Victoria Withington vs Royal Oak A

Match Information

Victoria Withington 5 – 2 Royal Oak A

Victoria Withington retained third place in Division 1 with a 5–2 win over Royal Oak A, making it back-to-back wins over the Oak after their whitewash victory a fortnight earlier. The Vic also took a 2-0 victory in the Gallon to stay top of that table

Royal Oak put paid to any worries of another whitewash by winning the first two games of the night, captain Tony Kirby getting the better of Stacey Cosby 3–1 in Game 1, before birthday boy Steve Lawless claimed a 3-1 win over Terry Jepson in game 2 with both players hitting a maximum.

From there on in the Vic turned the screw. Sean Edwards took Game 3 in straight legs against Luke Loveitt, aided by a tidy 16-dart leg,  I levelled the match in game 4 with a 3-1 win against Alex Williams, and in game 5 Matthew Jepson followed up with a clinical 3–0 win over Sharon Kirby to put the Vic ahead for the first time.

Game 6 saw Vic’s Connor Wigley take on Pete Perry – with Connor looking to secure the team win, and Pete trying to send the match into a deciding game. A real back and forth encounter ensued with Pete leading twice before Connor took the final two legs to seal the bonus points for the Vic.  Both men hit six or more tons, with Wigley finishing on a 72 and Perry firing in the highest checkout of the match with a 79 finish.

With the pressure off, Vic landlord Paul Mitchell wrapped things up in Game 7, hitting six tons during a 3-1 defeat of Chris Pender.

The Vic played their KO Cup fixture with Cringlewood A earlier in the month, when a 4-3 last gasp win sent them through to the last 8, so we’ll have a week off before a trip to league leaders the Ammies on the 23rd. Royal Oak A will face Division 3’s Old Market Tavern in the KO Shield last 16 this coming wednesday.