Highwaymen Skittle Team Season 1990-91

Home Alley :- County Officers Club / Captain :-Ivan Willis & Stuart Lawson

This season saw a dramatic turn around in players . Several new players joined the Highwaymen at the start of this season . The main influx of players came from the Norton Sports Club Team . Mitch Fowles , Martin Humphreys & Dean Banfield all came from this team to the Highwaymen . All of these players were young & gave the team added enthusiasm . Also Steve Dayus came from the Poachers (Worcester District league divison 1) to join the Highwaymen . This came about with the Highwaymen 's close connection with the Fiddlers team in the Malvern League . Again Steve Dayus was not that old & added a further younger element to the team .

The new players played in a lot of the summer Knockouts & if the results in the league were to mirror how we performed in these knockouts then we should do well . We reached the final of the Worcester Football Club Knockout . Did well in the Westside Snooker Club compitition & won the West Midland Tavern Knockout . Below is a photograph of the team which took part in the final of the West Midland Tavern Final .

back row:- S.Lawson , T.Holmes , D.Hewlett , I.Willis / front row - M.Sheppard , S.Dayus , M.Futrill & L.Hewlett (sticker/player)

When new players start it always takes some time to get them bedded into the team . As it was all the new players seemed to blend in very well .Even so just before Christmass the Highwaymen Team suffered a major set back . The captain at he time (Ivan Willis) decided to leave the team , due to differences with certain team members . This left the team with 14 regular players . After a meeting at the Archdales Club where this was discussed it was also decided that Stuart Lawson would take charge of the team .It was never going to be an easy season after this turmoil . But even so considering the upheavel , the league season went as well as could be expected & we finished a respectable 4th in the league .

HIGHWAYMEN :- PLAYED 30 - WON 18 DREW 2 LOST 10 TOTAL POINTS 197 (POSITION 4TH)

Highwaymen team averages

Highwaymen Skittle Team Season 1991-92

Home Alley :- County Officers Club / Captain :- Don Hewlett

Again we were unable to keep the same squad from last year with Stuart Lawson & Steve Maslin both leaving . We also knew that Mitch Fowles was going to Australia & New Zealand for most of the season & Dean Banfield was also unavailable for this season as he was working away from home !!!Anyway we had to sign some new players to cover these loses .

This we did by signing 2 players from the Norton Taverners (N & P . Bollen ) & 1 player from the Whistlers (Tony Walters) . As I remember we had a annus horriblus of a start & at one time we looked as if we might get relegated . Also to make things worse Nick & Phil Bollen decided to leave the team half way through the season . At this point of the season we were struggling for players . But the team members who were left played well for the remainder of the season to ensure our Division One status . As you can see a lot of the players played at least 28 games . This was due to the shortage of players . We also had to call on 2 players who had not played to many times at all . Don Hall was the barman at the County Officers Club & P.Houghton was a friend of Don Hewlett (I think) who came to help us out .

The one bright spot from this year was that Steve Dayus managed to win the Highest Away average in the league . He averaged 39.93 over the season . It worked out he was 2 pins short of averaging the magic 40 mark .

Steve Dayus also won the Malvern League away averages that same season . I wonder how many players have done that !!

HIGHWAYMEN :- PLAYED 30 - WON 14 DREW 0 LOST 16 TOTAL POINTS 156.5 (POSITION 10TH)

Highwaymen team averages

Highwaymen Skittle Team Season 1992-93

Home Alley :- County Officers Club / Captain :- Rob Jenkins

The main talking point prior to the season starting was that we had heard rumours that the County Officers Club in Castle Street would be closing down . Seeing as we liked playing from here we decided not to leave .

One player from last season said he did not want to sign , that was Tony Walters who decided he wanted to go back to the Whistlers . After last seasons struggle it was decided that we should have enough players to cover any eventuality . We were glad to welcome back Mitch Fowles & Dean Banfield from last seasons absence . We then decided to sign on one more full time player (D.Glover) & sign our sticker -up (Paul Wyatt) , who seemed very keen , to play as cover . Paul Wyatt in the end showed enough promise that he did not just bowl occasionally but he ended up being a regular player.

During the season we lost the services of one of the Highwaymens stalwart bowlers in Eddie Marsh (Steady Eddie) . Due to ill heath he had to drop out & this left a huge gap in the team . Not just for his bowling but for his presence on the alley . Due to this we did make a mid season siging in Steve Collins as cover ..

In most sports if you can keep a good nuculus of players together , it is the start of a good season . This proved to be the case as the return of Mitch & Dean made a huge difference in our team performances . We were far more consistent than in recent years & we finished a creditable 3rd in the league . Don Hewlett had an exceptional season by being top of our overall averages . We did have another team member leave during the season . Simon Honeybourne decided he did not want to play for us anymore , after a disagreement over being dropped for a game .

HIGHWAYMEN :- PLAYED 28 - WON 18 DEW 0 LOST 10 TOTAL POINTS 193.5 (POSITION 3rd)

Highwaymen team averages

Highwaymen Skittle Team Season 1993-94

Home Alley :- West Midland Tavern/ Captain :- Steve Dayus

It was confirmed that the County Officers Club will be closing down , but we did not know when . Therefore we decided to move alleys before it became enforced on us to do so . We all agreed that the West Midland Tavern would be a good alley for us to play from .

We played in several summer Knockouts , but we excelled in one , The Claines Royal Britsh Legion Knockout . This competion is a renowned summer tourament in Worcester with alot of the most well esthablished sides from all 3 leagues in Worcester entered . This was the new captains first tourament & what a way to start by winning the final against a team which included several top bowlers from Malvern & Worcester . This indeed gave our team a lot of confidence . Several of of new players took part . Ron James in particular bowled very well in the Claines Knockout . But all our new bowlers showed real promise . .

We signed 5 new players this season . These were Stuart Thatcher (Norton Taverners again!!!) , Tom Lucassi (Superstars) , Ron James (Dales) , Mark Dennehy (Wanderers , District league) & Dave Jones (Glovers Needle) .

Due to chaging our home alley it was difficult to know how we would cope in the league , but it soon became apparent that the West Midland Tavern would be a good alley for the Highwaymen Team . Out of 17 home matches we only lost 4 , 2 of these being in our first 4 home games . Therefore it was quite evident that our team had got used to theWest Midlands alley very quickly . It was nice to see so many of our new players blend into the team atmosphere so quickly . Dave Jones in particular had an outstanding season by winning the team averages in his first season with the Highwaymen .

We also had good cup runs in the Doris Styles & the King Pin losing in both semi - finals . We lost to the Rams in the Doris Styles & the Herefordshire House Bulls in the King Pin . You will notice that during this decade the Bulls have been a team who seem to knock us out of the cup compitions quite a lot . In the King Pin Knockout our Quarter Final clash against the Forresters will live long in the memory . As we were left 98 to win & got 106 !!! Go to classic match link if you want to read more about this game .

Steve Collins , Darren Glover & Eddie Marsh (unfortunatley) did not sign for this season . We did sign Paul Wyatt (sticker up) & as an emergency bowler

HIGHWAYMEN :- PLAYED 34 - WON 25 DREW 0 LOST 9 TOTAL POINTS 252.5 (POSITION 3rd)

Highwaymen team averages

Highwaymen Skittle Team Season 1994-95

Home Alley :- West Midland Tavern/ Captain :- Steve Dayus

  This season will always be remembered for one main reason . Even though we lost fewer games than any other team in our league we were pipped for the league championship by 3 bonus points .

If you look over the last few seasons this was no doubt our strongest squad we had assembled since the mid eighties . With over 13 players averaging above 35 pins there was no doubting this fact . Even so with a good team you sometime need a little luck but unfortunatley we seemed to run out of this important commodity at the wrong time of the season . Towards the end of the season we had 2 crucial defeats . The first was at home against a team struggling against relagation. The Crown managed to beat us by 2 pins . This was mainly down to one player . Mr A.Kweician scored a very impressive 60 pins to win the game & also the joint highest score of the season . The second game was the penultimate match against Rushwick 2nds who beat us convincingly (18-2) . Rushwick have a very good record agianst most of the top sides on their own alley & they punished severely for a bad performance . In our last game we needed to win 20 - 0 while the Herefordshire House Bulls could not take more than 15 points . The Highwaymen not only won 20-0 but also broke the alley record by posting a very impressive 476 pins on the Wesrt Midland alley against the Freshmen . Even so this was not enough as the Herefordshire House Bulls completed an impressive league championship by beating the Muppets 18 - 2 .

On the individiual bowling front it was nice to see one of the younger members of the team get the top average in our team . Martin Humphreys has always been a good bowler but this season he seems to of forfilled more of his potential . It was nice to see several bowlers amass more than 1000 pins for the season , this is always seen as a landmark to achieve during a skittles season .

HIGHWAYMEN :- PLAYED 34 - WON 28 DREW 1 LOST 5 TOTAL POINTS 504pts (POSITION 2nd)

Highwaymen team averages

Highwaymen Skittle Team Season 1995-96

Home Alley :- West Midland Tavern & Anchor Inn Diglis / Captain :- Steve Dayus

Considering the upheavel we had to contend with at the start of the season (moving alley 3 times) .This was due to the West Midland Tavern being shut with no prior notice . I also remember that when we went into the West Midland to find our kit that had dissapeered into thin air . Another problem which hit us this season .

I think we had quite a good season . Fourth in the league & runners up in the Doris Styles (in which we had to play all first division teams ) would be classed as a very good season for most teams .I would like to make a note about our away record this season , as I doubt not many teams would of amassed as many points as we did .

I think in the end we are happy that we have moved to the Anchor Inn . Not only because of the decent beer & the warm Alley , but also for the way they came to support us in the Doris Styles Final at the Goodrest .Due to having to play on a new alley with a new kit we had not mastered our home alley just yet . But we shall be purchasing a slightly larger set for next season .

I would like to congratulate Mitch Fowles on winning the highest overall average & highest individual score (36.5 & 61) . He derserved this as Mitch was by far & away our most consistent skittler this season . Just to emaphasis this he also had the largest aggregate for our team this season . Gary Hanson also deserves a mention as he managed to pip Mitch Fowles to be entered as our highest away average (37.636) .

In the singles & doubles we had some sucess with Mike Futrill reaching the Finals night in the singles & Mark Ballard / Steve Dayus losing in the last 4 of the pairs knockout .

I am glad to see that most of the team from last season are signing on for next season . Ron James being the only player not to sign . Due to other comitments . I (Steve Dayus) have decided not to stand as captain next season . I would like to take this oppurtunity to thank everybody for making my job relativly easy & hope the next Captain gets the same support .

HIGHWAYMEN :- PLAYED 30 - WON 19 DREW 0 LOST 11 TOTAL POINTS 356 (POSITION 4th)

Highwaymen team averages

Highwaymen Skittle Team Season 1996-97

Home Alley :- Anchor Inn Diglis / Captain :- Tom Lucassi

We thought 1994-95 was a dissapointing season . This season certainly beat that particular year on several points .

Towards the end of January 1997 the Highwaymen were in both King Pin & Doris Styles quarter Finals plus we were top of the league . Therefore we were on to possibly win all 3 trophies on offer . But a bombshell hit us with the news that one of our players had also been playing for a Worcester District League Team . This under the current rules of both leagues is not permissable & is classed as a serious breach of the rules . Even though the Highwaymen had no knowledge of this player signing on for another team .The league commitee dealt the Highwaymen a very severe punishiment . It was decided that the Highwaymen would be DISQUALIFIED from both cup quarter finals . It was also discussed that we may be deducted several points in the League . The number of points discussed would of placed the Highwaymen bottom of the Division . This in the end was avoided after Tom Lucassi & Steve Dayus managed to but across the Highwaymens point of view during our meeting with the disciplinary commitee . Also during this meeting the offending player was banned from playing in the District & Friendly Leagues of Worcester for 2 seasons .

This undoubtly affected the team greatly but even so we still managed to take the league to the last match of the season . Our last match of the season was against the Superstars at the Bell Inn St Johns . We knew we had to win to ensure we had any chance to win the league . Unfortunatley we lost by one pin , but to make things worse the New Raiders also lost which meant if we had manage to of obtained the 2 more pins required we would of won the league .

Several players bowled extremly well this season with everybody down to 14th in the averages maitaining a very creditable 36 or over .Mike Futrill in particular had an outstanding season by averaging 41.85 & manging to achieve the highest league aggregate of 1088 pins . Mitch Fowles also deserves a mention as he also averaged above 40 pins . No mean feat !!!! The Highwaymen team also won another trophy by scoring the highest away leg of 122 pins . To be honest most team would thing that winning 2 trophies was a very sucessfull season but in the position we were in it could of been so much better . Andy Pugh who came from the Castaways had a good first season for the Highwaymen by attaining a steady average of 37.48 .

HIGHWAYMEN :- PLAYED 28 - WON 23 DREW 0 LOST 5 TOTAL POINTS 428 (POSITION 2nd)

Highwaymen team averages

Highwaymen Skittle Team Season 1997-98

Home Alley :- Anchor Inn Diglis / Captain :- Mike Futrill

HIGHWAYMEN :- PLAYED 30 - WON 23 DREW 0 LOST 7 TOTAL POINTS 412 (POSITION 2nd)

Highwaymen team averages

Highwaymen Skittle Team Season 1998-99

Home Alley :- Anchor Inn Diglis / Captain :- Mike Futrill / Steve Dayus

After a trying season it was nice that the team managed to come away with some success . Runners up for the 4th time in 5 season is no mean feat even if it is becoming slightly annoying . It was nice to see most of our new members of our team do very well . Mark Chambers in particular seemed to settle down very quickly by opening up with 2 spares in his first 2 handfuls . He managed to keep this standard up through the season to finish second in the averages . As for the other new players , Rich Franklin also had a very good season to finish 4th in the overall averages . While Alan Tidder took a fair time to get going but towards the end of the season he was starting to bowl as well as anybody in the team .\par As regards our nominee for the highest away average this was achieved by M.Humphreys . He managed an average of 38.1 over 10 games . This included 2 scores of over 50 . One of these managed to tie for our highest score of the season with M.Futrill (54 pins) . This average will probable not win the league average but I would not mind an average like that . I would also like to mention the away average of Trevor Holmes (37.46 / 13 games ) who I think bowled extremely well . For the nominee with the highest aggregate , Gary Hanson achieved the highest total with 1075 pins floored during the season . Gary did not miss a game to achieve this total at an average of 38.39 . So he may have a slight chance of winning this trophy . Only one other player who was not dropped all season was Rob Jenkins who achieved a total of 1048 . Only one other player achieved an aggregate of over 1000 pins & that was your captain (Steve) . With several of our key players having unavoidable breaks during the season we still managed to keep it together reasonably well . As everybody knows this was not the only problems we had this year . First with Dean having to leave & then the unfortunate incident with Mike Futrill at the Foresters it was looking we may struggle to get a side . But thanks to our floaters , such as Mark Dennehy & Tom Lucassi we managed to keep things ticking along . We were also lucky that Adie Hill (Signals) & Martin Sheppard signed on for us half way through the season . As without these two players we would not of achieved the runners-up position . In the cup competitions we were unfortunate to be knocked out by the same team (Herefordshire House Bulls) . The King pin game at the Crown I felt we did not bowl well as a team . In the Doris Styles game I felt we should of beaten them but ultimately we gave them to many chances on the night . In the singles & pairs competitions we only managed to get one pairs to the finals night . But at least we did get value for money as Mark Ballard & myself managed to reach the final only to loose to a pair from the Herefordshire House Bulls again!!! I must mention the support we received that night was excellent & I think actually made the evening more enjoyable than it would of been without the shouting . I must mention the game in which Mark scored 46 (16 spare) & Steve scored 47 (12 & 13 spare ) . All 3 spares being on consecutive handfuls .

To summarise I would like to thank the team for making my job relatively easy after I took over . Also I hope that as a team we can know build on last seasons hard work & possible take that extra step to enable us to win something . I would also like to thank Don Hewlett & Trevor Holmes for helping me during the season . As both these two did some work behind the scenes to make the team run smoothly}

HIGHWAYMEN :- PLAYED 28 - WON 20 DREW 0 LOST 8 TOTAL POINTS 364 (POSITION 2nd)

Highwaymen team averages

Highwaymen Skittle Team Season 1999-2000

Home Alley :- Anchor Inn Diglis / Captain :- Steve Dayus

The Highwaymen this season did not sign on any new players & it looked as if we could of done with a whole new team the way we started the season . The season started with 5 league defeats in our first 8 games , it looked as if this would become one of our worst seasons . In actual fact it was totally the opposite . As our season was turned on its head by our superb Cup runs . The cup runs seemed to have a beneficial effect on our league form & toward the end of the season we actually put in a run of 8 consecutive league wins . This good run came to an end with the last league game of the season . Even so to finish in third position was a brilliant return considering we were only 5 places from the bottom after the first 8 games . Our cup runs enabled the Highwaymen to reach both the Doris Styles & King pin Finals . Have the Highwaymen ever done this before!!!!!! The Doris Styles final was a classic game against the Rams which was won in great style by the Highwaymen . Mitch Fowles having to hit with his last ball to secure victory . On our way to this final we managed to eliminate the New Raiders (League Champs) in a tense Semi-final at the Bell Inn St Johns . We did not fare so well in the King Pin Final losing to the New Raiders , in a game which we never looked as if we would win . But we did play well to reach the final especially in our third round game against the Rams again . (again a classic game ) . Our win in the Doris Styles meant we were playing in the Champions of Champions but we were well beaten in the first round by the New Castings . Generally I was very pleased with the way we fought back from our bad start . The majority of our problem was that several players in our team were bowling hot & cold . One week good & one week bad . But the exception to this were our 2 outstanding players for this season . These were Gary Hanson & Martin Humphreys . Gary's efforts ensured he won the top overall average (40,21) in our team as well as our entrant into the highest aggregate (1126 pins) & away average for the league (38.86) . Martin excelled in being promoted to the number 1 position & then proved that his first score of the season (54) was no fluke by finishing a creditable second to Gary . This score also gave Martin our Highest score of the season . He managed to get 54 twice . I personally have never managed to get it once in 22 years of playing . Mitch Fowles over the last few years has been our outstanding bowler , but for his high standards this was not his best season .Even so if everybody bowled like Mitch did this season we would probably still win the league !!! It was nice to see two of the elder statesmen of our team bowl well this season . Both Don Hewlett & Rob Jenkins showed the boys on several occasions how to bowl . Another good thing was that we did not loose any players from the previous season , which gave us some continuity . Normally we tend to loose one player a season but we seem to have a very settled team . Lets hope it stays that way . Last season we had a pair reach the final of the pairs knockout . So it was nice to see Martin Sheppard & Mark Chambers keep this going by also reaching the final . Unfortunately they also lost in the final . Lets hope somebody goes one better next season . I would like to thank all players in the Highwaymen team for making the Captains job an easy task . I would especially thank Martin Sheppard & Don Hewlett for there assistance in running the team . Also I would like to thank Trevor Holmes for attending meetings when I cannot . To summarise this season has turned out to be one of the most exciting & enjoyable I have had since I started playing . We were involved in several excellent cup games , which added spice to the season . I still think several players in our team did not bowl to there full potential (especially the captain) !! So if we all improve who knows what may happen next season . \par \pard As you may of noticed I have started the Highwaymen Skittle Team website during this season . The first in the Worcester leagues . Some people might think of it being a little bit sad . I tend to think of it as being a trend setter . Hopefully the League & other teams will follow the Highwaymens lead. Note you can search the world wide web or click on the Amazon logo to go shopping if you want . I shall be adding more up to date photographs to the site in the near future . If you want to visit our website the address is as follows :- www.dayus01.freeserve.co.uk .

Highwaymen team averages

HIGHWAYMEN :- PLAYED 30 - WON 19 DREW 0 LOST 11 TOTAL POINTS 372 (POSITION 3rd)