A Look Back In Time - 1st July 2008
In the February edition of Darts World I wrote about a new and exciting darts forum that had opened up on the web, double16.com. Since then the membership, forums and the posts to the site have all risen dramatically and players throughout the world are joining in with not only their darts experiences and information but also participating in the numerous games and jokes on the site.
Recently site administrator Neil Birkin, together with various other site members came up with the idea of a darts competition for all of the members so that they could not only participate in the knockout but also put a face to the people they were talking to on the site.
The idea began to snowball and the wheels are now definitely moving at a fair old pace to organise the event. Dale (Dezmyster) Cooper, partner in one of Derby’s leading home improvement businesses, Martindale Fascia’s, Heanor, was the first to agree to sponsor the event and now there are more prospective sponsors in the pipeline which should make it a very lucrative and tempting prize fund. Entertainment is planned to follow the darts which will stretch way into the evening, rounding off what should be a really great day.
Currently the only other information is that the date has been set for Saturday 18th October and the venue is more than likely to be in the Birmingham area, but I will pass on more details as and when they are available. However, one major point that should be noted is that the competition is only open to members of double16.com, so should any non members wish to enter they should visit the site and register. Membership incidentally is absolutely free, and in addition to this enabling you to enter the knockout it will also give you the opportunity to browse through the numerous items on the site and share you’re thoughts and experiences with the other members, it’s amazing how many new friends you will make.
Trevor Frost could not have dreamed of a better season in the Brook Meadow Individual Double Top League. Basically he won everything except for the season’s highest finish which was 160 and went to Ian McFarlane and John Burdett. Frost wth a total of 131 points retained the league title for the second successive season, he won the singles knockout, the doubles knockout with partner Gordon Clinton, hit the most tons 220, he and Mathew Gallett scored the most maximums 10 and shared the least darts 13 with Ross Macken.
In the league Jason Evans, with 128 points was runner up, Ross Macken finished on the same 128 points with a slightly inferior average and was third, Mark Birch was runner up in the singles and it was Mark Birch again with Terry Blakemore who lost in the final of the doubles.
Frost has now set a tremendous bench mark for next season and has left himself little room for improvement. Well done Trevor an excellent performance.
In their fixture at home against Herefordshire, West Midlands Youth teams had mixed fortunes. The Under 18 boy’s team chalked up a fantastic 8-1 victory thanks to wins from Daniel Thorpe, Alex Simmons, Shane Price, Ben Lycett, Matthew Dicken, Tammy Chance, Ash Khyatz and James Angell. The top average of 21.14 was achieved by Matthew Dicken. Scott Jones was Herefordshire’s sole winner.
The Under 21 male team went down 4-1, Luke Read being the only winner in a game that was closer than the scoreline suggests.
The Under 21 female match saw the visitor’s just get the 2-1 edge where the verdict in each of the three games could have swung either way. Winning for the West Midlands was Liz Arnold.
The Sheldon and District Winter League has brought the curtain down on their league fixtures with Saltley Amateur Gardeners taking the top honour of winning the premier division title with Olton RBL runners up on 34 points, two fewer than the champions and the same as third placed Shard End RBL ’B’. Sheldon Dukes won the Shadow League.
In division one RAFA finished top of the table on 28 points again a two points margin between first and second with Pavilions just losing out. Hen and Chickens won the division’s Shadow League.
The second division title went to Kingshurst Labour Club who with 17 wins in 20 games chalked up 34 points, second in the table Farringdon Flights totalled 32 points. Golden Acres with 12 points finished the Shadow League as champions with Custard House and Millhouse two points behind.
The singles knockout was won by Saltley Amateur Gardeners representative T.Randell who swept through the quarter and semi finals with 2-0 wins against K.Hopton (Shirley RBL) and A.Grainger (Shard End RBL ‘B’). He then followed that with another straight legs win over team mate P.Sinnett in the final.
Olton RBL duo B.Nixon and J.Sidwell won the doubles knockout, their final opponents being T.Webster and P.Sinnett, with Sinnett once again finishing as runner up. The final result was 2-0.
In the League Cup finals the premier division final was contested by divisional champions Saltley Amateur Gardeners and Brook Meadow . The result was a very close 5-4 in favour of Saltley.
The division one final was between the top two teams in the division, champions RAFA and runners up Pavilions. The outcome was as it finished in the league with RAFA again the winners with another very close 5-4 scoreline.
Division two was the only game that possibly went against the odds. Second in the table Farringdon Flights took on third placed Willclare Sports and Social and it was Willclare who got the eventual 6-3 verdict.
Also on the agenda for the league was the M & B Cup which with a 7-2 win over Bordesley Labour Club followed by a 6-3 success against Hobs Meadow it was Shard End Social who won the title.
The Punchbowl semi’s saw Saltley Gardeners and Shirley RBL record 5-4 wins in turn over Brook Meadow and Pavilions. The final result of 6-3 was another victory for Saltley. The Sheldon Shield was won by Olton RBL who got the 5-2 verdict against Shard End Social in the final. Losing semi finalists were Shard End RBL ’B’ and Lea Hall Sports and Social.
Saltley Gardeners were in the silverware again in the Vice Presidents Trophy, Tom White the eventual winner in the round robin competition. The Jubilee Trophy was restricted to secretaries, committee members and officials. Olton RBL player Andy Hutchings was in fine form throughout the event. From the last sixteen down to the final he won all of his matches with straight 2-0 results. In the final he defeated Shirley RBL representative Ken Hopton., going out in the last four were Dave Brown (Custard House) and David Sutton (Match Secretary).
The Raven, Hodge Hill was the setting for the Dougie Bowen Memorial Trophy for which there was an excellent turn out of 50 players. Taking the title was Pete (The Post) Gould who had a 3-0 win over Alan (The Ace) Blythe in the final.
In addition to the main event there was also a junior competition which was won by Corey Taylor with Rhees Hunt the runner up.
The organisers would like to thank everyone involved, players and officials in the two knockouts which raised a tremendous £306.35 which will go to Cancer Research.
In the final week of division one league fixtures for the Four Oaks and District League champions Midland Red must be have pleased the campaign had finished as in their final fixture they lost 5-4 to Sportsmans Rest who after a disappointing start to the season got their act together to race up the table and finish as runners up just two points behind the Red’s. Who knows if there had been a few more games to play what might have happened.
An array of cup finals brought the curtain down on the league’s season. First the singles knockout for the Dereck Masters Trophy, which saw Midland Red provide both finalists in the shape of R.Hawker and M.Harris, the 2-0 result going in favour of R.Hawker.
The Richard Winslow pairs competition was a straight 2-0 win for Sportsmans Rest duo A.Stainfield and J.Dunn who beat Boot Flights representatives C.Millward and D.Jarvis jnr in the final.
League champions Midland Red added the Brian Goodman Cup to their silverware cabinet with a 6-3 win over league runners up Sportsmans Rest.
The Ken Rust Cup title went to Hill Social who with another 6-3 result beat Boldmere Sports. Hill Social were on the mark again in the Norman Day Cup final coming from 7-5 down against Anvil Nomads to snatch an 8-7 win. Consolation for Anvil Nomads was that they gained a close 4-3 win over Cross Keys PPA in the final of the Second Division Trophy.
Singles and doubles knockouts have been on the agenda for the Small Heath League. Both competitions were staged at the Victoria Club and in the final of the singles it was Emerald Club man Neil Parsonage who clinched the title with his win over John McCaffrey from Potcheen Still. McCaffrey hit two maximums during the course of the evening.
Parsonage went close to making it a double when in the doubles final, he and his partner Daniel Dodd just lost out to Darren Brown and Kevin Moloney from the Custard House.
Congratulations to Leamington who in a 24 games season have clinched the Warwickshire Men’s Super League title and been crowned as champions with 190 points, which included 21 wins and just 3 defeats. Runners up Tamworth Winning Post finished the campaign a massive 24 points behind Leamington with Hall Green third a further five points adrift.
The best game average of 34.16 went to Leamington’s Nigel Heydon, while Dave Crossingham (Coventry Cherry Tree) recorded the highest finish, a maximum 170. The least darts of eleven was chalked up by three players Rob Hawker (Sutton Coldfield), Steve Sharpe (Bedworth Cherry Tree) and Steve Timlin from Kenilworth.
During my darts playing days, Tim Porter, Managing Director of Hollybush, Shareshill, near Wolverhampton, one of the country’s largest garden centres sponsored me for in excess of ten years. Unfortunately due to the fact that a couple of guys conned me into putting money into what turned out to be a business that failed I could no longer afford to play and had to go into early retirement form the sport I had loved for some forty plus years. As a result I have lost my job, car and am currently in the process of having to sell my family home to pay off the company debts and when that happens I will then have lost everything I have ever worked for.
In addition to the numerous problems I have encountered over the past few years whereby everything that can go wrong has gone wrong and everything that cannot has also gone wrong I had the pump on the pond installed by Tim and Hollybush some years ago decide to give up the ghost. Despite not playing now and after explaining my predicament Tim yet again came up trumps and replaced the pump for me.
Many thanks Tim and Hollybush for the sponsorship you gave me in the good years and again for coming to my help in my hour of need, I will always relate some of my darts success to you.
It’s encouraging to know there are still a few GOOD guys out there.
alantowedarts.co.uk