Week 13 Report

Report by Olly Nunn

First off, sorry for a lack of report last week, had a busy few days with exams so didn’t have a chance to get one up. With that said, here’s a quick run through of what happened in Week 12:

Swallownest Miners were at home against the Uni Arms Understudies and got off to a good start, with the first four singles games going to the hosts. Jack Quinn won the fifth for the Understudies in a deciding leg, but from there Miners took both pairs games to end the night 6-1. Elsewhere, although dropping the first match, Raging Bull would go on to take the next six, and added to their 6-1 win were some impressive stats, including two ton-plus checkouts and 180s from Mark Thompson and Matt Pierce. The Woodbourne Mouses got the better start in their away tie versus the Uni Arms Academicals, with three wins from five in the singles, although Adam Warner, returning from a successful week in Milton Keynes, and Dan Booth kept the Accy D’s in it going into the pairs. It ultimately came down to a last game decider, which Jimmy Haslam and Jordan Caley took to give the Mouses a 4-3 win. It was the same scoreline at the Woodbourne, where Vintage played the Warriors. In the singles games there were comfortable wins for Russ Simons and Mick Hulley, but the other three all went to fifth legs, and it was the Warriors who lead going into the pairs. Vintage came from behind, though, with wins in both doubles clinching the overall for the Woodbourne side.

Moving on to Week 13, the Warriors hosted Raging Bull. Unfortunately for the Warriors, however, there was little sign of a home advantage, as the Bulls kicked off strongly and continued throughout the night. Liam Kent, Mark Thompson, Adam Chadwick, Bri Jones, and Matt Pierce all secured whitewash victories, against Ian Webster, Paul Brittle, Angie Brittle, Barry Brittle, and Colin Johnson. Another straight-legs win for the Bulls followed in the first doubles game, as Pierce and Thompson beat Johnson and Barry Brittle. In the final game, Nicola and Angie Brittle at least got a leg on the board for the Warriors, but Chadwick and Kent took the next two to win the match. So 7-0 was how the tie ended – a good night for the Raging Bull, and one to forget for the Warriors.

Swallownest Miners were against Foxhill and District As this week, and up first was Kev Hatfield versus Jack Walker. The first two legs went with throw, but from there Walker held and then broke to seal a 3-1 win and make it 1-0 to Foxhill. The visitors then doubled their advantage in the second game, with Padley beating Tingle, also by a 3-1 margin. Tim Whiting then got the Miners a foothold in the game, with a 3-0 win against Martin Schimelds that included 18 and 16 darters, along with a 124 checkout and a 180. However, Foxhill edged ahead again in the fourth game – Dale Blackwell went 2-0 up on Kev Allison, and although Allison took the third leg to stay in the match, Blackwell won the fourth to clinch the match 3-1. The away team were now one away from the overall, but a 3-1 win for Tom Tingle in the final singles game, followed by victory in both pairs games, meant Miners came from behind to take a 4-3 win in what was a hard-fought tie.

Thorncliffe’s Finest were at home against the Woodbourne Mouses, and the hosts initially got off to a good start, with Dylan Farmer going 2-0 up against James Thomas. However, Tank then fired in a 17 darter followed by a further two legs on the bounce to produce a 3-2 comeback win. Steve Caley then secured the Mouses’ second win of the night, beating Lewis Wroe 3-0 (with a 20 darter in the first leg). The Thorns’ first win came from Dan Ashton, who, after dropping the first leg, went on to win 3-1. Fourth on was Josh Hall for the Thorns versus Jimmy Haslam for the Mouses. Holding throw and then breaking with a 19 darter, Haslam moved two legs clear. Hall broke back in the third to make it 2-1, but Halsam produced a 16 darter in the fourth leg to finish it 3-1. The second last leg decider of the night came in the game between Oliver Parfrement (Thorns) and Tom Wright (Mouses). Parfrement and Wright traded legs (Parfrement hitting a 21 darter in the second) all the way to the fifth, and this time it was the Thorns who came off better, with Parfrement winning 3-2. Up next was the pairs, and Ashton and Farmer got the Thorns’ third win to guarantee a decider. In that last game, John Cartledge and Glynn Harris got the job done for the Mouses, beating Hall and Parfrement, meaning the visitors won 4-3 in what was another close contest.

While Mouses were away this week, their fellow Woodbourne team Vintage were at home against the Uni Arms Academicals. Russ Simons for Vintage and Joe Burniston for the Accy D’s stepped up first, and it was Simons who came out on top 3-1. Having treated the visitors to a top DJ set ahead of the tie, Pat Meeson was on fire on the dartboard as well, and, playing Dan Booth, got Vintage’s second win in straight legs. The third game was the only one to go to a fifth leg, as Joe Hopkins battled back from 2-1 down to beat William Lavery and get the Accy D’s up and running. The fourth and fifth games both went to Vintage by scores of 3-1, with Chris Keane getting the better of Jack Lewis and Mick Hulley beating Olly Nunn. The hosts had the overall win guaranteed, and they increased their margin with a win from Simons and Hulley, versus Lewis and Nunn, in the first pairs. Hopkins and Luke Davies then beat Lavery and Keane in the last pairs, meaning the Accy D’s could at least go out on a high. 5-2 to Vintage, then, was how the night ended.

League leaders Station Railwaymen made their second visit to the Uni Arms of the season, this time to play the Understudies. Patrick Hopkins for the Understudies and Geoff Higgs for Station were on first. Higgs started with a hold, but from there Hopkins reeled off three legs on the trot to win 3-1. In the second game, a 180 was not enough for Cory Van Tongeren against Pete Roebuck, who took a 3-0 victory to make it 1-1 overall. The Railwaymen then went ahead, with Lee McDonald winning out against Jimmy Knott, also in straight legs. Yet the tie was soon level again as Jack Quinn, undefeated in 13 singles games, made it 14 as he took the fourth match 3-1, versus Ryan Goffin. Station pressed on from there though, with a straight legs win (and an 18 darter in the second leg) from Gav Pilling against Damien Reed followed by wins in both doubles, with Roebuck and Pilling beating Jack Stoddard and Patrick Hopkins 2-0 and Higgs and Goffin beating Elliot Hopkins and Quinn 2-1.

This gave the Railwaymen a 5-2 win which gets them ever closer to a successful defence of their title, with 77 points as things stand. It has been a good points haul for the Raging Bull this week, with 64 now in the bag. The Mouses are still in third on 56, and from there the table goes Accy D’s, Miners, Vintage, Foxhill, and Thorns, while the Understudies have leap frogged the Warriors to sit at ninth. With only five weeks left to be played, we are now entering the business stage of the league, and the teams will be well aware that every point counts.

Week 11 Report

Report by Olly Nunn

After a seven-week break, league action resumed this week, with vital points on offer as the teams look to improve their standing in the table.

First up, Foxhill and District Club played host to the tie between the home side and Raging Bull. Yet it was not the start Foxhill would have wanted, as Martin Schimelds fell in a 3-0 loss to Liam Kent. A strong display from Mark Thomson, with 19, 14, and 20 darters on the way to a 3-0 win versus Dale Blackwell, then doubled the Bull’s advantage. And soon enough, two further whitewashes, from Bri Jones (who took out a 100 checkout) against Morgan Mullins and Adam Chadwick against Jack Walker, guaranteed a win for the visitors. Foxhill at least avoided a clean sweep of the singles with a 3-0 victory from Ben Cooper in his game against Matty Pierce, while the two teams split the pairs, with Kent and Jason Marsh taking the first for the Bulls and Cooper and Howden taking the second for Foxhill. With all games played, it was a 5-2 win for the Raging Bull.

It was the Warriors’ first week in their new venue, the Travellers Inn, and they marked it with a game against Woodbourne Vintage. Russ Simmons gave Vintage an early lead with a straight legs win against Colin Johnson, but in a close contest that went all the way to a decider Ian Webster levelled the scores, beating Chris Keane 3-2. The Warriors then went ahead, as, after dropping the first leg, Barry Brittle took the next three to win 3-1. The fourth game was between Paul Brittle and Mick Hulley, and it was Hulley who took the match with a whitewash. Short on players, Vintage had to concede the fifth game to Warriors, putting the hosts one away from an upset win. But the visitors would bounce back in the doubles, with two consecutive 2-0 wins clinching the tie. 4-3 to Vintage, then, was how the night ended.

Thorncliffe’s Finest were at home versus Station Railwaymen, with the first game between Dan Ashton for the hosts and Geoff Higgs for the visitors. The match would go to a decider, with Ashton (who hit an 18 darter in the fourth) and Higgs trading legs all the way to the last. Higgs had the throw in the fifth leg, and was able to hold his nerve to win 3-2. Up next was the Thorns’ Josh Hall against Station’s Pete Roebuck, and, although Hall took the first leg, Roebuck then reeled off three on the bounce to take the game 3-1. The third and fourth games also went to the Railwaymen, with Ryan Goffin and Gav Pilling both delivering 3-0 wins (beating Dylan Farmer and Lewis Wroe) and a 21 darter each along the way. Tom Sawford would then make it five from five for Station, starting his game against Oliver Parfrement with a 17 darter before going on to win 3-1. Sawford was up again in the first pairs with Pilling, and the two saw off Ashton and Farmer in straight legs, which Roebuck and Goffin then repeated in their win against Hall and Parfrement. So, with a 7-0 win, and 180s from Roebuck and Sawford, the defending champions continue to build up their lead at the top of the table.

It was the Understudies versus the Miners at the Uni Arms this week, and the Swallownest side got off to a good start with Kev Hatfield securing a whitewash victory against Jack Stoddard in the first game. The Understudies’ Elliot Hopkins went one up in the second game, but three successive legs from Rich Tingle meant it ended 3-1 to the Miners. With an 18 darter in the second leg, Tim Whiting beat Jimmy Knott 3-0 in the third game, and the Miners’ fourth win, by the same score, came in the next game as Tom Tingle saw off Damien Reed. The last singles game, between Jack Quinn for the Understudies and Kev Allison for the Miners, saw Allison go 2-0 up and one away from the match. But Quinn then reeled off three successive legs to produce a 3-2 comeback win and give the Understudies a point on the board. From there, momentum shifted back to the Miners, with 2-0 wins from Whiting and Rich Tingle and Hatfield and Tom Tingle in the pairs (versus Knott and Stoddard and Quinn and Hopkins) ending the tie 6-1 to the away side.

The Woodbourne Mouses were at home against the Uni Arms Academicals, and up first was Jordan Caley versus Jack Newton. Caley broke to take the first leg, before Newton broke back in the second and then took the third to go one away. Newton missed match darts in the third leg, which Caley would take to force a decider, but the Accy D’s man got the job done in the fifth to win 3-2. Joe Hopkins would lose to the Mouses in the second game, and then the hosts went ahead as Glynn Harris beat Jack Lewis 3-0 in the third. The game between Mouses captain James Thomas and the Accy D’s Olly Nunn saw four successive breaks of throw, before Tank (who hit a 19 darter in the second leg) held in the fifth to win 3-2. John Cartledge started well for the Mouses in the fifth singles, breaking in the first leg and then hitting a 180 in the second. Yet Dan Booth would come from behind in that leg to break back and level the scores at one all. Cartledge, though, was able to press on from there, producing another 180 and a 19 darter in the last leg to win 3-1. With both pairs games also going to the Mouses, each by 2-0, the home side completed a 6-1 victory, and a bad day in the office for the Accy D’s.

So, at the end of Week 11, the Railwaymen remain on top with 65 points, fourteen clear of the field. Another win for Raging Bull keeps them in the second with 51 points, while the Mouses remain third with 48. The Accy D’s are fourth with 44 and up to fifth are the Miners with 37. From there, the table goes Foxhill in sixth, Vintage in seventh, the Thorns in eighth, Understudies in ninth, and rounding out the table are the Warriors in tenth. A lot can still change though, and the teams will be back in Week 12 looking for more wins.

Team Knockout Week 5

Report by Olly Nunn

With the Christmas break over, action resumed in what was an important week, as the last group games of the Team Knockout were played.

It was a busy night at the Station Hotel, with both Group A fixtures being played there. In the main room was the Railwaymen versus Swallownest Miners, with a place in the knockouts on offer for the winner. First game of the night went to the visitors, with two holds of throw and a 21 dart break giving Kev Hatfield the win against Geoff Higgs. Station replied with a 3-0 of their own, as Pete Roebuck beat Rich Tingle. Up next was Tim Whiting against Lee McDonald – the first three legs all went with throw, but then the Miners captain found a break with a 21 darter in the fourth to win 3-1. The Swallownest side now had a slim lead, but things were even again after the fourth game, as Gav Pilling beat Kev Allison in straight legs. The Railwaymen then went ahead, as Tom Sawyer beat Tom Tingle, also by three legs to nil, making the score 3-2 to the hosts going into the pairs. However, a win for Whiting and Hatfield versus Pilling and Sawford meant it all hinged on the last game, between Allison and Rich Tingle for Swallownest and Roebuck and Glenn Payne for Station. In the end, it was Roebuck and Payne who held their nerve, producing a 2-0 win that booked the Railwaymen’s place in the semi-finals. A 4-3 scoreline overall, then, and a night that also saw high scoring, with five 180s – one from Whiting and two each from Roebuck and Sawford.

The other game at Station Hotel was the Warriors against the Uni Arms Academicals. The Warriors got off to a good start, with Colin Johnson winning 3-0 against Joe Hopkins while Ian Webster narrowly pipped Jack Lewis in the fifth leg of their game. The Accy D’s replied in the third game, as Jack Newton beat Angie Brittle 3-0, capping off with a 21 darter. The fourth match between Joe Burniston and Paul Brittle was a tense affair that went all the way to a deciding leg. Bounce outs came at the wrong time for the Academicals man, though, and it was Brittle who took the 3-2 win. The Accy D’s got their second win in the last singles, as Olly Nunn beat Barry Brittle 3-1, and their third came in the first pairs game, with Luke Davies and Tom Jepson getting the better of Johnson and Webster 2-1. This set up for the Station Hotel’s second last-game decider of the night, and it would go to the Accy D’s, who completed their comeback with a 2-0 win from Adam Warner and Dan Booth versus Angie and Nicola Brittle. So, the final Group A tie ended 4-3 to the Accy D’s.

Woodbourne was host to the last Group B game, as the Woodbourne Mouses played Thorncliffe’s Finest. The Mouses had already sealed their spot in the semi-finals, but a win was needed for the Thorns if they wanted to reach the last four. It was the home side who got off to a better start thanks to a 3-0 win for Steve Caley, but Dan Ashton kept the Thorns’ hopes alive with another whitewash, and a 180 in the process. Yet the Mouses were in control from there, and wins from Tom Wright (3-1), Scott Willis (3-0), and John Cartledge (3-1) guaranteed them the overall victory before the pairs were played. And in the doubles the hosts added to their tally, with consecutive 2-0 wins for Steve and Jordan Caley and James Thomas and John Cartledge making the final score 6-1. Disappointment for the Thorns, while the Mouses finish the group stage undefeated.

This brings the group stage of the Team Knockout to an end, and confirms that it will be the Raging Bull, Station Railwaymen, Woodbourne Mouses, and Woodbourne Vintage who progress to the semi-finals. The Miners, Accy D’s, Warriors, Thorns, Foxhill, and Understudies will still have a chance to claim a trophy in the Team Plate. But before then, attention will turn back to the league as it resumes next week, with the teams looking to pick up from where they left off in November.