SMD KO Cup
Current KO Cup holders the Ammies came out on top in a tough battle against Division 2 leaders The Silver Birch, while Timperley Conservative Club see off Wythenshawe Cricket and Sports Club to ensure that the KO Cup final will be contested between the top two sides in Division One this season.
Ammies Darts 4 vs 3 The Silver Birch
From the moment it was drawn this tie had people talking, as it involved a first meeting of two quality sides who are both on the verge of winning their respective Divisions. The Ammies, as perennial Division One Champions and current KO Cup holders were overwhelming favourites, however The Silver Birch are currently odds-on for promotion to the top flight and look like securing a Divisional title win for the second time in as many seasons following their Division 3 title in the Summer league.
And what a fitting start to the match it was as The Ammies stormed into a 1-0 lead courtesy of SMD Individuals Champion Adam Watson, who smashed in an 85.08 average, a maximum, two 18 darters and a 17 darter during a 3-0 win against Andy Skinner.
How do you follow that? Well take a bow Mike Shaw of The Silver Birch, who got his side level after game two, hitting a superb 92.77 average with legs of 16, 14 and 19 during a 3-1 win over Scott Livingstone, who himself hit an 18 darter and 75.82 average in defeat.
The Ammies were double winners in the summer for a good reason, and with no wish to relinquish their stranglehold on the cup, they stepped on the gas in the next few games. Game three saw them retake the lead through a 3-0 Ray Dore win against Lee Hicks, before another 3-0 for Andy Tucker against Lee Davies put the holders on the brink of an early victory. That victory was assured as yet another 3-0 win, this time for Pete Watson against Martin Tyson put the Ammies 4-1 up to seal the tie and a place in the final.
With the game lost The Birch could have rolled over, however they are made of sterner stuff and chose instead to show the rest of the league that they will be right at home in Division One next season if all goes according to plan in their remaining league games.
In game six Alan Dawson took a deciding leg win over Chris McKenzie to reduce the gap to 4-2, before in the final game Kraig Loose once again showed he deserves to play at the higher level when handing 180 hitting Ammies captain Paul Devine a rare 3-0 defeat. Thats 14 out of 14 for Loose this season for the loss of only three legs. Not too shabby at all.
Next up for the Birch its back to league action and an attempt to finalise that promotion with a home game against Ashton-on-Mersey on the 6th March, while the Ammies have their bye week.
Wythenshawe CSC 3 vs 4 Timperley CC
The other semi final was contested between two of the current top four teams in Division One, and it was second placed Timperely who were to get the better of fourth placed Wythenshawe in a close battle.
In game 1, Callum Loose put Timperley into an early 1-0 lead but was made to fight for a change as Martin Power took him to a deciding leg. Similarly to his uncle Kraig, Callum has now won 14 games out of 14 this season, so it seems neither of these guys know how to loose (yes, i went there).
Wythenshawe were back level after game two as a deciding fifth leg victory went the way of their captain, David Peploe who was aided by his first 180 of the season. Timperley got straight back at it, and following 3-0 wins for Gary Sullivan and Chris Stone over Kian Sherlock and John Brown they were soon 3-1 ahead going into game five.
The fifth game saw Wythenshawe pull one back as Paul McCreevey claimed the scalp of Andy Pearson by 3 legs to 1, but a 3-1 win for Andy Brownhill against Ash Bowers saw the cup tie settled in favour of Timperley. The final game of the night saw a consolation win for Wythenshawe as Col Smith took a fifth leg against Andy Broadhurst to give a final score of 4-3.
The two sides will meet again on 6th March in the next league fixture, when Timperely will need a better scoreline if they have any hope of catching the Ammies in the Divison 1 title battle.
Dave Yates Shield Semi-Finals
The Dave Yates shield is contested between all the teams who lose in the first round of the main SMD KO Cup, and as the sole Division One representatives, The Nelson have been overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy. After gaining a big 6-1 win in their semi final against LMRCA, they are now just one match away from the trophy, but will face a determined Volunteer side after they won their all Division 2 semi final 5-2 against Urmston Sports Club.
LMRCA 1 vs 6 The Nelson
Pete Evans gave the Division One side an early lead in game one but needed a deciding third leg to secure a 2-1 win against Dennis Whiting. In game two, LMRCA pulled level after a 2-0 win for Tony Spilsbury against Tony Green, but that was to be as good as it got for the Division Two side.
Game three saw Steven Moane hit a 19 darter and a 69.91 average during his 2-0 win over Tony Feesey, while game four saw Andrew Day beat Joe Davis by the same 2-0 scoreline. In game five, Mick Young sealed the tie while hitting a 71 average in his 2-0 defeat of Derek Ostick, and further 2-0 wins for Mick Cooney and Dylan Wimbury rounded off a clinical 6-1 win for the Nelson.
Urmston SC 2 vs The Volunteer
In this first round of a double header between the two sides (who face each other in league action next week) it was the promotion chasing Volunteer who got off to the stronger start with wins in each of the first two games, as Gary Williams took game one against Lee Capper, before Charlie Sanders won a deciding leg against James Higgy to give the Vol a 2-0 lead.
Urmston pulled one back with a 2-0 win for Steve Lye in game three, but the Volunteer extended their lead to 3-1 when Ian Winter hit a maximum during a 2-0 win against Mike King. Harry Fitton made it 3-2 when beating Dan O’Donnell by two legs to nil, but when Callum Nolan beat Dave Tong in game six, the tie was sealed. The final game of the night was between Geoff Sanders and Urmston Captain Michelle Fitton, and it was to be another Volunteer win, as Geoff took a deciding leg to make it 5-2 overall.
As mentioned earlier, next up for these sides is a rematch in the league on 6th March.
Division 3
I really should check the most recently submitted results before I do a late write up, as my big setup for the Melville vs Bulls Head game next week was proved to be a damp squib after the Melville won their game in hand with the Excelsior WMC to gain the points needed for promotion to Division 2 next season.
The Melville 4 vs 3 Excelsior WMC
Both of these sides know each other well, with the Melville being formed from a breakaway group of former Excel players following their relegation to Division Three at the culmination of the Summer season. And for a first season in the league, you cant do better than promotion at the first attempt which is exactly what the Melville achieved with this narrow victory, though the 6 points gained may not quite be enough with regard to ambitions for the Division 3 title.
With only two games left to go, the Melville sit second and following this win are now seven points behind fellow promoted side the Malt Shovels, which means that realistically its now going to take a massive unexpected twist if they are to take the title from the team that have beaten them home and away this season.
The Excel sit fifth, yet can still take fourth position if results go their way in the remaining two games, although that would also involve lending a hand to the Melville as one of those games is against the Malt Shovels in their next league fixture.
Game 1 was between Melvilles Jon Powell and Andy Cheetham, with Andy being the only player to beat Jon in all competitions this season. While it took a deciding a leg (just like their game in November) the result was the same as Andy secured a 2-1 win to put The Excel into the lead. Its gotta hurt losing 6 legs all season and four of them to the same opponent!
The rest of the family seemed to take offence at this loss and Owen Powell got his fifth 2-0 win on the trot, and 11th win in 12 league games when beating Steven Fitzpatrick to make it all square, before Tom Powell edged a deciding leg against Warren McCoubrey to put the Melville into a 2-1 lead.
Paul Sambrook is another Melville player who has had a great season and he continued this with his eleventh win in twelve games, a 2-0 victory against Luke Ellison. Next up, the fourth Powell of the night, Jake – and he gave his side the bonus points with a 2-0 win over Hannah Tague which made it 4-1 overall.
The Excel werent in the mood to give up, and with wins in the final two games they ensured a respectable 4-3 scoreline. In game six, Peter Sage pulled one back with a 2-0 win against Sam Mackintosh, before Danny Chua took a deciding leg win over Cam McFarlane.
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