Hustlers pocket 6 on opening night
Panthers 3 -3 Wolves
Singles
Chris Keane 0-3 Dave Cliffe
Mick Bowers 3-0 Mick Hulley
Laura Taylor 0-3 Curtis Thorpe
Kev Bird 0-3 Russ Simons
Opening night of the 19/20 Sheffield Franchise League saw the first Woodbourne derby of the season with the Panthers looking to pounce on the pack of Wolves.
It was however the wolves who drew first blood with Dave Cliffe winning 3-0 over Chris Keane who was left licking his wounds
Mick Bowers returned the favour with a 3-0 over Mick Hulley to level things up before the wolves began to step out in front with Curtis Thorpe (18) (103c/o) beating the lovely Laura Taylor 3-0 and Russ Simons winning 3-0 over Kev Bird with hitting the least darts of the night in the form of a 13 darter making it 3-1 to the wolves at the interval
Pairs
Potts/Ray 2-0 Thorpe/Simons
The panthers took it to the wolves in the pairs with the formidable partnership of Bowers and Taylor beating the landlord Pat Meeson and Graham Waller, then a new partnership of Potts and Ray saw off two players who had won their singles matches in Simons and Thorpe 2-0 meaning the honours are even on this occasion.
Wombles 4 – 2 Aces
Singles
Scott Willis 0–3 Mick Smith
Steven Caley 3-0 Becky Hoyland
Glynn Harris3-2 Ian Speed
James Thomas 3-2 Trevor Tye
The over game at the Woodbourne on opening night was the Wombles of Woodbourne (formerly the Punchbowl Pussies) versus the Aces of Newbold
The first game of the evening saw the in-form Mick Smith play Scott Willis, Mick started off with a 17 darter just to ease the nerves before taking the next two legs to come out victories with a 3-0 win.
Next up for the Wombles was Steven “stiggy” Caley who stepped up against Becky Hoyland who was making her debut for the Aces, sadly it wasn’t the dream debut she would have wanted as Caley won the game 3-0
Then it’s on to game of the night as big Glynn Harris takes on Ian “speedy” Speed, Glynn opened his account with a 19-dart leg before Speedy hit back with an 18-dart leg and a 180 to boot, speedy then took the next leg with a 21 darter before Glynn levelled it up to 2-2. In the final Leg Glynn hit an 18 darter to put the wombles in front
In the last singles game of the evening it was a case of hold your throw as James “The Tank” Thomas beat Trevor Tye 3-2 with each leg going on throw
Pairs
Thomas/J Caley 0-2 Smith/Hoyland
Harris/S Caley 2-0 Speed/Tye
It looked like the comeback was on for the Aces thanks to a 2-0 win in the first pairs for Smith and Hoyland against Thomas and Jordan Caley who was making his debut in his first league game ever. Fortunately for the wombles S Caley and Harris had too much for Speed and Tye and quickly despatched the hopes of a draw with a 2-0 victory
Cue Ball 6-0 Warriors
Singles
C Farnworth 3-1 Nicola Bruce
Bri Jones 3-0 Ian Webster
Adam Chadwick 3-2 Barry Brittle
Lee Cushworth 3-0 Paul Brittle
We now head to Chapeltown for a game which see’s the summer league champs take on the warriors who are hoping for a change in fortunes this year. The first game sees
C Farnworth take on Nicola Bruce who can mix it with the best of them when she is on her game and she showed this by taking the first leg Farnworth had to turn it on to with an 18 dart leg to level at 1-1 unfortunately Nicola couldn’t carry the momentum on and lost the next 2 legs without reply meaning Farnworth won 3-1
Next up saw Bri Jones take on the “Wizard” Ian Webster unfortunately he was unable to conjure up any magic as Bri took the first 2 legs and in the 3rd leg it was Bri who gave us a sprinkle of magic in the form of a 19 darter to take the victory
The third game of the evening was the closest of the singles matches as Adam Chadwick takes on Barry Brittle, It was Barry who shot out in a 2-0 lead hoping to put a point on the board for the warriors unfortunately Adam was living up to the hustlers team name and took the next 3 legs to put his side 3-0 up
Next up was the game of the evening as Lee “cushy” Cushworth takes on “The Undertaker” Paul Brittle, Lee opened up his account with a 17 darter on throw before taking the next leg in 21 darts against it, he then took the next leg and laid the undertaker to rest by winning 3-0 and a 115 c/o
Pairs
Jones/Harris 2-1 Webster/B Brittle
Cushworth/Farnworth 2-1 A Brittle/Bruce
The throw made all in the difference in the first pairs game as Bri Jones and Paul “Bomber” Harris take on Barry Brittle and Ian Webster, the cue ball boys came out 2-1winners with a 140 c/o from Harris to boot. The last game of the night saw the worth’s Lee Cushworth and C Farnworth versus the girls Angie Brittle and Nicola Bruce, unfortunately it was the boys who truly showed their worth coming out as 2-0 winners
Stallions 2-4 Academicals
Singles
W Pike1-3 C Doughty
S Simmons 3-0 J Smith
C Johnson 1-3 J Lewis
M Baugh 2-3 A Warner
In our last game saw a new venue and a new look in team in the form of the Riverside Stallions as they took on the Academicals
Conal Doughty was first up for academicals as he took on W Pike, Doughty took the first leg before Pike levelled up at 1-1, Doughty then took the remaining legs to chalk the first game up for the Academicals
Old stallion Sie Simmons was next up for the home side taking the game without the loss of a leg in his 3-0 win against J smith
C Johnson was looking to do the same in the next leg but J Lewis had other ideas and took the first leg, Johnson did reply and make it 1-1 but Lewis took the next 2 to make it 3-1
The last game of the singles saw M Baugh take on A Warner, Warner took the first leg before Baugh levelled warner went back in front before Baugh levelled again to 2-2 warner then took the final leg to make it 3-2 and 3-1 on the night
Pairs
Pike/ A Simmons 0-2 Doughty/Warner
Tunstill/Simmons 2-1 Smith/Lewis
The Academicals captain put the strongest two on first in Doughty/Warner in a bid to take the victory at the riverside and the plan worked as they beat a partnership in pike and Anne Simmons 2-0, the stallions took the last pairs as Simmons and Tunstill beat Lewis and smith 2-1 to end the night 4-2 to the Academicals
Week one report by James Thomas
