PLAYED 20, Won 0, Lost 20 ... you can't help but feel sorry for the skittles team from The Pike House at Berry Hill.

They travelled to Cinderford's Causeway Club for their last game of the season on Friday and played their hearts out. But it made no difference.

"I top-scored but we still lost," reflected Roy Pearce.

"People wont believe it, but we have not played that badly. We have lost matches by one or two pins and even won more games than our opponents but then lost on the total number of pins," he said.

Fortunately not all the Pike House teams have fared so badly – the 'B' team and the women's team have both performed with distinction.

"It's just us.The harder we tried the worse we played. We have players you could normally rely on to get spares who never had one all season," said Roy.

Landlord Peter Osborne hit the headlines when he introduced a 'Grumpy Hour' rather than a 'Happy Hour' at the Pike.

"There's a rumour it is now going to be called the 'The even Grumpier Hour'", said Roy.