Words from Gutther Bawl.

Another day, another domination. It’s been the story this year, and the latest match day proved no different.

Collecting 33 points on the night, 10 out of 14 team points on offer, and 1,468 pins across the full squad, Pinter Milan romped home to yet another victory. With a 38 point lead going into the final, rumours have it bookies have already started paying punters who backed the Milanese horse at the start of season.

A delayed kick off with first balls thrown at precisely some minutes after 8.30, there was thankfully no delay to pleasantries however, as bowlers from the four corners of London descended on the enclave of Finsbury Park which they have very much made their own.

After dodging the classic British weather and roaming bands of Arsenal fans, the traditions of chicken, chats, and chuckles filled the air as the athletes readied themselves for another gladiatorial showdown.

Pinter Milan elected to play with the handicap of the outer wall on their right hand side, and truth be told, it was the only thing they were up against that evening.

Pinetti led the way. Fans have dubbed him “The Dev”, and he shocked all, including himself, by pocketing 173 of the finest pins in his first game. It was easily enough to take the points in Game 1, and put him on course to collect the bumper crop of 6 Head-to-Head points for the night. It’s clear he prefers to go up the top of the order, taking 10 points across the last 2 weeks from 2nd pick. A man bang in form at the right time of the season.

That was not however the only massive score in Game 1. The Wickerman marked his return to the league, and to form, with an almost record breaking score of 187. Picking up 4 strikes in a row, he strode clear from The Big Time in the final furlong of what had, until that point, been a pretty close race.

It was an unfortunate theme of the evening for Pinter’s soon-to-be second largest bowler, as he lost out narrowly in Game 2 by a couple of pins to PCR’s 1PinWonder - given his margin of victory, could a name change be on the cards?

**PLB Fact Checker - A spokesperson from Pinter Milan recently confirmed their new signing, BadBoy, stands a staggering 6ft 8" tall. A height that narrowly edges The Big Time**

Pinter’s new captain - The Tickler - suffered an even closer loss than that in Game 2, pipped by nemesis Rider’s skipper - 2Shoes - to a solitary pin. Losing by a single pin was called on the night a “standing bastard”, a name which I think may stick.

Pinter Milan's Zlats Ibrapinovich picked up MOM for the second match day on the bounce. Zlats confessed to me on record that he felt he struggled earlier on in the year, but said after aligning the smoothness of his head to the smoothness of his ball release, the symbiosis between head and hand must get the credit for his recent stellar showings.

Solid scores again from the Pin City Rollers, with special mentions going to NoShow who continues to defy convention by turning up, and to PinSeeker for taking 6 points from his evening’s matchups. The consistency in the camp clearly proves that having more boys eligible than extras in a Where’s Wally movie has provided a lot of stability to the league’s new boys.

The real PCR test will be in the arm of the Skipper Tomahawk as his team move out of their virgin season. It’s clear he has his favourites, his go-to boys, but perhaps he could gamble on the strategy of repeated rotation and lack of commitment in the hope of glory in Season 3.

**PLB Fact Checker - The official captain in Pin City is Jamie 'Renegade' Regan but his lack of leadership in the past few months has led to the PLB community calling on Tomahawk to take the armband. After all, Tomahawk has been a consistent tumbler this season and is widely regarded as the loudest voice in the PCR locker room**

We now head into an extended Winter Break prior to the finale in January. Rumour has it the Final was moved to accommodate for a lack of player availability, however my sources have confirmed to me that in truth advertisers of the forthcoming football World Cup were concerned about lacklustre audiences given the ever-increasing popularity of Premier League Bowling, and so they have quote: “sh*t upon the little guy”.

As a teaser for my upcoming column in next week’s issue, I will be speaking to the the newly formed PLB Data Insights Committee - commonly known as the DICs - to understand a little more about their small operation, and whether they believe it can grow with the right attention.

That’s it from me this week and until next time, keep it rolling.

Gutther B