Category: Match Reports

Cannonballs away from home was the wrong match to begin the season, with the Hustlers not realising the game had started until the last leg.

The first three legs went the same way, with Hustlers gradually shipping pins until we were 33 down at the end of the third.  Only Olive and his rug-rat managed to beat their men, during which time our Captain put our new meerkat (what’s his name?) on standby until his third ball ended on target. 

On the last leg the Hustlers pulled back 6 pins, partly because they all broke 40 and partly because Cannonballs had stopped playing by then.  But the Balls had a scare on the fourth hand when Hustlers pulled back 9 pins and for the next five minutes it could have been game on.  At least Neil and JT beat their men; Pete meanwhile, who finished with 40, had to bowl off with Gary for the bench with the result that Pete wears the Warsaw trousers next week.

If this sounds like doom and gloom the positives were that the Hustlers broke 500 and only two of the team failed to make 40.  The negative is that Olive is top of the averages, a point he was not slow to recall (several times) on the long walk home.

14/9/11 v Cannonballs Elite @ Saracens Club

Gary	6	8	8	9	7	2	40	-6
Lofty	6	8	8	7	8	4	41	-5
Clive	4	8	8	8	8	12	48	4

1st leg total 129 v 136

Lewis	6	9	9	9	7	5	45	5
Jim	8	3	7	8	4	6	36	-11
Andy S	8	6	7	8	7	6	42	-5

2nd leg total 123 v 134

Steve	8	7	9	8	3	8	43	-5
Mark	6	4	5	5	7	6	33	-8
Rob	9	7	6	8	5	7	42	-2

3rd leg total 118 v 133

Neil	7	8	8	8	8	7	46	5
Pete	5	4	9	7	7	8	40	-2
JT	8	8	7	8	5	8	44	3

4th leg total 130 v 124

Grand total 500 v 527

WON by -27

It’s that time of year again – the annual grudge pre-season not so friendly match against the Anchor Old Ladies, who were hosting us this year.  Could we maintain our victorious record of recent years?

Barry was on holiday, but Lofty brought along his newly shaved and polished balls as good luck charms.  To fit everyone in, we agreed to play only 5 hands and have 2 4-person legs.  How would this affect the teams?

We opened with a steady leg, with JimBob setting the score to be chased down.  But the Old Ladies managed to scrape by with a lucky 2-pin lead.  But this merely lulled them into a false sense of security as the 2nd legs faced off. Wallsy soon set a new standard as he got our first spare of the night, soon followed by an  unconverted spare from Lewis (lucky boy – the new mascot hasn’t yet been introduced!).  Settting new top score and beat yer man (BYM) scores, we now turned the game around to take a 24-pin lead.

With Matt guesting, 3rd leg set about stretching the lead still further.  With the help of a staggering +12 from Jim, they added another 3 pins, leaving an easy lead for the anchor leg to defend.  In our poorest display of the night, only Stavros had a positive BYM, while Olive claimed only his 2nd ever beaver (so he claims).  But, despite losing the leg, they did enough to ensure another Old Anchors slaughter.  Victory was deemed to be extremely sweet.

19/8/11 v Anchor Old Ladies @ Suffolk

Lofty	4	6	8	2	7	27	-10
JimBob	4	8	8	7	6	33	+8
Rich	6	6	6	2	8	28	-2
TC	5	4	6	5	7	27	+2

1st leg total 115 v 117

Stu	6	4	4	6	6	26	-8
Lewis	4	8	7	6	9s	34	+15
Steve	7	12	8	4	8	39	+11
Pete	6	7	5	5	5	28	+8

2nd leg total 127 v 101

Mark	6	4	5	7	8	30	-2
Matt	7	7	3	2	1	20	-9
Jim	8	5	7	4	6	30	+12
Gary	6	3	8	9	5	31	+2

3rd leg total 111 v 108

Rob	6	2	6	4	7	25	-4
AS	6	4	7	6	6	29	+7
Clive	4	9	0	5	7	25	-10

4th leg total 79 v 86

Grand total 432 v 412

WON by +20

 

 

Having finally gotten back to winning ways, Hustlers made the long trek out to Bishops Cleeve, looking to do the double over Smiths A.  Could we finally string a couple of wins together?

1st leg got off to a steady start, with a starring performance from Chairman Pete as his 9 spare helped him to our top score of the night, although it wasn’t quite enough to stop us falling behind.  2nd leg kept the game tight as they only dropped 3 pins in a leg where neither side could break the 100 mrk.  JimBob excelled himself to regain possession of Barry the Brasilian beaver after just a single match as he just managed to get our lowest score of the night.  And so we turned around trailing by just 8 pins – a gap hardly worth mentioning for the ‘Slurs.

3rd leg soon sorted that out as they racked up our 2nd highest leg score of the night & Smiths got by far the lowest.  And so we immediately found ourselves 10 pins in front thanks to a superb 18-pin lead and confidence really rising.  Anchor leg just had to cruise and the double was ours.  But somebody had forgotten to show the script to Smiths.  With Dobbin getting our 2nd lowest score (and leaving us without a single 40 average in the process) it all came down to Smiths’ last hand – get 14 and the game would be ours.  The 21 saw us lose by another close margin – it can’t be good for the nerves.

Our penultimate game ses us play our last home game of the season against old opponents, the Cream.  We will be looking to avaenge the earlier defeat at Cleeve British Legion against them.

21/3/11 v Smiths A @ RBL, Bishops Cleeve

AU	5	3	4	5	6	8	31
Pete	6	6	9s	7	3	7	38
TC	5	3	6	7	8	5	34

1st leg total 103 v 108

Lewis	5	9	6	6	7	2	35
JimBob	6	2	7	5	0	6	26
Clive	4	3	7	8	8	3	33

2nd leg total 94 v 97

Jim	8	4	1	5	6	6	30
Rich	6	7	5	7	5	7	37
Steve	7	5	9	2	6	6	35

3rd leg total 102 v 84

Mart	7	7	6	5	6	5	36
Gary	5	6	6	3	7	9	36
Rob	4	7	5	7	3	2	28

4thleg total 100 v 116

Grand total 399 v 405

WON by -6

On a seemingly endless run of defeats the Hustlers were at home once more.  Could they stop the rot against the Cannonballs Elite?

AU & Cap’n Clive looked to set the standard with 40s, with able support from Gary as they took an early 22 pin lead.  The smiles were beginning to return.  But then the script started to feel a little familiar.  Despite veteran Jim clocking up a 40, Salty (lowest score of the night) and Stavros couldn’t compete and we dropped 13 pins, but still hung onto the lead, so despair hadn’t quite set in.

We brought on the Walls to set the pace on 3rd leg.  His 40 gave us hope as the singing picked up, as we dropped a further 2 pins, but stayted clinging onto a fragile lead, leaving it up to the anchors to keep us ahead.  But the drama hadn’t started yet.  A first hand beaver from "Mr Sunshine" saw 1 of our lowest ever hands and we were behind for the first time in the game.  We soon had a second beaver, this time from Dobbin (has Barry ever changed hands so quickly within a leg??) and really started to get a feeling of deja vu.  But a further twist was to come as Dobbin got our only spare of the night in the very next hand to put us back in the game.  JT’s 9 in the next hand lead  a comeback as we clawed back to a 1 pin lead.  And it all came down to the Cannonballs anchor man – needing an 8 to win the game, he got a 6 to hand us a victory by the narrowest of margins! 

Has the hoodoo finally been broken?  We rest next week for the Gold Cup and resume our fight at the RBL in Cleeve on 21st.  Surely we can build on this.

7/3/11 v Cannonballs Elite @ Suffolk

AU	9	8	6	8	4	5	40
Gary	5	3	8	7	5	8	36
Clive	5	8	8	9	5	7	42

1st leg total 118 v 96

Mark	8	3	4	4	5	3	27
Jim	9	4	6	8	7	6	40
AS	2	8	7	7	7	3	34

2nd leg total 101 v 114

Steve	8	6	8	6	6	7	41
Rich	5	8	9	6	5	4	37
Stu	7	4	8	5	5	4	33

3rd leg total 111 v 113

Rob	5	8	0	11	6	7	37
JT	0	8	6	5	9	7	35
Neil	3	1	7	6	8	6	31

4th leg total 103 v 109

Grand total 433 v 432

WON by 1

This week, the Hustlers finally get an away game – at the Suffolk!  Fresh from a weekend break in Bournemouth, it was time to get back on track.

1st leg started well, but soon found themselves 13 poins down.  Despite our skip’s 40 (our first of the night), they failed to break the 100, getting our lowest leg score of the night.  2nd leg saw us improve a little as AS helped himself to our joint highest spare of the season on his way to another 40.  The rot was halted a little, losing just 7 pins, but still leaving a lot to be done.

3rd leg improved the score with a very consistent performance and became the first leg to win, leaving the anchors still facing a 20 pin deficit – not impossible, but challenging, given recent performances.  And a rejigged anchor leg started well, before becoming rather seesaw.  Rich got his 2nd 40 of the season as we became the Hustlers’ highest scoring leg of the night, but it wasn’t enough and we dropped a further 6 pins to suffer another loss.

We’re back at home next week, needing to lay the ghost of 2011 to rest.  Can we finally get a win to settle us back into happy times?

1/3/11 v Ullenwood CC @ Suffolk

Mart	6	4	3	4	7	3	27
Pete	7	5	1	6	7	4	30
Clive	8	9	2	6	7	8	40

1st leg total 97 v 117

Lewis	7	1	8	7	5	7	35
JimBob	6	9	5	1	6	6	33
AS	8	5	3	6	16	6	44

2nd leg total 112 v 119

Gary	6	7	8	7	5	5	38
Stu	6	7	7	5	4	9	38
Neil	6	6	8	4	5	8	37

3rd leg total 113 v 105

TC	5	7	5	4	7	8	36
Rich	7	4	8	6	9	7	41
Rob	8	8	4	5	6	7	38

4th leg total 115 v 118

Grand total 437 v 459

WON by -22

Once more at home, this time against bottom of the table Old Golds, Hustlers were looking to end their losing streak.  Could we regain our pre-Christmas form at last?

 

1st leg looked OK as they began the match, but that soon changed as we began to drop pins.  Despite a valiant 40 from Lewis (with our 1st 9 of the match), Old Golds pulled out a 15 pin lead.  2nd leg struggled along to our highest leg score of the night, managing to pull back 4 pins in the process, leaving the game finely poised at halftime.

3rd leg once again struggled to 100, with Salty setting our lowest score of the night.  With 2 spare 9s against us, we dropped a further 19 pins to leave the anchors with a mammoth task.  Rob hit our 2nd 40 of the night and Neil our 2nd 9, as they equalled the top leg score.  With the Golds dropping pins, hope was emerging for the ‘Slurs.  But it wasn’t quite enough and we failed to win once more!

We’re back at the suffolk on Tuesday for an away game against Ullenwood CC.  Hopefully the sea air of Bournemouth will work some magic on us this weekend and we can come back refreshed and re-energised for the challenge ahead of us.

21/2/11 v Old Golds @ Suffolk

Gary	8	4	3	6	5	6	32
Pete	4	6	6	5	5	6	32
Lewis	7	9	7	4	6	8	41

1st leg total 105 v 120

TC	6	5	7	7	5	7	37
Jim	4	5	6	4	5	7	31
AU	4	7	7	6	7	8	39

2nd leg total 107 v 103

Mark	3	6	4	1	8	7	29
AS	3	8	6	6	6	8	37
Stu	6	6	8	6	6	2	34

3rd leg total 100 v 119

Rob	8	8	7	4	7	8	42
JT	8	4	4	4	5	6	31
Neil	6	5	9	3	4	7	34

4th leg total 107 v 93

Grand total 419 v 435

WON by -16

At home against 1 of the relegation candidates, Hustlers were favourites to get back on track.  Surely we could stump Cheltenham CC.

Gary opened the bowling with a 9, with an 8 from Pietersen Peter-son and a 7 from AU.  They maintained their form throughout and 40’s from Gary & AU brought us a 9 pin lead.  Lewis kept the run going with another 40, but Rich & AS faltered in their play and CCC managed to pull the pins back, to leave the match all square at the halfway point.

3rd leg once again struggled to 100, but managed to lose just 4 pins, to leave the game finely poised as the tail enders faced off against each other.  Rob scraped his way to 40 with the help of a last hand 9, but JT & Neil couln’t escape the low 30s and, as hard as they tried, the anchors couldn’t stop the Cricket Club as they dropped a further 7 pins.

We need to get back to winning – let’s hope another game at home next week goes our way as we take on the Division’s strongest side (they are holding the rest up!), before travelling to the Suffolk for an away match the following week.

14/2/11 v Cheltenham CC @ Suffolk

Gary	9	7	7	8	8	6	45
Pete	8	7	4	5	7	6	37
AU	7	5	6	8	6	8	40

1st leg total 122 v 113

Lewis	7	9	8	4	9	5	42
Rich	7	7	2	6	4	3	29
AS	5	5	5	7	4	8	34

2nd leg total 105 v 114

Mart	3	5	6	7	8	3	32
Jim	4	8	5	7	6	5	35
Clive	7	3	6	3	7	7	33

3rd leg total 100 v 104

Rob	6	7	5	7	6	9	40
JT	4	7	8	7	2	6	34
Neil	6	7	4	6	5	5	33

4th leg total 107 v 114

Grand total 434 v 445

WON by -11

Following on from 2 defeats, the Hustlers ventured out to Churchdown to take on the Chosen Champs.  Could they stop the rot?

 

Hopes were high as AU racked up our first 40 of the night. but TC’s lowest score of the season helped the Chosen to a 13 pin lead.  But we’ve come back from worse gaps, so the game was still on as 2nd leg took over.  But they proved to be even worse, as Steve made his lowest score of the season and we lost a further 26 pins.  Still, it could have been worse at this stage & Pete did win the raffle – surely an omen.

3rd leg stuttered to 100 as Mark got our first 9 of the night.  And so, once more it came down to the anchors to save the game – the draw was still on!  Gary ably supported 40s from makeshift skipper Rob & JT (who got 2 9s in the process) as they ran up our highest leg score of the night.  But a series of 9s and spares from the Chosen saw them take the leg by 9 (a success compared to the rest of us).  And so, Rob’s first game as captain this season ended in our heaviest defeat. 

Fortunately, Clive’s back next week as we start a run of 4 games back at the Suffolk (even if 1 of them is an away fixture!).  We will be looking to regain some form, especially with 5 dropped for the match!

9/2/11 v Chosen Champs @Churchdown Club

Lofty	7	6	5	7	7	5	37
AU	5	7	8	5	7	8	40
TC	5	3	4	4	4	5	25

1st leg total 102 v 115

Stu	5	5	6	5	4	7	32
Jim	8	4	7	5	3	6	33
Steve	3	3	5	5	5	5	26

2nd leg total 91 v 117

Lewis	6	7	7	5	7	3	35
Mark	6	2	4	6	5	9	32
AS	3	5	5	8	6	6	33

3rd leg total 100 v 113

Rob	6	8	8	8	4	6	40
Gary	4	8	3	7	7	6	35
JT	4	7	9	7	4	7	43

4th leg total 118 v 127

Grand total 411 v 472

WIN by -61