AThere were nine sets of triples for the Threes’ Cup at the Moordown Con Club on Monday. In the first throw of the competition, home player and Singles champion Steve Shear gave his ‘Three’ a great start by getting a 15 stick-up, and they finished with a total of 26, which gave them a lead of three over their nearest rivals. who were last year’s Threes’ winners, the Wallisdown Lads.
Second-leg top scorers were Corfe Lads, in their ‘three’, they had the pairs winners Steve Harris and ‘Wonder Woman’ Tash Davis, they scored 24 and had a total of 42 after the second leg, which was one pin behind the leaders Moordown Reds, Steve Kyran and Doug, who had 43.
Third leg top scorers were a ‘Three’ from Bluebirds ‘A’, they scored 25, last man Tom Winwood coming in with a 15, after the third throw, two ‘Threes’ were leading the way, they were the Cen-Terry! 24 and the Corfe Lads on 58, with another four ‘Threes’ within five pins of them.
It was the last ‘Three’ to throw in the fourth leg that topped the chart scores this time, with a 26 score, and they were the other Bluebirds ‘A’ entrants of Callum, Matt & Tom. Matt scored 13 to help them get that 26 score. But leading the way were the ‘Three’ from Corfe Lads with 81, two pins behind were last year’s champions, Wallisdown Lads on 79.
There were new leaders after the fifth throw, they were the Cen-Terry! 24 ‘three’ of Mike, Ryan & Steve, who threw first in the competition and now had a score of 99, just one pin behind them on 98 were the Corfe Lads, there were also another three teams in the 90’s.
The Cen-Terry! 24! ‘Three’ threw first in the sixth and last throw of the evening and notched up a 17 score that gave them a total of 116 for the evening. Next to throw were the Corfe Lads, they needed 18 to equal the Cen-Terry side, but they also scored 17, leaving them one pin behind on 115. The next title-chasing ‘Three’ were Mike, Simon & Richard from Moordown Reds, they scored 21 and finished also with a score of 115. Next to chase the ‘Cup’ dream were last year’s champions, Wallisdown Lads, they needed a score of 21 to hold on to the trophy, James and Jordan scored 13, leaving the last-man Fossil to score an 8, first he had to clear up the frame of five pins, he did with two balls and with a full frame to aim at with his last ball, he took four pins, giving the Wallisdown Lads a score of 118. Last ‘Three’ to throw in the evening were Callum, Matt & Tom from Bluebirds ‘A’, they needed a score of 26 to take the trophy, or 24 for the runner-up spot. Last-man Tom, first of all, also needed to clear five pins to get a full frame for 18, but just failed on that mission, meaning the Wallisdown Lads retained their ‘Threes’ title, after a very long, tough, and friendly close competition.
Final scores: Wallisdown Lads: J. Taylor, J. Nicholls & I. Penney 118. Cen-Terry! 24: M. Jeans, R. Carpenter & S. Scudamore 116. Corfe Lads: S. Baines, S. Harris & T. Davis 115. Moordown Reds: M. Bowers, S. Marsh & R. Broomfield 115. Bluebirds A: C McGregor, M. Elston & T. Phillips 110. Oakdale PHC: M. Lee, J. Mundy & G. Davie 103. Moordown Reds: S. Shear, K. Arthur & D. Shear 100+ DNF. Bluebirds A: C. Winwood, J. Hegarty & T. Winwood 98. R. Phillips, A. Hewlett & D. King 91.

This week, I must start with the surprise result of the season, which was Wednesday’s match at the Bluebirds Club, where the ‘E’ team hosted the Cen-Terry! 24 side. In the teams, there were three players under the new age rule, two from the Cen-Terry! side and one from the ‘E’ team. The match went to 11 legs. The first point went to three legs. Cen-Terry won the first leg, but Bluebirds E took the second and third to win the first point. Cen-Terry fought back and took the second point again in a best-of-three affair. Bluebirds E won the third point in two straight legs. The last point of the evening again went to three legs, the E’s winning the first leg, Cen-Terry won the second leg, but a stick-up from Matt Downton in the third leg helped the home team win their third point in a close match. That was the first time Bluebirds E have beaten the Cen-Terry (Bluebirds ’97) team since 2013.
On Tuesday, the Wallisdown Lads welcomed the Corfe A side to their Club. Corfe ‘A’ could only field five players for the match. The result was a nine-leg affair with the Wallisdown Lads coming out the winners in a 4-0 win.
Also on Tuesday, at the Centenary (BH15) club, the Centenary PH ‘B’ match against the Bluebirds ‘A’ was an 11-leg game, with both teams close in the league table, the game ended in a draw, with the Bluebirds team picking up the Beer point.
Wednesday saw another draw, this draw was at the Moordown Club, where the Reds played host to the Claypipe Lads, who welcomed back Lloyd Grey to their side. With their two points, it’s kept the Claypipe Lads still fighting for the second spot in the table and still level at the top for the Beer Cup.
The match at the Centenary (BH15) on Wednesday resulted in a 3-1 home win for the Centenary JB side. They have not lost at home in the second half of the season, but they ran out of steam against the Oakdale PHC team, who won the Beer point. The Oakdale PHC team now won half of their league Beers, and are only a couple away from challenging for that Beer Cup.
Thursday’s game at the Colehill Club saw the home team win the match with five players, and that was not the first time they have won with five. Playing against the Corfe Lads, who had seven points from their last two games, but had to sign on a new player for the match. In the match, Colehill OBs took the first three points, leaving the Corfe Lads to settle for the last point. That is now 18 points the Colehill OBs have won in their last seven league games, only Cen-Terry can better that.

Tuesday’s game was cancelled between Cen-Terry! 24 and the Centenary PH ‘B’ team. That will now be played on Wednesday, the 15th, at the Centenary (BH 15) club.
Wednesday’s game at the Oakdale Club finished as a draw. Oakdale PHC took the first point, Bluebirds E took the next two points, but failed to secure the last point, leaving the door open for the Claypipe Lads and Wallisdown Lads to go ahead in the chase for the Beer trophy, and it also damaged their chance of that second spot in the league table.
Thursday night, there were four matches. First on the fixture list was the match at Claypipe Inn, where the home side entertained bottom of the league Corfe ‘A’, the only point that went to three legs was the second, but it did not stop the Claypipe Lads running out 4-0 winners on the night, they even rested the new Fossil, captain Paul.
The second Thursday match on the fixture list was the tie between the Bluebirds A and the Moordown Reds at the Bluebirds club. The ‘A’ team won the first point, lost the second, but came back and took the third and the Beer point. In a high-scoring game, the home side notched up eight stick-ups, the best coming from Chris Winwood, who scored an 18.
Thursday’s third match on the fixture list was between the Colehill OBs and Wallisdown Lads at the Colehill Club. Wallisdown Lads threw first and scored 52, which was made up of four nines and two eights, which was to be the best score of the night from either team, second throw went in favour of the Colehill team with their two-pin start being the deciding factor, they then won the third leg to secure the first point of the evening, the OBs took the second point in two straight legs. Wallisdown Lads won the third point of the evening in a best-of-three legs. Wallisdown captain showed his versatility and desire to win the Beer over the three legs. The new slow skipper came in with two stick-ups, which helped the Wallisdown team win that last point, so the close game finished as a draw.
Thursday’s fourth game was at the Corfe Legion, where the Corfe Lads took on the Centenary JB team. The result was a 3-1 win for the home side.

25 YEARS AGO (2000-2001) SEASON
There were 49 teams in the Poole & District Skittles Association. The first and second leagues had 16 teams, the third had 17. No fourth division for the first time.
The winners of the first division by three points were Bluebirds ’97. They were captained by Bill Lovell and finished the season with 76 points from their 30 league matches, and won 18 Beers, reversing their fortune from the previous season, when they finished second to the Bloxworth side. The Bluebirds ’97 team also won the Champion of Champions Cup that season. After a play-off for the runner-up trophy, the Bloxworth team was led by P. Toop overcame the Hamworthy Legion G side, their captain was Eddie Harris, both teams finished on 73 points, the Hamworthy Legion team won 19 Beers against the 18 by the Bloxworth side, but the winners of the Beer Cup was Colehill who’s captain was Allen Clarke they won 20 out of a possible 30 in the season and played their home matches on a Friday. The league stated which night you should play on. The 1st division should all play on a Tuesday. There were only three teams that actually played their home matches on Tuesday nights. The following year, the first division would have been allocated Wednesday nights for playing their matches.
The Bluebirds ’97 team also won the Champion of Champions Cup that season.

Winners of the second division by three points were the Broadstone Y2K side who was captained by Graeme Davis, their home venue was the Broadstone Railway Hotel, they won the league with 73 points from their 28 league matches and also won the Beer Cup with 20 wins from their league fixtures, in their team was the President of Poole Skittles at the time Cyril Matthews he had won the 1st division in three consecutive years (73/74, 74/75, 75/76), Cyril Matthews served on the general committee from 1972-73 to 1997 he became President of the Poole and District Skittle League from 1998 to 2005, he went on to become a Life President, the division finished up with 15 teams, Wimborne Lads dropped out during the season.
Runner-up in the second division was Oakdale C with a total of 70 points. They were three points clear of third-place Lytchett B, who ended on 67 points. Oakdale C team finished 3rd in the previous season (1999-2000). The captain for both seasons was Steve Lee.

The third division winners in 2000-01 season were the Potters Stuff, their captain was Bill Meaden. They scored 86 points from their 30 league matches and won the division by four points from Bluebirds 81′, their captain was Tony Evans. The Potters Stuff also won the third division Beer Cup with 22 wins from their 30 league matches. There were 17 teams in the division. The Power House team failed to complete the season, leaving 16 teams in the division. There was no fourth division that year.