SETTLER Boys have opened up a four point gap in Division A of the Sampford Peverell and district league.

Meanwhile in Division B, The Ponies have closed the gap on All Blacks to one point, with six teams in joint third.

Lion Cubs maintain their position in Division C with Halfway House in second and Catherine Wheel and Huntsham A sharing third place.

DIVISION A: results – The Hounds 386, Elmore Club 375; Globe Appley B 393, Bradninch C Club 369; Settler Boys 383, Brass Monkeys 364; Redwoods 375, Barmy Army 385; Globetrotters, bye; Lumberjacks 332, Queens Head 348; Bellies 398, Globe Appley 380; Calverleigh 394, Castaways 376; Late Result: Brass Monkeys 349, The Hounds 364.

High Scores: 77 – M Carey (Globe Appley B, four spares); 72 – Ali Bussell (Brass Monkeys, three spares one of 22).

Reports: A good start from The Hounds had Elmore Club playing catch up from the start, and they were still pins adrift at the end of the game. After four legs the home team were 23 pins ahead, and though their visitors pulled some pins on the fifth, it was already game over.

Globe Appley B saw Bradninch C Club overtake them after two legs, but then got their act together and won the rest of the legs to go into joint second place in the League.

Though the first leg was shared in the game between Settler Boys and Brass Monkeys, the latter were never able to pull away winning only one leg. BMs captain Ali Bussell was Man of the Match with a three-spare 72 one of which was 22.

After four legs Redwoods had caught and overtaken Barmy Army by eight, but an 18-pin haul over the last two legs gave the Army the points.

Lumberjacks paid for their slow start in their game with Queens Head and the latter kept their noses ahead all the way to the line.

After two legs Bellies and Globe Appley were level, but over the next two legs Bellies caught and overtook their visitors to go 27 pins clear. GA fought back but were still short at the finish.

Though Calverleigh were only four pins up after two legs against Castaways a 20-pin haul in the third leg helped them to take the points.

DIVISION B: results – The Merriemeade 406, Barley Mow 397; Crossways 395, HCC1 404; The Beare 332, Ayshford Arms 358; The Agri-Nuts 329, Uplowman 373; All Blacks 371, The Ponies 380; Bickleigh 466, Roy’s Rebels 411; Oggies 375, Bradninch RBL 417; Bullocks, bye.

High Scores: 73 – P Carter (Roy’s Rebels, three spares); 71 – J Norman (Bickleigh, three spares); 68 – R Lucas (Bradninch RBL, three spares); 66 – T Burns (Bradninch RBL, four spares); 65 – S Sharland (Bickleigh, three spares).

Reports: A second win in a row from The Merriemeade as they had a close game with Barley Mow. MM did not have the best of starts, but kept their kept form for the last leg which they took by enough to take the very welcome points.

Crossways’ losing run continues as they go down at home to HCC1. The home team won three legs to their visitor’s two with the second leg being shared, but did not pull enough pins and narrowly lost the game.

It was not a good night at the office for The Beare and they went down to Ayshford Arms. The home boys only took the second leg, as AA ran out comfortable winners.

The Agri-Nuts found Uplowman in good form as they set a target that the home team could not reach. The away team pulled 22 pins on the second leg, and then only lost the last leg, by which time they had given the home team too much to do.

A defeat for All Blacks by The Ponies sees the latter close the gap at the top of the division to one point! Ponies were ahead after two legs, the home team overtook them after three, but had no more to give, and went down by nine.

Bickleigh posted a close to alley record as they overwhelmed Roy’s Rebels, whose score on any other day could well have won them the points. A four-spare 94 second leg gave the home team the advantage.

Oggies came up against an on-fire Bradninch RBL who won four of the legs, with one more being shared. Plenty of spares from the visitors certainly helped their cause.

DIVISION C: results – Halfway House 409, Tiverton Chiefs 368; Huntsham A 360, Ashill Inn 351; Booze Cruzers 407, Knock Em Down 380; Heathcoat Hulas 395, Catherine Wheel 383; Tiverton RBL 368, The Farmers 355; The Travellers 389, Lion Cubs 422; HCC2 337, Rose & Crown 336. Late Result: Knock Em Down lost to Halfway House; High Scores: 65 – P Fyles (Lion Cubs, two spares); Reports: Halfway House had a convincing 41 pin home win against Tiverton Chiefs. Halfway were 33 up at the half-way point and only dropped one leg all evening.

Huntsham A ground out a win at home to Ashill Inn to go equal third in the table. Huntsham were on first and found themselves one down after four legs. Two consistent last legs left Ashill to match their hosts, but a poor fifth leg left too much to do and they lost by nine.

Booze Cruzers had a 27 pin win at home to Knock Em Down. Cruzers set the pace and took five legs, leaving KED with the consolation of a drawn last leg.

Catherine Wheel were the only team in the top seven to drop points this week following defeat at Heathcoat Hulas. Catherine Wheel started with a three pin gain, but that was soon reversed as Hulas took a 13 pin lead at the half-way stage. Hulas held on to their lead and took the game by 12.

Tiverton RBL were first up against The Farmers and took no time in establishing a 12 pin lead. Farmers slipped to 21 down after four legs, but took the last two to leave themselves just 13 short at the end.

Lion Cubs made it nine away wins out of 10 with a 33 pin win at The Travellers. Cubs took five of the six legs on their way to a comfortable win that leaves them four points clear at the top.

HCC2 flew out of the traps against Rose & Crown and were 22 up after two legs. R&C steadied the ship but were still 24 down with two to go. HCC2 faltered in the fifth, leaving R&C chasing a target of 56 in the last leg. They didn’t quite make it though and HCC2 took the spoils by a single pin.