John Alker vs Victoria Withington

Match Information

The Victoria started the night with a 2–0 gallon victory, but that was as good as it got for the visitors on a night where the John Alker matched last seasons result when claiming another 5-2 home victory over the Withington side.

Gaz Brickhill opened the account in Game 1 with a clean 3–0 win over Matthew Jepson, averaging 65.35 and checking out with a superb 107 finish. Andy Docker then made it 2–0, taking a tight 3–2 victory against Connor Wigley. Andy notched six tons and a 20-dart leg on his way to a 64.57 average, while Connor replied with five tons, a 180, and a solid 63.72 average of his own.

Game 3 was a cracker between Ian Moore and Terry Jepson. Terry, who posted the highest average of the night at 70.36, came back from 2-0 down to claim it 3–2 with seven tons, a 19-darter and a 180. Ian wasn’t far behind in the scoring with four tons but he’ll be disappointed at losing that 2-0 lead.

In Game 4, John Greaves put in a solid display in beating Tony Fogarty 3–0, reeling off five tons, and a 21-dart leg to make it 3–1 overall and restore the home side’s two game cushion.

John Hawken then sealed the match for Alker with a 3–2 win over Toni Wieczorek in Game 5. John hit eight tons, a 180, and recorded the lowest darts of the night with a superb 16-dart leg. Toni fired back with a 180 of his own and a tidy 17-darter, but it wasn’t quite enough.

Sean Edwards pulled one back in Game 6 for Victoria, beating Kyle Wands 3–0 with a 180 to boot. Kyle, on his Alker and Division 1 debut, hit five tons but couldn’t find the winning double in couple of legs, but there will inevitably be more to come from this young man over the course of the season.

In the final game of the night, Gary Thompson wrapped things up with a 3–0 win over Lewis Holley, adding two tons, a 76 finish, and a 21-dart leg to round off an impressive team performance and give a final score of  5–2 to the John Alker. Despite the loss, The Victoria will take encouragement from some strong scoring — they hit four 180s in total — but this one belonged to the hosts.