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FRIDAY NIGHT
INDIVIDUAL DARTS LEAGUE
Latest
reports from the 2006-2007 season in the
Boston Friday Night Individual Darts League are:
Index
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May 2007 |
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Round-up
for week ending May 25
John Smith’s Challenge The penultimate week of action in the Lincs Racing
Championship section has left the destiny of the “placed” positions still up
for grabs. But the champion is now known after the top of the table clash saw
Dennis Turner overcome the challenge of Scott Lea. The opening leg saw Dennis
reach the double first, but six darts he failed to find the required finish.
This allowed Scott to take a 1-0 lead with a 40 checkout. The second leg was
a tense affair with both players wasting several chances at the doubles as
the importance of the match got to the duo. After 12 darts each, Scott still
required 20. But Dennis, by now, had cut his attempts down to leave double
five. Thankfully for Dennis he drew level at 1-1 when his 13th
dart found its target. It was a case of deja vu in the deciding leg as Dennis
sealed the win 2-1 to become title winner. This leaves Scott in a precarious position with one
round of matches remaining after Keith Dack leapfrogged him into second place
after he set the night’s best average of 17.89. This was achieved in a 3-0
win over Susan Games. But he, too, must be wary of James Harmer who he faces
in his final game of the season as any combination of results could still
change second, third and fourth places. Sharon Butler secured the ladies award, although a
maximum 180 in her final game of the season secured a 1-0 lead against
opponent Angie Upsall she was unable to take the win as Angie hit back to
secure a 2-1 win. It was a good night for Angie. Another 2-1 win over Tracy
Richardson later in the evening means she will now scrap out the runner-up
ladies spot with Emma Grant. James Harmer will also be awaiting his final game to
decide his fate. Despite going down 2-1 to Richard Attwell he bounced back
with a 3-0 win over Suzie Watson to stay in the mix in the top four. Paul Limb hit an exhibition out-shot to see off a
battling Suzie Watson. With the game level at 1-1 Paul required 63. Someone
shouted “13, bull” and he did just that to checkout on 63 and escape with a
2-1 win. The final action of the night saw Di Jenkins register
her 16th win in her first campaign with a 2-1 win over Tracey
Richardson unfortunately for Tracey it was not how she wanted to end her one
and only season in the league as she now heads off to become a mother. |
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Round-up
for week ending May 18
Boston
Standard Premier Division
The top section concluded its 19th season of
action on Friday night. With only a handful of games to play, the burning
question was: could Martyn Palmer maintain his unbeaten run for the season to
close on a high up against Derek Johnson? The task for Derek looked a lot harder than picking what
shirt to wear! Particularly if he was
to have any chance of breaking his long losing run of unlucky ones sent to
the losers’ bin already. Despite this handicap Derek probably played one of
his better games of the season. But up against a free-flowing and rampant
Martyn, the task looked a tall order. And so it proved! Leg one saw Martyn take the lead in 24 darts. And he
improved on that by going 2-0 up in 21 darts. The progress continued and a
19-dart leg took him three clear. Derek was always a throw behind in trying
to catch Martyn score-wise in each leg. But he did find a 19-dart leg to cut
the deficit to trail 3-1. This was only to be a consolation point as Martyn
once again ended the match in style by hitting scores of 180, 100, 180, 41
(out) for a 12-dart fifth leg to win 4-1 recording a 26.07 average
(division’s best) and secure his 18th award. The result also gave
him that sought-after unbeaten 28-game run with 20 maximum 180s hit. He also
recorded the season’s best average of 29.44 to complete a terrific season. The only award missing was the highest checkout. That
will go to Bob Mountain for a 160 finish earlier in the season. Bob could have
done with another of those in his final game against Trev Day, but it was not
to be. A tight game saw Trev take a 3-1 lead only for the jitters to set in
for the umpteenth time this season. This allowed Bob to fight back to 3-3 and
although both players had reached 36 in the decider, it was Trev who hit the
double to end his season with a hard fought win. Harry ‘Lottery ‘ Lee was once again at his best with an
array of scores below 49 but opponent Shane Richardson was also a little
below par. Despite this, Shane took a 1-0 lead, but missed doubles allowed
Harry to draw level at 1-1 with a 93 checkout. The game moved on and Harry
was in front at 3-2 when he turned down the chance of a bull finish to take
the match with his last dart. Throwing for 10 to leave tops, it proved a
costly mistake as Shane took advantage to level at 3-3. The decider then went
to the double and Harry took his chance to win 4-3. It was a long
hard slog for Harry as up next was Kev ‘Grinder’ Lenton. Thankfully, time was
not a issue as nobody was waiting to follow. And after six hard-fought and
time-consuming legs, Harry produced one bit of magic in the decider. A 120
checkout in 21 darts gave him a 4-3 win. For Kev the three points were more
valuable as this got him off the bottom for the first time in many a month at
the end of a testing campaign. Lincs Racing Championship The race for second, third and fourth places was the
main issue to resolve in the concluding stages of the season. And it was
Daley Richardson who grabbed second place on leg difference from Daniel
Martin after he gained a 3-0 win over Ben Carr. The win was sealed with a 53
checkout in 17 darts as Daley won in style with a 21.78 average. This was only bettered by newly-crowned champion Darren
Butler who ended his first season in the Championship with a 70 checkout and
a 16-dart leg coming also as he beat Mick Parker comfortably 3-0 with a 22.10
average. So in the end, all of the top three were worthy prize winners. This meant Mick Vinters could only gain fourth place
prize money at best. And he did just that after a long, drawn out game with
Pete Johnson. The best leg of the match saw Pete hit a 90 checkout in 27
darts. But this was only to become a consolation point as Mick gained the win
3-1 with (wait for it…) 42, 35, and 56-dart legs. Kev Dickinson ended with a win a 180 and a 70 checkout
the highlight in a hard-fought 3-2 win over Pedro Silva. Rob Birtwhistle also
completed his season with a win at the expense of Rick Woods. He gained a
flattering 3-0 win as Rick failed to hit a double after numerous attempts. Dick ‘Top Pocket’ Taylor had a mixed night. A 3-1 win
over Rob ‘Quickfire’ Scrupps was then negated by a resurgent Ben Carr.
Despite being relegated, belied his position to end his campaign with a 3-2
win over Dick. The final game between Mick Flynn and Rick Woods brought the
season to a close. It saw a five-leg encounter that went down to the wire
with both players battling for the final win, which ultimately went in Mick’s
favour. John Smith’s Challenge With three weeks to go, the race for pole position is
hotting up. Former banger-car racer Scott Lea (third) moved himself in to
contention with a 3-0 win over Keith Dack (second). The victory tied Scott
and Keith together on 76 points, five adrift of long time leader Dennis
Turner who hit a 58 checkout and a 16.16 average to extend his lead at the
top after gaining a 3-0 win over Louise Charalambou. Crucially Scott and Dennis have to play each other in
the run-in as does Keith and fourth placed James Harmer. The latter is lying
in wait after he gained a 3-0 win over Angie Upsall. The ladies’ battle is
also far from over although Sharon Butler holds the advantage despite losing
2-1 to Adam Kemp. She still holds a five-point cushion over Emma Grant who
slipped up at the hand of Tracey Richardson as the latter gained a 2-1 win. Richard Attwell must wish the season were over. His
topsy-turvy campaign once again came back to haunt him with two defeats on
the night. Game one saw a 2-1 defeat to Carla Slade followed by a 2-1 defeat
to George Harness. It left the strongest player in the league, Tina
Willicombe, to complete the action in an all-lady encounter. This in turn saw
Di Jenkins whitewash a beleaguered Tina to leave the latter in prime position
to collect those wooden spoons with games now running out fast. |
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Round-up
for week ending May 11
Boston
Standard Premier Division
Not for the first time this season Martyn Palmer once
again showed his class. The top division champion is now only one game away
from going through the Friday Night Darts League season unbeaten after the
latest programme of action. Up against Chris Royal, a 21-dart leg secured the
lead. But Chris hit back with a 21-dart leg of his own to draw level. This
seemed to inspire Martyn to move up a gear. And he did just that. A 180 was
hit in leg three which he took in 16 darts and a repeat performance also
secured leg four to move him into a 3-1 lead. It was all over just 19 darts
later as Martyn secured the win with a 27.61 average (division’s best), this
his 17th award. Graham Sharp was out to secure second place. And
although Colin Hewson and Tony Hillyard stood in his way, it was achieved all
too easily as far as his opponents were concerned. Graham opened with a 180
in a 13-dart leg this was the highlight of the match before he went on to
beat Colin 4-0 to end his season with a hat-trick of 4-0 defeats as he failed
to take any of the chances given too him to make it 2-2. While Tony took the opening leg off Graham against the
darts to cause a little concern, a two-dart 80 checkout (hitting tops twice)
steadied the nerves this brought Graham level at 1-1 before he went on to
gain a 4-1 win with yet another 180
in a 13-dart leg, the highlight being the overall finishing reward of second
spot in the table. This relegated Ady Parker to third as he had already
completed his season in the hope that he had amassed enough points to hold
on. But unfortunately it was not the case.
It left just one place undecided. That was fourth. And although Dave
Hasnip took rather along time to secure it, he did so in the end! Yes, you
guessed it. Once again opponent Kev Lenton got his money’s worth at the oche
as he made Dave work hard for a narrow 4-3 success. Shane Richardson beat Deb Royal 4-1 to make up some lost
time and Tony Hillyard made it a short stay at the oche for Harry Lee as Tony
cruised to an easy 4-0 win leaving Harry all at sea, needing an embarrassing
303 when Tony ended the one-sided match. Bob Mountain ended Richard Pearson’s first season of
competitive action in the top flight after promotion last year with a defeat.
Bob hit a 94 checkout (division’s best) on his way to a 4-2 win, although
Richard has not helped his cause by giving games away (two thus far and three
next week as a combined fishing and salsa dancing holiday in Cuba will result
in a 4-0 walkover for opponent Deb Royal). This could all conspire to leave
Richard at the bottom of the league. Finally Kev Lenton was back at the oche to cause mayhem
on a long night which was mainly down to his first 40 minutes at the oche
earlier. So when he and an out-of-sorts Derek Johnson needed all seven legs
to find a winner, it was no surprise that another forty minutes had flown by
with Kev gaining a 4-3 win to leave Derek now in desperate need of a lucky
shirt for next season. Lincs Racing Championship Although Darren Butler has secured the title it’s still
very much a case of “all to play for” regarding promotion and prize money.
Daniel Martin will have a nervous wait to see what happens as he ended his
first season of competition on Friday with a narrow 3-2 win over Pedro Silva.
This was a good result as Pedro hit a 180 and had the youngster under
pressure. But Daniel got that all-important win to move into second place for
the time being at least. Darren Butler produced the best form on the night when
once again hitting a 22.10 average in a 3-0 win over Pete Johnson. But he
will need to find more next season with the big guns awaiting his arrival in
the Premier Division. Ben Carr deserves a lot of credit. It would have been so
easy to give up or drop out after such a bad season, but he keeps turning up and
battling away. He went down fighting again this week as he made Mick Flynn
dig deep for a 3-1 win. Two other players experienced a mixed night of fortunes
next as Kev Dickinson went down narrowly to Rob Birtwhistle 3-2 and Nathan
Richardson beat Rob Scrupps by the same scoreline. But when it was Kev and
Nathan’s turn to play each other, it was the former who gained the win
hitting a 72 checkout (division’s best) in a 3-1 success to give them a
victory and a loss apiece. John Smith’s Challenge Long-time leader Dennis Turner looks to be doing his best to throw it away with his advantage at the top cut to two points as he suffered yet another defeat — making it three in a row as the jitters get the better of the would-be champion who, coincidently, did the same last year in the dreaded play-offs. Defeat this week to Paul Limb by a 2-1 scoreline leaves
him vulnerable in a division that still has all to play for. Keith Dack turned up the heat with a 3-0 win over Louise
Charalambou as did Scott Lea when he beat Carla Slade by the same score.
James Harmer lost a little ground on the two above him, but a difficult game
against leading lady Sharon Butler saw him need his 16.31 average to overcome
Sharon 2-1 and keep in touch with a game in hand. A 3-0 win for George Harness may have come too late to
force himself into contention, but it was a blow for opponent Angie Upsall
who was after much-needed points in the ladies’ race. This has given Emma
Grant a slight edge. A 2-1 win over Tina Willicombe means she is second in
that race, although she has played two games more. Richard Attwell is on a roll. Another win came this week
against lady opposition. A 2-1 win over Tracey Richardson was achieved. What
a pity his first half form against the ladies was not as good or he might
have been a lot higher in the table. Susan Games picked up a vital point in a 2-1 defeat to Adam Kemp. It may help her avoid the wooden spoon. Adam gained the win with a 104 checkout, a season’s best out-shot! An all-lady encounter ended the action as Di Jenkins beat Suzie Watson 2-1, bringing to an end an impressive run of results for Suzie. |
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Round-up
for week ending May 4
Boston
Standard Premier Division
The Boston Standard
Premier Division of darts has its champion! A master class of darts by the
unbeaten Martyn Palmer saw him take the crown after serving it up to both Bob
Mountain and Colin Hewson on Friday night. Game one against Bob saw Martyn begin sedately to take
the opening leg but the game fired into life in leg two as Bob hit a 180 to
draw level at 1-1. This seemed to trigger a reaction in Martyn and the
response was emphatic, Martyn opened leg three with a 180 and 15 darts later
he was 2-1 up. In the next leg Martyn hit back-to-back 180s to leave just 141
after six darts! The fairytale nine-dart leg was never on, but a 3-1 lead was
established in 14 darts. Most players would have folded under pressure but
Bob kept to the task and deservedly took leg five with a 57 checkout in 18
darts to make it 3-2. This produced a further response from Martyn in the
guise of another 180 (his fourth of the game) that saw him take leg six for a
4-2 win with a 25.56 average. Could he get any better? Unfortunately for Colin Hewson,
he hit no 180s in their meeting but he peppered the treble 20 wire. The
opening leg broke Colin as Martyn scored 140, 100, 100 and 99 to leave 62
after just 12 darts. But Colin had matched Martyn and was first to have a
shot at a big finish. He needed 122. After hitting 18 and then treble 18 he
needed the bull but missed and the leg was gone. So were the next three in
double quick time as Martyn ended the match with scores of 140, 100, 85, 140
and double 18 (out) for a 14-dart leg to win 4-0 with a 26.46 average
(division’s best). The outcome of second, third and fourth positions is not
decided yet as three players fight it out. Ady Parker moved into second spot
by winning his final game of the season. A 4-1 win over Chris Royal may be
enough to hold off Graham Sharp (third) as the latter faces a tricky
conclusion to his season next week with a double-header against Colin Hewson
and Tony Hillyard. If he slips up, then Ady will take second and Dave
Hasnip may also grab third — notably after he won his penultimate game. Up
against Derek Johnson, the game looked evenly poised at 2-2 until Dave hit a
116 checkout (division’s best) to move 3-2 up. He followed that with a 180
and a 97 checkout in a 15-dart leg to win the match 4-2. Shane Richardson made
a bad start against ‘the Joker’ Chris Royal going 2-0 down. But by the time
the game was over it was Shane who was laughing having hit back with four
legs on the trot to claim a 4-2 win. Finally Tony Hillyard left Richard
Pearson wishing he had bunked off again to go fishing or salsa dancing! Tony
gained a 4-0 win, the clear highlight being a 100 checkout in a 21-dart leg. The much-awaited top-of-the-table clash between Darren
Butler and Daley Richardson decided the outcome of the title with all the
other positions looking set to go down to the wire. Darren avenged his 3-0 defeat against Daley by returning
the compliment in the re-match. Leg one was the best as Darren went into a
1-0 lead in 18 darts and a 23-dart leg followed. Daley had lots of chances to
extend the match further but he crumbled away as 15 darts failed to find a
double. This allowed Darren to gain victory much more easily than anticipated
with a 21.83 average (division’s best)
This setback for Daley has allowed youngster Daniel
Martin back into contention. He hit a 19-dart leg in a impressive 3-0 win
over Kev Dickinson, a fate not achieved by many as Kev has been playing
fairly well this season. The luckless Ben Carr must have targeted his game with
Pedro Silva as a possible win. But as so often happens this season players
have seemed to raise their game against him. This was the case yet again as
Pedro hit his first 180 of the season followed by a 70 checkout to go 2-1 up.
Although Ben levelled at 2-2 it has just not been his year and Pedro gained a
3-2 win unchallenged. Mick Flynn and Nathan Richardson also needed five legs
to find a winner as Mick found 92 and 58 checkouts to get back into the match
at 2-2. By the decider, though, Mick’s head and arm had gone because whatever
he went for he missed and his totals split into odd numbers. This allowed
Nathan to win 3-2 and continue his good finish to his first season. Finally two seasoned campaigners of the league ended the
night’s action with Pete Johnson and Rob Scrupps at the oche. Rob made his
usual quick-fire start to lead 1-0. But by the end he had dropped away to a
3-1 defeat, embarrassingly left on 249 in the last leg. John Smith’s Challenge Whoever said Richard Attwell never
wins many games against the ladies?
An awesome performance saw him lay that myth to rest as he gained two
3-0 victories. The fact he was only playing Tina Willicombe and the luckless
Suzie Watson was a bonus. But he needed a massive 118 darts to overcome the
latter with Suzie unable to take her chances. Had he been playing Sharon
Butler he may have found the myth still intact and himself on the receiving
end of yet another defeat — as Paul Limb found out to his cost. Trailing 1-0,
Sharon hit back to grab two legs in less than 60 darts to gain a 2-1 win with
a 16.70 average. The next game took a little longer as Carla Slade and Louise
Charalambou got their money’s worth at the oche. Louise gained the lead but
Carla gained the all-important win 2-1. Keith Dack closed to within
four points of the top after he, too, beat Paul Limb 2-1 and James Harmer
threw his hat into the ring with a demolition job on a shell-shocked George
Harness a 3-0 win. This win was achieved with a 68 checkout and 17.27 average
both (division’s best). It keeps all four places undecided with just four
weeks to go. Suzie Watson fared a little
better in game two against Emma Grant. She led 1-0 only to get pegged back in
a 2-1 reverse as Emma looks to emulate her highest finishing position.
However, the leading lady position does now look beyond her after Sharon
Butler almost cemented her place as the winner of that accolade at her first
attempt. She ended a good night’s work with a double with a 3-0 win over
Susan Games whose link-up with Chris Royal has failed to spark a change in
fortunes at the doubles. |
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