SKITTLES in Bere Regis

The winner of the 2007 Aggregate Shield played on Tuesday 8th May at the Greyhound was
 

• Matthew (Mat) Elford of the Woodentops  - Hurrah, hurrah

• Runner-up - Lewis Russell of the Scuttles Skittlers

Skittles League 2006 - 2007
Team		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points	Beer
Second Fronters		26	21	3	2	83	19
Bin Liners		26	19	4	3	78	21
Misfits		26	18	3	5	73	17
Breakaways		26	15	7	4	69	19
Scuttles Skittlers		26	15	6	5	67	19
Rejects		26	12	5	9	59	15
Bere Essentials		26	10	9	7	57	14
Born Again		26	11	3	12	50	12
Poison Dwarfs		26	10	4	12	50	14
Greyhound Inn		26	5	4	17	35	10
Hooray Henry's		26	6	3	17	34	8
M & M's		26	4	2	20	27	5
Woodentops		26	4	4	18	26	3
The Better Misfits		26	1	4	21	20	6
Final Results after week 26 - April 2nd. 2007
Highest Score - Kevin Hannam Scuttles Skittlers - 23 @ Royal Oak 12-03-07

2nd April 2007

The Wareham League season ended this week (but cup games etc go on until the end of May) with Essentials 'at home' at the Drax against the Bin Liners.  Our opponents came to Bere in a relaxed frame of mind - they are second in the league but could not catch the leaders nor could they be caught by the third-placed team so no pressure to win the final game.  A chance for us to pick up a few points perhaps.
 
Not likely.  Essentials played absolutely terribly, everything which could go wrong did so, scores of 3 and 4 were chalked up against the best players in the team and we lost the first three legs in succession.  Somehow we managed to win the beer leg to end the season on a high but it was a struggle.  Bin Liners were very sporting and encouraged us all the way but we were rubbish.  Least low score Colin Greening.  There are rumours that the Drax skittle alley is to be converted into bedrooms so this could have been the last league game ever.  A lot of skittlers will be glad!

Commment from webmaster.  If you appreciate these reports then please let us know by contacting us below.   If you feel strongly about the lose of  a skittle alley then also let us know.  I can remember when I first drank in Poole that nearly every other pub had a skittle alley / function room it would be shame to loose the village skittle alleys as well.  Again contact us below.

26th March 2007

The two Bere Regis teams played each other at Sandford Legion - no home matches in this league!  Although Woodentops are well below us in the league, anything can happen at Sandford and this match was no exception.
 
Despite two of our most experienced players hitting fours, Essentials won the first game and we looked forward to maintaining our sixth place in the league.  Then the curse of Sandford struck - Woodentops won the next four games on the trot to take a 2-0 lead.  Essentials were playing terribly, setting 31 in one game and a 4-0 defeat looked likely.
 
Then the curse changed sides, Woodentops cracked and we started scoring well.  The next four games went our way, helped by top score Mark Bennett hitting a timely 15 and we romped to a 2-2 draw.  Great relief all round.  Sandford is never an easy alley but this match was truly bizarre.  Greyhound next week, hooray. 

12th March 2007

With only four league games left before the end of the season Essentials are hoping to pick up a few points to finish in a respectable position.  This week's match promised to help us - we were against Hooray Henry's at Bloxworth.  Henry's are lurking close to the bottom of the league table but anything can happen at Bloxworth so it was not a certainty.
 
The first game left us in a state of shock, Henry's set 52 which we failed to match despite having two stick-ups.  Essentials rose to the occasion with some determined play, winning the next six games to take a 3-0 lead thanks to an amazing number of stick-ups by Bloxworth standards.
 
We cruised into the beer leg looking for a 4-0 win, but our least favourite alley struck back and we lost the leg 2-0 after some very mundane skittling.  Henry's deserved some reward after playing well against the odds.  Top score David Edmonds.

26th February

Bere Essentials played the Poison Dwarfs at Lytchett Legion.  The Dwarfs are normally close to us in the league but have been struggling to raise a team this season so we hoped for a win.

Our first game started dismally, we set a low 32 which included two threes and a two and Dwarfs were soon 1-0 up.  They then set 43 which we failed to match so leg 1 was all over in minutes.
 
Fortunately our scoring returned to the usual level and we won leg 2 after three games, thanks in part to Matt Bennett's 18 stick-up.  Leg 3 also went to three games which we won 2-1 with more stick-ups coming our way.
 
The beer leg was much more one-sided, Dwarfs could only set 42 which we hit easily then we set 50 for a convincing win at 3-1 overall.  An enjoyable and amusing evening against old friends - just how skittles ought to be.  Joint top scores Steve Gamble and Mark Bennett.

No league match next week, Trebles Round 1.

19th February

This week we played Born Again at the Royal Oak.  They have been close to us in the league for a while so we hoped for a win to stay ahead.  The first game looked to be going our way until their 'anchor man' Julie hit the 15 she needed to win.  Luckily the next two games were ours to give us a 2-1 in the first leg.

The next two legs went to the same script - lose the first game then win the next two - so we went into the beer leg 3-0 up.  Unfortunately Julie didn't use the same script and led her team to a 2-0 leg win, hitting an 18 on the way.  they had played well and deserved a leg.  Essentials won by steady scoring, top man Mark Bennett

Results after week 20 - February 12th. 2007

Team		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points	Beer
Second Fronters		20	16	2	2	64	16
Bin Liners		20	15	3	2	62	18
Misfits		20	14	2	4	56	13
Breakaways		20	11	5	4	51	13
Scuttles Skittlers		20	9	6	5	45	13
Born Again		20	11	1	8	44	10
Bere Essentials		20	7	7	6	43	11
Rejects		20	8	5	7	43	12
Poison Dwarfs		20	9	3	8	41	11
Hooray Henry's		20	6	2	12	29	7
Greyhound Inn		20	5	2	13	27	7
M & M's		20	3	2	15	22	3
Woodentops		20	2	3	15	18	1
The Better Misfits		20	1	3	16	15	5

12th February

The match due to be played on Feb 12th was called off because the Better Misfits could not raise a team.  We were awarded four points for this match.  We beat them 4-0 earlier in the season .

RESULTS 

Team	Result		Team	Alley
Bin Liners	4b-0		Greyhound Inn	Royal Oak
Scuttlesskittlers	0-4b		Second Fronters	Clay Pipe
Born Again	4b-0		M & M's	Greyhound Inn
The Better Misfits	0-4b		Bere Essentials	Drax Arms
The Rejects	2b-2		Breakaways	Lytchett RBL
Hooray Henry's	0-4b		Misfits	Sandford RBL
Woodentops	0-4b		Poison Dwarfs	Bloxworth S.C.

5th February

The first round of the Pairs competition on Feb 5th (the Bere Essentials entries failed to get through to the second round)

29th January

Bere Essentials had a home game this week, at the Royal Oak against the Misfits.  Another match in our series of hard games - Misfits are third in the league and are a hard team to beat.
 
The first game went to us, they set 45 to win which we matched exactly with the last ball.  We then had a cracking game, set 56 with two stick-ups to win the leg.
 
We went downhill a bit after that, lost leg 2 by two straight games and then lost leg 3 after being thoroughly demoralised by trying to match a score of 63.  Our last man needed 27!
 
The beer leg saw a determined fightback by Essentials, helped by Misfits having a bit of a collapse.  They failed to reach our very modest target of 45 and then set us an identical score which we reached easily.  A very welcome two points against a sporting team who would have liked a win.  Top score Alan Chalker (again).

22nd January

Bere Essentials have had some tough games lately and have been stuck around the middle of the league table for a while.  This week our match was at the dreaded Sandford Legion against the league leaders Second Fronters so we had to face another hard game.

 
The first leg was very close, going to three games with the result depending on our last ball.  Sadly we lost the leg by one pin but took encouragement from this good start and won the second leg in two games.
 
Fronters then showed why they are top with some steady scoring and took the next two legs in fine style, setting 48 and 52 to win the match 3-1.  The secret is in the clear-up rate, when they get a bad first ball they still manage a reasonable score and eventually grind you down.
 
Top score Alan Chalker, one pin in front of Steve Gamble.

League Table as at 15th January 2007

Team		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points	Beer
Second Fronters		17	13	2	2	53	13
Bin Liners		17	12	3	2	51	15
Misfits		17	13	1	3	49	12
Breakaways		17	10	3	4	43	12
Scuttles Skittlers		17	9	4	4	41	12
Rejects		17	7	4	6	37	10
Bere Essentials		17	6	6	5	36	9
Born Again		17	9	0	8	34	8
Poison Dwarfs		17	7	2	8	32	8
Hooray Henry's		17	9	0	8	34	8
Greyhound Inn		17	4	1	12	21	5
M & M's		17	2	2	13	18	3
Woodentops		17	2	3	12	18	1
The Better Misfits		17	1	3	13	14	4
Results after week 17 - January 15th. 2007

15th January

RESULTS FOR WEEK 17 - January 15th. 2005
Team	Result		Team	Alley
Bin Liners	2-2b		Scuttles Skittlers	Royal Oak
Breakaways	2b-2		Bere Essentials	Clay Pipe
Hooray Henry's	4b-0		The Better Misfits	Greyhound Inn
The Misfits	3b-1		Second Fronters	Drax Arms
M & M's	1-3b		Woodentops	Lytchett RBL
Born Again	1-3b		Rejects	Sandford RBL
Poison Dwarfs	3b-1		Greyhound Inn	Bloxworth S.C.

Bere Essentials had a local derby this week, against Breakaways, but the match was far from home at the Clay Pipe.  We always have dramatic games with Breakaways, who have several young players who are capable of high scores but are not always consistent.  Our last match ended in a 2-2 draw when they came back from 2-0 down at the Greyhound.

8th January 2007

Bere Essentials were back in action this week after what felt like a long lay-off.  We were at Lytchett Legion against Scuttles Skittlers who whacked us 4-0 earlier in the season.
 
Things went well for us at first, we won the first leg despite having lost the first game and then won the next game, setting ourselves up for a 2-0 lead.  Skittlers were unusually quiet at this point, but dug into their vast experience to come back by winning the next two games.
 
Leg 3 was a hard-fought leg, could have gone either way but unfortunately not our way.  We went into the beer leg determined to force a draw and very nearly pulled it off but once again Skittlers managed to score the extra pin needed each time.  It was a match that was much closer than the score-line showed, we could have have won with a tiny bit of luck but in the end it simply was not our night.
 
Joint top scores from Matt Bennett and Alan Chalker

18th December

It must be Christmas as Steve Gamble was seen in the Drax Arms at 10:45 way pass his bed time.

11th December

27th November

Bere Essentials returned to Lytchett Legion to play the Better Misfits.  They are the newest team in the league and are currently in bottom place so we hoped to add a few points to our total.
 
Sometimes in the past we have struggled to raise our game against weaker teams, but not this time.  The Better Misfits showed flashes of skillful skittling but were very inconsistent, setting scores between 32 and 41 and never managing to match the targets we set for them.
 
Essentials played solid skittles, lots of 8s and 9s from the whole team, (five 9s in one hand to set 53) and the result was never in doubt - a 4-0 win in eight straight games.  Top score Roger Duncanson.

20th November

Last week Bere Essentials had a break from league skittles, getting knocked out of the Aggregate Cup by the Misfits at Sandford Legion.  This week we were back at Sandford again (whoopee) for a league match against the Poison Dwarfs.  They are usually a hard team to beat but this season has not gone too well for them so we were hoping for a good result.
 
The first leg did not go to plan.  Despite Essentials taking the first game, Dwarfs rallied to win the leg 2-1.  We improved our scoring for leg 2, winning 2-0, then went on to win leg 3 by 2-1.
 
The beer leg turned out to be a hard contest, both teams scoring far better than in the early part of the match.  Dwarfs took the first game by a narrow margin then set us 45 in the second.  We managed to hit that score with the last ball of the game and then took the next game to win the match 3-1, helped by top scorer Colin Greening who inspired the team by finishing with 14, 9, 9.  A great result after last week.

6th November

This week Bere Essentials were 'at home' in the village, at the Royal Oak against the Rejects.  The opposition are not far above us in league terms but are a 'mature' team with a great deal of experience and are always hard to beat.
 
The first leg went to Rejects 2-1 with steady scoring from both teams.  The second leg started badly for Essentials as we could only set 43, not normally a winning target at the Oak.  Surprisingly, Rejects could not match it.  They went on to set us 41 which we made easily to take the leg 2-0.
 
After this shock Rejects crumbled, losing leg 3 despite setting 50.  The beer leg also went to Essentials, made into a comfortable win when we set 53 after Mark Bennett hit a superb 17.  A well-deserved 3-1 victory for Essentials who had hit a rich seam of bad form recently.  Top score Mark Bennett.

Monday 23 October

 
This week Essentials were at home at the Drax, against the M & Ms who are close to the bottom of the table so we hoped to wipe out the memory of last week's thrashing.  After the first two legs we had that awful feeling of deja vu all over again when we found ourselves 2-0 down having lost four games on the trot.  At that point we had lost 14 games in a row over the course of three matches.
 
Somehow we managed to remember how to score more than 35 or so and won a game.  This boosted everybody's confidence and we took the next three games to draw the match 2-2.  If this was football the manager would be studying his terms and conditions of employment.  Top score Matt Bennett - his position is safe.

Monday 16 October

 
After the great performance last week Bere Essentials went to Bloxworth Club quite confident that we could give Second Fronters a good game.  Unfortunately, Fronters showed why they were league champions last season and hammered us 4-0 in eight straight games.  Essentials were dreadful - top score was Giles Moore, back from Oz on holiday and hadn't touched a skittle ball for three years.  Enough said.
 

Monday 9 October

 
Most skittles matches are enjoyable, even those you lose, but every now and then you have an outstanding evening and this week's match was a belter!
 
Essentials were at the Greyhound against local rivals the Breakaways so we knew we were in for a hard game.  Spud's team are a mix of young and not-so-young and have been playing well for the last two seasons.
 
They started with a flurry of stick-ups to set a target of 60 and won the first game.  Essentials replied by setting 38 which Breakaways surprisingly could not match.  Essentials then hit their target of 46 to win Leg 1.  This set the tone for the evening, Breakaways playing an erratic match with some amazing scoring followed by something more ordinary, Essentials putting in a great team effort with solid scores from all players.
 
The end result was a 2-2 draw, but either team could have won.  Top score for Essentials was shared by Mark Bennett and Alan Chalker but nobody could compete with Pete Bolton of Breakaways who hit five stick-ups from 12 throws.

2 October

Bere Essentials played the Poison Dwarfs this week in the first round of the Knockout Cup, at Lychett Legion.  The Dwarfs are old friends, usually close to us in the league table so a close match was likely.  The Cup matches are of five legs to make a draw impossible and we expected a late night.
 
The Lychett alley has seen some high scores in the past but this week was an exception.  Maybe the fact that the downlighters on the alley had failed was partly to blame, but both teams struggled from the start.  Only two stick-ups all night and a lot of low scores on both sides.
 
Unfortunately the Dwarfs seemed to find a pin or two more than us in each game and won the first three legs to take the match.  No late night after all, back in the village by 10.30.  A bit disappointing to be knocked out but as the next round is not until April we were not too upset.

11 September 2006

Bere Essentials

The pleasant surroundings of the Clay Pipe was this weeks venue against the ever-improving Born Again.  With having a huge squad to choose from the evening seemed fine but within minutes of arrival we were done to the bare bones and a caused delayed start.  Eventually the game got underway and high scoring from both sides saw an evenly contested match, the result could have gone either way.  

Thankfully, with a number of well-timed stick-ups, the Essentials managed to win 4-0 but it could have easily been a 2-2 draw.  Roger and Matt played extremely well with good support from the rest of the team, yet another victory with the skipper away.  Top Score Roger Duncanson.

4th September 2006

Woodentops 

Woodentops played away to our other village team - Bere Essentials at the Bloxworth Alley.

A valiant fight ensued with the Woodentops winning the first two legs and succumbing to a draw overall.  Top scorer was Matt with 90 with a best of 15 followed by Steve at 76. Della saved one leg with a superb stickup of 12 at this notoriously hard alley. All in all a nail biting competition with Woodentops holding their own and proving to be a force to be reckoned with.

Bere Essentials

The first local derby of the season saw the Bere Essentials play the Woodentops at Bloxworth Social Club.  A close encounter was expected on an alley known for low scoring and that is what we got.  Not firing on all cylinders and showing many signs of an inactive summer, Essentials soon found themselves losing 2-0 to a side well worth their lead. However, with the cobwebs finally blown away and more consistent scoring by all concerned, a fight back of huge proportions followed to level the match 2-2. The draw was probably a fair result on the night with both sides happy with their spoils.  Top score Mark Bennett.  A warm welcome to new team member Alan.

29th August 2006

Woodentops

The Woodentops teams comprises of the following

Rita Watts - Captain
Steve Pender
Elle Hall
Della Russell
Eric Axford
Mat Elford
Arlene Duncanson

The first game of the season was played at the Greyhound Alley with the Woodentops away to the Rejects.

The result was a valiant draw despite top scores of 95 to Steve and Matt who netted 9 stick-up between them. Best supporting score was down to Della with 84.

Might be an interesting season!

Bere Essentials

With no game this week, the Greyhound unable to field a team due to work commitments, Bere Essentials were duly awarded a 4-0 victory, Rule 10.

The team for this season:
David Edmonds (Capt), Peter Wharf, Colin Greening, Mark Bennett, Steve Gamble, Phil Allgood, Alan Chalker, Matt Bennett, Roger Duncanson and Martin Barlow.

RESULTS FOR WEEK 1 - August 29th & 30th. 2006
Team	Result		Team	Alley
Born Again	0 - 4b		Bin Liners	Royal Oak
M & M's	0 - 4b		Scuttlers Skittlers	Clay Pipe
Rejects	2b - 2		Woodentops	Greyhound Inn
Bere Essentials	4b - 0		Greyhound Inn	Drax Arms
Hooray Henrys	1 - 3b		Poison Dwarfs	Lytchett RBL
The Better Misfits	0 - 4b		Misfits	Sandford RBL
Breakaways	1b - 3		Second Fronters	Bloxworth S.C.
Bere Essentials v Greyhound Inn match cancelled - rule 10 applies
Teams with the same number of points will be placed alphabetically throughout the season