Week 1 Report

Black Prince got their defence of the Premier Section with a close win away at Garsington Sports Club. They set and won the opening leg 26-23 and then took a two-nil lead in the next leg 28-18. They could not complete the whitewash in the final leg when Garsington set 27. In reply Black Prince started of strongly but faltered near the end and fell one doll short with 26. Dick Walsh and Roger Goodall both hit a dozen dolls for the Prince.
Gladiators A came away from The George ‘A’ with maximum points thanks to some fine throwing by anchor man Kevin Baker. George set the opening leg with 22 which did not cause the Glad’s a problem as they hit 26 in reply. Second leg George set 21, and in reply, mixed throwing from the Glad’s left anchor man Baker needing a maximum six to win the leg, and he did not disappoint as he clanged off all six to give the Glad’s a 2-0 lead. Glad’s completed the night winning the final leg 25-18. Baker was in top form with 14 dolls (3-6-5) and supported well by Kevin Giles who hit a baker’s dozen (5-4-4).
Consistent throwing by North Leigh FC saw them take all three legs at home to The New Club. After taking an early lead in the first leg 23-17 they were then set 23 in the second leg, an electric start in reply saw North Leigh hit 16 with the top half of the team, however they struggled after that and left anchor man Mark Rollins needing four to win and he was up to the task whipping of the four dolls to win the leg by the smallest of margins with 24. A set of 25 in the final leg wrapped up the game when New Club replied with 20. Rollins (5-4-4) and Charlie Buckingham (3-5-5) top scored with 13 dolls each.
Newly promoted to Section 1 Red Lion B Cassington got their campaign of to a good start by beating Rose Hill B 2-1 at home, and they had to do it the hard way after they lost the opening leg 16-19. Lion roared back in the second leg to level 21-18. Final and deciding leg Lion set and won 24-19.

In Section 2 Pete Rampton (3-6-5) and Steve Ward (3-5-6) were both in scintillating form as they clanged off fourteen dolls apiece including a maximum six for Red Lion B Kidlington, but still ended up on the losing side as they lost out 2-1 to visitors Donnington Club ‘A’. The damage was done in the first two legs that Donnington won 21-18, 22-19, before Red Lion grabbed a point in the final leg 23-15.
Gladiator’s ‘B’ defeated visitors Masons Arms ‘A’ 2-1 in the leg scores of 19-15, 10-19, 18-12.
Queens Head got off to the worse possible start at home to Chequers B when they lost the opening two legs 16-13, 19-14 but rallied well to grab a point in the final leg 21-17.
The Blackbird, last years Section 3 champions, got their Section 2 debut of to a good start beating Seacourt Bridge 2-1 at home. They coasted the first two legs 15-7, 22-11, before Seacourt fought back well to claim the final leg 16-14.

In Section 3,Kidlington Football Club ‘B’ got of to the perfect start by whitewashing Rose Hill Club ‘A’ on their own patch.
Winning the first leg 18-14 they had to rely on a three stick shoot out in the next leg after it was tied 14-14 and then finished off a good night taking the last leg 20-16.
The two Donnington Clubs team clashed, and it was the D team that triumphed over their B team 2-1. Losing the first leg 17-13 the D team bounced back to claim victory in the next two legs 18-13, 16-14.
Only two dolls separated Cricketers Arms Littleworth and Yarnton British Legion, but they proved to be vital in the final result. Legion set and won the first leg by the smallest of margins 15-14 and then set 17 in the next leg. This time Cricketers won the leg by the same margin with 18. Final and deciding leg Cricketers set with 18. Legion replied well and left anchor man Paul Kilcoyne needing three dolls to win, however he failed to trouble the doll handing victory to The Cricketers.
Despite seven blobs being hit by Vikings Sports players they still managed to beat Blecthington Sports club 2-1 at home in the leg scores of 17-15, 13-15, 16-11.

In Section 4 Lee Worrall was in terrific form as he clanged off 14 dolls (5-4-5) to guide Duke Of Monmouth to a maximum 3-0 win at home to The Cowley Workers. They comfortably won the first leg 21-11 however the next two were a lot closer and they had to rely on Worrall to see them over the line. Chasing a set of 14 in the second leg, Worrall was left needing 3 to win which proved to be no problem whipping off 4 dolls. Next leg chasing a set of 15 The Duke left Worrall needing 3 again to win and this time he went one better whipping off 5 dolls to complete the whitewash.
The opening leg between Cricketers Cowley and Littlemore Rugby Club was a long affair as it had to be decided on one stick in Cricketers favour after it was tied 14-14 and a three stick shoot out could not separate them. The Ruby club levelled in the next leg winning it 18-14. A set of 17 in the deciding leg was enough for The Cricketers as the Rugby men could only reply with 11.
George ‘B’ scored one more doll than their hosts Masons Arms ‘B’ but still manged to lose. Masons won the opening leg on three sticks after it was tied 11-11. They then won the next 11-9 before George came back well to win the third leg 15-12.

Kidlington Football club ‘A’ had a maximum start when beating visitors Six Bells ‘B’ 3-0. Winning the first two legs 13-9, 13-11 they had to rely on three sticks in the final leg after it was tied 16-16. Daryl Connelly was top dog for the football club with 10 dolls.

In Section 5 the greatest cheer of the night came from The White Hart Wolvercote. After going through the whole of last season without a win and only winning three legs they smashed that on the first night by coming away from The Democrats club with a 3-0 victory winning all three legs 5-3, 8-3, 6-3. Matt Todd top scored with seven dolls.
Headington Con Club (who had moved away from The White Horse) had a perfect start beating The Catherine Wheel 3-0. Steve Bennett was top dog with 10 dolls (4-2-4) as they won all three legs 14-10, 15-10, 13-11).
Back in the league after a five year break The Original Swan defeated Northway Club C 2-1. Nick Green led the way with 11 dolls (4-2-5). They won the opening leg 14-8, lost the next 11-13 and grabbed victory in the final leg 13-10.
Six Bells C proved far too strong for Red Lion ‘A’ Cassington completely blowing them away in all three legs 17-5, 18-10, 18-12. Phil Hounslow top scored with 10 dolls.

SIXERS: K.Baker (Gladiators ‘A’) P.Rampton, S.Ward (Red Lion Kidlington) J.Cleaton (Cricketers Arms).

BLOBBERS: S.Hannon (Cowley Workers) N.Collier (Gladiators ‘B’) G.Thomas (Littlemore Rugby Club) J.Whiting (Red Lion ‘A’) S.Coupe (Six Bells ‘B’) P.Rivers, F.Delaney (Democrats Club) A.Edwards, D.Woodward (White Hart). J.Boyd (Northway Club )


TOP DOLL SCORERS:
14: L.Worrall (Duke Of Monmouth) S.Ward, P.Rampton (Red Lion ‘B’ Kidlington) K.Baker (Gladiators ‘A’)
13: M.Rollins, C.Buckingham (North Leigh FC) K.Giles (Gladiators ‘A’)

KEVIN BAKER (GLADIATORS A)

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