Melksham skittlers have continued their brilliant season by bringing yet another intercounty trophy home.
This time it was the Melksham Allsorts C team who claimed victory over no less than 32 teams at a major weekend tournament held in Torquay. The specially-formed team, who play out of various clubs in Melksham, emerged triumphant, scoring 421 points in the finals and beating their nearest opponents by just three pins.
Forty team members and supporters from Melksham made the trip to South Devon for the competition, part of the Serious About Weekends Series 2018. The three teams, Allsorts A B and C found their form early and all qualified comfortably for the finals, a feat almost unheard of in the 25-year history of these competitions.
The three teams found themselves pitched against a strong opposition from Wales, Devon, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Somerset, Bristol and Avon.
Captain of Allsorts C, Richard George, said it was relatively easy getting through to the finals but from then on, the heat was on. It was close, with just seven pins separating the first four teams in a nail-biting finish. Allsorts C team claimed the trophy with 421 points, just three ahead of nearest rivals the Moffs Muppets on 418.
“None of the women in the C team had played for the teams previously,’ said Richard, ‘and some hadn’t even played at all before the weekend.”
Allsorts A finished in fourth place with 414 and Allsorts B came eighth with 354 points.
Paying tribute to his team’s win, Richard admitted that their touch of beginner’s luck might have been down to their new mascot ‘Monkey’. He was won in a raffle by Allsorts A player, Julie Webb, on the first night of the weekend event. She then found a custom teeshirt shop in Torquay to make him an Allsorts teeshirt and soon the alleys were resounding with shouts of ‘monkey, monkey, monkey.’
This is the second victory in this year’s competition series to be won by a Melksham team. Melksham Sports won a previous tournament in Torquay in March. Meanwhile, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly teams A and B did well in Mill Rhythe on Hayling Island, where they finished third and fifth, in a field of 40 teams.
“All the teams play regularly in the Melksham or Corsham skittles league,” said Richard. “We’re all friends, family or work colleagues and we all play in different teams at different times, hence our name Allsorts.”
Competition organiser and referee Rachel Bourke said it was almost unknown in the competition’s 24-year history for three teams to finish so high up the scoreboard
“They were great competitors,” she said. “They all put in astounding performances and deserved to do so well.”
Serious About Events also stage the British Skittles Championships which are currently in the group rounds and play off stages.
Pictured: Left to right: Mascot “Monkey”, Mark Hughes, Lisa Hughes, Chris Cooke, Kim Adams, Team Captain Paul “Buzz” Barnett, Andrea Smart, Andy “Webby” Webb, Kevin Whatley, Kevin “Wee Man” Bainton, Sandra Webb and Andy “Billy” Bainton.
