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On a seemingly endless run of defeats the Hustlers were at home once more.  Could they stop the rot against the Cannonballs Elite?

AU & Cap’n Clive looked to set the standard with 40s, with able support from Gary as they took an early 22 pin lead.  The smiles were beginning to return.  But then the script started to feel a little familiar.  Despite veteran Jim clocking up a 40, Salty (lowest score of the night) and Stavros couldn’t compete and we dropped 13 pins, but still hung onto the lead, so despair hadn’t quite set in.

We brought on the Walls to set the pace on 3rd leg.  His 40 gave us hope as the singing picked up, as we dropped a further 2 pins, but stayted clinging onto a fragile lead, leaving it up to the anchors to keep us ahead.  But the drama hadn’t started yet.  A first hand beaver from "Mr Sunshine" saw 1 of our lowest ever hands and we were behind for the first time in the game.  We soon had a second beaver, this time from Dobbin (has Barry ever changed hands so quickly within a leg??) and really started to get a feeling of deja vu.  But a further twist was to come as Dobbin got our only spare of the night in the very next hand to put us back in the game.  JT’s 9 in the next hand lead  a comeback as we clawed back to a 1 pin lead.  And it all came down to the Cannonballs anchor man – needing an 8 to win the game, he got a 6 to hand us a victory by the narrowest of margins! 

Has the hoodoo finally been broken?  We rest next week for the Gold Cup and resume our fight at the RBL in Cleeve on 21st.  Surely we can build on this.

7/3/11 v Cannonballs Elite @ Suffolk

1st leg total 118 v 96

2nd leg total 101 v 114

3rd leg total 111 v 113

4th leg total 103 v 109

Grand total 433 v 432

WON by 1

This week, the Hustlers finally get an away game – at the Suffolk!  Fresh from a weekend break in Bournemouth, it was time to get back on track.

1st leg started well, but soon found themselves 13 poins down.  Despite our skip’s 40 (our first of the night), they failed to break the 100, getting our lowest leg score of the night.  2nd leg saw us improve a little as AS helped himself to our joint highest spare of the season on his way to another 40.  The rot was halted a little, losing just 7 pins, but still leaving a lot to be done.

3rd leg improved the score with a very consistent performance and became the first leg to win, leaving the anchors still facing a 20 pin deficit – not impossible, but challenging, given recent performances.  And a rejigged anchor leg started well, before becoming rather seesaw.  Rich got his 2nd 40 of the season as we became the Hustlers’ highest scoring leg of the night, but it wasn’t enough and we dropped a further 6 pins to suffer another loss.

We’re back at home next week, needing to lay the ghost of 2011 to rest.  Can we finally get a win to settle us back into happy times?

1/3/11 v Ullenwood CC @ Suffolk

1st leg total 97 v 117

2nd leg total 112 v 119

3rd leg total 113 v 105

4th leg total 115 v 118

Grand total 437 v 459

WON by -22

Once more at home, this time against bottom of the table Old Golds, Hustlers were looking to end their losing streak.  Could we regain our pre-Christmas form at last?

1st leg looked OK as they began the match, but that soon changed as we began to drop pins.  Despite a valiant 40 from Lewis (with our 1st 9 of the match), Old Golds pulled out a 15 pin lead.  2nd leg struggled along to our highest leg score of the night, managing to pull back 4 pins in the process, leaving the game finely poised at halftime.

3rd leg once again struggled to 100, with Salty setting our lowest score of the night.  With 2 spare 9s against us, we dropped a further 19 pins to leave the anchors with a mammoth task.  Rob hit our 2nd 40 of the night and Neil our 2nd 9, as they equalled the top leg score.  With the Golds dropping pins, hope was emerging for the ‘Slurs.  But it wasn’t quite enough and we failed to win once more!

We’re back at the suffolk on Tuesday for an away game against Ullenwood CC.  Hopefully the sea air of Bournemouth will work some magic on us this weekend and we can come back refreshed and re-energised for the challenge ahead of us.

21/2/11 v Old Golds @ Suffolk

1st leg total 105 v 120

2nd leg total 107 v 103

3rd leg total 100 v 119

4th leg total 107 v 93

Grand total 419 v 435

WON by -16

At home against 1 of the relegation candidates, Hustlers were favourites to get back on track.  Surely we could stump Cheltenham CC.

Gary opened the bowling with a 9, with an 8 from Pietersen Peter-son and a 7 from AU.  They maintained their form throughout and 40’s from Gary & AU brought us a 9 pin lead.  Lewis kept the run going with another 40, but Rich & AS faltered in their play and CCC managed to pull the pins back, to leave the match all square at the halfway point.

3rd leg once again struggled to 100, but managed to lose just 4 pins, to leave the game finely poised as the tail enders faced off against each other.  Rob scraped his way to 40 with the help of a last hand 9, but JT & Neil couln’t escape the low 30s and, as hard as they tried, the anchors couldn’t stop the Cricket Club as they dropped a further 7 pins.

We need to get back to winning – let’s hope another game at home next week goes our way as we take on the Division’s strongest side (they are holding the rest up!), before travelling to the Suffolk for an away match the following week.

14/2/11 v Cheltenham CC @ Suffolk

1st leg total 122 v 113

2nd leg total 105 v 114

3rd leg total 100 v 104

4th leg total 107 v 114

Grand total 434 v 445

WON by -11

Following on from 2 defeats, the Hustlers ventured out to Churchdown to take on the Chosen Champs.  Could they stop the rot?

Hopes were high as AU racked up our first 40 of the night. but TC’s lowest score of the season helped the Chosen to a 13 pin lead.  But we’ve come back from worse gaps, so the game was still on as 2nd leg took over.  But they proved to be even worse, as Steve made his lowest score of the season and we lost a further 26 pins.  Still, it could have been worse at this stage & Pete did win the raffle – surely an omen.

3rd leg stuttered to 100 as Mark got our first 9 of the night.  And so, once more it came down to the anchors to save the game – the draw was still on!  Gary ably supported 40s from makeshift skipper Rob & JT (who got 2 9s in the process) as they ran up our highest leg score of the night.  But a series of 9s and spares from the Chosen saw them take the leg by 9 (a success compared to the rest of us).  And so, Rob’s first game as captain this season ended in our heaviest defeat. 

Fortunately, Clive’s back next week as we start a run of 4 games back at the Suffolk (even if 1 of them is an away fixture!).  We will be looking to regain some form, especially with 5 dropped for the match!

9/2/11 v Chosen Champs @Churchdown Club

1st leg total 102 v 115

2nd leg total 91 v 117

3rd leg total 100 v 113

4th leg total 118 v 127

Grand total 411 v 472

WIN by -61

Hustlers  returned to the Suffolk, looking to win their 2nd innings against Cowley CC to complete the double over them.  Could they do it?

All looked good as AU started off with a spare, ably supported by Pete & TC, to open with a 12 pin lead.  But CCC gradually clawed pins back and, helped by a spare of their own, we ended the leg leading narrowly by 3 pins, despite AU’s 40.  2nd leg quickly extended that lead and with a hand to play, we were up by 10 on the match.  Despite a 40 from Swayner (& Wallsy just missing out on his), their last hand faltered and undid all the good work as they lost the leg to leave us leading by a single pin at the midway point.

3rd leg were led well by Lofty’s 40, with good support from Jim.  But Cap’n Clive found himself faltering and got his lowest score of the season.  With another spare coming in from CCC, the match was now turned around as Cowley took the lead by 4.  But it was still all to play for as the anchors stepped forward.  All 3 failed to make 40, but did manage to win the leg.  But it wasn’t enough, as CCC scraped a 2-pin lead to make it one 2-pin win apiece.  Honours even.

It’s foreign territory next Wednesday as we travel to the Churchdown Club to take on the Chosen Champs. 

31/1/11 v Saracens A @ Saracens

1st leg total 114 v 111

2nd leg total 104 v 106

3rd leg total 110 v 115

4th leg total 111 v 109

Grand total 439 v 441

WIN by -2

Back at the scene of our top-scoring match, the Hustlers took on table-topping Saracens A.  Could we do the double over them, or would  the Sarries avenge their early season defeat?

1st leg got us off to a very promising start as Dobbin racked up a 2nd 50 of the season, with the help of a 16 spare (still our highest of the season) and a 9.  Assisted by another Pete 40, they handed over 11 pins up.  But then we suffered a bit of a glitch, Jim got his second 40 of the season, but Gary and Lewis (bottom scoring for the first time this season) couldn’t quite match him.  But better form from the Sarries  saw them take the leg to turn the game around at half-time to take a narrow 3-pin lead.

High 40s from Lofty & Clive (with a captain’s spare to boot) helped us chalk up a top leg score, but it was still not quite enough to narrow the gap and we actually dropped a further 2 pins.  But there was still plenty of hope for a Hustlers win as the anchors looked to set a winning total.  All 3 got 40, but set only our 3rd highest leg total of the night, so it wasn’t looking good.  And so it proved, as the sarries racked up the highest total of the night to take victory on the very lst hand.

It’s back at the Suffolk next week for a potential 6-pointer against Cowley CC.  A win keeps us well up in the mix.

25/1/11 v Saracens A @ Saracens

1st leg total 129 v 118

2nd leg total 111 v 125

3rd leg total 131 v 133

4th leg total 125 v 139

Grand total 496 v 515

WIN by -19

At home for the first time in 2011, the Hustlers faced the Kraftsmen, who had narrowly beaten us at the start of the season at the Robins club.  Could we avenge that defeat and get back to winning ways?

With last week’s defeat weighing heavily on our minds, we began this match with great promise.  Stavros opened with our joint highest score of the night, ably supported by a 40 from Dobbin and Pete narrowly missing out on a 40.  A 19 pin lead was surely going to get us back on the victory trail.  But 2nd leg hadn’t read the script and started leaking pins at an alarming rate.  JimBob managed to gain ownership of Barry the Brasilian Beaver for the first time this season as he set the night’s lowest score.  Faltering performances from Salty & Lewis didn’t help halt the rot and we turned around only 6 pins ahead.

Third leg weren’t happy with the way things were going and decided something had to change.  So Steve started with a 9, before working up to a spare on his way to matching the night’s top score, a total that AU also matched with the aid of his first spare of the season, as they pulled 8 pins back.  And so the anchors could relax a little.  But they almost took it too easy – JT struggled to to find form, Clive missed out on a 40 and Mel failed to capitalise on his spare opportunity.  But, aided by the Kraftsmen’s Barnes Wallis, they pulled out a 20-pin leg win to give us a glorious return victory! 

Next week we look to do the double over Saracens A  as we travel to the scene of our best scores of the season.

17/1/11 v Kraftsmen @ Suffolk

1st leg total 122 v 103

2nd leg total 98 v 111

3rd leg total 116 v 108

4th leg total 117 v 97

Grand total 453 v 419

WIN by 34

Kicking off the second half of the season, the Hustlers wandered out to the Fox & Hounds to face the Pittville Outcasts.  Could we avoid losing our second game against them?

We looked to be starting 2011 well when Pete knocked up a first hand spare on his way to our first 40 of the night.  JT just missed out on a 40 as 1st leg handed over with the scores still level.  2nd leg stuttered, with TC claiming the night’s lowest score & Lewis our 2nd 40 of the night as they dropped 15 pins.

Third leg soon had things looking different, Steve narrowly missing a 40, while Clive racked up our top score of the night, despite his 9 spare.  So it was down to the anchors now, facing a deficit of a mere 5 pins.  After 2 hands we were within a pin and it was all down to the last leg to decide the result.  Rob’s 40 wasn’t enough to bridge the gap and we eventually lost by 6 – an improvement on our previous encounter.

And so we look to the Suffolk next week to regain our winning form.  Will we be able to avenge our 2 pin defeat against the Kraftsmen?

11/1/11 v Pittville Outcasts @ Fox & Hounds

1st leg total 109 v 109

2nd leg total 101 v 116

3rd leg total 116v 106

4th leg total 108 v 109

Grand total 434 v 440

WIN by -6

In a break from Cheltenham League skittles, a number of Hustlers took part in the 2nd Tony Clay Memorial Shield to commemorate our former Chairman.  His successor provided the following account.

 Mark, Pete and Rob (and ex-Hustler Alec) were joined by June and Kate and 36 other hopefuls in the second Tony Clay Memorial Shield at the Civvy Club on 14 – 15 December 2010.