A welcome return to the alley this week, after the long Easter break, and some teams had relaxed a little too much it seems - there were some surprises in the first round of games for the new two division format. In Div. 1, the two teams at the top both suffered losses which suggests things could get pretty interesting. Young & Bald got the better of Lads’ Night Out, 6-4, only the Lads’ third defeat of the season. YAB came out swinging, whacking 38 pins on the way to leg 1, but LNO hit back with 37 to take the second. The beer leg saw the Young ‘uns back in charge with 39 and the match was all square after 41 from the leaders in leg 4. A tight decider went down to the wire, but YAB finished strongly to take the win, 38-35. Will Marsden hit two 9s on the way to his 35, whilst Alan Pointer kept himself top of the averages with 34. Last Six humbled Gutter Nutters with a statement 9-1 victory, smashing 195 pins in the process. The Six were quickly in control, rattling off 37 and then a splendid 42 to go 4 points up, with Chris Child walloping a 12 spare in the second. Last Six took their foot off the gas as leg 3 was drawn 33 each, and then switched into overdrive with two legs of 41 to close out the match. Chris Child posted a mighty 42, and Dave Quinn hit second best with 33. Birdies, Goals & Spares beat the Six’s total by a pin, and waltzed off with an 8-2 win over Splitz ‘n’ Giggles. After taking a low-scoring 1st, a huge 44 pin effort won the 2nd, thanks in part to a 13 spare from Lee Dickson. It remained one-way traffic in the beer as five drinks and two points went to BGS, but Splitz roused themselves in leg 4 with 42 pins and were finally on the board. Clearly, this just angered Birdies and they finished with aplomb - Ady Redhead equalling the season’s highest spare (15) as they marmalized 47 pins to finish Splitz off. Lee posted a personal best 41, whilst Ady made 36; Josh Hart was top Giggler with 33. The week’s best total came in Div 2, with Cross Keys smacking 197 pins to whitewash Remnants, and stake an early title claim. Keys were relentless, opening up with a 40 pin leg after Gareth Clark’s 10 spare, and going one better in the second with 41. Remnants got closest in the beer leg, taking two drinks but still ending 4 pins adrift, 36-32, before Keys reasserted their dominance and closed out the game with 41 & 39 pin efforts. The pin total was a new high score for the pub side, and Gareth Clark finished with a new PB of 42; Geoff Arnold backed him up with 37. Rollin’ Pins leapfrogged opponents Spare Ribs with an 8-2 thumping, to keep themselves in touch with the leaders. Pins immediately hit their straps, taking three straight legs with scores of 35, 40 & a huge 44 in the beer leg. Ribs were rocked, but managed to gather themselves in leg 4, taking the points 33-30. A low- scoring 5th could have gone either way but Bell’s charges stole in for the win by a single, 30-29 and had their big win. Dawn Gray made the score of the match with 33, whilst Chris Bennett & Richard Wicks hit 32s for Ribs. Finally this week, Late Knights 6-4 win over Big ‘Uns lifts them off the bottom of the league for the first time in a while. Big ‘Uns bookended their game with winning legs of 36 pins, but the middle of the match belonged to the Knights. Legs 2, 3,& 4 were close, but the Knights got over the line in each, winning out by a pin or two each time. Big ‘Uns actually won the pins here, 163-150, and had the the only player to score over 30, Nick Cooper (31), but it was Late Knights’ third victory of the campaign. Another short week to come with just 6 games across Tuesday to Thursday - it’s a gentle start...