BOTTOM of the table Breezers came close to recording their first victory for the season but in the end fell just three pins short against The Dons.

Despite Anthony Ball hitting 44 for the latter it was the Breezers who took the first half by 13 pins.

The second half saw The Dons pull the deficit back after four legs, the overall lead changing up to the seventh leg as the teams entered the final leg all square again.

With Alison Smith the only player scoring for the Breezers in the final leg, The Dons required seven to take the game, which they eventually achieved to win the half by 16 pins and the game by three pins overall.

Table toppers the Geriatrics faced the Bowmen and despite the former taking an early lead it was the Bowmen who went on to win the first half; Stuart Murdoch hitting an 11-spare in his total of 57 to open up a 20-pin advantage.

This turned out to be the only spare of the game as the second half started off in a similar pattern with Geriatrics holding a 12-pin advantage after four legs.

The Bowmen managed to claw most of the advantage back in the next leg and entered the final leg just a single pin down on the half.

A leg of 13 was unlucky for the Bowmen as Nigel Winfield, who top scored for the Geriatrics with 56, hit a score of seven on the final leg to ensure his team won the second half by three pins. However ,the Bowmen ran out 17-pin winners overall.

Shake Hands were involved in two close games but came out with just three points as they drew one and lost the other.

In their opening game against Slimbridge RBL Robert Sims hit a 14-spare in his total of 62 as they opened up a 28-pin first half advantage; this despite Samantha Tarr recording a 12-spare in her total of 45 and Trudy Barnfield scoring 49 for Slimbridge RBL.

Whilst Shake Hands controlled the first half the game reversed in the second half as Slimbridge RBL halved the deficit after four legs. They followed this with a fifth leg score of 32 to take a slender advantage on the game; however in a half of no spares Shake Hands were able to claw back six pins in the final three legs to lose the half by 28 pins, thus tying the game with both teams picking up three points.

Whilst the game against Slimbridge RBL was a tight affair the game against Snorts FC could be described as the one that got away.

Andy Langdown hit a 13-spare in his total of 58 and Sims showed good form again, this time recording a score of 61 as Shake Hands held a 16-pin advantage after five legs. However, somehow Snorts FC managed to pull this back, despite trailing for seven legs and, entering the final leg seven pins behind, they managed to win the half by two pins.

The second half was also close, however Snorts FC managed to take an early lead, which they were able to retain, winning the half by nine pins to take maximum points. Steve Tilley was top score for Snorts FC with 57, whilst Mark Smith hit a nine-spare.

Full results and table in this week's Gazette newspaper