SMD League 2024-25 Week 2 round-up

darts. three darts to triple
Now the football is gone - league darts have finally returned!

Division 1

It’s been a delayed start to the 2023/24 season, with cup fixtures going ahead as planned, before the Week 1 rearrangements forced by the England football teams valiant but ultimately unsuccessful run to the final of Euro 2024. The week 2 fixtures in Division 1 went ahead as planned, give or take a couple of games, and saw some quality darts thrown, and a marker thrown down by last season’s Division 2 winnners.

St Johns SC 4 vs 3 John Alker

Nomadic Division 2 winners St John’s (formerly The Silver Birch and prior to that, The Royal Oak B), have won a divisional title in each of their two seasons in the league so far, and now find themselves in Division 1 with a desire to prove themselves at the highest level. A tough challenge awaited for their debut as third place finishers The John Alker made their way to Wythenshawe for this week two fixture.

The Alker had a solid 2023-24 season, which included a win over the eventual champions The Ammies, and they were soon underway here with a pair of 3-0 wins for John Hawken and Gaz Brickhill, Gaz with a fifteen darter and his second 180 of the season. St John’s replied promptly, as game 3 saw a tremendous performance from newcomer Oliver Clark who hit a 17 dart leg and a collosal 13 tons in his 3-2 win over Chris Wormald. A typically powerful performance from Mike Shaw against Alker debutant and Division 3 individuals champion Gaz O’Donnell drew the home side level, the St Johns man hitting a 180, a 73.92 average, and an incredible 11 dart leg to take complete control of the least darts merit table after just 1 league game played. It’ll take some beating. There was another maximum in game 5 for St John’s man Lewis Ellis, but this wasnt enough to prevent a 3-2 defeat to Ewan Donegan who’s win put the visitors 3-2 up and one away from the win. St Johns had other ideas, and a pair of 3-0 wins for Martin Tyson and Kaine Goldie ensured the home team got their season off to a great start with a 4-3 final scoreline.

Match Stats

Ammies Darts PP vs PP The Levenshulme

Game postponed – Ammies venue unavailable and fixture couldnt be reversed. Game to be played on 25th September.

Match Stats

Cringlewood PP vs PP The Volunteer

The circumstances around this game not taking place as scheduled are being reviewed by the committee. statement to follow.

Match Stats

Broadheath Central 2 vs 5 Timperley CC

League runners up and cup winners Timperley Conservative Club put in a comparatively lukewarm performance in game 1 against a new-look Broadheath Central, but were ultimately too much for their hosts on the night, eventually grinding out a 5-2 win. In Timperley’s defence, they have had to get over the country’s choice to replace Rishi Sunak with Keir Starmer, swiftly followed by Rishi’s announced resignation, so they’ve had a whole lot to deal with recently.

The visitors took the lead with a 3-0 Andy Brownhill win, a lead that was doubled via a 3-1 win for Kev Kelly in game 2. Leyton Jackson pulled one back for Broadheath with a 3-1 win in game 3, before arguably the performance of the night in game 4, as the host’s Shane Crellin registered a 180, a 17 darter and a 3-2 win over Timperley titan Gary Sullivan who managed a 16 darter in defeat as consolation. Callum Loose restored Timperley’s lead in game five, and, with the match on the line, a cracking game between Broadheath’s Robert Kettle and Craig Weston saw an 18 darter and a 115 finish for Kettle while Weston hit a 180 and a 114 finish as he got the win which gave Timperley the bonus points. Andy Pearson put a little gloss on the victory with a 3-0 win in game 7 to give us a final score of Broadheath 2,Timperley 5.

Match Stats

The Victoria 2 vs 5 Wythenshawe CSC

Despite the seemingly one-way scoreline, this could easily have been the otherway round, as each of the three games that ended up making the difference saw Wythenshawe come back from 2-1 defecits to win each game 3-2. All of them were crackers, and we had two of them to start the match off.

Game 1 saw a 67 average for The Vic’s Dave Stanley, but it wasnt enough to hold off the fightback from Adam White, and with both players hitting 6 ton plus scores it was Adam who claimed the deciding leg to take first blood for Wythenshawe. A cracking game was up next between the Vic’s Sean Edwards and Wythenshawe’s Col Smith. Edwards hit a 15 darter, 6 ton plusses, and 76.77 average, but came up short in the deciding leg against Col who had 7 tons plusses and a 75 average during his win. From 2-0 down, the Vic soon pulled it back to 2-2 with consecutive 3-1 wins for Matt Jepson and myself. In game 5 another close one was determined by a last leg decider as The Vic’s Terry Jepson hit a 14 darter, 7 ton plusses, a 180, and a 70.63 average, but it was not enough to get the better of Martin Power who took the last leg to restore his sides lead. With his side on the brink of victory, Wythenshawe Captain Dave Peploe stepped up and made short work of game 6 with a tidy 70.45 average, to put his side into an unassailable 4-2 lead. Last up, Paul McCreevey shook off a monster hangover to seal a 3-1 win with a 67.59 average to secure another point for the visitors and a final scoreline of 5-2 to Wythenshawe.

Match Stats

Division 2

The Division 2 league season got underway with a full compliment of games played, and included a statement big win for former Division 1 side The Roebuck at newly promoted Division 3 winners The Malt Shovels.

Ashton-on-Mersey CC 5 vs 2 St Antony’s

Ashton were there or there abouts at the end of the season and werent far off promotion, while St Anthony’s mid to late season resurgence, and recent cup win over Division 1 opposition, will have given them the drive to keep progressing this time around.

Ian Paton put the visitors into an early lead following a 3-1 win, but Ashton responded strongly to win each of the next three games, putting themselves firmly in the driving seat as a 3-1 win for George Hardman was swiftly followed by 3-0 wins for Mike Buckley and James Compton. Carl Paton reduced the defecit for St Anthony’s with a last leg decider against Chris Chapman, defying 9 ton plus scores and a 17 dart leg to claim the win. That second Paton win of the night was as good as it got for the visitors, although they may count themselves as somewhat unfortunate as the remaining two games went the way of Ashton via last leg deciders in 3-2 wins for Stephen Orton and Mark Robinson.

Match Stats

LMRCA 2 vs 5 Trafford SC

I get the feeling Trafford have a point to prove this season following that narrow escape from relegation due to the restructuring of the league, and this win against a solid LMRCA side showed that they might just do a lot better this season.

Trafford claimed an early 2-0 lead after a comfortable 3-0 win for Jordan Fry was followed by a 3-2 victory for Liam Galvin which included his first 180 of the season. This lead was short lived though, as the home side drew level following a 3-2 deciding leg win for Joe Davis, and a fine 3-0 win for Ron Cooke in game 4 which featured his first 180 of the season, an 18 dart leg and a 95 finish. Kyle Wands restored Trafford’s lead with a 3-0 win over Tony Spilsbury, and after deciding leg wins for Jake Neersoo and Alex Buckley in the final two games of the night, it was the visitors who left with the win.

Match Stats

Malt Shovels 1 vs 6 The Roebuck

The Malt’s had it pretty much their own way in Division 3 last season, winning all their league games in an unbeaten 14 game run to claim the title. The Roebuck had a contrasting season, finishing bottom of Division 1, but also showing their quality in a number of those games (including that monumental effort against the Ammies).

The former Division 1 side took this opportunity to set their stall out for the rest of the year, with a resounding win that will provide food for thought for the other teams who might consider themselves in the promotion mixup. Rick Keil, Hayden Reddy and Chris Merriman each won 3-0 to put the visitors into a commanding lead, Hayden with his second win in as many games (without losing a leg) since becoming the latest member of the Reddy clan to play in the league. It was over as a contest after the Buck’s Steve Preston claimed the bonus points with a tight 3-2 win against Tay Benjamin in game 4, and despite a consolation 3-0 win for James Roberts in game 5, the night was rounded off with further 3-0 wins for The Roebuck courtesy of Mark Garnett and Chris Reddy.

Match Stats

The Melville 4 vs 3 Carters Arms

Following the end of last season, these two sides nearly passed each other like ships in the night prior to the league restructuring, as The Carters finished rock bottom of Division 2 while The Melville were promoted from Division 3 in a comfortable second position.

It was the promoted side who took an early lead after tight 3-2 wins for Tom Powell and Paul Sambrook, with a 3-1 reply from Carter’s Ryan Pollit making the scoreline 2-1 with three games gone.

Jon Powell nailed a 111 checkout during his 3-0 win in game four which extended the home sides lead to 3-1, before his sons, Owen and Jake, had contrasting fortunes in 3-2 scorelines – Owen with an 84 finish during a win which sealed the win for The Melville, and Jake hitting a 20 dart leg but coming up just short in his decider against Terry Caine who made it 4-2 overall. Both Powell boys recorded their first competitve 180 scores in these games so congratulations to you both, Im sure there will be more to come. With one to play, Harry Mitchell grabbed a further point for the Carters with a 3-1 defeat of Cam McFarlane.

Match Stats

Royal Oak A 4 vs 3 Urmston SC

The Royal Oak seem glued to third position in Division 2 come the end of a season, and they will be hoping to go one step better this year to finally secure promotion to the top flight. Urmston had a decent first season in Division 2 last time out, avoiding the drop zone and putting in some fine performances when it mattered.

These two sides have generally had close games and shared the spoils in fixtures last season with a 4-3 away win each, and that scoreline was repeated this time out in a 4-3 home win for the Chorlton based Oak.

Pete Perry secured a 3-0 win in game one to give the Oak the lead, but James Heslop struck back for Urmston with a 3-0 win of his own against Sharon Kirby. Steve Lawless and Steve Lee both claimed 3-2 wins with 5 tons each to put The Oak back in front at 3-1, but in a topsy turvy game, a 3-0 Gaz Lane win and a 3-1 victory for Harry Fitton pulled it back to all square again with just one game to play. The decider was clinical by the home side, as Tony Kirby recorded a 3-0 win to secure the bonus points and given his side a first win of the season.

Match Stats

Division 3

Some heavy defeats for three of the six newcomers to the league, while another newcomer is amongst four teams who registered a 6-1 win. It could be a tight season in Division 3!

Excelsior WMC 6 vs 1 Royal Oak B

The Excel had a mixed bag last season, but landed a big win at the first time of asking in an excel-lent performance against league newcomers Royal Oak B. There is a fair bit of Division 2 experience in this Oak side, so its a solid win for the Excel all things considered.

Connor McCorkell got a debut 2-1 win in game 1 to put the Excel 1-0 up, but Rob Whiteside drew the Oak B level with a similar scoreline in game 2. From there on in it was all the Excel, as Andy Cheetham and Danny Chua registered 2-0 wins to make it 3-1, while new signing Dianne Davies sealed a 2-1 win in game 5 to make it 4-1 overall and secure the bonus points and the match. With two games to go, Excel’s Peter Sage and Warren McCoubrey put a couple more coats of gloss on the win with 2-0 and 2-1 wins respectively.

Match Stats

Stretfordians 1 vs 6 The Jolly Butcher

Fresh from giving Cup holders Timperley a great deal to think about in their recent cup fixture, Stretfordians would have hoped for a better result that a 6-1 defeat as they returned to Division 3 action for the first time this season.

The Jolly Butcher claimed a swift and commanding 3-0 lead as consecutive 2-0 victories for new signing Gary Hudson and veteran Chris McGrory were followed by a 2-1 win for Butcher captain Liz Sweeney. Toni Entwistle put the Stretfordians on the board with a 2-0 win over Steve Foster in game 4, but deciding leg Butcher wins in games five and six courtesy of Chris O’Keefe and Mike Swindells made it 5-1, before Gareth Sullivan finished things off with a 2-0 victory in the last game of the evening.

Match Stats

The Bent Brook 4 vs 3 The Buck Inn-eers

The Bent Brook were new to the league themselves last season, and after winning the unofficial Division 3 knockout can now consider themselves established in the league. The Buck Inn are fresh to the league, and arrive with a witty name (I’d have gone with Buck Inn Broncos personally), and a whole bunch of enthusiasm so it’ll be interesting to see how they get along.

Harley Woods put the Buck into an early lead with a 2-0 win in the first game of the night, but Alya Preston-Macallan made it level pegging with a 2-1 win over Maizie Meek in game 2. A literal back-and-forth game saw Declan Law’s 2-0 win put the Buck 2-1 up, while Alan Parry made it all square once again with a 2-1 win. James Bloomfield s 2-0 win made it 3-2 to the newcomers with two game left, but that was to be all she wrote for the Buck Inn-eers as Alex Morton’s 2-0 win in game six pulled the Brook level for the third time in the match, before they snatched victory through a last leg decider from Anthony Coleman in the final game.

Match Stats

The Levenshulme B 4 vs 3 Old Market Tavern

The Levenshulme B are our third new team so far in these Division 3 reviews, and they put a good performance in to claim a victory via a final leg decider at home to the Old Market Tavern.

The Tavern got off to a quick start with wins for Sally Corfield and Howard Haycocks putting them two up after as many games. The Levenshulme were soon back on track however, with wins for David Duffy, Tom Beresford drawing them level, while Keiran Chapman put them into a 3-2 lead to turn the game on its head. After the Taverns Dave Clarkson took game 6, it all came down to George Moss of the Levenshulme vs Steven Foster of the OMT. In a tight game, which seems representative of the match as a whole, it was Moss who got the deciding leg to give his side a win in their first league game.

Match Stats

The Nelson (Didsbury) 1 vs 6 The Bulls Head

Newcomers (number 4) The Nelson Didsbury, had a tough time of it in the cup with only 4 players available, yet thankfully managed to field a full seven player side for this their first game of the season. Bulls Head are never short of players and after a decent season last year will be looking to take it to the next level. Literally.

They got off to a great start as one of the Bull’s best catches of last season, Iain Fish, recorded a 2-0 win in game one to put his side into the lead. The response from the Nelson was quick as Graham Beech took a 2-0 win over Harry Simper to pull level, but Bo Bowman was on target with a 2-0 win of his own in game 3 to make it 2-1. Next up for the Nelson shot Saj Sharrif… but he couldnt beat Chris Cordingley… (you all better get that reference) as the Bulls man won 2-1 to put his side 3-1 to the good. Further 2-1 wins for Alex Rydstom and Jamie Harris made it 5-1, before the final game resulted in another Bulls win as Rob Barber beat Nick Robinson by 2 legs to nil.

Match Stats

The Vine Inn 1 vs 6 Broadheath Central Aces

Our final report (and I better hurry up as its nearly time to get ready for tonights games) covers the remaining two new teams to the league, The Vine Inn and Broadheath Central Aces. I call them ‘new’ as the teams are new, but both groups of players have a decent amount of league experience with other teams. The Aces especially will have eyes on the Divisional title with many of their team having Division 1 experience, and others with recent experience of winning this very Division.

The game as over as a contest after only four games as the visiting Aces swept through the Vines first four players, securing not only the win and bonus points, but an 8-0 legs aggregate scoreline in the process.

The first of those games was the standout performance of the night, as Dave Wood hit 6 ton plus scores, while finishing his two legs in a brilliant 15 and 19 darts, ending up with a whopping 88.41 average – not something you see in Division 3 every season. Dave’s son Darren made it 2, Bob Hilton made it 3, and another strong performance in game 4 saw Geoff Talbot seal the match, hitting a 180 and 17 darter on his way to a 77.07 average. Dave Goulden grabbed a consolation for the Vine in game 5, but Joe Hughes and Andy McCormack both got 2-1 wins for the visitors, which left a final score of The Vine 1 Broadheath Central Aces 6.

Match Stats


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