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.

Team Knockout Week 4

Report by Olly Nunn

With the Uni Lads back home for Christmas, there were only two fixtures played this week – Raging Bull vs Riverside Warriors and Foxhill and District As vs Woodbourne Mouses.

Starting with the former, 17 and 20 darters got Mark Thomson off to a good start against Colin Johnson. The third leg soon followed, giving Thomson a 3-0 win and putting the home side one up. The second game saw the Bull’s Adam Chadwick face the Warriors’ Ian Webster. Legs one and two were split between them, but from there Chadwick held and then broke to take the match 3-1. 3-0 and 3-1 wins for Bri Jones and Matty Pierce (with an 18 dart leg for Jones to finish his game), versus Angie and Paul Brittle, were enough to clinch the win for the Raging Bull with three games to spare. A straight-legs victory for Jason Marsh in his game against Nicola Brittle then meant the Bulls had a clean sweep in the singles. The Warriors had some hope when Paul Brittle and Ian Webster went 1-0 up in the first pairs, but Thomson and Chadwick came back to claim a 2-1 win. This left Jones and Pierce to beat Angie and Nicola Brittle 2-0 in the last pairs, meaning the final score was 7-0 to the hosts.

Yet while it was a relatively drama-free night in Aughton, things were closer at Foxhill. Bottom of Group B after a loss to the Thorns last week, the home side were looking to get their Team Knockout campaign back on track. Ben Cooper got them off to a good start, winning the first game 3-0. But Mouses secured their own whitewash in the second game, as Steve Caley saw off Jack Walker. Two 3-1 wins for the away team followed, as Jordan Caley beat Morgan Mullins and Tom Wright beat Martin Schimelds, putting the Mouses on the brink of victory. However, a 3-1 win for Dale Blackwell against James Thomas kept the tie alive going into the pairs. At the second time of asking, though, the Mouses got over the line, with Glynn Harris and Jordan Caley taking the first pairs game 2-0. Despite this, Cooper and Blackwell managed to take their second wins of the night, and Foxhill’s third overall, in the last game, making the overall result 4-3 to the Mouses.

So, after a week that has seen Raging Bull and the Mouses consolidate their positions at the top of the groups, the Franchise League comes to its Christmas break. Play will resume on January 5^th, with many weeks of darting action set to come in the New Year!

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.

Team Knockout Week 2

Report by Olly Nunn

After the first games last week, this Thursday the Team Knockout continued, with eight teams in action.

Starting with Group A, the Raging Bull were at home against the Swallownest Miners. First up was Mark Thomson for the Bulls against Kev Hatfield for the Miners. Thomson began with 19 and 21 darters, and although Hatfield responded with a 21 darter of his own, Thomson took the fourth leg to seal a 3-1 win. On next for the hosts was Bri Jones, who had a successful night that included a 180. In his game against the Miners’ Kev Allison, though, Jones would be pushed all the way to a deciding leg. Ultimately, Jones won out in the decider to put the Bulls 2-0 up. Miners captain Tim Whiting beat Adam Chadwick 3-0 to get the visitors back in the tie, but from there 3-0 and 3-1 wins for Matty Pierce and Jason Marsh, against Tom Tingle and Rich Tingle respectively, ensured the Raging Bull had the required four wins. A fifth win would be added in the pairs, as Jones and Chadwick edged Tingle and Allison 2-1. But Whiting and Hatfield’s 2-0 victory against Pierce and Thomson meant the Miners could end on a high. So, 5-2 to the Raging Bull overall, and their good start to the Team Knockout continues.

The other Group A game was at the Riverside, where the Station Railwaymen began their Team Knockout campaign. The Warriors were left ruing missed chances in the first two games, as Colin Johnson and Ian Webster both went 2-0 up against Geoff Higgs and Pete Roebuck. The Railwaymen were able to force their way back into the matches, reeling off three consecutive legs in each to record 3-2 wins. Station pressed on from there, starting with Lee McDonald beating Paul Brittle 3-1. Ryan Goffin then won 3-0 versus Angie Brittle, with 21 and 20 darters, and Gav Pilling won by the same margin against Nicola Brittle, with a 19 darter. The Railwaymen did not let off in the pairs either, as Roebuck and Higgs beat Webster and Johnson 2-0 and Pilling and McDonald beat Paul and Nicola Brittle, also 2-0. A 7-0 whitewash win for the Railwaymen, then, to start their campaign strongly.

Moving on to Group B, Woodbourne Vintage played one of last week’s winners, Thorncliffe’ Finest. Pat Meeson played his first game this season and started well, with a 3-1 win and a 21 darter to give Vintage the first match. The Thorns’ Josh Hall then took a straight-legs victory in the second game to make things even. An important game followed, as Vintage’s Mick Hulley and the Thorns’ Dan Ashton fought all the way to a deciding leg. Hulley took the first, only for Ashton to reply with the second and third, and then Hulley won the fourth to force a fifth leg. And in that decider, it was Hulley who won out, putting Vintage ahead again. Vintage then made good on their lead, with 3-0 wins for Russ Simons against Dylan Farmer and Rich Brown against Oliver Parfrement giving them the overall win. The pairs games would be split between the teams, with the first going to Vintage courtesy of a 2-0 win for Hulley and Simons and the second to Thorns with a 2-1 win for Hall and Parfrement. Along with the doubles win, Parfrement also hit his first 180 of the season. But it was Vintage who, at the end of the night, would have been happiest, with a 5-2 win.

The other Group B game saw the Woodbourne Mouses travel to the Uni Arms to play the Understudies. Up first was Tom Graham for the Understudies versus Jordan Caley for the Mouses. Although scoring decently, Graham had double trouble, and Caley was there to clean up, producing a 3-0 win for the visitors. It wasn’t too long before the Mouses had their second game, as Glynn Harris beat Elliot Hopkins, also 3-0. Another straight-legs win followed as Tom Wright beat Nathan Okeeffe to put the Mouses one away from the win. And John Cartledge would then secure the overall, with 21 and 20 darters highlights of his game against Adam Butcher. At this point, the Understudies were 4-0 down and without even a leg on the board. When James Thomas took the first leg of his game against Jack Quinn with a 20 darter this looked to be continuing, but Quinn then won the next three to beat Tank 3-1 and take one back for the home side. The Mouses bounced back in the pairs, though, as Cartledge and Steve Caley beat Quinn and Damien Reed 2-0. In the final pairs, Okeeffe and Graham put in a good effort, but in the end Harris and Jordan Caley had enough to win 2-1 and secure the Mouses’ sixth game of the night. 6-1 the final score, making the Mouses another team to have kicked off their Team Knockout campaign well.

Team Knockout Week 1

Report by Olly Nunn

Before recapping this week’s Franchise League action, we have to go back to last week, when the Academicals and the Understudies played their game in hand and fought out the second leg of the Uni Arms derby. Jack Lewis won the first game for the Accy D’s with a 3-0 win against Tom Graham. The Understudies’ Patrick Hopkins then responded in kind with a 3-0 versus Joe Hopkins. Up next was Adam Warner for the Accy D’s versus Nathan Okeeffe for the Understudies. Okeeffe put in a strong first leg with an 18 darter, but from there Warner took the second before hitting 20 and 17 darters to win 3-1. Tom Jepson put the Accy D’s one away from the overall in the fourth game through his 3-0 victory against Adam Butcher, but Jack Quinn kept things going with a 3-1 win for the Understudies against Lewis Forrest in the last singles. In the first pairs game, Warner and Luke Davies got the job done for the Accy D’s, securing the overall win by beating Quinn and Damien Reed 2-0. Olly Nunn and Jack Newton then capped off the Accy D’s night with a 2-0 win over Patrick Hopkins and Elliot Hopkins, making the final score 5-2 to the Academicals.

Moving on, this week saw the first games of the Team Knockout. There were two matches in Group A, as the Swallownest Miners played the Riverside Warriors and the Accy D’s hosted the Raging Bull, and one in Group B, where Thorncliffe’s Finest faced off against the Understudies.

It didn’t take long for the Miners to take control of their tie, as Matt Spank, Kev Hatfield, Tim Whiting (who had a successful night with a 110 checkout), and Kev Allison all won their games 3-0. They were against Ian Webster, Paul Brittle, Barry Brittle, and Angie Brittle respectively. Such a performance guaranteed that the Miners had the night won with three games to spare, but Colin Johnson ensured the Warriors would not be going home empty-handed as he won a 3-0 of his own in the last singles. From there, the teams split the pairs games between them, with Whiting and Hatfield taking the first singles against Angie and Nicola Brittle, while Paul and Barry Brittle beat Rich Tingle and Sam Weston to give the Warriors their second win of the night. An overall score of 5-2 to the Miners, then, was how proceedings finished.

At the Uni Arms, Luke Davies (Accy D’s) and Liam Kent (Raging Bull) traded legs in the first game, which would go all the way to a decider. In that final leg, Davies missed tops for a 102 checkout and Kent stepped in with a 90 checkout (bull-tops) to take the win. The game between the Accy D’s Jack Newton and the Raging Bull’s Bri Jones also went the distance, with 21 and 17 darters in the fourth and fifth legs from Jones giving the Bulls their second 3-2 win. Game of the night was surely the match between Adam Warner and Mark Thompson. With every leg being won in 21 darts or less, by the time it reached a fifth leg Warner had taken two 18 darters, while Mark Thomson had in turn 16 and 17 darters, and a 180. And in that pivotal last leg, it was Thomson who won out, with a 21 darter, to put the Bulls 3-0 up. The fourth game saw the Accy D’s get a win on the sheet, as Joe Hopkins returned to form to beat Adam Chadwick 3-1. In the last singles, Tom Jepson won the first two legs for the Accy D’s (the first with a 21 darter). But the Raging Bull’s Matty Pierce, who had hit a 180 in the first leg, came back to win 3-2 and guarantee the away side the overall win. The Accy D’s had some consolation in the pairs, as wins for Hopkins and Jack Newton and Jack Lewis and Olly Nunn brought the home side’s tally to three wins to Raging Bull’s four.

The tie between the Thorns and Understudies began with Nathan Okeeffe hitting a 20 darter and a 180 against Dan Ashton before taking the next leg to go 2-0 up. Ashton rallied, winning legs three and four to force a decider, but Okeeffe held his nerve to win 3-2 and put the visitors one up. The home side responded, with Josh Hall and Oliver Parfrement both delivering 3-0 victories for the Thorns, against Damien Reed and Jack Stoddard respectively, with Parfrement capping his win off with a 19 darter. The Understudies came close to making things level in the fourth singles, as Elliot Hopkins and Lewis Wroe fought all the way to a fifth leg. In the end, it was Wroe who took it, winning 3-2 and putting the Thorns 3-1 up. The winning line was now in sight for the hosts, but Jack Quinn produced a straight legs win versus Logan Higgins, sealed with a 21 darter, to keep the Understudies in the tie. At the second time of asking, though, the Thorns got the job done, with Ashton and Higgins clinching it with a 2-0 victory against Okeeffe and Hopkins. With no time left to complete the last game, the tie ended here, meaning the final score was 4-2 to the Thorns.

Week 10 Report

Report by Olly Nunn

The recap of week ten starts at the Riverside, where the hosts were up against the Woodbourne Mouses. In the first game, the Warriors’ Ian Webster got off to a good start, taking the first two legs, and while the Mouses’ Jordan Caley took one back in the third, Webster was able to finish things off in the fourth to win 3-1. The Mouses responded, though, taking the next three games, with comfortable 3-0 wins for Glynn Harris against Colin Johnson and John Cartledge against Angie Brittle and a closer 3-2 win for Tom Wright versus Barry Brittle. The fifth singles was between the two captains, James Thomas and Paul Brittle. Tank started well, going 1-0 up, but Brittle then reeled off two legs to take the lead. Taking the fourth leg, Tank forced a decider, but it would be Brittle who won out 3-2. Although denied an early win, the Mouses were able to clean up in the pairs, winning the two doubles games 2-0 and 2-1 to end the night 5-2.

Elsewhere, Foxhill and District As were at home versus the Uni Arms Understudies. The match between the Understudies’ Tom Graham and Foxhill’s Morgan Mullins was decided in the fifth leg, as Graham held his nerve to win 3-2 and put the visitors ahead. But the hosts rebounded, with Dale Blackwell and Ben Cooper (who hit a 180) both winning 3-0, against Nathan Okeeffe and Damien Reed. Patrick Hopkins then gave the Understudies’ their own straight-legs victory as he beat Jack Walker. In the final singles, Jack Quinn got an important 3-1 win for the visitors versus Martin Bridge, hitting a 180 and a 19 dart leg along the way. Much like last week, a win for Foxhill in the first pairs, with Cooper and Karl Howden beating Jack Stoddard and Elliot Hopkins 2-0, meant that the tie would come down to the last game. This Thursday, however, it was the Understudies who came out on top, with Quinn and Patrick Hopkins’ 2-0 win against Blackwell and Mullins giving them their second win of the season. “It was a team performance, everyone put in a shift”, was what Captain Stoddard had to say of the Understudies’ efforts.

In the tie between Thorncliffe’s Finest and the Swallownest Miners, it was the Miners who started with a win. Tim Whiting and Jack Pink shared the first two legs between them, but from there Whiting kicked on to win 3-1. Oliver Parfrement put the Thorns back on level terms as he beat Matt Spank in the second game 3-0, only for the Miners to edge ahead again as Tom Tingle saw off Logan Higgins 3-1. Dan Ashton then gave the Thorns their second straight-legs win of the night versus Kev Allison, meaning the fifth game would be key in deciding who would go into the pairs with an advantage. And it would prove to be a close encounter, as the Thorns’ Dylan Farmer and the Miners’ Kev Hatfield traded legs until they reached the decider. Ultimately, it was Hatfield who won out to clinch a 3-2 for the Miners. The Swallownest side now needed only one more win for the overall, but the Thorns ensured it would come down to the final match as Ashton and Higgins beat Whiting and Spank 2-0 in the first pairs. In the second pairs, Hatfield and Tingle got the Miners over the line, with a 2-0 win over Parfrement and Farmer to bring the final score to 4-3 to Swallownest.

At the Uni Arms, the Academicals faced off against Station Railwaymen. Up first was Geoff Higgs for Station and Olly Nunn for the Accy D’s, and although Nunn took the first leg, Higgs then reeled off three on the bounce (with 19 and 20 darters) to win 3-1. Second was Pete Roebuck for Station against Jack Newton for the Accy D’s. Roebuck broke throw to take the first, but Newton responded, breaking back with a 118 checkout. From there, however, Roebuck pushed on to win 3-1, with an 18 darter in the final leg. The Accy D’s got a win on the board in the third game, as Luke Davies beat Lee MacDonald 3-0, although in the fourth game Gav Pilling produced a win by the same margin against Tom Jepson to put the Railwaymen 3-1 up. The final singles game was the anticipated rematch between the Accy D’s Adam Warner and Station’s Ryan Goffin. Warner began with a 17 darter before taking the next leg to go 2-0 up. Goffin won the third, before Warner produced a 16 darter to seal the match 3-1. In the first doubles, the Accy D’s pairing of Warner and Jack Lewis took the first leg and had a match dart, but Station’s Goffin and Higgs came back to win 2-1 and guarantee an overall win for the Railwaymen. And the visitors signed off with a 2-0 win in the last pairs, with Pilling and Roebuck beating Lewis Forrest and Joe Hopkins, making the final score 5-2 to Station.

Our recap ends at the Woodbourne, where Vintage were against the Raging Bull. Having won 7-0 last week, the visitors started where they left off, as Liam Kent beat Chris Keane 3-0 and Mark Thomson, who had a successful night with a 19 darter and two 180s, secured a 3-1 win in the second game. Vintage’s Dave Cliffe won the first two legs in the third game, but Raging Bull’s Adam Chadwick fought back, taking three on the spin to win 3-2. This meant Bri Jones could guarantee the win for the Raging Bull in his game against Russ Simons, and he did just that, with 18 and 16 darters on the way to a 3-0 victory. The fifth singles was between Rich Brown for Vintage and Matty Pierce for the Raging Bull. Brown won the first two legs, only for Pierce to take the third. Yet Brown fired in a 20 dart leg to end the match 3-1, giving Vintage their first win of the night. The two sides then split the pairs between them, as Thomson and Jones beat Simons and Mick Hulley 2-0 and Brown and Cliffe won by the same margin versus Steve Griffiths and Jason Marsh.

This made the final score 5-2 to Raging Bull, a win that keeps them second in the table with 46 points. Either side of them are the Railwaymen in first with 58 and the Mouses with 42. The Accy D’s are in fourth, followed by Foxhill in fifth, the Miners in sixth, Vintage in seventh, and the Thorns in eighth. Their second win of the season has put the Understudies up to ninth, while the Warriors round out the table in tenth.

Week 9 Report

Report by Olly Nunn

Going into week nine, only two teams were undefeated so far in the season – Station Railwaymen in first and the Uni Arms Academicals in second. This would change on Thursday, however, as the two met in a top of the table clash. And it was the Railwaymen, playing at home, who were in charge from the outset. 20 and 19 darters helped Geoff Higgs to a 3-0 win over the Accy D’s Tom Jepson, and Pete Roebuck doubled the hosts’ advantage, beating Luke Davies 3-1 in the second game. Gav Pilling made it three from three as he beat Olly Nunn 3-1, and then Glenn Payne secured the win for Station in a closely fought game against Jack Lewis that went all the way to a deciding leg. Adam Warner got a win on the sheet for the Accy D’s in the final singles game, as he produced a fine display with 21, 20, and 13 darters to beat Ryan Goffin 3-0. It was back to winning ways for Station in the doubles, though, as Roebuck and Higgs beat Davies and Jack Newton and Pilling and Goffin beat Warner and Joe Burniston to bring the overall result to 6-1 for the Railwaymen.

Thorncliffe’s Finest made the trip to Swallownest this week to play the Miners. Both the Miners and the Thorns were coming into the tie off of back-to-back wins in their previous fixtures, yet it was the Swallownest side who got off to the better start. Kev Hatfield, Tim Whiting, and Kev Allison all took wins for the Miners, beating Dylan Farmer, Josh Hall, and Logan Higgins by 3-1, 3-0, and 3-1 respectively. The Thorns, however, were able to keep the tie alive going into the pairs, as Oliver Parfrement took a 3-0 victory against Matt Spank and Dan Ashton came from a leg down to beat Rich Tingle 3-1. In the first pairs, Whiting and Hatfield took leg one against Higgins and Ashton, putting them on away from sealing the tie. Higgins and Ashton took the second leg to keep the Thorns’ hopes alive, but the Miners duo held their nerve and took the third to win 2-1, guaranteeing the Swallownest side’s victory. In the second pairs, Allison and Tingle beat Parfrement and Hall 2-0, giving the Miners’ their fifth win of the night to the Thorns’ two.

Woodbourne Vintage were away against the Raging Bull, and the tie began with a high-quality match between Mark Thomson and Trevor Burkhill. Vintage’s Burkhill began with an 18 darter, to which the Raging Bull’s Thomson responded with a 17 darter. In the third leg, Burkhill had a 17 of his own, but Thomson forced a decider with an 18. And in the last leg Thomson was able to edge out to win 3-2. Following this was a 3-1 for Adam Chadwick against Rich Brown, giving the Raging Bull their second win of the night. In the third singles there was another close game, as the Bull’s Steve Griffiths survived a comeback from Vintage’s Dave Cliffe to take the match 3-2. Up next was Matty Pierce versus Chris Keane, and after splitting the first two legs, Pierce fired in 20 and 21 darters to win 3-1 and clinch the overall win for the Raging Bull. Short on players, Vintage had to concede the last singles and a doubles game, meaning Thomson and Pierce’s 2-1 win over Brown and Cliffe ensured a 7-0 victory for the home side.

At home against Foxhill and District As, the Uni Arms Understudies came close to their second win of the season this week. Jack Walker and Ben Cooper (who hit 20 and 18 darters) put the visitors two up, with 3-1 and 3-0 wins against Patrick Hopkins and Elliot Hopkins. Yet the host rebounded, with wins from Nathan Okeeffe (who hit a 180 in his game against Dale Blackwell), Cory Van Tongeren (who came from 2-0 down to beat Morgan Mullins in the decider), and Jack Quinn (against Martin Bridge). With the scoreline 3-2 to the Understudies going into the doubles, Foxhill replied with a win for the pairing of Cooper and Karl Howden against Adam Butcher and Damien Reed, meaning things would come down to the last game. And although Quinn and Okeeffe won the first leg to go one away, ultimately the Foxhill duo of Walker and Martin Schimeld took two legs in reply, securing the match and a hard-fought 4-3 win overall for the visitors.

Finally, at the Woodbourne, the Mouses were against the Riverside Warriors, and it was relatively plain sailing for the hosts in the singles. Only dropping three legs over the course of the five games, there were wins for Glynn Harris, Jordan Caley, Jimmy Haslam, Tom Wright, and John Cartledge, against Colin Johnson, Ian Webster, Angie Brittle, Barry Brittle, and Paul Brittle. Along the way the Mouses also produced moments of quality, including a 20 darter and 110 checkout from Harris and a 16 darter and 180 from Haslam. The Warriors ensured they would not be going home empty-handed as Johnson and Webster won the first pairs 2-0 against Steve and Jordan Caley, although the Mouses made the score 6-1 overall as Haslam and Wright secured a 2-0 victory against Angie and Nicola Brittle in the final pairs.

So, after their strong performance this week, the Mouses are back up to third in the league table with 37 points. After their defeat to Station, the Accy D’s have dropped down to fourth with 36 points, while the Raging Bull reached second with 41 points. In fifth is Foxhill, followed by the Miners, Vintage, Thorns, Warriors, and Understudies. Now with wins over all other top four teams, the Railwaymen are eleven points clear of the field, on 53, putting them in a strong position as we head into week ten.