Team Knockout Week 3

Report by Olly Nunn

This week saw the third round of fixtures for the Team Knockout, and perhaps the biggest surprise of the season so far as the Raging Bull made the trip to Station Hotel. First up was Mark Thomson for the Bulls versus the Railwaymen’s Pete Roebuck. Thomson kicked things off with a 20 darter, to which Roebuck responded with a 17. The pair then traded legs all the way to the fifth, where Thomson secured a vital hold to clinch the 3-2 win. Liam Kent proceeded to double the visitors’ lead in the second game, as he beat Geoff Higgs 3-1. Bri Jones then made it three for the Bulls as he beat Ryan Goffin 3-1, in a match that saw 20 and 19 darters for Jones and a 20 darter for Goffin. A straight-legs win for Matty Pierce over Lee McDonald followed, guaranteeing an overall win for the away side. Now 4-0 down, Gav Pilling put in a strong performance to get Station on the board, hitting 16 and 19 darters on the way to a 3-0 win over Adam Chadwick. And the Railwaymen’s second victory of the night soon followed, as Pilling and McDonald beat Chadwick and Jason Marsh 2-0 in the first pairs. But ultimately the night belonged to the Raging Bull, and a win for Pierce and Kent in the second pairs (against Goffin and Higgs) meant the final score was 5-2 to the visitors. It was a high-quality performance from both teams, with low-dart legs and three 180s (from Jones, Kent, and Thomson).

The second game of Group A was at Swallownest, where the Miners were against the Uni Arms Academicals. Jack Lewis got the Accy D’s off to a good start, beating Kev Allison in straight-legs, but a win for the Miners in the second game levelled the score. The hosts then looked like making it 2-1 in the third game, but from 2-0 down Joe Hopkins reeled off three legs on the bounce to win 3-2 for the Accy D’s. In the fourth game it was Tim Whiting for the Miners versus Jack Newton for the Accy D’s. The first two legs went to Whiting, and Newton was unlucky not to get the third after hitting 127 to leave tops, but a 108 from the Miners captain left 24, which he checked out to win and make it 2-2 overall. The final singles game put the Accy D’s in front once more, as Olly Nunn won 3-2, but two pairs wins for the Miners meant the Swallownest side ended the night with a 4-3 win.

Moving on to Group B, Thorncliffe’s Finest played Foxhill and District As, who, after a bye last week and a cancelled game the week before, were starting their Team Knockout campaign. Kicking off the night was Dan Ashton (Thorns) against Jack Walker (Foxhill), and it was a good start for the hosts. Ashton broke throw then held to go 2-0 up, and although Walker kept the game alive by taking the third, Ashton got the job done in the fourth to win 3-1. Foxhill replied in the second game, as Ben Cooper delivered a whitewash versus Josh Hall, but from there it was the Thorns who held the advantage. 3-1 victories for Lewis Wroe and Oliver Parfrement (against Martin Schimelds and Morgan Mullins respectively), put Dylan Farmer in a good position to clinch the overall for the Thorns in the last singles. And Farmer delivered, with a straight-legs win over Karl Howden giving the Thorns their fourth win of the night. A fifth came shortly after, as Ashton and Farmer beat Walker and Martin Bridge 2-1 in the first pairs. Cooper and Mullins at least ensured that Foxhill would have more than a solitary win, as they beat Parfrement and Hall 2-0 in the second pairs. Overall, then, the final score was 5-2 to the Thorns.

Also in Group B was the third Woodbourne derby of the season, as the Mouses took on Vintage. Game of the night was arguably between Vintage’s Trevor Burkhill and the Mouses’ Steve Caley, which went all the way to a deciding leg and featured moments of quality from both. Burkhill produced a 180, 106 checkout, and 15 and 14 darters, while Caley had a 180 of his own, an 18 darter, and a 142 checkout to force the fifth leg. In the end, it was Burkhill who won out in that key last leg, taking a 3-2 win. Soon after Vintage were 2-0 up, as Mick Hulley came out on top in the second game. But the Mouses were able to mount a comeback, with wins for James Thomas, Jimmy Haslam, and John Cartledge (Haslam and Cartledge hitting 17 darters in their games) putting them ahead at the end of the singles. Both pairs went to Mouses, too, meaning that they took the honours on derby day with a 5-2 win.

At the end of the third week of the Team Knockout, the standings are as follows:

Group A
- Raging Bull: 3
- Swallownest Miners: 2
- Station Railwaymen: 1
- Uni Arms Academicals: 0
- Riverside Warriors: 0

Group B
- Woodbourne Mouses: 2
- Thorncliffe’s Finest: 2
- Woodbourne Vintage: 1
- Uni Arms Understudies: 0
- Foxhill and District As: 0

This sets the stage for the final week of fixtures before the Christmas break, as the teams look to end the year on a high.