Division 1
In a night dubbed “Title Tuesday”, the top two sides in the South Manchester Darts league, The Ammies and St Johns, were all set to play their final matches of the campaign against Victoria Burnage and Timperley Conservative Club respectively. The advantage was tilted slightly in St John’s favour as they led the league by a single point, meaning the Ammies needed to better the Saints’ score on the night in order to make it a record extending eighth successive top flight title.
With a tense night of darts in prospect, Wednesday afternoon saw a premature end to the title battle after news from Timperley that they were unable to fulfil their fixture against St Johns as multiple players were unavailable due to illness. As the game could not be rearranged, the result was awarded as a 7-0 victory for St John’s, giving them nine points, enough for the title as it ensured that the Ammies could not now gain enough points to reclaim top spot later that evening.
Despite knowing that their long run as Champions was over, the Ammies creditably still went on to grab eight points after a 6-1 win in their game against The Victoria Burnage (a result which would have left St Johns needing to win 6-1 or 7-0 against Timperley), but the afternoon’s news meant the Ammies finish two points behind St Johns and end the season without the title for the first time since 2017-18.
So its a massive congratulations due to our new Division 1 Champions St Johns, who’s victory remarkably completes a treble of successive divisional titles after winning Division 2 and 3 in each of the previous two seasons. Saints players have been united in their disappointment in how the final result was gained, but nothing at all should be taken away from this excellent side’s achievement, with only two defeats all season, and eight successive wins of 5-2 or more going into the final fixture (including a win against the Ammies) meaning they led the league on merit before the events of the final day.
Only three games remain in the Division One season, and all will take place on 15th January. Brooklands Tap are at home to Timperley – provided enough players have recovered from illness, Victoria Withington host Broadheath Central, and The John Alker take on Victoria Burnage.
Ammies Darts 6 vs 1 Victoria Burnage
With the unexpected end to the title battle, no-one could have blamed the Ammies if they’d been a little deflated in their final fixture against the Victoria Burnage, but there was to be none of that as despite losing the opening game they then cruised to a 6-1 win.
Victoria captain Steve Moane put his side into the lead, pinning a 14 darter in his 3-1 win against Ray Dore, but a 3-0 victory for Mike Morrison along with a 71.57 average brought the outgoing champions level. Another 3-0 win, this time for Karl Cooper, put the Ammies into the lead, and it was soon 3-1 after a 3-2 win for Scott Livingstone against Tony Green in game four. Adam Watson sealed the win and recorded his sixth 80+ average in 13 games with an 83.50 during a 3-0 mauling of Ant Hargreaves Jr, before Paul Devine, who has revealed that this will be his last season as captain, claimed a 3-1 win against Dylan Wimbury to make it 5-1. Pete Watson, who will take over as captain next season, rounded things off for the Ammies with his 11th 180 of the season during a 3-2 win over Mick Cooney.
Next up for The Ammies is the KO Cup final against Victoria Withington on 22nd January, while Victoria Burnage face The John Alker in their final league fixture of the season on 15th January.
Broadheath Central 3 vs 4 Brooklands Tap
Broadheath Central needed a miracle if they were to stay up, and that had to start with a convincing win in this, their penultimate game of the 2024/25 season. With a man short, they were immediately under the cosh, and it proved a step too far as despite drawing the games played on the night 3-3, having a missing player gifted Brooklands Tap a game and the overall 4-3 win, all of which condemned Broadheath Central to Division 2 darts next season.
With the visitors 1 up from the start, Broadheath opened well in game 1 with a 3-1 win for Tim Dibben effectively levelling the tie, but Eddie Clare put the Tap back in front with a deciding leg win over JonJo Devon. Another last leg decider followed in game 3, but this one went in Broadheath’s favour as Brandon Lawley, with a 71 average, got the better of Niall Willis to make it 2-2. In the fourth game The Tap went ahead once more as Callum Nolan hit a 15 darter and a creditable 82 average during his 3-0 defeat of Lee Darcy, but it was soon 3-3 on the night after Broadheath’s Leyton Jackson repeated that scoreline with victory against Dan Williams. The final game saw Broadheath’s Dan Cross take on Geoff Sanders, and the Tap’s skipper made no mistake in securing a 3-1 win which assured his side of the win and the bonus points.
Both these teams have one game remaining which will take place on the 15th January. Broadheath travel to the Victoria Withington, while Brooklands Tap take on third placed Timperley.
St Johns 7 vs 0 Timperley CC
As reported earlier, the other big game of the night didnt go ahead as it was cancelled by Timperley on Wednesday afternoon due to an outbreak of illness amongst the team. As per the rules, no rearragement was possible due to the timing of the notice. As such St Johns were awarded a 7-0 whitewash victory, which gave them the points needed to secure a maiden Division 1 title.
Division 3
In the final week of the originally scheduled fixtures, four teams completed their season while the other eight still have rearranged games to play in the two weeks left before the individual and pairs competitions begin. While the Champions have been confirmed for several weeks now, the battle for promotion to Division 2 is still undecided, with two additional teams set to go up at the end of the season.
BHC Aces avenged their only league defeat with a 5-2 win against the Bent Brook, while third placed Sale Excel, who have two games remaining, beat promotion rivals Dog & Partridge 5-2 to further stake a claim for one of the two remaining promotion places. Jolly Butcher played their final game of the season and recorded a fine 5-2 win at second placed Horseshoe to temporarily put the brakes on the Levenshulme side’s promotion push, but still with one game left to play, the Horseshoe are in pole position of all the sides still with a chance to go up.
Bulls Head in fourth also have one game left and are still in with a great shout of going up sitting just a point behind the Excel and two behind the Horseshoe after a narrow 4-3 win against Old Market Tavern. The Vine have two games left and although they may have left it too late, they are mathematically still in with a shout of going up after a massive 7-0 win against Stretfordians who drop to the bottom of league with all their games now played. The Buck Inn also have two games left and after an excellent second half of the season are also theoretically in with a chance of going up but like The Vine they would need massive wins and for other results to go their way.
Sale Excel 5 vs 2 Dog & Partridge
Both teams went into this match with an eye on promotion to Division 2, with the Excel on 99 points and and the Dog on 94 prior to the start of the match, and both teams with just three games (including this fixture) to play, so it was all to play for.
The Excel took full control of the game from the outset, as a 2-0 win for Andy Cheetham over Saj Shariff was followed by 2-1 wins for Connor McCorkell and Peter Sage against Anthony O’Brien and Dave Cook respectively, all of which put the home side into a healthy 3-0 lead.
Graham Beech got the Dog onto the scoreboard with a 2-0 win against Hannah Tague, and after Chris Conduit beat Danny Chua by the same score, it was soon 3-2 overall. Both of the remaining games were to go to deciding legs, but both went in favour of the home side as Jimmy Nolan got the better of Elliot Wynne despite Elliot hitting a 17 darter and his first competitive 180, before Warren McCoubrey finished things off with a last leg decider against Dog captain Tom Spillane.
Old Market Tavern 3 vs 4 Bulls Head
The Old Market Tavern may have lost this game against promotion hopefuls the Bulls Head, but the three points they earned in defeat, combined with Stretfordians’ heavy loss against the Vine, saw the OMT finally move off the foot of the Division 3 table. The win for the Bulls Head sees them handily poised in fourth place, just outside the current promotion spots, but only one point behind third place and two points behind second, so its still all to play for in next weeks game against The Vine.
Iain Fish and Jamie Harris put the Hale Barns side into an early lead with wins against Mandy Haycocks and Sally Corfield, but Howard and Richard Haycocks of the OMT soon brought the sides level with 2-0 wins in their games against Allan Simper and Adrian Stock. Chris Cordingley restored the lead for the Bulls with a 2-0 win of his own against Steven Foster in game 5, and when Steve Hazelhurst won by the same scoreline in game six against Les Potts, the Bulls had the win in the bag. That was to be as good as it got for the promotion hopefuls though, as the final game went the way of the home side with Nathan Potts nailing a slick 118 finish during a 2-1 win against Rob Barber.
Stretfordians 0 vs 7 The Vine
In their final game of the season, Stretfordians suffered a tenth successive defeat, and a second 7-0 loss on the trot, to drop to the bottom of the table and finish in last place after a season which had promised so much more with five wins from twelve games prior to this run of losses. The Vine on the other hand have had a decent first season, and still have two game left to close the gap on teams above them, although it will take a monumental effort to get involved in the promotion battle at this stage.
The first two games of the night both went to deciding legs, but both were decided in favour of the visitors as Billy Sanders and Dave Goulden got the better of Lindsay Rice and Morgan Nickson, while 2-0 wins in the next two games for Kyran Eyes and Tom Slattery secured the win and the bonus points for The Vine. Having lost the first two games in final leg deciders, Stretfordians suffered the same fate in games five and six after Josh Bailey and Wayne Hough got the winning doubles that put the Vine into a 6-0 lead overall. With the bit between their teeth, the Vine went on to finish the job when a 2-0 win for Charlie Sanders ensured a whitewash 7-0 victory.
Bent Brook 2 vs 5 BHC Aces
Back in September, The Bent Brook raised some eyebrows when inflicting the first league defeat of the season on the runaway league leaders at the time, Broadheath Central Aces. The Aces have not lost since, claiming the Division 3 title a couple of weeks back and securing a place in the KO Shield final on 22nd January against new Division 2 champions The Royal Oak A. This match represented a chance for the Aces to avenge that defeat, but from the Brook’s point of view it was also their final game and last chance to try and claim enough points to try and sneak a promotion spot after four consecutive wins had got them into that conversation. As it happened, a 5-2 win for the Aces put paid to that, and the Brook finish their season with 11 wins and 11 losses but will look forward to next season with optimism.
The new Division 3 Champions got off to an ominous start with a 2-0 win for Bob Hilton against Paul Charnock followed by further 2-0 wins for Geoff Talbot and Darren Wood against Josh Shaw and Sean Dignan respectively all of which made it 3-0 after just six legs of darts played. The Brook rallied somewhat in the middle games, reducing the defecit to 3-2 after a 2-0 win for Jake Proctor against Iris Bannister was followed by a 2-1 win for Alex Morton over Martin Johnson. However there was to be no comeback win for the Brook and the Aces wrapped up their 20th victory of the campaign with a 2-0 win for Nigel Beeton against Rob Moore, before Captain Dave Wood added a little gloss with a 2-1 deciding leg win over Sam Oldham to make it 5-2.
Buck Inn 5 vs 2 Royal Oak B
The Buck Inn-eers have had a fine first season in which they have gone from strength to strength as they found their feet in the South Manchester league, and this 5-2 win means they find themselves in a similar position to The Vine and Bent Brook, all have two games to go, but with probably too much to do to have a real hope of going up. As it is, with 94 points and 10 wins and 10 losses from their 20 league games played, they can still be proud of what they have achieved after losing their first five games of the season.
This defeat means The Royal Oak B finish their season with four consecutive losses, but this shouldnt take anything away from a decent debut effort, which saw them win 9 and lose 13 of the 22 games played.
The Buck Inn-eers showcased their recent form from the outset, winning the first five games for the loss of only a single leg to claim the match win in style. The first two games saw Josh Craven and Rick Hindle both claim 2-0 wins to make it 2-0, and in game three, Nigel Foster won a deciding leg with Mark Gilmore to make it 3-0. George Banner hit an 18 darter and 63.96 average while making it 4-0 with a 2-0 win over Pete DeCordova, and it was soon 5-0 when Matt Kershaw secured his 13th win in 15 games this season with a 2-0 victory against Rob Whiteside. Any hopes that the Buck Inn-eers had of a whitewash win were dashed in the final two games of the night after Jack Holt got the Oak B on the scoreboard with a 2-0 win against Charlotte Bloomfield, and in the final game another consolation point was gained as Jack Bushell got the better of Declan Law in a deciding leg.
Jolly Butcher 5 vs 2 The Horseshoe
The Jolly Butcher finished their season with a fine 5-2 win against second placed Horseshoe, and its been an odd season for the Butcher results-wise as although they have gained only 5 wins from 22 games played, this latest win completed a league double over the Division 3 promotion hopefuls, while they have also completed a double over another strong team in The Buck Inn-eers.
With an eye on Division 2, The Horseshoe would have hoped for more than two points from this game but regardless of this defeat they remain in second on 107 points, but with a tough match against the Buck Inn-eers still to come in their final fixture.
Jake Smith put the Butcher 1 up with a 2-0 win against Josh McQuillan, but a deciding leg win for Keiran Chapman over Gareth Sullivan soon had the sides level. Steve Foster put the hosts back in front with a 2-0 win against Ryan Murphy in game three, and after Chris O’Keefe took a last leg decider against Oscar Coutts the Butcher were one away from victory. They didnt have to wait long, as Michael Wesemeyer claimed a comfortable 2-0 win over George Moss to make it 4-1 overall. Horseshoe captain Rob Moss claimed another point for his promotion hopefuls with a 2-1 defeat of Chris McGrory in game six, but the Butcher extended their margin of victory in the final game as Mike Swindells rounded the season off with a 2-1 win against David Duffy.
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