Just one pin in it, but it was enough for the Wiltshire Moonrakers to clinch a big title win in an inter-county skittles competition up against 11 other teams.
The Moonrakers, based in Melksham, saw off their nearest rivals, the Commercial Inn from Bridgwater in a thrilling 375 – 374 final result.
“We always play well on the first day,” said captain Elaine Lewis. “We won all our games and booked our place in the finals. But Sunday is not usually our best day and two of the four finalists were men’s teams. It’s a good job we didn’t realise just how close it was. That might have put us off! My daughter Heidi bowled last and had to get a 9 to win. I think if she’d known that, it might have put her off!
“We were really chuffed to win.”
Many of the team play in the Melksham league, but get together especially for the tournaments which they’ve been entering for 20 years. This time they travelled to Torquay in South Devon where they faced teams from Bristol, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wales.
The Moonrakers compete every year in the Serious About Skittles Series, winning second place last year in Bideford. Serious About Events who organise the tournaments, also stage the annual British Skittles Championships which begin in late spring, culminating in a grand final in Torquay.
This is the second Melksham victory in the series so far, with Melksham Sports claiming the trophy in another recent close tussle in Weymouth, beating their nearest rivals by seven points.
