Railwaymen pip Vulcans in thriller

Russ Simons of the Panthers

We start the round up with the Panthers trip to the Wilton to play the Wizards
and it was a tasty opener with Brad Ellis just shading Martin bell 3-2 with all
legs going with the throw.John Lieber spent the entire 1st match looking for the Beard but
then rattled in a 3-0 victory over Tony Easril.Sie Simons then went down 3-1 to Potter Hulley
and John Schultz rallied to beat Michael Slack 3-1.Sarah Gregory and Lee Slack went down 3-0 to
russ Simons and The Manic Ryan Goffin for a panther 6-0 win.Lester Big red Bowers got the
Magic off to a good start and it was followed by Chris Markham,steve Marfleet and Gav Markham to take the visitors to
a 4-0 lead before Paul Harris and Chris Keane wrapped up a 6-0 win over the Warriors.
Newbold Aces played host to the Black Eagles and what an opener as John Walton just got home against Rich swainston 3-2
.Steve Briggs did likewise against trev Tye before Trev Burkhill turbocharged himself to a 3-0 win.Simon birkett then put the
visitors 4-0 in front hitting a 120 out for a 3-1 win.Super Daffs then hit legs of 19,13,15 to win and put the away side 5-0 up.Darren Brown made his darts perform magic to beat Jelger Tuinstra 3-1 in the last giving the aces something from the game with
the final score Aces 1 Black Eagles 5.
Frecheville Vulcans took on the Station Railwaymen and away win for andy Bradbury and co.
Pete Bramley was perfect as he got the visitors off to a flier beating Phil The Power Lambert 3-1.Jordan Payne then made it 2-0
before Steve Stacey and Chris Gray levelled the game at 2-2 with win over both Gurrans Mark and Tom.Gav Pilling hit a 21 dart leg
to put the Railwaymen 3-2 up before a nailbiting last game which went with the arrows as both captains squared off
and it was Andy Bradders Bradbury who got his side home for a 4-2.The Cumberland won 4-2 at home to the academicals with Steve Ewington hitting a 160 finish.Allstars was too strong for the Wolves this week with Mark Lawrence taking the opener against steve naisbit.
Dave Copley with a 13 dart leg made it 2-0 before Danny was to good for Pat Finney with John daniels winning 3-0.
 Daz Johnson made it 4-0 with two more maximums.before Tony Harper and Tony Hull made the whitewash safe and the game ending wolves 0-6 Allstars.

Sausages edge university team in thriller

Cumberland Sausages 4-2 Academicals.
The Academicals slipped to a second successive 4-2 franchise league defeat in an entertaining game at the Cumberland pub in Beighton.
The game was poised until the end and with a bit more composure on the doubles (Thomas Wright) it may have been a different result
We arrived at the meet point in jovial mood and this was improved further upon hearing of John Henderson's pro tour drinking exploits - perhaps our own drinking levels aren't so bad after all.....
After an arduous journey involving a flat tyre and several wrong turns (sorry!) we arrived at the Cumberland; a nice country pub with a decent darts set up and most importantly a drink for only £2.60 (come on uni arms sort it out!)
MATCH 1 - Brad Clowery v Marc Ellis. The Pizza boy made his long awaited return to the oche in the first match of the evening against what appeared to be a giant (he was pretty good at darts thought to be fair). He opened up with a 21 dart leg but after that Clowery upped his game and for the most part matched his opponent's scoring. However it wasn't enough to stop Ellis winning 3-0.
MATCH 2 - Matthew Eardley v Matt Pryor. A star performer last week, Matt Cardley again produced some brilliant darts to level the tie. Pryor opened strongly with a 24 darter but a last dart D8 finish in the second leg made it 1-1. The turning point was late in the second leg when with his opponent around 200 points ahead Eardley hit a 140 followed by a an 83 finish on the bullseye to take the leg. He then followed this up with a D5 finish in the fourth leg to win the match. Preeeeeeeeemium Tungsten!
MATCH 3 - Danny Hall v Ben Beardmore. The reigning champions league winner was up next and was unfortunate to come up against a very consistent opponent in his first match back. Hall played some solid darts throughout but could not match Beardmore who's highlights included a 22 dart leg and a 66 finish.
So at the half time interval we were 2-1 down and still well in a game. After another pint and some superb curry we settled down for the second half of the tungsten feast.
MATCH 4 - Thomas Wright v Peter Bell. Next up was a quite excruciating game. Both started well on scoring but let themselves down on the doubles. Bell took a 2-0 lead before Wright managed to pull one back by hitting D8. The onlookers were then subjected to a marathon 4th leg which saw Bell wrap up victory on D1 with a 73 dart leg!!!!
MATCH 5 - Adam Warner v Shaun Greenfield. So once again we went into the 5th game needing to win in order to keep the game alive. The first leg was a sloppy affair by myself saved by a two dart 62 finish. Greenfield then hit back in the second leg hitting a 180 and levelling the game. The game then turned again when i set off in the 3rd with two 140s before finishing in 18 darts (watch out John Walton). Greenfield edged the fourth leg but could not find a double allowing me to finish off for a 3-1 victory.
MATCH 6 - Ed McCosh v Steve Ewington. A win in this game would've seen us take a creditable point but unfortunately it was not to be. Ewington won the first leg with a 63 CO but McCosh managed to hit back with a D10 finish. The turning point was in the 3rd leg when with the leg evenly poised, Ewington hit a fantastic 160 CO, the highest of the league season. He then comfortably won the 4th leg to keep up the sausages' 100% league record.
So overall it was an improvement on last week with 4 of our players registering leg wins and an overall improvement in the standard of our play. Of course it has to be remembered that we are all still learning and have a lot more learning to do. Bring on next week at the fortress!!

Report by Adam Warner

Wizards looking to stop Panthers

Sheffield Darts Franchise League:Leadmill Premier Division
Sponsored by:                               The Leadmill
                                                      Red Dragon Darts
                                                      Projectdarts
                                                      Winmau Blade 4
In Association with:                     Sheffield Star


This weeks games see the Vulcans travel to the Station Hotel to take on the Railwaymen and both sides enjoyed big wins last week.Jim Smith will be looking at Russ Lockwood,Daz Layden,Chris Gray,Steve Stacey among others to continue the form which got them off to a flyer over the Wolves in week one but Andy Bradbury and co including youngsters Jordan Payne and Tom Gurran both county youth stars will be a tough nut to crack and along with Pete Bramley with give all in what will be the game of the week I'm sure.Daz Johnson will be looking to take on his enemy rival Antonio Cruz as the Wolves and All Stars go head to head with Pete Seniors All stars making the trip to Worthing Rd to take on John Edwards team.Jason Burkhill takes his Black Eagles to the Aces venue at the Newbold club and although they are far apart in the league the Aces should be at full strength this week and it could be a very close game as Ian Speeds men look to get some points on the board.
Chris Markham and the Magic also visit Worthing Rd to play the Warriors and Paul Brittle will be taking command with captain Barry Brittle away.Sausages play there first home game at the Cumberland with landlord Pete Bell(pictured) against a very dangerous Academicals side which will be a close call as Ed McCosh university side take the trip to play Matt Pryors men and Ben Beardmore looking to continue his terrific performance from last week. Finally the unbeaten Panthers with guidance of Pat Meeson go to the Wilton to play the Wizards with Lee Slacks team looking to hit the doubles this week and get some points on the table.

Pete Bell

Current Table

Vulcans swoop to brilliant start

Sheffield Franchise League Reports

Reports by Pat Finney

Gav Markham

Leadmill Premier Division

Milton Magic 2-4 Cumberland Sausages
Paul Harris 0-3 Marc Ellis (30,26,30)
Gav Markham (27,23,17) 3-0 Ben Dolman
Chris Keane(L,17,L) 1-3 Ben Beardmore (21, L, 15, 16)
Chris Markham (29,L,26,L,L) 2-3 Pete Bell (L, 26, L, 20, 30)
Steve Marfleet (W, 20, L, 20) 3-1 Matt Pryor (L, L, 24, L)

The time has finally arrived after everyone's hard work putting this league together the Sheffield Franchise League with sponsors the Leadmill,Red Dragon & Projectdarts kicked off with Milton Magic  taking on Cumberland Sausages. The first game pitted Magic's Paul Harris up against The Sausages's Marc Furniss with Furniss winning the game without reply to put his team 1-0 up. Up next was Gav Markham up against Ben Dolman, Markham was looking to level the scores for his team and  he did in style with a 3-0 win with the final leg being a 17 darter, with the scores level at 1-1 next up to toe the oche was Chris Keane up against Ben Beardmore and a good battle with Ben hitting a 21 dart leg to open his account for the night but Keano responded with a 17 darter of his own but then Beardmore hit over-drive and won the game with a comprehensive final 2 legs taking out in 15 and 16 darters to seal a 3-1 win and putting his side back in front on the night. 4th game of the night saw Cumberland Landlord Pete Bell facing Chris Markham in a nervy topsy turvy game which went down to the wire Markham went 1-0 up then 2-1 but he just couldn't put Bell away and when the landlord equalled the score at 2-2 firing in a 20 dart leg setting up a nervy decider which went all the way but it took Pete Bell to hold his nerve and take out the winning double and put the Sausages in an unassailable lead with 1 to play. In the final match of the night Steve Marfleet and Matt Pryor went toe to toe with Marfleet taking a 2-0 leg lead and a 20 dart leg in doing so, Pryor threatened a comeback taking the 3rd leg but Marfleet weren't to be denied and finished with a 20 dart leg to win 3-1 but it was The Cumberland's night winning 4 games to 2.


Station Hotel Railwaymen 6-0 Wilton Wizards

Jordan Payne (20, 180 in 1st leg) 3-0 S. Gregory
Tom Gurran (21, heavy scoring in every leg) 3-0 M. Slack
Pete Bramley (21 darter in 2nd leg) 3-0 M. Slack
Mark Gurran 3-0 T. Cosil
Gav Pilling (21 darter to win the game) (80 finish) 3-0 Lee Slack
N. Moreman 3-0 Darren Bluer

Station started their Franchise League season in fine form taking out Wilton Wizards without dropping a single game. Up first was Jordan Payne who kicked off with a maximum in the very first leg of the night and followed it with a 20 darter. Gregory just didn't have an answer and went down 3-0. Next up Tom Gurran who was finding the treble 20 bed with ease and hitting big scores  mustering up a 21 darter in his whitewash over Michael Slack? to put Station 2 up and in total command of the tie. Pete Bramley stepped up next for the home side against the other Slack.
Bramley got the first leg under his belt them hit a 21 dart leg to take a 2-0 leg and in the third wrapped up the winning double for yet another 3-0. Mark Gurran was up next against Cosil and he also hit the ground running without dropping a leg in his victory. Gav Pilling showed a bit of form on his own taking out a straight 80 finish then hitting a 21 dart leg as he cruised past Lee Slack. The final match of the night their was no pressure on Moreman as he faced Darren Bleur and it showed as he also finished with a 3-0 victory to give his Station team a 6-0 victory.

Woodbourne Wolves 0-6 Frecheville Vulcans

Gareth Baxter 0-3 Russ Lockwood (21, 17, 14)
Ricardo Cruz 0-3 Matthew Cray (20, W, W)
Steve Naisbitt 0-3 Daz Layden (21, 15, 16) (121 finish)
Pat Finney 0-3 Chris Grey (16, 21, 15)
John Smethurst 0-3 Steve Stacey (W, 19, W)
Antonio Cruz 1-3 Anthony Warne (W, 16, 17)

At the Woodbourne Hotel the home team faced a rampant Frecheville Vulcans side who was in fine form on the opening night the first game saw Woodbourne's Gareth "The Bear?" Baxter against Russ Lockwood. Lockwood managed to start with a 21 dart leg but that was just the beginning he followed it up with a 17 then won the game with a 14 darter leaving Baxter stranded 3-0. Next up was Ricardo Cruz against Matthew Cray and Cray kicked off with a 20 dart leg to take the lead and their was no looking back as he never dropped a leg in his 3-0 victory. The third game of the night Steve Naisbitt looking to pull one back for his team faced Daz Layden who was in fine form starting with a 21 dart leg then followed with a 15 and 16 plus a 121 finish to boot to fire his team 3-0 up at the halfway stage. With Frecheville already 3-0 up at the halfway stage it was up to Pat Finney to try and keep The Wolves in the game but he couldn't muster up a leg against an on song Chris Grey who started with a 16 dart leg and he kept up the form all the way through the game hitting a 21 in the 2nd leg and finishing the game with a 15 darter to win and put his Vulcans team in command of the tie. In the fifth game Wolves's John Smethurst played Steve Stacey and Stacey continued the rout as he hit a 19 dart leg in the second game and in the 3rd leg wrapped up the win with ease. In the final match of the night saw Antonio Cruz squaring up to Anthony Warne and after Cruz finally winning the first leg of the league season for the Wolves it was Warne who took out a 16 and 17 dart leg to win the game 3-1 and the Vulcans ran out comfortable 6-0 winners.

Super Sue Edwards sporting the Wolves strip

Frecheville Vulcans under Jim Smith & Phil Lamberts guidance

By Reporter Pat Finney

Academicals host the Panthers in close call

Academicals 2 -4 Woodbourne Panthers.
The Academicals were unlucky not to take at least a draw from an exciting opening match in the Sheffield Franchise League.
Upon arrival all seemed well - the beers were cold, a new board was on the way and no one smelt noticeably bad (an improvement on our last home game)
...

Once our opponents arrived we found out that our lights, oche, room, pub and lives in general were not up to scratch - small issues were expected to arise as we are still learning about darts of such a high calibre (the odd sub 25 dart leg)
MATCH 1 - Thomas Wright v John Leiber. It was down to the man famous for being the only Ipswich fan north of Derby to play the Academicals first ever franchise league match. He started well, regularly hitting the treble 20 and forcing his opponent to play well. However, Leiber was too consistent on his scoring and when presented with 3 darts at a double, finished every time to win the match 3-0.
MATCH 2 - Matthew Eardley v Mick Wood. Match 2 saw the Academicals first win of the season. Matt Cardley outscored his opponent throughout playing some lovely darts (the highlight being a second leg 19 darter, leaving 176 after 9). Wood came back into the game but he kept his cool to hit double top for a comfortable 3-1 victory.
MATCH 3 - George Francis v Brad Ellis. I was down at the bar for the first leg of this but I am reliably informed that our man started the game well. Ellis was the Panthers best player on the night and in the end his scoring power was just too much and he ran away for a 3-0 win. Congratulations to George for winning the more important and prestigious 9 dart, high score double elimination challenge though!
MATCH 4 - Oliver Newall v Russ Symons. The second half got underway with another 3-0 win for the Panthers. Neither player really got going in this one but Symons was more consistent and hit his doubles when it mattered to win. Both are capable of much more.
MATCH 5 - Adam Warner v John Shulz. At 3-1 down a win was imperative for the Academicals to maintain their slim hopes of nicking a draw. I played some solid darts in legs 1 and 3 and got away with some shit ones in leg 2 but a win is a win :)
MATCH 6 - Ed McCosh v Ryan Goffin. A win in this last game would have seen us nick a creditable draw but unfortunately it was not to be. The skipper started well hitting some solid scores before missing D16 for a 128 checkout - exciting stuff. Goffin (any relation to David?) was a good player and despite being over a thousand points at more than one stage was able to win 3-1 (just a bit a banter).
Overall it was a good night and thanks to the Woodbourne Panthers for coming down. Good luck next week and we look forward to the return fixture. We still need to iron a few things out but it was a positive start and one to be proud of - we're still learning but we'll get there.

Report by Adam Warner

New Era Begins With Mind Blowing Sucess On First Night

Sheffield Franchise League:
Leadmill Premier Division:
Sponsored by The Leadmil
                       Red Dragon Darts
                       Projectdarts
                       Winmau Blade 4
In Association
with                Sheffield Star


What a kick off for the new era in league darts as the Sheffield Franchise League got underway with a great success as we aim to bring the professional side of the game to the grass roots level of darts and mix the pro players with up and coming talent as well as the guys and gals who enjoy the night out.

RAILWAYMEN 6-0 WIZARDS at The Station Hotel
we start the round up at the Station Hotel as the Railwaymen under the supervision of Andy Bradbury got off to a flier with a 6-0 victory but a very spirited performance by Lee Slacks Wizards was unlucky not to record some legs but with Jordan Payne kicking off the night with a 3-0 win and recording a maximum things just got better for the home side from the Station Hotel as young Tom Gurran would also win 3-0 and then followed by Pete Bramley,Mark Gurran,Gavin Pilling and Neil Moreman would also record 3-0 wins to take the match.

BLACK EAGLES 6-0 WARRIORS at The Woodbourne Hotel
John Boy Walton drew first blood for the Black Eagles with a fine performance too strong for Jordie Louise but she gave it a good go.Nicola Warne pushed Tony Darlow fresh from his brilliant performance in Cardiff but the Tiger having too much power.Steve Newton gave Greg Beard a scare but Greg would win 3-1 to put the home side 3-0 up and Dave Hemsworth rattled in a 158 checkout to continue the home side performance and then Tom Briggs made it 5-0 with a win over Paul Brittle before Owen "ice" Cubitt would win 3-1 against Ian Webster despite Webbow taking the 1st leg.

ALLSTARS 6-0 ACES at The Players Bar
Pete Senior and his team lead the way to a blistering 6-0 over a very strong Aces team with the Sword Carl Wilkinson leading off against Jon Hirst to put the Allstars into a lead,Darren Johnson then hit a brace of maximums to go 2-0 up for the home side from Rotherham but was pushed all the way by Ian Speed.Mark Lawrence then beat Rich Swainston to go 3-0 up in another close game before Taylor Greaves would edge out Mick smith in the 4th by 3-2 in legs and it was John Daniels and Tony Harper who would win the last 2 games.

MAGIC 2-4 SAUSAGES at the Milton Arms
Marc Ellis would give the Sausages the lead with a 3-0 win over Paul Harris in a close game.Gav Markham was too strong for Ben Doleman before Boom and the Blade put on a show with every leg under 17 darts bar one leg of 21 in a 31 win for Ben Beardmore with Chris Keane doing really well.Pete Bell and Chris Markham played out a 3-2 game to put the game to 3-1 for the Sausages before Steve "Damorf" Marfleet got the Magic back in the game with a fine win before the Shaun Greenfield got the sausages over the line.

Reports to follow from the
Academicals vs Panthers game and Vulcans vs Wolves with wins for the Vulcans and the Panthers.

Fun and quality all night

3 players from 3 different teams showing how friendly the league is

Steve Marfleet of the Magic

The Frecheville Vulcans

Franchise league kicks off with a boom

The Sheffield Franchise League kicks off this week and it is looking very good with the backing of The Leadmill sheffields most famous music venue and  one of the countries most famous buildings now becoming a premier darts venue.Red Dragon darts will sponsor every team with equipment etc like Darts and Boards and Projectdarts will also be a main sponsor among others covering the website fee's and others.Each team will also get shirts from the league as they build a franchise to compete.

12 teams will enter the first season with expansion to a 2nd tier league already guaranteed with at least 6 new teams joining the franchise league next season and with all teams receiving shirts sponsors,board and equipment it is sure to be that way forward for everyone.

Teams for the SFL Leadmill Premier Division

Milton Magic with home venue the Milton Arms in Rotherham with home colours Grey.Captained by Chris Markham and a side full of promising players.

Woodbourne Warriors with home Venue Woodbourne playing in Red in  and the team also boast some promising talent with captain Barry Brittle.

University Arms Academical with home venue University Arms in Sheffield with home colours Black & Gold.The side of the future here and now,this team looks a real hot prospects and are darts through and through,they love it and are welcomed gathering of players with captain Ed Mccosh.

Woodbourne Black Eagles with home venue Woodbourne Hotel in colours red & black captained by Jason Burkhill.swept the board in Sheffield darts last season so will be fighting for the title if things go well.

Frecheville Vulcans with home venue Frecheville Sports & Social club in Sheffield with home colours black & green.This team is a real treat with a superb home venue and a very strong side that will challenge for top spot under captain Jim Smith and vice captain the very experienced Phil Lambert

Newbold Aces with home venue Newbold wmc and home colours Green & Red with captain Ian Speed another team that will be looking at top honours in arguably one of the best darting venues in the country

Station Railway Men at home venue Station Hotel in Rotherham with captain Andy Bradbury and home colours Black & red another terrific venue hosting some quality talent that will give everything this season and be real contenders.

Cumberland Sausages at the home venue the Cumberland in Sheffield with colours lime green and with captain Matt Pryor and with Croc and co the team is a real good prospect and again sporting a terrific venue.

Woodbourne wolves at the Woodbourne Hotel in Sheffield with colours Red & Blue and under the guidance of John Edwards and full of youngsters this team could be a potential banana skin for all top sides

Woodbourne Panthers from Woodbourne Hotel in Sheffield and sporting the dark Burgundy clolours and again another Woodbourne side full of talent that could beat anyone put in front of them and under the guidance of Pat Meeson

Players Bar All Stars at the home venue Players in Rotherham and captained by the top man in Yorkshire Pete Senior are going to be a real tough side to beat and another side full of quality and lots of experience

Wilton wizards in pale blue at the Wilton Arms in Rotherham under captain Lee Slack  another experienced team that will get better and better with every game

The first fixture's throw up some interesting matches too as we see how the teams play out.

Wizards: Lee Slack & Darren Bluer

Lee Slack takes his Wizards side to the Station to take on the Railwaymen but the will want to go out full steam as both sides will be looking to take points away from this fixture.Jim Smith and his Vulcans make the trip to Worthing Road to play John(Alf Garnett) Edwards Wolfpack and the team from Fracheville will be looking to get off to a good start but the Wolves will be tough.Aces travel to the Players Bar in Rotherham under Ian Speed as he locks horns with the All Stars under guidance of Pete Senior.Black Eagles entertain Barry Brittle and his Warriors team with the Warriors hoping to give a early scare to Jason Burkhill's team.Chris Markham and his side at the Milton will be having a good battle as Matt Pryor brings his Sausages to play the Magic.and Pat Meeson and co take the Panthers to Sheffield University Arms and play the Academicals in a tight game and so this Thursday the Tungsten ticklers will commence as the Franchise league finally gets underway.