he league's top two teams met at Wilmcote last Thursday but Binton A were a man down having only six shooters. Simon Dale got Binton off to a good start looking on for a possible until his fourth pellet did not ring the bell but he did not let this break his concentration and he went on to score 34. Andy Morris famed for his 34's was first up for Wilmcote but lady luck was with him and he succeeded in getting his first possible this season. Support for this good start to the match was provided by team members with both sides raising their game in this high scoring and closely shot match. For Binton, Gary Hooper also looked on for a possible until his 6th pellet proved to be a four but 34 was a seasonal best for him. Michelle Dale shot a solid 33. Will Cemis put aside his crutches to shoot a very respectable 31 in the circumstances. John Parrott and Alan Dyer both shot 30pts. A N Other score of 28 gave the team a total of 220pts. Lyn Brookes for Wilmcote gave a skilled performance which was a personal and season best score of 33pts. Brian Adshead did well with 32 and both Alan Brookes and Paul Boazman shot steadily for 31. Tim Stephens shot at par with his 30 and lastly, John Maycock kept out of the threes and with one bull shot 29. Wilmcote's lowest of eight scores was scratched which gave them the narrow victory of one point with 221points.

Paul Clingan, MEB's captain, started the match against Binton B with his second possible of this season, but the rest of his team did not match this performance. New shooter Oscar Thornton then suffered from nerves whilst Fred Williams with a 31 shot somewhat below par. Jan Beattie followed with a level 28. Alison McMillan and husband, Karl both put 30 on the target followed by Ray Hodgkins whose score was pulled down with a three on his final shot. This left the stalwart, Gordon Spencer who managed two bulls to finish with a 30, giving the team total of 211points. Bill Fleming for Binton B was first to the target getting a 32 thanks to three consecutive bulls at the end. Mike Perry shot a below par 27. Chris Green in only his second match of the season for his new team then recorded a personal best of 34pts. He was followed by Gordon O'nions who avoided the threes to finish with a credible 31. He was followed by Roy Clarke who shot a personal best this season of 32. Jon Packard has transferred to Binton B to ease their difficulties in fielding a team on a regular basis and he got off to a good start shooting a commendable 32 to win the match for Binton even though they still needed an A N Other score but they finished on 215pts, the team's highest score this season and a well earned win which must have been a surprise for MEB.

The match between Home Guard and Avenue-RBL was close with first one team then the other taking the lead but overall it was a low scoring match with stray pellets on both sides. Steve Everett's 31 was the highest score in this match and Jo Everett also kept out of the threes for 30. Paul Nixon-Barron did not show the accuracy his is capable of and had to be satisfied with 28 as did Guy Ganderton who shot a string of fours. Paul Seabury slipped two threes and although Sarah Seabury started poorly, she finished with two bulls to give her a more respectable score. Peter Mole was the last to shoot and stray pellets kept his score down. With a total of 195pts the pressure was on Home Guard's last shooter.Steve Hodges shot a below par 30 as did Jackie Mills. Richard Mills stayed out of the threes but had difficulty finding the bull and settled for 29. Irene Parsons shot a par 28. Bill Gately had a couple of loose pellets and Josh Bridge did well shooting more consistently. Derek Powers who has only shot twice this season was the team's last shooter and though he started with a loose three, he went on to shoot 29 which gave the Home Guard victory by a margin of three points.