A big thank you to Ben and Sam Rose who presented the trophies at the league’s presentation evening in memory of their dad Colin Rose who sadly passed away before the start of the season. Colin was a longstanding member of the league, and was an original member of the Heathens team. Our Vice Chair-person Sally Childs-Slade presented Colin’s sister Carolyn Hallett with a bouquet of flowers for Colin’s wife Kim who unfortunately could not be present.

All photos were taken by Chris Whitefield Wedding Photography, as always a big thank you to Chris.

Thank you to the Trinity Club and all of it’s staff for their hospitality, the security team on the door and Sound Star for the entertainment.

Thank you to our committee for all their hard work throughout the season and on making sure Friday ran smoothly.

Lastly thank you to all of you skittlers who supported the evening. Enjoy your summer and we’ll see you all back on the alley for the 25-26 season.

Colliton Wide Boys 458 Patriots 439

Wide Boys won the cup for the sixth time, their first triumph coming 29 years ago.

This all Section A clash took place at Tom Browns with both teams having finished in the top half of the section, Wide Boys 6th , and Patriots 7th.

Wide Boys threw first and had the perfect start hitting 79, with three stick ups from, Zack Fowler (12), Josh Fowler (14) and Jason Hallett (16). Patriots hit 62 to trail by 17-pins.

Both teams hit 56 on the second hand.  

Skipper Andy Fowler finished the third hand for Wide Boys with a 15 stick up as the Colliton side hit 63. Patriots managed to pull 1-pin, as they hit 64 with stick ups from Jamie Cooke (11) and Bruce Kimber (14).

Andy Fowler again finished with a stick up on the fourth hand, his 12 helped his side to 66. But Patriots were fighting back and had stick ups from Jake Cooke (14) and skipper Mike Aylott (12), and the Goldies outfit hit 70 to trial by 12-pins.

The cup final was back in the balance on the fifth hand as Wide Boys hit 56, and Patriots pulled more pins hitting 64 to trail by just 4-pins, and they may well have been in front as their two stick ups on the hand were a 12 from Aubrey Fagg and a stick up bolter from Rick Aylott-Healey.

This comeback from Patriots, who were the cup holders, looked like making it a tense finish to the game. But the cup kings Wide Boys had other ideas and two stick ups in the top half from Kelvin Barnes (11) and Matt Slade (15) got their hand going and along with four 9’s helped their score to 75. Patriots No.1 Aubrey Fagg again started the hand with a 12 stick up but no more stick ups followed and the Patriots found themselves 16-pins behind.    

Wide Boys skittled steadily on the last hand hitting 63 with no stick ups to leave Patriots 80 to win. Patriots finished up with 60 to give the Wide Boys a 19-pins victory.

Skipper Andy Fowler was top score for Wide Boys with 67 as he looks forward to lifting the cup again. For Patriots Aubrey Fagg and Jake Cooke were both top score with 60.

Wide Boys other five cup successes came in 1996, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2023.

New Inn Chuckers 402 Trinity Allsorts 401

New Inn Chuckers came from behind to win the Plate against Trinity Allsorts on alley two at the Colliton Club.

It was Allsorts who started the better of the teams and were 8-pins up after two hands. 

Richard Goodbody started the third hand for Chuckers with a 13 stick up and the New Inn side hit 61, in response Darryl Bagwell struck a 15 stick up to help his side stay in front, and the Trinity outfit went 10-pins up after hitting 63.

The following two hands saw Allsorts squander the chance to finish off their opponents, but they did still lead by 11pins.

It was Chuckers No.1 Richard Goodbody that brought his side back into the match hitting 16 on the sixth hand as Chuckers put 68 on the board. Allsorts had a steady hand but their 59 meant their lead was cut to just 2-pins.

Chuckers hit 58 on the last hand, with anchor-man Ollie Hurlstone finishing with an all important 9,  to leave Allsorts 57 to win. The top half for Allsorts hit 23 to leave the bottom half 34 to win, Darryl Bagwell hit 8 followed by a 7 from Robbie Haime. It meant a stick up was needed from either of the bottom two, Luke Stacey hit 9 to leave skipper Jamie West 9 to tie the game up. The Allsorts had some heroics in their semi final match but this time they would fall a pin short when Jamie hit 8.

So it was the Chuckers of Section C led by skipper Ollie Hurlstone who beat their Section B opponents to win the Plate.

Richard Goodbody was the match winner for Chuckers and was top score with 64, while Luke Stacey was top for Allsorts with 59.

It was a debut season to remember for The Wafflers who clinched the Section C title on Thursday with an away victory over Ship Wrecked at the Old Ship at Upwey. Needing the two points to draw level with title rivals Ship Apes the lads from the Vic raced into 29-pins lead after two hands after scores of 64 and 65. Dan Horne started with a 15 stick up , while Ollie Spearing boltered his stick up on the second hand. Aiden Brown chipped in with a 12 stick up on the third hand as the visitors hit 60. Paul Mowlem had the first stick up for the home side hitting 12, but it was Wafflers that pulled more pins with a 60 hand to lead by 36-pins. Both anchor-men hit stick ups on the fourth hand, George Williams for the Ship side had 11, while Ryan Welch had 13 for the away team to help them to 61 and a 41-pins lead. Wafflers pulled 9 more pins on the fifth hand, and it was Ryan Welch again who struck the stick up, and his 14 meant that the lead was extended to 50-pins. Ship Wrecked managed to get into the 60’s on the sixth hand but their 61 was well beaten as the Vic outfit hit a massive 75 hand, with stick ups from Ollie Davis (14), and a second from Dan Horne (16) to lead by 64-pins. The Wafflers finished off the night with a 69 hand to win by 80-pins with Liam Mitchell having a 14 stick up. Wafflers total was 453 and Dan Horne was top score for the champions with 72.

The victory meant that the Wafflers finished level on points with Ship Apes who were also making their debut in Section C, and both get promoted. With the league not having play-offs anymore when teams are level it means they are separated by their head to head when the two teams played each other during the season. The Wafflers beat ship Apes by 23-pins at the Victoria Hotel in September and then hit 476 at Upwey in the return game to win by 32-pins, the 476 score was the highest in Section C for the season. Remarkable the two defeats for Ship Apes were the only points that the Upwey side dropped, while the only two teams to beat the Wafflers were Colliton Spares at the Vic in September by just 3-pins and more recently in April the champions lost by 13-pins away to Misfits at Wool.

The Ladies Singles Competition was won by Vicki Cooper of Vixens who beat Louise Greenwood of Wingers in the final at the Colliton Club. The singles will be the last all ladies event in the D&DSL, as after 50 years of ladies skittles the Ladies League will cease at the end of the season. There were 39 entries and the league supplied a buffet to commemorate the end of the ladies skittles.

For those ladies still wanting to play skittles, there are teams in Section A, B and C that are looking for players. Please contact Brian Newton or Terry Gosney if you would either like to find a team, or if you are interested in starting up a new team. Teams in Section A, B and C can be made up of any gender.

After 17 years in Section B the Vic Reeves have won promotion to Section A. The lads from the Vic beat Hartstoppers away on Thursday by 58-pins, and with promotion rivals Monsters losing away to Bullocks the runners up spot goes to Vic Reeves with one match to play. Currently they are level on points with Monsters, but Monsters have played all their games so finish the season with a bye. Vic Reeves host Steamers next week but even if they lose they’ll go up as their head to head with Monsters is better by just 2-pins. Vic Reeves won away at the Oak by 18-pins while Monsters won the return game at the Vic by 16-pins.    

Vic Reeves raced into an 18-pins lead on alley two at the Colliton Club against Hartstoppers after hands of 58 and 69, there were stick ups from Lloyd Wilson (9) and Josh Hall (13) on the second hand. Will Clark started the fourth hand with a 14 stick up but two 2’s kept their score down to 51, but the Vic side still had a 21-pins lead. The next hand saw them move 28-pins in front after hitting 58. The sixth hand saw the promotion chasers put the game to bed with a 68 hand with two stick ups from Lloyd Wilson, who put 14 on the board, while anchor-man Jack Beale had a 12. They finished how they started and hit 58 on the last hand to win by 58-pins, hitting 422.

Vic Reeves were formed in 1996, taking their name from the well know comedian, their home nights were Friday at the Victoria Hotel, and they spent their first few season in Section F, before finishing runners up to Marco Wanderers in 1998 and gaining promotion to Section E. In 2001 they were runners up to Barmy Army in Section E. After two seasons in Section D Vic Reeves went up to Section C, as although they had finished 7th the sections were being expanded. For three seasons on the trot Vic Reeves finished in third place in Section C, and then there was a fourth place finish before they finished as runners up in 2008 to Tinklers. In 2006 Vic Reeves won the Plate beating Country Boys in the final. The Vic side settled in Section B and remained at that level mostly with mid table finishes. Their highest finish had been 5th in 2009 and 2023, while twice they finished third from bottom in 2011 and 2016. In 2019 they were runners up in the Plate, losing to Half Pints in the final. Now a much deferent version than the team that started in 1996, the young lads led by captain George Wilson should bring some entertainment to Section A with their songs and laughter. Although much changed two long standing players Steve McHale and Roger Wilson remain part of the team.

Vic Reeves join Swan Abbots who go up as champions, as debutants in next seasons Section A.  

Wareham Legionaires 448 Colliton Wide Boys 462

Wide Boys beat the champions Wareham Legionaires at the New Inn, West Knighton to make it to the final of the cup for the third time in four seasons. Legionaires went 9-pins in front on the first hand after hitting 72 with stick ups from Pete Luther (14) and Ryan Carpenter (17), while Steve Legg had hit Wide Boys first stick up, an 11. Jason Hallett struck a 17 stick up for the Wide Boys on the second hand as the Colliton team hit 68, in response Legionaires hit 59 and the game was all square. The third hand saw Wide Boys go 2-pins up, they hit 62, Legionaires had a good start to their hand after Mike Jeans had a 13 stick up but the Wareham outfit could not build on that and hit 60. The fourth hand was all about the Fowler’s, Josh and dad Andy both hit 15’s as Wide Boys hit 73, which saw them go 16-pins up after Legionaires hit 59. Wide Boys had another good score on the fifth hand hitting 70 with Josh Fowler hitting 17 while Matt Slade boltered his third ball on his stick up, Legionaires hit 62 to trail by 24-pins. Jason Hallett had a 12 stick up on the sixth hand to help the Colliton team to 67 and they went 39-pins up when Legionaires hit 52. Captain Andy Fowler finished the night with a 12 stick up and his team hit 59 to leave the champions  99 to win. Wareham Legionaires finally showed why they are back to back champions in Section A, fighting back in style on the last hand, Jordan Nicholls started the hand with a 17 stick up, while two 14’s from Pete Luther and Terry Whittaker left the bottom three 41 to win.  A big stick from either teammate may have given anchor-man Steve Shear a chance but two 7’s left him 27 to win, although he did finish the night off with a stick up hitting 12 to give his side a 84 hand which meant they lost by 14-pins.

Josh Fowler was top score with 69 for the Wide Boys while Pete Luther was top for Legionaires with 67.