ONE of Hereford’s most successful skittles teams has celebrated 21 years of winning tournaments on tour with yet another cup for the trophy cabinet.

The Tattibogoes, who play out of Hereford Snooker and Pool Centre, have been entering Serious About tournaments since 1997, collecting no fewer than ten winners’ trophies along the way.

They’ve also been runners-up four times.

The latest addition to the record books came from a huge tournament in Torquay attracting 32 teams from Wales, Somerset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcester, Wiltshire, Bristol and Avon.

The Tatties sailed through to the final, scoring 417 points, beating their nearest rivals the Cross Belles by 17 points to claim a resounding victory.

Captain Martyn Reid paid tribute to his team, two of whom flew in especially from Belfast to play in the competition.

"We’ve been attending these tournaments for 21 years now," he said.

"It’s a great weekend and we’ve made many friends in other teams along the way.

"Every year Barry Brown and and Phil Wier make the trip from Belfast because they enjoy it so much.

"We just all clicked that weekend. We were playing well, right from the off. Maybe it was the pre-tour beers and catch up the night before.

"Special mention must be made of Liam Collins, a first timer on tour, who scored 60 pins, the highest in the team."

The team also fitted in their usual six-a-side football match on the Saturday morning of the competition, a dip in the sea and a swimming race in the hotel pool. Rachel Hosking, co-director of Serious About Events, who also stage the British Championships, said the Tatties are one of the most successful teams competing in the annual series.

"We stage around 20 weekends of skittling every year," she said. "And the Tatties are without doubt one of our most popular and successful teams. Well done to them.’

The team, originally formed in 1991, compete in the Hereford and District Skittles league where they have won the top flight league 11 times.