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For the first time in a long while Martyn Palmer has been knocked off the top of the Boston Standard Premier Division as Graham Sharp made the most of a considerable slice of luck and extra games to take over the lead role.

Game one for Graham saw him take on Bob Mountain. This was a poor match with both players way below par. But somehow Graham found his way to a 4-1 win with a sub-standard 17.24 average. Next up for Graham was Trev Day and he was forced to play better in this one as the latter continues his fight to pull away from the bottom with some battling performances. However, it was Graham who made the better start by hitting a 180 in his first first throw and going on to secure a 2-0 lead in 18 and 21 darts. But Trev was soon level at 2-2 before scores of 100, 100, 140, 95, 48 and double 9 were hit for an 18-dart leg to move into a 3-2 lead. But as so often this season, once Trev hits the front the jitters set in and his chance for a 4-2 win came and went. Despite this he started the decider with scores of 100, 140. But two bad scores handed Graham his chance. And with Trev sat on 122 Graham took the match 4-3 with a 130 checkout on the bull to win.

Debra Royal put in an excellent night’s work as she also achieved a double. Her first win came against Harry Lee. Trailing 2-1 she punished Harry’s erratic scoring to fight back and gain a 4-2 win. And she then dished out a comprehensive 4-0 defeat to Bob Mountain, the highlight being a 111 checkout in 18 darts recording a 24.30 average.

This was only beaten by Martyn Palmer who handed out a better win than Graham Sharp managed against Trev Day. A 180 and 120 checkout in 16 darts saw him race to a 4-0 win hitting a 24.43 average to drop off the top. But with three games in hand the title is surely his to lose rather than for Graham to win.

Dave Hasnip and Tony Hillyard needed all seven legs to find a winner with little to choose between both players. A 103 checkout in 15 darts came at the right time in the decider to give Dave a 4-3 win to maintain his top four aspirations.

The final game saw Colin Hewson re-take third place in the league with a 4-0 win over Chris Royal.

Lincs Racing Championship

Pete Reid lost ground at the top in his bid to catch Darren Butler after a surprise defeat. Up against Rob Birtwhistle, it was the latter who produced the division’s best average to thwart Pete. His 19.87 average gave him a 3-2 win over Pete, although the latter was quickly back to winning ways with a 3-0 win over the doomed Ben Carr to limit the damage.

But the dropped point earlier allowed Darren Butler to extend his lead at the top after he managed a 3-0 win over Pedro Silva, although Darren was not impressed by his own performance! A win is always a win.

Rob Scrupps gained a much-needed victory in his fight at the other end of the table. A narrow 3-2 win over Rick Woods will need building on to avoid the drop back to division three.

Daniel Martin kept himself in the hunt for honours with a scrappy 3-0 win over Rob Birtwhistle as both players spoiled their averages with wayward darts at the doubles. There looked little between Ben Carr and Redvers Dickinson, which was surprising considering there respective positions in the table as Ben let a 2-1 lead slip into a 3-2 defeat giving Redvers still hope of forcing his way in to the top four. T

he final game was also a five-leg encounter as Kev Dickinson held on for a 3-2 win over Mick Flynn. A 18.94 average and 60 checkout allowed Kev to leap frog Mick in the table.

John Smith’s Challenge

The withdrawal of Janine Timms at this late stage fortunately has had little effect on the top positions. But it could prove decisive in the ladies’ battle for honours as it has cost Angie Upsall a vital three points.

On to the night’s action and with runaway leader Dennis Turner away on his hols topping up his tan, it gave the chasing pack a chance to close the gap.

Paul Limb made hard work of overcoming Louise Charalambou with 106 darts needed to register a 3-0 win as he looks to force his way in to the top four.

Keith Dack closed the gap to six points at the top as a 18.55 average (division’s best) gave him a good 3-0 win over Angie Upsall. This made it a bad night for Angie after losing points through no fault of her own. It then got worse when Sharon Butler climbed above her in the table when she beat Tina Willicombe 3-0 to become the new leading lady.

James Harmer strengthened his position in third spot with two 3-0 wins against Adam Kemp and Tina Willicombe respectively with the latter now facing surgery to correct a hand injury at least the whitewashes will cease for a few weeks unless the surgeon does miracles. Normal service should be resumed on her return!

Finally a glum and out-of-sorts Emma Grant crashed to a 3-0 defeat to Adam Kemp. A 70 checkout (division’s best) gave Emma a headache because it was by far the highlight of a poor game.

Round-up for week ending March 23

No matches played to avoid a clash with the Old Leake League finals night.

Round-up for week ending March 16

Boston Standard Premier Division

There were some shock results this week across all three sections of the individual league. The first came in the Boston Standard Premier Division when Kev Lenton (bottom) took on high-flying Graham Sharp. The clash saw Kev possibly play his best game to date as he looks to avoid the stigma of finishing in the wooden spoon position in a section where he has played since day one, some 19 years ago. Graham found himself 1-0 up and 2-1 ahead. But each time a resilient Kev fought his way back level until he produced the best leg of the match to take the lead at 3-2 in 19 darts. He then went on to complete the win in just six legs as he recorded a 23.72 average in a shock 4-2 win.

Ady Parker once again stole the top awards in the division. A 150 checkout and 24.33 average helped him overcome Bob Mountain. It was a cruel blow as Bob looked set to force a decider sat on double 10 when Ady found his big finish to win 4-2 allowing Ady to maintain a prize money slot.

Trev Day is probably still kicking himself as he let a 3-0 lead slip against Debra Royal. In fact he only needed 25 to complete another 4-0 win. But loose darts failed to leave a dart at a double allowing Deb to pounce and punish a wayward Trev. It started a good fight back from Deb. Trev’s game fell apart as he had another chance in leg five. This time 56 was required and again he blew it, failing to have a dart at a double. Deb made it 3-2 with a 67 checkout. By the time the decider was reached Deb had the luxury of having 15 darts at a double to win 4-3 leaving Trev still on 100 after 33 darts.

Derek Johnson looks in need of a shopping trip this week with wife Carol as another shirt hits the loser’s bin never to be worn again! Derek has tried numerous shirts in recent weeks in a bid to change his fortunes but his game with Chris Royal was surrendered rather tamely as the latter cruised to a 4-0 win hitting every double at the first time of asking while Derek missed his one and only chance in leg four.

Graham Sharp concluded the action when looking to put his earlier defeat behind him. Up against Dave Hasnip, he made a terrible start though and Dave went 2-0 up with 19 and 21 dart legs. But Dave failed to secure a 3-0 lead with missed doubles allowing Graham to pull one back at 2-1. This seemed to unsettle Dave and Graham drew level with a 71 checkout. Leg five turned the game on its head as Dave started with scores of 60, 61, 100 and 180 to leave just 100 after 12 darts. Bizarrely it all fell apart for Dave as he failed to find a double with 24 more darts. Graham still looked as if he was reluctant to go in front for the first time in the match until his 13^th dart at a double hit double 10 for the lead. What turned out to be the final leg of the match saw Dave once again surrender the advantage. Needing 176 he hit 140 to leave 36 but he missed the double 18, allowing Graham to put away 171 with four darts, 131 followed by tops for a much needed 4-2 win as he used a large chunk of help from lady luck.

Lincs Racing Championship

Nathan Richardson inflicted a shock defeat on Daley Richardson in the Lincs Racing Championship despite the players at opposite ends of the table before they toed the oche. It might prove a serious blow to Daley’s aspirations as Nathan shot Daley down 3-1 with a 20.20 average, the highlight being a 19-dart leg as Nathan belied his position.

Dick ‘Top Pocket’ Taylor produced darts from the top drawer this week. Following on from his first win of 2007 last week, he completed a double this as he rocketed up the table. Game one saw him take on Mick Flynn who was also in good form. Mick opened with a 19-dart leg to lead 1-0 but Dick fought back to hit his doubles with aplomb to run out a 3-1 winner he followed that with a 3-0 demolition of Rick Woods to move up six places and leave Rick muttering about how badly he had played after!

It was a case of deja vu for Rick afterwards. Although he did get two legs in game two against Pedro Silva, he went 2-1 up only for Pedro to hit a 80 checkout to make it 2-2 before taking the decider as well to conclude a miserable night for Rick.

Darren Butler found a top performance this week as he hit checkouts of 72, 36 and 95 for a vital 3-0 win over Kev Dickinson, recording a 22.10 average (best in division) in the process. It virtually ended all hope Kev had of getting into the top six.

Meanwhile, his uncle Redvers Dickinson still has a great chance of having a say in the outcome of things. His 3-1 win over Pete Johnson was no classic with a poor 13.22 average but it maintained his winning run while dropping Pete further into trouble. But with no sign of Rob Scrupps getting his game together, he may have enough points in hand to survive the drop as Rob just cannot buy a win at the moment. In his game with Mick Vinters he reached a double in two legs but was unable to stop Mick bouncing back to winning ways 3-0 with a 17.68 average.

The final game saw Rob Birtwhistle gain a comfortable 3-0 win over Mick Parker leaving Mick in his wake on 213, 228 and 156 respectively.

John Smith’s Challenge

The oldest player in the whole league turned back the clock again this week. At 90 years young George Harness still throws a mean dart — as Keith Dack found out to his cost. George hit every double as checkous of 32, 78 (division’s best) and 30 gave him a 3-0 win with a 16.88 average (also division’s best).

This allowed Dennis ‘Dark Destroyer’ and also ‘ Dark Horse’ Turner to stretch his lead at the top after he gained a 3-0 win over Tracey Richardson. Sharon Butler returned to the fray after a couple of weeks off and, although a little rusty at the doubles, she did gain a 2-1 win over Suzie Watson. Angie Upsall continues to be one of the front-runners for the ladies’ prize money. A 3-0 win over Adam Kemp strengthened her position, although her nearest challenger does have games in hand.

Emma Grant lost ground as she failed to live up to her pre-match prediction although she did get the score right! The trouble was, it turned out to be 3-0 to opponent Scott Lea. Birthday girl Carla Slade was unlucky not to celebrate with a win. A 3-0 defeat to James Harmer was a harsh outcome as James took his chances at the double after Carla had missed hers. But a few drinks afterwards helped her to drown her sorrows.

Louise Charalambou took the opening leg of her match against Di Jenkins but the latter hit back to draw level and then take a marathon of a decider in 66 darts to snatch victory.

Finally it was an “awesome” end to the night as Richard Attwell laid to rest his terrible form against the ladies with a win over Susan Games. This should at least boost his confidence levels as he recorded a 3-0 win, but only after Susan had missed a 117 checkout that could have left him with egg on his face yet again.

q There are no fixtures on March 23 in the Boston Friday Night Individual Darts League to avoid clashing with the Old Leake Darts League finals night. The action schedule will resume on Friday March 30.

Round-up for week ending March 9

Boston Standard Premier Division

This week’s action saw a “first” for Trev Day. After 26 weeks of competition he gained his first 4-0 win of the season. It has been a long time coming, but it boosted his chances of avoiding the stigma of finishing bottom. His unlucky victim was Shane Richardson who matched Trev in the scoring department but those doubles proved just too elusive for Shane hence the outcome.

Chris Royal was also a fortunate winner this week as opponent Harry Lee gifted Chris at least a couple of legs as some bizarre calculations for finishes not only confused his opponent it also baffled the marker and Harry himself. The worst incident came in leg five with the score at 2-2 as Harry had reached a 72 checkout after just 12 darts, leaving Chris in his wake way back on 326. But he got his calculations all wrong and failed to finish with another 12 darts, thus allowing Chris to steal the leg to go 3-2 up. A 180 from Chris sealed a bemused Harry’s fate in the next leg for a 4-2 win.

Colin Hewson moved up to second in the table after he beat Derek Johnson. Colin’s best leg of the match came in 17 darts as he took a 3-0 lead. And despite the help of marker Trev Day and a mini-fightback from Derek to 3-2, Colin held on to win 4-2 to send another one of Derek’s famous shirts to the loser’s bin never to be worn again!

The final game in a short evening was the best as Ady Parker produced a 24.74 average against Tony Hillyard. This also included an 80 checkout and a 19-dart leg for a comfortable 4-0 win over a misfiring Tony.

Lincs Racing Championship

Mick Flynn came close to setting season’s best achievements this week as he put in his best performance of the campaign to totally outplay Mick Vinters. He secured a 1-0 lead in 23 darts and then hit scores of 100, 140, 100, 137 and 24 (out) for a 15-dart leg to go 2-0 up. He sealed a 3-0 win with a superb 149 checkout. It also gave him a 26.83 average, narrowly failing to beat the division’s best of 27.83 (set by Darren Butler). But his 149 checkout did top the previous best of 143 set by Pete Reid.

Darren Butler moved back to the top. Although not at his best, at least the doubles were worked out and hit this week as he gained a 3-1 win at the expense of Rob Birtwhistle.

Dan Martin still looks a big threat. He picked up a 3-1 win against Nathan Richardson and he was then awarded a 3-0 walkover against Mick Parker who failed to turn up on time, arriving more than an hour late. This cost Mick a three-point penalty, although he did gain them back at the oche with a 3-1 win over Rob Scrupps.

It was another bad night for Rob as game two also went against him. This time he was up against Redvers Dickinson. And here both players narrowly missed big checkouts. Redvers missed a 150 in leg two and Rob a 152 in leg three to save the match. This meant a 3-0 win for Redvers was eventually achieved with rather more darts thrown than both had intended.

Dick Taylor at last recorded his first win in 2007 in a marathon clash against Pedro Silva that took 227 darts to find a winner. A scoreline of 3-1 in Dick’s favour moved him out of trouble at the wrong end of the table for the time being at least.

One player now in danger is Pete Johnson. He was on the receiving end of a 21.47 average from Daley Richardson as the latter stayed in touch with the pace setters after a 3-0 win. It left Pete only four points clear of safety in a four-way battle to join Ben Carr who looks Division Three-bound already.

The final action saw Rick Woods being unable to produce last week’s form and gain back-to-back wins as he went down to Kev Dickinson. A 3-1 win for Kev keeps alive his outside chance of making the top four.

John Smith’s Challenge

It’s taken an age, but Tina Willicombe is at last showing some fighting spirit. After a string of whitewashes recently she looked, on paper at least, as if she was heading for another couple this week. But up against leader Dennis Turner and Carla Slade she gained consolation points after some stunning scores against both, going down 2-1 as she closed the gap to a point at the bottom on Susan Games who, despite intensive coaching from Chris Royal, continued on her losing run to intensify the battle at the foot. A 3-0 loss to Angie Upsall left Susan in the mire while lifting Angie up to leading lady status.

She is hotly pursued by Emma Grant who gained a 3-0 win over Louise Charalambou as the latter quickly surrendered her “awesome” halo to the bingo queen! Paul Limb struggled to overcome Di Jenkins. He still needed 120 when Di took the first leg to go 1-0 up and this was almost repeated in leg two, but Di missed several doubles to allow Paul back in the match at 1-1 before he completed a great escape to win the decider.

Keith Dack was also under pressure in his game with Tracey Richardson. Doubles went in eventually for a narrow 2-1win. The ladies were having a good night by making the men dig deep for victories. This was the case in the next game also as George Harness fought back from 1-0 down to beat Carla Slade 2-1. Scott Lea ended the night with a 3-0 win over Richard Attwell as the latter continues to lack “awesomeness” after a recent run of defeats to the fairer sex — an issue that seems to have dented his confidence

Round-up for week ending March 2

Boston Standard Premier Division

Martyn Palmer virtually has the title in the bag after seeing off two of his nearest challengers on Friday night.

Game one saw third placed Dave Hasnip take up the challenge and both players started well enough as the opening four legs were shared to make it 2-2 going into leg five. This leg saw Martyn begin with a 180 but his advantage had gone by the time both players reached the double as Martyn bust on 52 to give Dave an unexpected chance to go in front. But he failed, so Martyn went in to a 3-2 lead. Dave was now up against it but responded well by hitting three tons in a row in leg six. But once again the double was not found and this allowed Martyn to complete win number 18 on the trot by a 4-2 scoreline with a 24.38 winning average to Dave’s 24-54 in defeat.

Game two on paper should have been a harder test against second placed Graham Sharp. Sadly for Graham, he was not allowed to play his normal game as Martyn battered him with some high class scoring. The opening leg was over in a flash as Martyn hit 100, 81, 140, 120, 60 (out) for a 14-dart leg. A similar pattern followed as Martyn raced in to a 3-0 lead. And although Graham took leg four in 15 darts, he was never seriously in the match as Martyn secured a 4-1 win with scores of 85, 139, 100, 137, 40 (out) in yet another 14 darts.

This meant Martyn had set a new season’s best average of 29.44 in doing so to be unbeaten in 19 games.

Graham’s girlfriend Debra Royal played far better than him as she achieved an impressive 24.85 average in a 4-3 win over Tony Hillyard. This was a tight game that saw Tony produce a 14-dart leg (best in the match) just to keep up with an in-form Deb.

Harry ‘Lottery’ Lee hit his usual array of scores but he somehow found himself 1-0 up against Colin Hewson as both players failed to spark. By the end, though, Colin was glowing with a 19-dart leg to secure four legs on the trot for a 4-1 win leaving a bemused Harry to curse his yo-yo season.

Kev Lenton was up to his usual tricks again this week! A time-consuming seven-legger was a surprise outcome as Kev (bottom) made high-flying Ady Parker work hard for the win. Ady had hit a 180 and a 75 checkout in the match but he still trailed Kev 3-2. Thankfully Ady got out of jail and won 4-3.

No big checkouts this week for Richard Pearson! Perhaps he did not need them as opponent Chris Royal continues to struggle. A 22.00 average was enough to secure a 4-2 win over Chris who could only just muster a 19.00 average as missed doubles once again ruined his performance.

The final game also went down to doubles between Bob Mountain and Shane Richardson with Bob hitting most of his whilst Shane was only able to hit one as Bob gained a 4-1 win.

Lincs Racing Championship

Rick “Lumberjack” Woods cut down table-topper Darren Butler this week in the division’s biggest shock result, although in truth it never looked in doubt as Rick calmly scored a 3-0 win as Darren never looked like hitting a double because of some bizarre calculations!

Another player causing an upset was Pete “Gnasher” Johnson fighting for survival at the wrong end of the table. He could not buy a win in recent weeks but he found one against Pete Reid as “Gnasher” hung on to a 3-2 win and beat the second placed man.

A swash-buckling effort from Mick Flynn saw him take a 3-2 win against Redvers Dickinson to virtually end all hopes Redvers had of a top four finish. He may be overhauled by his nephew, as Kev Dickinson continues to put a late winning run together. This week saw a 20.58 average (division’s best) secure a 3-0 win over Dick “Top Pocket” Taylor.

Ben Carr must be very short odds with the league sponsors to get relegated and a 3-0 defeat to Mick Parker leaves him12 points away from safety with the bottom two likely to go down.

Another player in a perilous position is Rob Scrupps. He crashed in game one to Pete Reid as the latter gained a 3-2 win to move to the top of the table this was no consolation for Rob as another defeat quickly followed against Daley Richardson, a live outside tip for rewards! The latter secured a 3-1 win over Rob to move up in to third place in the table leaving Rob three points from safety.

Long time leader (for the first half of the season anyway), Mick Vinters may yet still have a say in things. A 3-1 win over Pedro Silva keeps him lurking in fifth spot waiting for others to falter which, after this week’s performances, they can clearly still do.

John Smith’s Challenge

Recent weeks have seen numerous players want to claim the title of “awesome” in this division.

Richard Attwell thought he should have it! Emma Grant and Di Jenkins have also tried to claim it in recent weeks. And now it’s another Louise, this time Charalambou.

She was facing Richard Attwell and it has been well-documented all season about Richards’s performances against the ladies. So it was perhaps no shock to see Louise come back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 and become without doubt the only awesome dart member in her family as clearly she will not be challenged by mum Tina Willicombe who’s a shadow of her former self after having so many whitewashes this season! So another would have come as no surprise when Keith Dack gained victory.

Suzie Watson was, however, unlucky to be on the receiving end of a 3-0 as she outscored current leader Dennis Turner only to lose her way on the doubles. Emma Grant was unlucky to lose to Paul Limb she had at least a couple of bounce outs and almost a full-house in a 2-1 defeat.

It turned out to be a good night for Scott Lea. A 2-1 win over George Harness was further boosted by a 3-0 win over Angie Upsall in game two to keep himself in the top four. George was quickly back to winning ways. A 21-dart leg and a 15.89 average (division’s best) secured a 2-1 win over Adam Kemp.

Susan Games is yet to show any improvement in her performances on the darts board, which is surprising. She is now locked in a two-way battle at the bottom as she also lost 3-0 on the night to James Harmer. A slim-line Carla Slade found herself 2-0 down to Tracey Richardson before Carla got back in the saddle to gain a consolation point.