Baptist edge out Dakotas in close cup finish

Burton Baptist C and Rothborough Dakotas provided the closest finish with the former winning 410-403.

After six games the Burton side had reduced Dakotas’ 160-point advantage to 38 and an easy win was on the cards.

Pete Rowbotham defeated Kelvin Marshall 21-13, 21-19 and the result was again in the balance.

Chris Agg and Derek Muggleton beat Anthony Yeomans and Sally Taylor leaving Baptist C 11 points in arrears.

Agg and Muggleton took the doubles 21-14, 21-10 to secure a narrow seven-point advantage.

Last season’s runners-up Harborough B and club-mates Harborough E both played with only two players again showing that it is almost impossible to concede 126 points and produce a positive result, leaving Corby Lyveden Fields and Corby Smash D easy winners.

Burton Baptist E, also a player short, defeated Rothborough Buccaneers 227-204 but Buccaneers were also a two-man team and this made their task much more manageable. After three singles Kelvin Linnett and Ivor Jones had reduced Burton E’s handicap from 100 points to 63 and seemed to be well on the way to a comfortable win.

Game four completely changed the tie when Jim Chatburn halved with Jones 15-21, 21-15 leaving Chatburn and Adam Mills only requiring six points from the doubles.

Rothborough Arrows trio Helen and Martin Watts and Sean Smith played consistently well against the much higher-ranked Corby Rothbury trio of Lee O’Boyle, Aaron Moore and Aiden Smith for a comfortable 471-394 victory.

Premier Division bottom side Thrapston Eagles easily defeated high-flying Higham 464-411, again playing much better than their league position would suggest.

Another struggling side, Corby Halesowen, made a mockery of their league position, dropping only eight points against Rothborough Comets with both teams winning 10 ends each in Halesowen’s 463-371 win.

New signing James Lock was Corby Smash B’s weak link and could not score enough points to prevent Harborough C winning 441-335.

The Wilson brothers, Adam and Sam, reduced the handicap from 120 to 100 but Lock conceded 75 to leave the Harborough side easy victors.

Thrapston Falcons made good use of their handicap to have victory wrapped up by game eight in an easy 515-419 win over Burton Baptist A.

Ian Baldock produced another outstanding performance, dropping only 31 points against much higher-ranked opponents Alex Aston, Dariusz Gulbicki and Jacek Koltuniuk.

Results: Thrapston Falcons (+240) 516 (Baldock 94/125, Tyler 78/126, Payne 74/126, Baldock/Payne 30/42) Burton Baptist A 419 (Gulbicki 124/94, Koltuniuk 127/82, Aston 126/70 Gulbicki/Koltuniuk 42/30), Rothborough Arrows (+160) 471 (M Watts 92/119, H Watts 109/112, S Smith 87/121, M Watts/Smith 23/42) Corby Rothbury 394 (O’Boyle 126/65, Moore 113/121, A Smith 113/102 Smith/Moore 42/23), Corby Lyveden Fields 416 (Murie 122/71, Haynes 126/50, Arthur 126/56, Haynes/Arthur 42/28) Harborough B (+160) 365 (Burnham 94/122, Crook 83/126, Burnham/Crook 28/42), Thrapston Eagles (+180) 464 (Donaldson 87/120, Warliker 97/123, Stockley 71/126, Donaldson/Warliker 29/42) Higham 411 (Bashford 122/88, Elliott 127/71, Harrison 120/96 Bashford/Harrison 42/29), Rothborough Buccaneers 204 (Linnett 84/45, Jones 78/54 Linnett/Jones 42/28) Burton Baptist E (+100) 227 (Chatburn 68/78, Mills 31/84, Chatburn/Mills 28/42), Rothborough Comets 371 (Steele 96/121, Mordecai 114/106, Lewis 120/96, Mordecai/Lewis 41/40) Corby Halesowen (+100) 463 (Hunt 113/116, Murie 91/117, Stone 119/97, Murie/Stone 40/41), Old Village (+40) 385 (Burrows 95/101, Tyler 106/71, Bryant 102/108, Burrows/Tyler 42/29) Burton Baptist Team Jim 309 (H Lade 126/67, B Lade 100/110, Waterfield 54/126 Lade/Waterfield 29/42), Corby Smash D (+120) 418 (Clarke 91/84, Winter 96/84, Styles 80/84, Clarke/Winter 29/42) Harborough E 294 (Palfrey 126/75, Radford 126/66, Palfrey/Radford 42/29), Burton Baptist C 410 (Muggleton 126/73, Marshall 116/86, Agg 126/60, Muggleton/Agg 42/24) Rothborough Dakotas (+160) 403 (Yeomans 74/126, Taylor 63/126, Rowbotham 82/116, Yeomans/Rowbotham 24/42), Corby Smash B 335 (S Wilson 126/71, Lock 51/126, A Wilson 126/81, A Wilson/Lock 32/43) Harborough C (+120) 441 (Allington 102/95, Dixon 98/105, Coombs 78/103, Coombs/Dixon 43/32).