BOTH Penarth Skittles Ladies and Men's Holme Tower Cup Finals were contested recently on the Llandough Legion alley where both matches unfolded.

The ladies final played on June 1, saw the Cons Ladies take on the Lower Girls. With the weather outside being abysmal, The Cons Ladies started the match with an excellent 58 roll with a great nine scored by Val Poole.

Unfortunately for the Lower Girls they seemed to be still outside in the cold damp weather only managing to hit 44 on the first roll, leaving them 14 pins down. Over the next few rolls though the Lower Girls chipped away at the deficit and were only four pins down after the third roll.

With everything to play for the Cons Ladies came out on the fourth roll and hit a steady 51. The Lower girls then hit a snag, with Kirsty Clarke scoring a zero on the fourth roll. With the pressure on, the rest of the team put together a 47 roll, leaving them eight pins down.

The Cons Ladies came out again on the fifth roll and hit another steady 51 leaving the Lower Girls 60 to win.

The Lower Girls were confident that they could hit the necessary target, but after a poor start they realised that the target was a well set one for victory.

The final scores were Cons Ladies 256 – Lower girls 240. The Cons Ladies winning by a margin of 16 pins. Val Poole top scored in the match with 30 (9, 6, 5, 5, 5).

The Men's Final played on June 3, Saw the Battle of the Coronation Club, the Coro Exiles versus the Cwrt-Y-Vil.

After a good bit of banter between both teams, the Coro Exiles started the match. They started off strong with a steady 62 roll. Cwrt-Y-Vil then took to the alley where they looked a little nervous, and it reflected in the scoring with the team only managing to hit 50. This left them 12 pins down after the first roll.

The second roll saw the fireworks, the Coro Exiles hit another good 62 roll and putting on the pressure, Dave Garner, captain of the Cwrt-y-Vil rallied his team to hit an impressive 70 roll which cut the deficit down to only four pins.

On the third roll the Exiles hit another consistent 62 roll and the match was looking to be going down to the wire. Cwrt-Y-Vil came out and hit a 61 roll, losing one pin, but keeping in touch with the opposition.

The fourth roll saw a drop in the scoring from the Exiles, only managing to hit a 54 roll. This seemed to spur on the Cwrt-Y-Vil team who came back with a steady roll of 60. The lead had now swung to the Cwrt-Y-Vil, but only by one pin.

The last roll saw the Exiles hit a steady 56, leaving the Cwrt-Y-Vil 56 pins to win the match. Cwrt-Y-Vil took to the alley confident that the target could be reached, but like the Exiles they struggled with the first four men only hitting 14 pins between them.

With the roll matching the Exiles, the match looked like it was going to end in a draw and a playoff roll would be needed. Dave Garner, the captain and anchor man for the Cwrt-Y-Vil, came to the alley needing to hit five pins to ensure victory. His first ball only took one pin, both teams were holding their breath. With his second ball he caught the front and floored four pins to achieve the victory needed.

The final scores were Coro Exiles 296 - Cwrt-Y-Vil 297. The Cwrt-Y-Vil winning by one pin. Top score for the Exiles was Nathan with 30, (3, 7, 7, 7, 6). Cwrt-Y-Vil top scorer was C Winton with 31, (7, 7, 5, 6, 6).

Congratulations to both teams who won.

A reminder for teams who have not yet sent in your registration forms for next season, they need to be with fixtures secretary, Michael Smith, by July 1, to ensure there is enough time to produce the fixtures for the upcoming winter season. You can leave them in the skittle box in the Cons Club.

Michael Smith