THE first game for the Motley Crew men in the British Championship saw the county town team take on the Unstoppables from Bradford Abbas.

The first hand saw the visitors take a 12-pin lead, thanks to stick-ups from Ben Cochrane (14) and Dan Smith (15).

Stickups from Alan Townsend (15) and Kev Squibb (11) in the second hand enabled a complete turnaround with the Crew 14 pins up after the fourth leg.

A 14 from Andie Rosewell then took it to 21 pins after five hands.

The visitors amassed 69 on the last with a 14 from Dan Smith.

But the Crew replied with stick-ups from Jason Pring (12) and Pete Tyrell (9) to tie the hand and run out eventual winners by 21 pins.

In the return match, the Unstoppables took a four-pin lead on the first hand, thanks to a stickup from Sammy Blackwell (14).

The second hand saw the visitors go into a one-pin advantage with stick-ups from both Steve Gould and Dave Clark (14), and they increased their lead to 17 after three hands.

The fourth leg was tied while on the fifth the home team cut the deficit to six. They hit a respectable 67 on the last to leave the Motley Crew needing 62 to win.

After a poor top half the bottom were left with a lot to do. Nines from both Gould and Rosewell meant that anchorman Squibb needed 13 to record victory.

He only managed seven and the hosts prevailed by six pins.

Meanwhile, the Motley Crew ladies suffered a heavy defeat in their opening game against Arthurs Tarts at Glastonbury.

Two down after the first hand, a stickup from Sue Delaney helped the Tarts amass a 57 hand.

In reply a 13 stickup from Kay Pankhurst managed to keep the deficit to five pins after two hands.

By the fifth the Crew were 13 down and a hand of 69 from the Tarts with a 16 from Delaney and 14 from Lucille Whitcombe, put the home team 38 pins up.

There was no coming back for the Crew as the hosts hit another 67 hand to ensure a comfortable 50-pin win.