Category: Match Reports

Back at a former home, Hustlers were looking to make up for last week’s loss, despite their growing absentee list.
 

First leg got off to a fair start, with  Lloyd getting his maiden 40, despite losing to his top-scoring opponent.  Trailing by nine pins, second leg saw Chris get our first 9 and second 40 of the night, while debutant Dave was unfortunate to take bottom score  But they only conceded 5 pins, leeaving us trailing by fourteen at the midpoint.
 

Losing the raffle seemed to inspire third leg, as they racked up our highest leg score to date.  Swayner got his season off to a grand start by wresting Mo from Lofty’s tight grip, yet still failed to lose to his man.  Rich and Lofty traded nines as they fought for top score, Lofty ultimately stealing that honour as their efforts clawed six pins back to leave the anchors chasing just eight to level the game.  A hard battle against a strong leg saw Steve and Neil bag another couple of nines, with Neil gtting our fifth 40, but sadly leaking pins as they went.  But, sadly, second highest leg against their top leg meant we’d dropped another fourteen pins and slipped to another early season defeat.
 

Monday sees a return to cup action and a chance to extend our run, as we face Victory A at the Victory Club

23/9/14 v Merryfellow B @ Merryfellow

Clive	5	7	7	4	8	7	38	6
Dave	2	3	3	6	3	4	21	-14
Chris	7	6	9	7	7	7	43	3

2nd leg total 102v 107

Mark	7	6	4	5	9s	7	38	–
Rich	8	6	9	7	8	6	44	8
Mart	8	9	8	7	5	8	45	-2

3rd leg total 127 v 121

Gary	5	8	8	5	7	3	36	-1
Steve	8	3	5	6	9	7	38	-8
Neil	6	9	8	8	8	2	41	-5

4th leg total 115 v 129

Grand total 456 v 478

WON by -22

Hustlers made their first home appearance of the season, giving them a first chance to play with Lofty’s shiny new balls.  Would they provide that much-needed boost?
 

First leg was a mixed bag, as bottom-scoring JT (scoring our first 1) and Neil (with our first 9) cancelled each other out, as we went behind by a mere 6 pins.  Second leg provided our highest total of the night, with top-scoring TC finally ending his 40-drought as they pulled back half of the deficit by halftime.
 

Despite Chris getting our second 40 of the night, third leg was another mixed bag, as Stu equalled JT’s score and Lofty faced off against Ullenwood’s top scorer.  With another ten pins dropped, the anchors faced an uphill task.  And, despite Steve getting our second 9, they came up against Ullenwood’s top leg, who just opened up the gap hand by hand, until finally doubling it, to ensure their victory
 

Next Tuesday sees us head out to Charlton Kings to play Merryfellow A

15/9/14 v Ullenwood CC @ Suffolk

TC	5	7	8	6	8	7	41	11
AS	4	3	6	6	7	8	34	-6
Clive	8	7	4	5	4	8	36	-2

2nd leg total 111v 108

Chris	7	8	7	6	7	8	40	7
Mart	6	6	6	8	7	4	37	-11
Stu	5	5	4	6	5	5	30	-6

3rd leg total 107 v 117

Gary	7	4	5	7	7	3	33	-6
Steve	4	4	9	6	8	5	36	-3
Rob	8	6	7	6	6	6	39	-4

4th leg total 108 v 121

Grand total 424 v 450

WON by -26

And so the league season begins and the Hustlers fight through ther scooter hordes as they open their account facing the Merryboys in a tense contest at the Somerset.

First leg played well with a crocked JT, but found themselves against a strong leg, with just Neil managing to beat his man as we dropped 17 pins.  A struggling second leg, with TC bottom-scoring, fared a little better as they only let the Merries pull out another 4 pins, to leave us trailing by an iffy 21 pins at the midpoint.

With JT taking the raffle prize, there was a little light beginning to shine.  And third leg took inspiration from that as they set about closing the gap.  Chris narrowly missed a 40, despite his pair of 9s, closely followed by Stu, who completed the Rich sandwich, as he got our first 40 of the season.  Having pulled back a huge 14 pins, they handed over to the anchors, with the game well within reach.  Gary opened with our second 40, while Steve struggled to find form, leaving it all up to vice-skip Rob, as he top-scored.  Our second winning leg couldn’t quite do it though, as we fell short by a mere 3 pins.

We reconvene on Monday at the Suffolk to face Ullenwood CC

10/9/14 v Merryboys @ Somerset

TC	4	6	2	4	6	6	28	-7
AS	5	2	7	7	7	6	34	3
Clive	4	5	6	9	4	8	35	-1

2nd leg total 98 v 102

Chris	9	4	9	5	5	7	39	4
Rich	7	4	7	7	7	8	40	7
Stu	6	5	5	7	8	7	38	2

3rd leg total 117 v 103

Gary	8	7	7	7	5	6	40	1
Steve	4	4	5	5	7	5	30	-3
Rob	8	7	6	6	8	8	43	6

4th leg total 113 v 109

Grand total 434 v 437

WON by -3

With the Sinners failing to raise a team, Hustlers managed to scrape through to the first round of the Charities Cup.

And so their cup run begins.

We start our league campaign next Wednesday at the Somerset, looking to continue the good run.

It’s that time of year again – the annual pre-season “friendly” against the Anchor Old Ladies.  With Clive absent on marital duties, could Dobbin actually manage to guide us to a win?

We were led off by a lacklustre AS, a crocked JT and a returning Swayner, who collected our first 1 and first 9 of the night.  But they still managed to pull out a 4-pin lead.  Second leg featured new Hustler Lloyd and webmaster Tim as they dropped 6 pins going into the break.

Refreshed by Swayner’s and Lofty’s ice bucket showers, third leg recovered the game as they won by 8 pins to restore the lead as the match went into the final leg.  Despite facing a pair of spares from the Anchors’ anchors, ‘Slurs’ own anchors did enough, with Sayeed gaining our only spare and 40, to hang on and bring home another win over our old rivals and the honour of relieving them of the Jim Swan Memorial Trophy.

We reconvene on Monday to face the Sinners in the Charity Cup, before the serious business of life back in Division 1 gets under way.

29/9/14 v Anchor Old Ladies @ Suffolk

AS	3	2	3	7	4	7	26	-7
JT	4	3	3	7	8	6	31	-5
Mark	6	5	6	1	8	9	35	16

1st leg total 92 v 88

TC	5	6	5	6	6	5	33	-2
Tim	4	5	6	4	7	6	32	4
Lloyd	1	4	7	3	5	5	25	-8
Pete	7	1	2	7	7	8	32	–

2nd leg total 122 v 128

Steve	7	8	5	8	3	7	38	-2
Lewis	4	3	6	6	5	8	32	8
Rob	5	4	5	5	4	8	31	-5
Mart	6	8	4	7	7	6	38	7

3rd leg total 139 v 131

Gary	5	6	6	3	5	7	32	-6
Chris	8	6	5	7	5	6	37	4
Neil	6	7	3	9	12	4	41	1

4th leg total 110 v 111

Grand total 463 v 458

WON by 5

And so we finally come to our last game of the season, and possibly in Prem B as well.  Could the scratch Hustlers side at least finish on a high with a win (and a rare double)?

A mixed start saw a rare Lewis appearance, as he got our first 9 in narrowly missing a 40, but cancelling out Pete’s BYM, while Andy helped himself to our opening 40 as first leg eked out a lead of a single pin.  While second leg achieved our lowest leg total of the season and Stu his lowest, they did manage to drag the elite down with them as they dropped 6 pins, to leave us trailing by 5 at the halfway point, helped by a beaver from the Cannonballs.

Having dined in style, third leg set about turning the game around.  With vital 40s from Rich and top-scoring Chris, they stuck solidlly to the task and (despite facing another beaver and the only spare of the match) and ground out a deserved 14-pin lead.  Could we dare dream of that elusive Rob victory?  Only the anchors could determine that.  And they started off well, before a touch of the yips set in and they started to leak pins.  But not enough and they held on to take the game by 9 pins, giving us our third double of the season and the first win as stand-in skipper for Rob.

Now we wait to see what fate awaits us – relegation looms, but you can never be sure ………..

7/4/14 v Cannonballs Elite @ Suffolk

TC	3	5	3	6	7	7	31	–
Stu	4	7	7	1	5	2	26	-11
Alan	3	6	6	2	6	7	30	5

2nd leg total 87 v 93

Mart	6	2	8	7	5	9	37	-3
Rich	7	9	7	5	6	6	40	12
Chris	7	7	7	7	7	6	41	10

3rd leg total 118 v 99

Rob	8	7	8	5	1	6	35	-6
Steve	6	7	6	6	6	7	38	-3
Gary	7	7	5	4	6	5	34	4

4th leg total 107 v 116

Grand total 425 v 416

WON by 9

Our final away game of this Prem B season saw Hustlers venture to the wilds of Charlton Kings, hoping to turn Madhatters over and edge a little closer to safety.

And we got off to another cracking start as all three openers broke the 40-mark, with Clive top scoring once more as they eked out a 4-pin lead.  Second leg were less fortunate, despite pulling early pins, and soon found the gods of fate steering them to a 16-pin loss, with Rich setting bottom score.

With Wallsy walking off with the raffle, the signs were looking better as third leg started out.  And they soon found themselves pulling pins.  But that was not to last long and they also started leaking pins, closing the leg a further 17 behind.  But the anchors are always up for a challenge and soon set about the chase.  With Gary and Neil both matching Clive’s top score and Steve so narrowly losing to his man, they proved too strong for the ‘Hatters.  But not strongly enough, as it turned out, and we lost by a narrow 22 pins.

It’s our final home game next week and we look to achieve that rarest of doubles this year – the double over the Cannonballs and a win under Rob’s command.  Tune in to find out what happens next.

31/3/14 v Madhatters @ Charlton Club

TC	6	7	5	5	6	6	35	-6
Rich	8	6	4	4	4	6	32	-6
JT	8	4	8	6	3	4	33	-4

2nd leg total 100 v 116

Pete	6	7	4	5	6	8	36	-5
AS	8	6	4	4	5	5	32	-3
Chris	9	7	5	2	7	6	36	-9

3rd leg total 104 v 121

Gary	5	9	9	6	8	7	44	3
Steve	3	8	5	5	7	8	36	-1
Neil	8	9	7	7	6	7	44	5

4th leg total 124 v 117

Grand total 454 v 476

WON by -22

With the end of the season now fast approaching, Hustlers returned to the Suffolk, looking to salvage at least some pride and, hopefully, a handful of points.

And what a way to start.  With Pete and Clive getting our first 9s on the way to a pair of 40s, and Neil just missing out on his (but becoming the first Hustler past the 1000 pin mark for some years), they set an unbeatable leg score to give us an early 19-pin lead.  Second leg proved to be our lowest-scoring, with TC narrowly missing a rare 40, JT making amends for a faltering display with a final 9 and AS beating his man, despite being bottom scorer.  Still, a further 7 pins were eked out against the Flyers’ poorest leg.

Next up was the Flyers’ best leg.  Alan came in as supersub, sandwiched between joint bottom scorer, Lofty (despite his 9) and another 40 from Chris (with a pair of 9s).  But third leg couldn’t hold out, so conceded the 7 pins we’d just pulled out, but still leaving the anchors with a rare healthy lead.  Gary set about defending the lead with another solid 40, while Steve and Rob stumbled some way behind.  Buit they did more than enough, dropping just the three pins as they wrapped up a rare Hustlers win with a fine total.

It’s off to the Charlton Club next week, as we look to take points off Madhatters.

24/3/14 v Brown Jug Flyers @ Suffolk

JT	4	6	7	2	5	9	33	-1
TC	6	7	7	4	8	7	39	4
AS	7	7	5	4	5	4	32	4

2nd leg total 104 v 97

Mart	2	7	2	9	6	6	32	-2
Alan	6	8	5	2	5	8	34	-5
Chris	9	7	4	9	5	8	42	–

3rd leg total 108 v 115

Gary	7	7	8	6	6	7	41	4
Steve	3	8	4	7	8	3	33	-11
Rob	6	5	8	8	3	5	35	4

4th leg total 109 v 112

Grand total 450 v 434

WON by 16

Rested after Race Week, Hustlers made their last trip of the season to Saracens, looking for revenge against Steamers and the start of our run to safety.

First leg got us off to the best possible start, with both Pete and AS equalling their season’s bests.  A spareless 40 (but our first 9) from Pete was followed by spares from AS and Neil, as they set up an early lead of 17 pins.  TC opened second leg with a 9, but all three struggled, with Rich just edging JT out for bottom score as we saw those 17 pins cancelled out.  Still, nothing lost as it was all square after the first half.

Chris made a great start on third leg with a spareless top score (and so unlucky to lose to his man by 4 pins), with another 40 from Mike and an injured Clive just missing bottom score.  But their efforts were negated by Steamers’ strongest leg, who opened out a 12 pin lead for the anchors to chase down.  But with just Steve breaking the 40 barrier (Gary & Rob so narrowly missing it), their valiant effort ultimately proved not to be enough as we dropped a further 13 pins, to concede the double.

Back home next week as we look to regain some pride and maybe hope that we can stay up.

18/3/14 v Steamers @ Saracens

TC	9	7	6	6	6	4	38	-5
Rich	7	2	5	7	5	8	34	-5
JT	3	7	5	6	7	7	35	-7

2nd leg total 107 v 124

Chris	7	9	8	9	8	8	49	-4
Mike	7	7	7	7	9	5	42	2
Clive	3	7	6	5	7	7	35	-10

3rd leg total 126 v 138

Gary	5	8	8	5	7	6	39	-2
Steve	7	5	8	6	9	7	42	-5
Rob	8	7	5	7	6	5	38	-6

4th leg total 119 v 132

Grand total 487 v 512

WON by -25

Back at the Suffolk, back from the Weymouth trip, Clive back in charge and looking to restore some order to the Hustlers’ form – what could possibly go wrong?

First leg were looking good as Rob scored our first 9 and Pete’s consistency almost netting him a 40, but with AS faltering as he gained possession of Barry the Brasilian beaver with his lowest score of the season.  But it was still enough to establish a narrow lead of four pins.  Second leg were a little more consistent but, despite Clive getting our second 9, dropped six pins, leaving us trailing by a mere two at athe end of the first half.

With TC and landlord Alan taking the honours in the raffle, hope was still in the air.  Despite Chris finally getting our first 40, third leg underachieved in dropping a further twenty three pins, with Mike grabbing our second beaver in the process.  But the anchors could still pull it back.  And they set about it early, pulling back twelve pins on the first hand and five on the next.  Then Gary pulled a spare out of the hat, easily negated by Neil getting our third beaver (surely an unprecedented achievement, even for the ‘Slurs), but all still tight.  Gary’s top score helped the anchors to a grand total, but just not enough to grab that much-needed win.

We have another break next week for Gold Cup, before resuming combat at the Saracens against Steamers.

25/2/14 v Starbrights@ Suffolk

JT	7	5	8	8	3	7	38	-5
TC	6	5	6	4	7	6	34	-2
Clive	7	3	4	8	9	6	36	1

2nd leg total 108 v 114

Mike	8	6	0	6	5	4	29	-11
Rich	4	4	6	3	7	6	30	-14
Chris	8	5	9	6	9	6	41	2

3rd leg total 100 v 123

Gary	6	8	12	8	6	7	47	14
Steve	8	8	7	5	4	6	38	-1
Neil	7	8	0	8	6	8	37	1

4th leg total 122 v 108

Grand total 432 v 443

WON by -11