The COVID-19 pandemic once again exerted its influence over the league’s fixtures, with a ban on Outdoor Games of Particular Skill causing the 27 June fixture to be postponed to 4 July. As if that was not turmoil enough, the locus bocci was shifted from the wilds of riparian Applecross to the shelter of the Vietnam Veterans’ Pavilion in Kings Park.

Two Fingers of Scotch showed that they are comfortable with the altitude at the top of the ladder. In their first game, they held off a late challenge from RE, prevailing 7-6.

By the time they took on Big Pineapple they seemed to have warmed up, eclipsing him 8-4.

In his other game, BP was taken down 4-7 by Stingers, but the game was not without controversy. Stingers were handed an official warning by the stewards for what seemed to be a failure to grasp Guideline 12, which specifies that all members of a team must take turns in equal measure.

Stingers came close to winning their other game, but fell 6-8 to Psychoceramics (Serge and Digger sans Brad).

Most of the discussion while Psychoceramics were playing was about Serge’s very fetching umbrella, and there was even some speculation that he had brought it along intending to put his opponents off their game. Maybe it worked, because they had no losses on the day (OK, they only played the one game).

Rawalpindi Express also lost his other game, a 4-7 defeat at the hands of Motherchucker. Mochu did less well against the in-form Reg, who whupped him 8-1, the biggest margin of the day.

Despite some fine shots, CBGBs (Cannonball and Gonad playing without Banker, as Banker had an RDO) also came second in an encounter with Reg, but their defeat was “only” 1-7.

With three home-and-away rounds to play, those results saw Mochu fall from fourth to fifth (swapping places with the Crackpots), while Reg remains in second place with a spectacular for-against tally of 232% (and he is now the only singleton in the top four).