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Done to a crisp

After last week’s stunning win, the Hustlers were looking to carry that winning streak back to the Suffolk and regain the fortress.  How would they fare?

 

Memories of last week’s start were still fresh in our minds as we opened up against Smiths A.  Another 40 from AS was enough to keep honours even in a hard fought first leg.  2nd leg continued the tight battle but Gary’s 40 (with our only spare of the night) wasn’t enough to counter Pete’s masterful beaver and we turned around trailing by a mere 2 pins at the midpoint.

There was still plenty of time to go as 3rd leg took over, but a faltering display from both sides saw us drop a further 3 pins with our lowest leg score of the night.  But it was still not all over as we looked once more to the anchors.  And very soon we began to ship yet more pins as Lewis opened up with another Beaver to regain control of Barry and the doubts began to settle in.  But, by the 4th hand, we were back on level terms once more and the game to play for.  The 5th hand saw us finally take the lead and it was up to Cap’n Clive & Neil to make sure of the win with a 40 apiece.

Next week we travel to the wild outreaches of Bishops Cleeve to take on the Cream at the RBL.  Can we pull off a win there?

29/11/10 v Smiths A @ Suffolk

Mark 7 6 8 6 4 3 34

Jim

4 5 6 6 8 7 36

AS

7 8 5 7 7 6 40

1st leg total 110 v 111

Pete 6 0 4 2 6 8 26
Steve 9 4 7 4 5 7 36
Gary 6 4 11 6 9 7 43

2nd leg total 105 v 107

Mart

6 6 7 6 6 6 37

Rich

7 2 6 6 3 7 31
AU 4 6 5 9 1 8 33

3rd leg total 101 v 104 

Lewis

0 6 5 8 8 4 31

Clive

6 5 8 8 8 7 42
Neil 6 7 7 6 9 8 43

4th leg total 116 v 105

Grand total 432 v 427

WIN by 5

Firing on (nearly) all cylinders

Following on from last week’s unwelcome home loss, the Hustlers took to the road once more to try and regain that winning feeling as they took on the Cannonballs Elite at the Saracens Club.  Could they get back on track?

With the fear of another defeat looming over them, 1st leg got off to a nervous start with two 40s (the first of the season for Rich), only Neil breaking the mould as his 3 spares took him to a magnificent 61 (our highest score for some considerable time) and helped us chalk up a 28-pin lead.   This helped settle a  2nd leg which suffered a last minute rejig as a result of our skipper’s communication breakdown!  With a steady perfomance, all 3 managed 40s, but shipped enough pins to leave us leading by 15 pins at the halfway mark.

3rd leg set about stretching the lead back out as TC and Stu both notched up 40s, only to see Lofty eke out 2 more spares on his way to our 3rd highest score of the saeson thus far).  And so the anchors took over, with a lead of 22 pins to defend.  But the Elite started clawing back the pins.  Stavros helped himself to a spare on his way to another 40, along with JT, but could only watch in despair as Rob became the only Hustler to fail to score a 40 on the night (and the only 1 to drop his average).   Fortunately for our vice-Captain, we did enough to hold on and get back to winning ways.

Next week it’s back to the Suffolk to take on Smiths A.  The fortress must become impre once more.

24/11/10 v Cannonballs Elite @ Saracens Club 

AU 7 7 7 7 8 7 43

Rich

9 8 8 5 7 7 44

Neil

6 11 7 15 9 13 61

1st leg total 148 v 120

Lewis 6 6 8 9 7 7 43
Mark 6 8 7 8 8 7 44
Clive 8 6 7 9 7 8 45

2nd leg total 132 v 140

TC

6 8 8 7 7 6 42

Mart

8 8 8 11 5 13 53
Stu 9 5 8 6 5 7 40

3rd leg total 135 v 128

 

Rob

6 8 3 4 9 8 38

AS

6 11 8 7 7 6 45
JT 8 7 5 8 9 5 42

4th leg total 125 v 135

Grand total 540 v 528

WIN by 12

Cricket comes to the Suffolk

Back at home, with 5 consecutive wins under their belt, the Hustlers were looking to extend their winning streak as they took on Ullenwood CC.  Whose bowling would win the day?

 Eager to keep the run going, the Hustlers got off to a bright start, with AU’s consistency bringing him a spare-free 40, while Clive’s "Hustler’s spare" denied him a 40.  But 1st leg still racked up an 8-pin lead and we looked to be well on track.  The light started to fade a little though as, much to the delight of Lewis, TC opened 2nd leg with a beaver and we started shipping pins.  But another spareless 40 from Lewis, with able assistance from Mark, helped slow the rot and we turned around still 3 pins up at the end of the leg.

3rd leg then stepped up to try and stop the rot, but it didn’t look good as Stu opened his account with a 1 and the pins started to look like favouring the cricketers as we lost the leg by 11 pins, leaving the anchors with it all to play for.  But our anchor was suffering this week and, despite JT’s 40, couldn’t do enough, dropping a further 8 pins, to see our first loss for a few weeks.  If only Stu had got 68, we’d have won!

Next week sees us visit the Saracens.  Can we get our season back on track?

15/11/10 v Ullenwood CC @ Suffolk

AU 9 7 7 7 8 7 45

Pete

6 5 4 6 7 5 33

Clive

7 7 6 4 9s 6 39

1st leg total 117 v 109

TC 0 7 5 8 6 8 34
Mark 4 6 7 7 8 7 39
Lewis 8 7 7 7 6 7 42

2nd leg total 115 v 120

Gary

5 9 4 3 6 6 33

Mart

5 5 5 8 6 6 35
Stu 1 6 8 6 8 5 34

3rd leg total 102 v 113

 

AS

4 8 5 6 5 5 34

Steve

4 6 6 5 5 6 32
JT 8 6 9 8 7 5 43

4th leg total 109 v 117

Grand total 443 v 459

WIN by -16

Not all that glistens ……

Away at the Gas Club, Hustlers were looking to make it 5 wins on the bounce as they took on Old Golds.  Could they do it on this tricky alley?

 Taking his turn on 1st leg, Neil struggled to find form in reaching his lowest score of the season.  But Pete’s maiden 40 of the season, backed up by Cap’n Clive meant we won a seesaw leg by 8 pins.  2nd leg then started in grand style as TC hit his 1st spare of the season.  In another seesaw leg, we managed to pull out another 13 pins as TC hit his 1st 40 of the season and Jim equalled his best.

Confidence was now high as 3rd leg looked to extend our lead, getting off to a promising start with Gary notching a 9 on the 1st hand.  But they wee unlucky enough to be our lowest scoring leg of the night as they dropped 10 pins, leaving the anchors with still a reasonable lead to defend.  But that lead started to look frail as we started to drop pins rapidly.  With Rob failing to find any form (managing only half of his score from last week), it was up to the veteran JT to come to the rescue, with 2 spares in the last 3 hands, as he headed for our top score so far this season, but still managing to lose the leg.  Fortunately, it wasn’t enough to lose the game and we managed to hold on to win by a narrow 9 pins.

We’re back at home on Monday as we take on the Suffolk’s Ullenwood CC.

9/11/10 v Old Golds @ Gas Club

Neil 3 5 5 3 8 5 29

Pete

8 6 6 8 6 8 42

Clive

8 7 3 8 4 9 39

1st leg total 110 v 102

TC 16 6 7 6 6 5 46
Jim 7 3 3 8 6 8 35
Lewis 4 8 5 4 8 7 36

2nd leg total 117 v 104

Gary

9 6 8 5 7 5 40

AS

5 8 4 6 4 6 33
Stu 7 7 7 7 2 6 36

3rd leg total 109 v 119

 

Rob

5 5 4 4 2 5 25

Steve

8 6 4 8 6 6 38
JT 8 6 8 14 6 13 55

4th leg total 118 v 120

Grand total 454 v 445

WIN by 9