LAND Girls made a winning start in the Wellington Ladies Skittles League with a ten-pin away victory over Pin & Tonics on Monday night.

Water Babies won by 28 pins at home to Split Happens while Split Pins were 16-pin away winners over Wobbly Pins.

Results: LOA Spare v Jolly Blues (postponed); Pin & Tonics 347 (Lucy Johnson 56), Land Girls 357 (Heather Kynaston 50); Wobbly Pins 279 (Leanda Thorne, Lisa Newstead, Linda Perry 40), Split Pins 295 (Tina Pengelly 40); Wanderers 348 (Sandy Jarman 54), 8 QTs 299 (Angie Cornall 45); Water Babies 297 (Sue Grabham 42), Split Happens 269 (Di Haines 40). Bye All Blacks.

Meanwhile, Shooters gained an impressive 31-pin away win over Reservists in the first round of Wellington Ex-Services Skittles League’s HWH Payne Challenge Cup.

Results - Reservists 358, Shooters 389: Reservists would have hoped for a few more pins, as Phil Powell led the way with a good 53. Shooters, however, proved too strong with Antony Maidment in fine form, producing an excellent 64.

King Pins 344, Home Guard IV 292: King Pins did enough at the Cottage Inn as they comfortably saw off Home Guard IV. Jordan Bryant led the scoring with a well deserved 54. Will Smith (42) top scored for Home Guard IV.

Hot Shots 359, OBA 336: Hot Shots held the advantage throughout as they found more consistency. Richard Chivers led the way with a score of 50, while OBA were spearheaded by Paul Beer, who contributed 45.

Report Centre A 355, Foresters 375: Rob Morgan was the star of the show for Foresters, hitting an excellent 57 as his side blew past their target and secured their passage into the second round. M Hobbs hit 50 for the losers.

Holywell Lake 364, Rebels 317: Steve Dowson led the way for the Lakers with 51 at the White Horse to set up a match against Foresters in the second round. Howard Elliott (47) was Rebels’ top scorer.

Cottage Pies 390, Bell Green 391: One of the closest games saw Bell Green edge past Cottage Pies at Nynehead Club with Will Essex knocking an outstanding 71 for the winners. Youngster Lewis May scored 58 for the Pies.

Queens Legs 353, WRFC 364: Colin Francis was the Legs’ leading scorer with 48 but Twiggy Rea was the rugby boys’ match-winner with an excellent 67.

Outsiders 387, Oaks 387: This tie went to an extra hand, where Outsiders managed to edge ahead by a single pin to claim one of the most dramatic victories of the round. Ron Smith led the way for Outsiders with 55, while Oaks' Mike Shire produced an excellent 59,

Fireguard A 346, Mowers 344: Fireguard A survived a tense encounter at the Cottage Inn, edging past Mowers. Fireguard A saw Olly Hayes leading their scoring with a strong 54, while Mowers came agonisingly close with Martin McGrath hitting a solid 50.

All Stars 365, Scuppas 390: Andy Chappell scored 54 for All Stars but it was not enough to beat Scuppas who gained a convincing win with Adrian Newstead hitting 61.

Ex-Servicemen 378, Odds and Ends 387: The holders Ex-Servicemen crashed out to Odds & Ends whose top scorer was Pete Wratten with an excellent 61. Marc Bright and Adrian Coles both scored 50 for Ex-Servicemen.

Nynehead Club 329, Here 4 the Beer 325: Mike O’Neil was Nynehead Club’s match-winner with 52.