IN the Puriton & District Skittles League Division 1, Pirates stay two points clear of Farmer Boys after both won away this week.

Pirates beat Crown by 47 at Bristol Bridge Inn with Mike Villis top scoring on 74, James Pilbrow with 70 and Danny Palfrey with 69.

Best for Crown was Mike Carter with 72.

Farmer Boys had a much narrower away win on the tricky King William, Catcott, alley, beating Barstewards by seven.

The win leaves Farmer Boys ten points ahead of joint third Wasters, who had a bye, and Woolavington Boys, who defeated Nomads by 11 after hitting 86 down on the last hand to pull 21 with spares from Jason Kingston, Martin Baker and Richard Stewart, but Richard Glynn was top scorer with 71.

Wanderers played at home against Stop-outs at the New Inn, Wedmore, as the Watchfield Inn has closed, and after being behind for the first six hands they hit their highest hand of the night on the last, while Stop-outs hit their lowest and duly pulled 22 for a sevenpin win.

Fran Bobbett was the star for Wanderers on 79 – over 20 more than any teammates. Best reply for Stop-outs was Mike Garbutt with 68.

This defeat for Stopouts leaves them sixth, but only four points ahead of a relegation place as there are eight teams within four points of each other.

Foxes & Ferrets moved out of the relegation zone with a 33- pin home win over Polden Bears, Mike Simpson hitting three spares in his 76, and Somerset Vaults got back to winning ways with a 17-pin defeat of Crown Jewels, who are now 11 points away from safety.

In Division 2, Crusaders joined Landlords Rejects at the top of the table after a 90-pin demolition of Three Cees with Bert Beesley hitting four consecutive spares in his 82, Brian Scott getting 68 and three others on 67. Only Nick Hansford’s 65 was any threat.

Crusaders were able to join Rejects at the top as they were held to a home draw by Spitfires, who hit their highest hand of the night on the last to pull 14 for the draw, Darren Keen being the hero with a 14 spare on his last hand, but his 56 total was not quite top score – Simon Heal hit 58.

Both Oddsquad and Odds & Sods suffered defeats and are now seven points behind the leaders.

Oddsquad took an early lead at home to Wheatsheaf Boys and were holding on until the fifth when they only hit 44, allowing their opponents to pull 22 and win the match by 18.

Jason Parsons was the star for the victors with a three-spare 73, while Ollie Puddy was best for the home team with 66.

Odds & Sods were always behind at Huntspill Boys, but from being 32 down after three hands they pegged the Boys back to a ten-pin win after pulling pins on each of the last four hands.

Cross Your Hart found their new balls to their liking with an impressive 527 win at home to Haymakers to record only their 4th win of the season.

Rob Lynham had four spares in his 87, ably supported by Jim Houston on 71 and Dan Leiper on 70.

John Vowles got 75 and Kevin Watts 71 for the defeated team.

Swannies pulled off a remarkable win at Herdsmen. After leading most of the way they found themselves a pin down facing a hand of 74 to win, but undaunted Alan Ellis, who was also top scorer on 76, and Pip Tucker both hit 15 spares to secure a 77 hand and a win by four.