Week 17 Report

Report by Olly Nunn

There was an early start to fixtures this week as the Uni Arms Academicals and Raging Bull had to play their game on Tuesday. Up first was Jack Newton against Bri Jones, and it was Jones who took it for the Bulls with a 3-0 win and a 21 darter in the second leg. The same scoreline followed in the second game, as Jason Marsh doubled the Bull’s advantage versus Joe Burniston. Game three was Mark Thomson against Tom Jepson. Tomson started strong to establish a 2-0 lead, before Jepson took the third to keep the match alive. But a 16 darter from Thomson in the fourth sealed the tie 3-1. A tense game four followed, as Olly Nunn and Adam Chadwick battled all the way to a deciding leg, which Nunn took to win 3-2. A second win for the Accy D’s then followed, as Joe Hopkins beat Matty Pierce in straight legs to put the scores at 3-2 going into the pairs. In the first doubles, the Uni Lads threatened to make it level as Jepson and Nunn took the first leg, but from there Jones and Chadwick came from behind to win 2-1 and seal the overall for the Bulls. The second doubles also went to the Bulls, as Thomson and Pierce beat Luke Davies and Hopkins, meaning the final scoreline was 5-2 to the Raging Bull.

Moving onto Thursday’s games, Foxhill and District As hosted the Woodbourne Mouses. Glynn Harris got the better start over Morgan Mullins in game one, going 2-0 up, and although Mullins won the third to stay in it, Harris took the fourth to win 3-1. Game two also went to the Mouses, as Jimmy Haslam put in a commanding performance with 14 and 21 darters to win 3-0. Up next was Ben Cooper versus Jordan Caley, and although Caley held throw in the first leg, Cooper would win the next three on the trot to clinch the match 3-1 and get Foxhill a win on the sheet. John Cartledge looked to put the Mouses back in the driving seat in game four and went 2-0 up, but Dale Blackwell was able to come from behind to level the scores, hitting a 21 darter to force a decider. Yet Cartledge would win that fifth leg to seal a 3-2 victory. The last singles was between Jack Walker (Foxhill) and Tom Wright (Mouses), and Wright took it in a whitewash, meaning the singles ended 4-1 to the Mouses, guaranteeing the Woodbourne side the win. Both pairs would end 2-0, as Haslam and Kieran Barton got the Mouses’ fifth win and Tank and Cartledge got their sixth. 6-1 overall, and a good win for the Mouses.

Thorncliffe’s Finest were away against the Warriors, and got off to a winning start as Josh Hall beat Ian Webster 3-1 in the first game of the night. Dylan Farmer then beat Angie Brittle in straight legs, doubling the Thorns’ lead. Up next was Oliver Parfrement against Barry Brittle – the first three legs were all holds of throw, but then Parfrement found an all-important break in the fourth to take the match 3-1. The Thorns were now 3-0 up, but they would have to wait for that all-important fourth win, as Lewis Wroe, despite breaking throw in the first leg, fell 3-1 to Colin Johnson. Game four, between Dan Ashton and Paul Brittle, was the closest of the night – Brittle broke throw in the third leg to go 2-1 up, but Ashton came from behind, starting with a break back in the next leg, to win 3-2. The Thorns were now guaranteed a win, and in the pairs they added two more games to their tally, with Hall and Parfrement edging out Barry Brittle and Webster 2-1 and Ashton and Farmer beating Paul and Nicola Brittle 2-0. So, the Thorns took a 6-1 win, and an important win too in their battle in the table with Foxhill.

Woodbourne Vintage were at home in the first leg of their tie against the Uni Arms Understudies. Pat Meeson stepped up to get the hosts on the board, beating Tom Graham in straight legs in the first game of the night. The second match would be a close one, as Elliot Hopkins battled back from 2-0 down to make it 2-2 against Chris Keane. In that fifth leg, Keane got the job done, taking a 3-2 win. Moving onto game three, and a 180 was not enough for Patrick Hopkins as the Understudies man lost out to Mick Hulley 3-1. Game four produced win four for Vintage, as Will Lavery beat Jack Stoddard 3-0. Jack Quinn has been a reliable winner for the Understudies this season, but it was not to be tonight as Russ Simons produced a ton checkout and a 21 darter to win 3-1. Hulley and Keane took the first pairs for Vintage, beating Damien Reed and Quinn 2-0, before Lavery and Simmons won by the same scoreline against Patrick Hopkins and Elliot Hopkins. This completed a whitewash 7-0 win for the hosts, a good result as they look to push back into the top half of the table in the last two weeks.

Finally, the Swallownest Miners made the trip to Rotherham to play league leaders Station Railwaymen. Kev Hatfield was up first for the visitors, but there was little he could do as Pete Roebuck hit 21 and 16 darters on the way to a 3-0 win. Geoff Higgs won by the same score in game two, beating Rich Tingle in a whitewash. Game three was the captain’s match, as Gav Pilling looked to put Station 3-0 up and Tim Whiting aimed to get his team back in the tie. In the end, it was Pilling who took it 3-1, with a ton checkout and 18 darter to go with it. The last two games were both won in straight legs, with Glenn Payne and Tom Sawford, who capped off his win with a 180, seeing off Tom Tingle and Kev Allison. It was now 5-0 to the Railwaymen, and that became 7-0 after the pairs, with wins coming from Roebuck and Higgs (2-1 versus Hatfield and Allison) and Pilling and Sawford (2-0 against Whiting and Tingle).

This win brings Station's already insurmountable points tally up to 103. Further down the table, though, things can still change, and the teams will be under no doubt about how important the last games could be.

Week 16 Report

Report by Olly Nunn

Apologies for a lack of reports recently, I was ill for a lot of last week so couldn’t get round to doing one. But I’m back on it now, and without further ado here’s the recap of last week’s league action!

With South Yorkshire struck by heavy snow, Week 16 was disrupted, and Woodbourne Mouses vs. Uni Arms Understudies was cancelled altogether. The other fixtures did go ahead, with the teams bracing the elements to get to their different pubs for the 8pm kick-off.

It was relatively easy for the Raging Bull to get down the road to Swallownest Miners, and their fixture started with Rich Tingle versus Liam Kent. It would be a close one, as the two traded legs (Kent hitting a 17 darter in the third) all the way to the fifth, won by Kent to make it 1-0 to the Bulls. The game between Mark Thompson (Raging Bull) and Kev Allison (Miners) started with two breaks of throw, before Thompson won the next two to win 3-1 and double the Bulls’ lead. Things could’ve got away from the Miners at this point, but a straight legs win from Kev Hatfield against Adam Chadwick got them back within one. And the hosts almost made it level in the fourth game, as Tim Whiting forced Bri Jones to the second fifth-leg decider of the night. In the end though it was Jones who won out, winning it 3-2 to move the Bulls clear again. That lead then became a winning one in the last singles, as a 3-0 win for Matty Pierce gave Raging Bull the overall. The away team then added two more wins in the pairs, with Jones and Kent beating Tingle and Micky Pierce 2-0 and Thompson and Matty Pierce edging out Allison and Hatfield 2-1. So, it was Raging Bull who won the Aughton-Swallownest derby 6-1.

After a lack of players meant they had to forfeit last week’s game, Woodbourne Vintage were looking to bounce back as they hosted Thorncliffe’s Finest. They made a strong start, with Pat Meeson taking a convincing 3-0 win against Oliver Parfrement. The second game had quality and tension, as Russ Simons and Dylan Farmer fought it out to a decider, with low dart legs from both along the way. Simons, who also hit a 110 checkout, would ultimately win out to put the hosts in front. Josh Hall got the better start against Chris Keane, holding and then breaking throw to go one away from the match. A 19 darter from Keane in leg three kept the game alive, but Hall then took leg four to win 3-1 and get the Thorns a point on the board. Onto the fourth game, and it was an impressive result for Mick Hulley, who’s 3-1 victory versus Dan Ashton started and ended with 13 darters. This set up Will Lavery to guarantee the tie for Vintage in the fifth game, with a straight legs win against Lewis Wroe making it 4-1 overall. Hulley and Simons then made it five for Vintage in the first pairs, but Parfrement and Hall gave the Thorns their second win of the night as they took the last game. So, 5-2 to Vintage was the final score, and a good recovery after the disappointment of not being able to play the week before.

One of the Thorns’ rivals in the league table, Foxhill and District As, were away at league leaders Station Railwaymen. Pete Roebuck began the night with an immediate break of throw against Martin Bridge, which was then followed by a hold and a 21 darter to give Station a 3-0 win. Foxhill had a better start to the second game, as Martin Schimelds broke Geoff Higgs’ throw. But Higgs would then break back, followed by a 20 darter which set him up to win 3-1 in leg four. Things didn’t get better for the visitors in the third game, where a whitewash win for Ryan Goffin put the Railwaymen 3-0 up. And another 3-0, to make it 4-0 in total, came in game four, as Gav Pilling saw off Jack Walker, with the Station captain hitting a 16 darter in leg two. The defending champions were now on for a clean sweap of the singles, and Tom Sawford gave them just that as he beat Dale Blackwell in straight legs. In the pairs, Roebuck and Higgs beat Walker and Blackwell 2-0 to make it six from six, and Pilling and Sawford beat Bridge and Schimelds by the same score to make it seven from seven. Therefore, on a day when most trains were stuck, it was still full steam ahead for Station Railwaymen.

Also at Station Hotel this week was Warriors versus Uni Arms Academicals. Colin Johnson (Warriors) and Jack Newton (Accy D’s) got the tie underway, and although Johnson took the first leg, Newton would reel off the next three to win 3-1. Up next were Tom Jepson and Angie Brittle, and the Accy D’s man went break-hold-break to take the match 3-0. Another Accy D’s whitewash followed in game three, with Joe Hopkins seeing off Ian Webster. Barry Brittle kept the fixture alive by getting one back for the Warriors in the fourth game, winning 3-1 against Joe Burniston. But the overall win for the Accy D’s came soon after, as Adam Warner stepped up with a hold, followed by a 17 darter and a 20 darter to beat Paul Brittle 3-0. Moving onto the doubles games, Newton and Jepson dropped the first leg to Barry Brittle and Johnson before taking the next two to win 2-1, and Luke Davies and Hopkins secured a comfortable 2-0 victory in the last game against Paul Brittle and Webster. At the end of the night, then, it was 6-1 to the Accy D’s, and the Uni Lads would get another win as the trams were still running, meaning they could get back to Sheffield.

This brings the recap of Week 16 to a close, and the table now looks like this:

- Station Railwaymen: 96

- Raging Bull: 82

- Woodbourne Mouses: 68

- Uni Arms Academicals: 64

- Swallownest Miners: 55

- Woodbourne Vintage: 49

- Foxhill and District As: 41

- Thorncliffe's Finest: 41

- Riverside Warriors: 29

- Uni Arms Understudies: 28

The Railwaymen have the title secured, but there is still a lot to play for. With places still up for grabs, the teams will be looking to end on a high in the last two weeks of fixtures.

Memorial Cup Report

Report by Olly Nunn

It’s been three weeks since the last Franchise League action, and in that time the teams have been holding their in-house tournaments to pick their players for the Memorial Cup.

In the end, it was Pete Roebuck (Station), Matty Pierce (Raging Bull), Jimmy Haslam (Mouses), Luke Davies (Accy D’s), Tim Whiting (Miners), Mick Hulley (Vintage), Jack Quinn (Understudies), and Paul Brittle (Warriors) who won their respective qualifiers, to be joined by Adam Chadwick (as the reigning champion) and Gav Pilling (as the reigning singles champion). These ten players, split into two groups, met in the Woodbourne to decide who would go through to finals night.

In Group A, Gav Pilling went undefeated, winning all four games to top the group, and only dropping one leg along the way (to Whiting). It was also a good night for Davies, with some impressive scoring (four 180s over the course of the night from the Accy D’s captain) and only one loss (to Pilling). Third in the group was Whiting, who got the better of Quinn and Hulley, but defeat to Pilling and Davies meant he missed out on the knockouts. In fourth was Quinn with one win, against Hulley, who had a difficult night that left him at the bottom of the group.

Meanwhile, in Group B, Pete Roebuck made it a Station lockout of the top spots, as he also went undefeated to guarantee a spot in the knockouts. Haslam started with a 2-0 win over Pierce, and although he then suffered a straight-legs loss to Roebuck, he then won his last two games to clinch second. Pierce took two wins, including against his Raging Bull teammate Chadwick, but losses to Roebuck and Haslam cost him a chance at advancing. Fourth in the table was Chadwick, who’s title defence ended in the groups with one win and three losses. And, suffering four losses, Brittle ended the night in fifth.

With all group games played, the final standings were:

Group A
1. Gav Pilling (won 4, lost 0) *
2. Luke Davies (won 3, lost 1) *
3. Tim Whiting (won 2, lost 2)
4. Jack Quinn (won 1, lost 3)
5. Mick Hulley (won 0, lost 4)

Group B
1. Pete Roebuck (won 4, lost 0) *
2. Jimmy Haslam (won 3, lost 1) *
3. Matty Pierce (won 2, lost 2)
4. Adam Chadwick (won 1, lost 3)
5. Paul Brittle (won 0, lost 4)

It was therefore Pilling, Davies, Roebuck, and Haslam who booked their places in the knockouts.

The first semi-final was between Roebuck and Davies. In a best of five contest, the first leg went to Davies. Both had shots at double in the second leg, which could’ve got Roebuck back in the match or put Davies one away. In the end it was Roebuck who took it, and the Station man then reeled off the next two to become the first man into the final.

Next up, in the second semi-final, was Pilling against Haslam, with Pilling looking to make it an all-Station final and Haslam aiming for a rematch of his Group B game with Roebuck. And, in the end, it was Haslam who came on top, winning 3-1 to make it a Railwaymen versus Mouses final on 18 May. Before then, it’s back to league action, with the teams knowing that every game counts heading into the last four weeks of fixtures.