Holders Reservists were beaten 375-393 by close league rivals Holywell Lake in an entertaining Payne Cup final  on the upstairs alley at the Victoria Arms, writes DAVID BRIGHT.

Holywell Lake won the toss and asked Reservists to skittle first.

At the start the holders found it hard going when they started with a 57 hand.

Runners up Reservists
Runners up Reservists. Back row L-R: Neil Sparks, Glen Escott. Middle row L-R: Stev Tubb, Kevin Sedgebeer, Phil Powell, Darren Sparks. Front Row L-R: Peter Chamberlain, Richard Troake (David Bright)

Their second hand showed a marked improvement when they hit a 64 with Peter Chamberlain hitting his team’s first spare of the evening, but unfortunately the spare ball did not do its work and the spare was a 12.

The third hand was a real struggle with balls going through and pins chopping out. There were 3 fives in the hand which ended up with a hand total of 48.

Holywell Lake started their reply with a steady 59 to pull 2 pins, their second hand saw them go big when they hit 70 with David Howell hitting a 16 spare.

The third hand was the one Lakers were looking to really capitalise but as with Reservists earlier, pins were hard to come by and they managed to hit 57 to pull 9 pins.

This put the Lakers 17 pins up at the halfway stage.

Reservists saw this as an opportunity to get themselves back into the game and they hit a 78 hand, the highest of the evening which contained 3 spares hit by Steve Tubb 15, Peter Chamberlain 14 and skipper Darren Sparks 14.

After this hand the holders sensed they could turn this game around and their fifth hand was a respectable 66 which included veteran Neil Sparks hitting a 14 spare and Peter Chamberlain hitting a 16 spare, his third of the evening.

Steve Dowson and Darren Sparks
Steve Dowson and Darren Sparks (Dave Bright)

Reservists’ final hand got off to a reasonable start as Steve Tubb hit a 14 spare, his second in the game, but the rest of his team found it hard going despite the majority of first balls hitting the front pin.

The hand ended up as a 62, but that being said it still left the Lakers 190 pins to win, no easy task on this alley.

The Lakers responded in excellent fashion when they hit a 75 in their fourth hand which included two 14 spares from Ryan Skeels and skipper Steve Dowson.

Cup presentation
Cup presentation (David Bright)

They followed this hand with a 74 which virtually sealed the game for the Lakers. David Howell hit a 14 spare, his second spare of the game, and Scott Newberry hit a 15 spare.

Their final hand was a 58, which saw the Lakers pick up pins in order to achieve their target which they did winning by 18.

Thanks to both teams for an entertaining match played in a sporting spirit, and to Byron Sipthorpe for sticking up, not forgetting the Victoria Arms for hosting the final.