LIME Kiln A hosted the Blake Arms B in Division A of the Bridgwater Town Skittles League, and opened the match with a 64, which included a spare from Malcolm Royce.

Blake responded immediately as second man on Michael Davidge hit a 14 flopper, helping his team to pull four on the first hand.

Blake continued to build a lead hand after hand until, by the end of the fifth hand, they led by 23. Lime Kiln retaliated in the sixth with four spares from Ray Gribben, Ian Warren, Ash Young, and Malcolm Royce, narrowing the gap to just three.

Lime Kiln set a target of 68 to win which, until Sam Dennison’s spare, was looking increasingly unlikely; however, the 15 scored left last man on needing a five to tie. Ben Cleaveley hit seven to win by two.

In Division B, Blake Hall A hosted the White Hart A and struggled to post a 56 for their opening hand. White Hart had no such problems with their opening hand as they hit a 71, which included spares from Will Rich and Alan Hampson.

Hart’s second hand, however, plumbed new depths and ended up as the lowest of the game, resulting in a big let-off for the home side as their initial losses were all but wiped out. Blake built on their momentum and won the next few hands to lead by 19 entering the sixth.

White Hart again hit a good hand in the sixth, wiping out all but six of Blake’s lead, but it was Blake who won the final hand by two to increase their lead to eight and to win the match.

Blake Hall’s other side, the B team, travelled to the Sydenham Centre to play their Division C fixtures.

Sydenham started with a solid 62 but Blake’s opening man, Paul Walford’s 16 spare allowed the visitors to pull five, with further spares in the second hand from Alan Prowse, and Jim McGluckin, Blake extending their lead to 13.

Sydenham were struggling and it wasn’t until the fourth hand that a couple of spares came, allowing some of the deficit to be reclaimed; Mick Chillingworth’s 17 as anchor man turned another losing hand into a winning hand by three.

Sydenham pulled a further nine in the penultimate hand, but their final hand of 59 set Blake a target of only 50 to win. Blake won the final hand by two to lead the game by 12.

In Division D, Duke B opened their match against Castle Club B with a 52, which the Castle team matched; they then followed up with a 56 to beat the home side’s score by three. Castle followed up with a further fourpin haul in the third, before the Duke pulled four back in the fourth.

By the end of the fifth hand the game was tied again, before Castle Club surged into the lead again after the first spare of the night from Brian Hale.

The final hand saw spares on both sides: first, The Duke’s Ian Hale hit 11, pulling a single pin, the haul would have been greater if not for Andy Coles’ 13. Castle Club won by six