Skittles at the Crouch Bowling Club

There were enough players for two teams of 11.  A suggestion was made that the men should play the women, but there were only 8 ladies present.  So Frank Thompson, Bill Pierce and myself opted to join the ladies team.

Whilst orders for liquid refreshment were obtained from the bar, some curious players tried the run of the alley to see how difficult it was to knock the pins over.

Behind the bar was Dave Grimley from the Crouch Bowling Club, who served liquid refreshments before the fun started, and throughout the evening.

The first three balls were sent down the alley by Tony Lees for the men’s teams, and his score was recorded on the scoreboard by Rotarian Peter Fenwick, the mandatory attending member of the Crouch Bowling Club.  Ivy Thompson then stepped up to the plate watched by an eager crowd along the side of the alley and bettered Tony’s score by 1.

Scoring continued with 5 members of the men’s team scoring 8 but failing to knock the final pin over, and after all eleven had played the men's team’s score was 76.  Only one lady player, Sarah Brown scored 8, and thus when I approached the alley, no player had managed to knock all 9 pins over.  When I as last player therefore managed to knock the final pin over to score 9, a huge congratulatory roar was heard.  It was however insufficient as the men won the first game by three points - 76—73.

The second game started with the ladies team intent on outscoring the men, with Ivy again outscoring Tony Lees by one although she just missed knocking the final pin over.  The ladies team however romped into a lead of 9 after two players when my wife Marilyn scored what proved to be the best score of the evening, knocking all the pins over with only two pins, to score a magnificent 15.

After a couple more rounds had been played, the game was halted as the food, fish and chips, ordered from Trawlers arrived.  The tables had been laid with cutlery by Dave Grimley before we all arrived, and the players sat at the tables and put the implements to good use

The portions of fish, although ordered as small and medium were very generous, and were well received.

When the game resumed, some high scoring from the ladies including two more 8’s saw the ladies maintain their advantage 73 — 56 after the penultimate players.  Although Peter Fenwick knocked over the last pin to score 9, it was not enough to overhaul the ladies score.

I then repeated my first game feat, and matched his score to give the ladies team victory by 82 — 65.

In the third game, for the third time, Ivy starting for the ladies outscored Tony Lees by one and again just missed knocking the final pin over.  By round 7, the ladies had a lead of 3 with three more ladies (Marilyn, President Mandy Davis and Ruth Willox) scoring 8,  This was despite John Windsor knocking over all the skittles with two balls to score 12, the second best during the evening.

The next two rounds however saw Mike Logan and Chris Davis knock all the pins over to score 9 each, whereas the next two ladies players (they shall remain anonymous!) scored only 4 to give the men’s team a lead of 11 which, despite my third 9 of the evening ,was maintained to the end for a score of 81 — 71.

Thus based on games, the men’s team won 2 — 1, but based on skittles knocked over, the ladies outscored the men’s team by 3, 222 — 225.  So which team won?

Irrespective of the scores however everyone agreed that they all had an enjoyable evening, and would like the opportunity to play in 2024.

Our thanks to Dave Grimley for preparing the room and maintaining a flow of liquid refreshment.

After the game was over, chairs were stacked and tables dismantled.  The food cartons were boxed and any remaining food, generally a few chips, was black bagged and taken home by two volunteers.

Our thanks also to Ivy Thompson for washing up and drying the cutlery.