Welcome back to 2026 as our coverage of the Barnet League continues, it’s week thirteen could it be unlucky for some or have all those New Year Resolutions to play better worked! This week St Margaret’s fielded two teams so that one of our postponed games could be played so we had a total of five mats in use for the league. Read on to see how it all went
Mat one and Fairfield Falcons Bev, Gill and Neil were playing Potters Bar Kestrels Pam, Steve and Barry. With both teams near the bottom of our league both were fighting hard to climb up the table. Falcons started this game with a triple, Kestrels replied for a single but Falcons came straight back for a double and followed that with a single and a second double for an 8 – 1 lead after five ends. Kestrels pushed and took end six for a single, they followed that with a second then a double and another single to reduce Falcons lead to 8 – 6 after nine ends. Falcons ramped it up and held a single followed by a triple. Kestrels came back for a single but Falcons matched that on end thirteen and followed that with a four. Kestrels fought back and held the last end for a double but Falcons had the win at 17 – 9.
Mat two and Northiam South’s Dennis, Jeff and Brian Mc were playing Shillington Black’s Paul, Julia and Bill. Black started this game with a single and followed that with three more singles for a 4 – 0 lead after four ends. South now got their compass sorted out and held a single, continuing in the same direction they then held a double and then took the lead with a triple. The next five ends were hard fought with some interesting heads, South held them all for singles giving them an 11 – 4 lead with three ends to play. South continued their winning run, taking the last three ends for doubles they had a comprehensive win at 17 – 4.
Mat three had our table leaders Greenwood Hawks Barry, Val and Darren Brown playing St Margaret’s Tony, Jeanette and Darren Stanford. St Margarets took the first end for a double, they followed this with a triple and continued with a single for a 6 – 0 lead after three ends. Hawks swooped in on end four and took a double, they followed this with two singles and a second double and it was six all after seven ends. Hawks continued their run on end eight and took the lead with a single. St Margaret’s pulled it back level with a single on end nine. Hawks held a single but again, St Margaret’s matched it and it was all square at eight all after eleven ends. Hawks then took the lead again with their fifth single of this game, however, this time they followed it with a further single for a two shot lead. St Margaret’s pulled back taking their fourth single of the game to reduce Hawks lead to one shot going into to the last end. The last end saw Barry, Val and Darren B hold a final double for a 12 – 9 win in this closely contested game.
Mat four had Letchworth Lions David M, Mick and Alan S playing Shillington Red’s Trevor, Michelle and Neil. Lions started with a single and followed this with a triple. Reds held end three for a double and followed this with a single then took the lead with a second double making it 5 – 4 after five ends. The Lions then took the lead back with a double, they roared ahead with a second double and followed this with two singles and another double for a 12 – 5 lead. The Lions then roared again and held a match winning five increasing their lead to 17 – 5 after eleven ends. Reds came back on end twelve and held a double. Lions then held a single which the Reds matched on the penultimate end. The last end saw the Reds take a four to reduce Lions win to 18 – 12.
Mat five and our second St Margaret’s team of Lyn, Brian and Steve were playing Harpenden Eagles Deirdre, Denise and Brian. St Margaret’s started with a single and followed that with a four. They continued their run by taking three more singles for an 8 – 0 lead after five ends. Eagles gained height and went on the attack. Taking the next four ends for singles they had halved their deficit and reduced St Margaret’s lead to 8 – 4 after nine ends. St Margaret’s pushed again, they started with a single and followed that with a double and a triple to increase their lead to 14 – 4 with three ends to play. Eagles swooped in for a fifth single but St Margret’s pushed again taking the last two ends for a double and a final single giving them the win at 17 – 5.
Well another week in our league sees Falcons and Lions climb up the table. With only four weeks left until we split into two divisions it’s the middle of the table that is more interesting. The two Shillington teams are at the split point. They are both on eight points and have a shot difference of only one shot. With three more games each left who will go up and who will go down. Of course they could both get overtaken by St Margaret’s. Come back next week to see how this mid table fight continues.
Best Wishes from the Webmaster.👀