimately stealing that honour as their efforts clawed six pins back to leave the anchors chasing just eight to level the game.  A hard battle against a strong leg saw Steve and Neil bag another couple of nines, with Neil gtting our fifth 40, but sadly leaking pins as they went.  But, sadly, second highest leg against their top leg meant we’d dropped another fourteen pins and slipped to another early season defeat.
 

Monday sees a return to cup action and a chance to extend our run, as we face Victory A at the Victory Club

23/9/14 v Merryfellow B @ Merryfellow

2nd leg total 102v 107

3rd leg total 127 v 121

4th leg total 115 v 129

Grand total 456 v 478

WON by -22

Hustlers made their first home appearance of the season, giving them a first chance to play with Lofty’s shiny new balls.  Would they provide that much-needed boost?
 

First leg was a mixed bag, as bottom-scoring JT (scoring our first 1) and Neil (with our first 9) cancelled each other out, as we went behind by a mere 6 pins.  Second leg provided our highest total of the night, with top-scoring TC finally ending his 40-drought as they pulled back half of the deficit by halftime.
 

Despite Chris getting our second 40 of the night, third leg was another mixed bag, as Stu equalled JT’s score and Lofty faced off against Ullenwood’s top scorer.  With another ten pins dropped, the anchors faced an uphill task.  And, despite Steve getting our second 9, they came up against Ullenwood’s top leg, who just opened up the gap hand by hand, until finally doubling it, to ensure their victory
 

Next Tuesday sees us head out to Charlton Kings to play Merryfellow A

15/9/14 v Ullenwood CC @ Suffolk

2nd leg total 111v 108

3rd leg total 107 v 117

4th leg total 108 v 121

Grand total 424 v 450

WON by -26

And so the league season begins and the Hustlers fight through ther scooter hordes as they open their account facing the Merryboys in a tense contest at the Somerset.

First leg played well with a crocked JT, but found themselves against a strong leg, with just Neil managing to beat his man as we dropped 17 pins.  A struggling second leg, with TC bottom-scoring, fared a little better as they only let the Merries pull out another 4 pins, to leave us trailing by an iffy 21 pins at the midpoint.

With JT taking the raffle prize, there was a little light beginning to shine.  And third leg took inspiration from that as they set about closing the gap.  Chris narrowly missed a 40, despite his pair of 9s, closely followed by Stu, who completed the Rich sandwich, as he got our first 40 of the season.  Having pulled back a huge 14 pins, they handed over to the anchors, with the game well within reach.  Gary opened with our second 40, while Steve struggled to find form, leaving it all up to vice-skip Rob, as he top-scored.  Our second winning leg couldn’t quite do it though, as we fell short by a mere 3 pins.

We reconvene on Monday at the Suffolk to face Ullenwood CC

10/9/14 v Merryboys @ Somerset

2nd leg total 98 v 102

3rd leg total 117 v 103

4th leg total 113 v 109

Grand total 434 v 437

WON by -3

With the Sinners failing to raise a team, Hustlers managed to scrape through to the first round of the Charities Cup.

And so their cup run begins.

We start our league campaign next Wednesday at the Somerset, looking to continue the good run.

It’s that time of year again – the annual pre-season “friendly” against the Anchor Old Ladies.  With Clive absent on marital duties, could Dobbin actually manage to guide us to a win?

We were led off by a lacklustre AS, a crocked JT and a returning Swayner, who collected our first 1 and first 9 of the night.  But they still managed to pull out a 4-pin lead.  Second leg featured new Hustler Lloyd and webmaster Tim as they dropped 6 pins going into the break.

Refreshed by Swayner’s and Lofty’s ice bucket showers, third leg recovered the game as they won by 8 pins to restore the lead as the match went into the final leg.  Despite facing a pair of spares from the Anchors’ anchors, ‘Slurs’ own anchors did enough, with Sayeed gaining our only spare and 40, to hang on and bring home another win over our old rivals and the honour of relieving them of the Jim Swan Memorial Trophy.

We reconvene on Monday to face the Sinners in the Charity Cup, before the serious business of life back in Division 1 gets under way.

29/9/14 v Anchor Old Ladies @ Suffolk

1st leg total 92 v 88

2nd leg total 122 v 128

3rd leg total 139 v 131

4th leg total 110 v 111

Grand total 463 v 458

WON by 5

And so we finally come to our last game of the season, and possibly in Prem B as well.  Could the scratch Hustlers side at least finish on a high with a win (and a rare double)?

A mixed start saw a rare Lewis appearance, as he got our first 9 in narrowly missing a 40, but cancelling out Pete’s BYM, while Andy helped himself to our opening 40 as first leg eked out a lead of a single pin.  While second leg achieved our lowest leg total of the season and Stu his lowest, they did manage to drag the elite down with them as they dropped 6 pins, to leave us trailing by 5 at the halfway point, helped by a beaver from the Cannonballs.

Having dined in style, third leg set about turning the game around.  With vital 40s from Rich and top-scoring Chris, they stuck solidlly to the task and (despite facing another beaver and the only spare of the match) and ground out a deserved 14-pin lead.  Could we dare dream of that elusive Rob victory?  Only the anchors could determine that.  And they started off well, before a touch of the yips set in and they started to leak pins.  But not enough and they held on to take the game by 9 pins, giving us our third double of the season and the first win as stand-in skipper for Rob.

Now we wait to see what fate awaits us – relegation looms, but you can never be sure ………..

7/4/14 v Cannonballs Elite @ Suffolk

2nd leg total 87 v 93

3rd leg total 118 v 99

4th leg total 107 v 116

Grand total 425 v 416

WON by 9