So it seems the competitive instinct kicked in as we went into the third week of the Walney League fixture list.

After falling to a defeat by their A team in week 1, reigning champs King Alfred played two fixtures and produced two big wins to go top of the table.

Visiting Walney Park A they only suffered one defeat, taking the game 10-1. Steve Atkinson and Glenis McDonald both won 21-8 to be the stars on the night, with top man Stuart Price (pictured right) continuing his fine start to the season weighing in with a 21-12. David Twinney was the Park’s saviour with his 21-13 victory, whilst Pam Bain was unlucky going down 21-20 to the self styled “Chairman Marmite” Keith Mills. Staring defeat in the face at 20-11 down Keith proceeded to throw the block as far as he could, resulting in Pam being unable to reach and Keith running out the victor, disproving the old saying that it’s the taking part that counts, it’s all about the winning.

Two nights later the Alfred entertained Barrow Island A, cruising to an 8-2 win. Using squad rotation to rest the more unfit players, Peter Roberts was brought in to replace Stuart Price and duly stepped up with a 21-14 win. Steve Atkinson made it a 100% week with his 21-12 victory, but the sweep went to Martin Barrow who won 21-10. The Islander’s two winners were both excellent single figure ones, Terry Marshall 21-7 and Barbara Dent 21-8.

Only two teams have a 100% record, Walney Park and North Scale. It was bye week for the Park this week, but North Scale were made to fight in their game at home to Barrow Island. although winning the games 5-3 there was only 2 points in the match score overall to give them the 7-3 win. Peter O’Connor’s 21-14 victory went some way to securing those points in a game where every match was close, including three 21-20’s. Anthony Brown matched Peter’s win for Barrow Island to record their best result on the night, Barbara Low winning 21-15 to back him up.

Barrow Island A suffered their second defeat at the hands of a King Alfred team, sharing the games with the B team but losing the game 7-4, single figure wins from Keith Sewell 21-8 and the evergreen Jeff Hinde 21-9 making sure the Alfred secured those all important aggregate points. The Island’s biggest winners on the night were Ann Worton and Dave Dent who both won 21-15.

An even tighter game was fought out between King Alfred A and West Shore, where not only were the games tied at four apiece but the calculators were brought out to conclude that only two chalks separated the teams. Mo Mills and Ces Turnbull (21-13) along with Mike Hool (21-14) helped them tie that aggregate up, although they were upstaged by West Shore’s Yvonne Clark who won 21-11.

Walney Park A hosted South End in the final fixture of the week and in a comfortable night for them, cruised to an 8-2 win. Top man Callum Sharples (pictured left) continued his fine form winning 21-13 just edging Derek Artis and Peter Jeffries who both won 21-14. Paul Imison won 21-11 to take a point for the caravan club along with Dave Hunt 21-14.

Results

Barrow Island A 4 King Alfred B 7, Walney Park A 8 South End 2, King Alfred A 6 West Shore 4, North Scale 7 Barrow Island 3, Walney Park B 1 King Alfred 10, King Alfred 8 Barrow Island A 2.

Fixtures

Mon 17th May

Barrow Island v Walney Park B, King Alfred B v King Alfred A , South End v Barrow Island A , Walney Park v North Scale, West Shore v Walney Park A,

Tues 18th May

West Shore v South End