Home and Away

Following on from their rest week, would the Hustlers be able to get back to winning ways as they took on Ullenwood CC away at the Suffolk?

First leg struggled with the heavy balls and, thanks largely to Lofty’s jammy last hand spare, somehow managed to win the leg by a single pin.  This clearly inspired second leg as they opened with a 25 pin hand, including our 1st 9 of the night from Cap’n Clive and JimBob making his maiden 40, as they stretched the lead out to 3 pins at the halfway point.
 
With cheeks clenched, 3rd leg began with a 9 from Gary and built up to a good total with 13 spares from Steve & Gary, but negated 2nd leg’s win, so we ended the leg back to a single pin gap.  Now tension really was building.  But the anchors held their nerve (despite Neil’s wobbly 4) and, with a trio of 40s, dealt the killer blow on the last hand (only Rob failing to score a 9) to leave too big a target for the Cricket Club to chase down.
 
Confidence now restored, we’re back at the Suffolk on Monday to take on Eagle Star A – and we can afford no cry offs for the night!!!!

 

8/11/11 v Ullenwood CC @ Suffolk

Mart 7 6 3 6 5 12 39 3

Pete

 4 3 7 8 6 5 33 0

TC

 5 5 5 6 6 7 34 -2

1st leg total 106 v 105

Clive

 9 7 6 6 5 6 39 0

JimBob

 8 6 8 6 6 6 40 8
AS 8 7 6 8 4 3 36 -6

2nd leg total 115 v 113

Steve

 6 13 7 6 7 6 45 4

Mark

 6
 3 8 4
 8 5 34 -5
Gary 9 5 5 4 4 13 40 -1

3rd leg total 119 v 121

Neil

 7 4 6 8 8 9 42 6

Lewis

 7 8 7 6 7 9 44 5
Rob 6

7

 7 8 7 8 43 0

4th leg total 129 v 118

Grand total 469 v 457

WON by 12

 

Who let the dogs out?

With 3 wins now under their wings, Hustlers set about extending their winning streak against newcomers Fox & Hounds.  Just how would they get on?

First leg set out in steady form, with the first 2 of our top scorers getting us off to a 5 pin lead.  2nd leg showed similar form, with the 2nd 2 top scorers helping to stretch the lead by a further 2 pins.  and, with Kate winning the raffle yet again, it was looking rosey at the halfway point.

But that’s when things started to take a turn for the worst again.  With 3rd leg failing to score 100, our lead was completeley overturned and we went 6 pins behind.  But there was still all to play for and we had the anchors still to come..  With Lewis breaking 1 of Lofty’s balls and JT chalking up our lowest score of the night, we soon saw that gap spread even further as anchor lost by a stonking 21 pins.

The winning streak was over.  No game next week, but we meet at the Bank House for a trip meeting.

24/10/11 v Fox & Hounds @ Suffolk

TC 5 5 8 7 7 7 39 6

Pete

 6 6 8 3 7 9 39 5

Gary

 6 5 5 4 8 4 32 -6

1st leg total 110 v 105

Clive

 8 2 7 7 6 9 39 0

JimBob

 7 6 6 4 7 4 34 -2
AS 6 7 6 9 5 6 39 4

2nd leg total 112 v 110

Mark

 7 7 5 4 5 4 32 -8

Rich

 5
 3 3 5
 7 7 30 -2
Mart 5 6 5 5 6 5 32 -3

3rd leg total 94 v 107

J.T.

 2 7 5 5 7 2 28 -12

Lewis

 4 8 7 6 8 5 38 -5
Rob 5

6

 3 6 8 6 34 -4

4th leg total 100 v 121

Grand total 416 v 443

WON by -27

 

Hustlers stroll to victory in style

After some initial scares, the Hustlers overran a very sociable Strollers team in a lively encounter at the Adam & Eve.

First leg provided the scares, not because of particularly bad scoring on our side but a Strollers leg of 130, including a 49, was a daunting score to follow on a strange alley.  At the end, Hustlers were second best to the tune of 21 pins.

Second leg soon rectified this and captain Clive’s innings of 53, which began with a 16 spare, ably supported by Gary’s 43, virtually wiped out the deficit and the two sides began the third leg only one pin apart.

Modesty prevents this writer from describing the intricacies of his 58, other than it began with a 15 flattener and finished with a 12 spare, but good support was provided by Lofty’s 42 and Pete’s 38 in ending the leg 18 pins ahead.

So to the last leg, where all three players gained on their opponents to the tune of 21 pins.  Lewis’ 50 included a 13 spare on his final hand; Rob’s 48 included a 10 spare; and JT managed 44 without needing the extra assistance of the sticker.

18/10/11 v Strollers @ Adam & Eve

Steve 6 6 3 8 6 8 37 -3

Rich

 8 6 8 6 7 5 40 -1

Neil

 8 3 5 2 8 6 32 -17

1st leg total 109 v 130

Gary

 8 5 8 7 8 7 43 1

JimBob

 7 7 9 4 6 5 38 -1
Clive 16 8 9 5 9 6 53 20

2nd leg total 134 v 114

Marty

 7 5 8 8 8 6 42 -1

Pete

 5
 7 7 4
 7 8 38 -2
Andy 15 8 8 8 7 12 58 22

3rd leg total 138 v 119

J.T.

 7 9 9 7 4 8 44 1

Lewis

 7 9 7 8 6 13 50 11
Rob 7 10 8 6 9 8 48 9

4th leg total 142 v 121

Grand total 523 v 484

WON by 39

 

A bad case of the grumps

Determined to put the Cup failure behind them, Hustlers went into tonight’s match looking to resume their league form against the Gamps.

A middling performance saw 1st leg establish a remarkable 22 pin lead, with only Swayner failing (narrowly) to beat his man.  2nd leg saw both sides struggling, with the Gamps just nudging it, despite Gary’s lone positv e BYM.  But we still retained the lead at half time – just a shame we were whitewashed in the raffle.

A struggling 3rd leg (with Clive as the stand out player with our first 9 and 40 of the night) were rapidly dropping pins woth no sign of an end.  Despite shipping 14 pins, they did, however, manage to keep us ahead as they handed over to the Anchors.  Nails were being well & truly bitten over the 1st 3 hands as the game gradually returned to all square.  Then Pete’s newly regained form soon showed itself again as he chalked up our 1st spare of the night, closely followed by our 2nd from Rob in an incredible  hand of 33.  And that was to prove decisive as we saw the game out with Pete’s top score cheering the team up greatly as we clawed our way back to another win.

We’re away at the Adam & Eve next week, with only a bare minimum team vailable, so no illness will be welcome.  And we hope that we will be able to decide on our trip venue & dates by then.

10/10/11 v Gamps @ Fox Suffolk

Steve 5 8 6 8 6 5 38 14

Mark

 4 5 2 8 6 6 31 -1

TC

 3 7 7 7 7 6 37 9

1st leg total 106 v 84

Andy

 3 5 4 7 5 6 30 -3

JimBob

 7 5 7 3 2 7 31 -10
Gary 4 7 3 5 6 7 32 7

2nd leg total 93 v 99

Mart

 5 5 5 5 4 7 31 -11

Stu

 3
 3 4 4
 5 8 27 -7
Clive 8 7 7 9 7 5 42 4

3rd leg total 100 v 114

Lewis

 7 6 6 6 6 8 39 3

Pete

 4 8 9 15 8 4 48 8
Rob 7 6 4 12 6 5 40 0

4th leg total 127 v 116

Grand total 426 v 413

WON by 13

Fool’s Gold?

Buouyed by last week’s opening win, Hustlers went to the Fox & Hounds in search of a Cup run.  And what a game it turned out to be.

We got off to an indifferent start, with Swayner struggling to make 30, but doing just enough to hand over a 2 pin lead.  But that was soon to change as our early season star player, Rich, made his first bid of the season for lowest score.  Failing to total 90 was a bad sign and we now found ourselves trailing by 12 pins at the midway point.

Despite JT’s best efforts, 3rd leg staged a great comeback, with TC clocking up our 1st 40 of the night, soon to be beaten by Lewis racking up his 1st ever scoring spare on his way to our top score of the season so far (overtaking his dad’s total in the process).  A massive 22-pin gap handed an easily defendable 10-pin lead to the anchors. 

Being Hustlers, this lead had disappeared by the end of the 2nd hand and we were soon chasing the game.  Pete did his best with our final 40 of the night, but couldn’t pull the others with him and we lost 19 pins to blow it at the end.

Mo has finally made it onto the scene, passing into the care of Gary, although Barry was mysteriously missing.  They have not yet been seen together – 1 for the conspiracy theorists, perhaps.  We’re back at home next week to resume our league campaign – don’t forget the trip meeting!!!! 

4/10/11 v Old Golds @ Fox & Hounds

Lofty 7 9 6 8 5 3 38 6

Mark

 6 7 1 4 6 5 29 -2

Clive

 5 8 6 7 4 5 35 -2

1st leg total 102 v 100

Andy

 6 5 5 4 6 8 34 10

Rich

 5 8 3 3 1 2 22 -17
Gary 2 5 6 6 5 9 33 -7

2nd leg total 89 v 103

JT

 3 1 7 7 5 4 27 -10

TC

 7
 8 8 7
 7 7 44 16
Lewis 8 5 9 8 7 13 50 16

3rd leg total 121 v 99

Steve

 3 2 6 9 7 3 30 -10

Pete

 7 4 7 6 9 8 41 -10
Rob 6 5 9 7 6 5 38 1

4th leg total 109 v 128

Grand total 421 v 430

WON by -9

Love (it:) Labour’s Lost

The most contrived title in the history of the Hustlers’ website is an unworthy reference to the Hustlers’ first win of the season, the victims being Temperance 12 at the Labour Club.

Both teams struggled on a wooden alley with uneven pitch but the first leg stayed fairly even until the Hustler’s meagre last hand of 10 gave the opposition a lead of 9 pins.

It was the next three up who effectively won the match, with Andy (43) and Clive (42) instrumental in converting a first leg deficit to a second leg lead of 15 pins, although Temperance 12 did oblige with their lowest leg.

Third leg started badly but steadied after a 9 spare by Gary.  However the meerkat is becoming as rare at Hustlers as AU on a Tuesday night so Gary went home empty handed.  Led by a fine 41 by Rich, who continues to pulverise his opposite number, the leg finished with honours shared.

And so to a very wobbly last leg which was filled with players who should know better behaving badly.  Only the rock steady JT finished with any credit, with the Hustlers winning the leg by 3 and the game by 18.

 

27/9/11 v Temperance 12 @ Labour Club

Lofty 6 6 8 6 6 3 35 -4

Jim

 5 6 5 8 3 3 30 -7

Pete

 4 9 7 4 9 2 35 2

1st leg total 100 v 109

Andy

 6 7 8 4 9 9 43 12

JimBob

 5 5 9 7 5 4 35 7
Clive 6 6 6 7 8 9 42 5

2nd leg total 120 v 96

Gary

 6 7 7 9s 6 3 38 -2

Rich

 6
 7 8 6
 8 6 41 6
Lewis 8 3 6 7 4 8 36 -4

3rd leg total 115 v 115

Neil

 4 5 8 4 7 7 35 -1

Rob

 3 5 7 8 8 5 36 0
JT 9 7 4 8 7 6 41 4

4th leg total 112 v 109

Grand total 447 v 429

WON by 18

Bowled Over

Looking to get a win in the bag, Hustlers faced Cheltenham CC in the first home match of the new season.

1st leg had the privilege of being the first to use Lofty’s shiny new balls. Cap’n Clive just missed out on a 40 as we got off to a slow, but steady start, finishing 11 pins down as their middle man hit a spare & a 9 spare.  2nd leg couldn’t match the score, but scrabbled pins back as none of the 3 lost to their man,and Steve collecting our only spare of the night. leaving us only 5 down at the halfway point.

3rd leg brought us our top score & total, thanks to Rich’s 43, but conceded another 2 pins along the way, leaving the anchors with only 7 pins to claw back.  Despite JT’s 42 (with a 9 spare making him the inaugural holder of our meerkat – Pete is still to name him), we fell yet further behind as both Neil & Rob beat JimBob to next week’s bench

Its the Temperance 12 at the Labour club next week – maybe they can be our first victims.

19/9/11 v Cheltenham Cricket Club @ Suffolk

Clive 4 7 9 6 5 8 39 -3

TC

 6 6 7 7 6 4 36 -7

Stu

 6 6 6 7 3 6 34 -1

1st leg total 109 v 120

AS

 4 4 6 6 6 9 35 3

JimBob

 4 7 7 4 5 5 32 0
Steve 5 12 6 6 5 4 38 3

2nd leg total 105 v 99

Mart

 4 7 5 7 9 5 37 -5

Rich

 9
 8 7 6
 6 7 43 17
Lewis 2 6 5 6 6 9 34 -14

3rd leg total 114 v 116

Neil

 5 4 7 7 4 4 31 -7

JT

 7 9 9s 5 7 5 42 6
Rob 4 3 5 9 5 5 31 -11

4th leg total 104 v 116

Grand total 432 v 451

WON by -19

Balls up: Hustlers down

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

Old Ladies spanked by Hustlers

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

 

A Shadows Cliff hanger

The Hustlers played their last game of the season and, as is now customary, drew lots for playing position.  And what an interesting lineup it produced.

First leg was very much a mixed bag.  Dobbin set a good pace with a 9 and the night’s only spare on his way to our 1st 40 of the night.  TC backed it up with a middling score, while AU stuttered to his lowest score of the season.  And so we handed over trailing by 2 pins.  But that was soon pulled back as 2nd leg set about turning the game around, with Stu getting his top score of the season, ably supported by JT and Wallsy with yet another 9 spare!  At the halfway point we were now 14 pins ahead and feeling very happy.

With Olive setting his top score of the season with a pair of 9s, 3rd  leg put in a good show to add a further 12 points to our lead, before handing over to the all-star anchor leg.  Jim set the pace with another 40, ably supported by a 40 from Lewis.  And so it was down to JimBob to make the game safe.  Opening with a 9, he soon made sure that he won Barry back off Rich, before launching his effort to claim our lowest score for himself – only missing out by a single pin.  But it was enough – we lost 12 pins, but came out winners  to end our season back on a positive run.

No more games this season, but we have the AGM ahead of us and the hopes of another front pin run to come.

4/4/11 v Shadows @ United Services Club

Rob 5 9 6 7 5 11 43

AU

 2 2 4 5 7 6 26

TC

 6 7 7 6 7 4 37

1st leg total 106 v 108

Stu

 8 8 8 9 8 6 47

Steve

 9 9s 7 5 8 5

45
JT 6 7 8 7 9 6 43

2nd leg total 135 v 119

Mark

 5 6 6 6 3 8 34

Clive

 9
 7 8 8
 7 9 48
Gary 9 5 4 6 7 4 35

3rd leg total 117 v 105

Jim

 5 7 7 7 8 7 41

Lewis

 7 7 7 9 8 5 43
JimBob 9 2 0 1 6 3 21

4th leg total 105 v 117

Grand total 463 v 449

WON by +14