Division 1
The away team throwing first rule didnt seem to have a massive impact with three home wins out of four in Division One. There were three tight 4-3 scorelines, and the other game resulted in a big win for the reigning champions the Ammies. It’s starting to feel like they haven’t lost a league match since Eric Bristow graced the Lakeside stage!
Cringlewood A 4 vs 3 The Roebuck
Div 1 newcomers The ‘Old’ Roebuck (to give them their Sunday name) found it tougher going than last week’s cup game but still put up a good fight in defeat against the Cringlewood A. Ray Levesconte and Chris Merriman shared an impressive 13 tons in the four legs played, with seven for Chris in defeat, and Ray of the Cringlewood getting six on the way to a 3-1 win.
Mark Garnett got the Roebuck underway with a 3-2 win over John Mulhern, before a three-game streak from Luke Mulhern, Phil Lauder, and Mike Morrison (for the loss of only one leg between them), effectively put the game to bed for the Cringlewood A and the Roebuck looking at the possibility of a heavy defeat. That outcome was averted with consecutive 3-1 wins for Rick Kiel and Chris Haycock of the Bucks, giving a final score of 4-3 to the Cringlewood.
John Alker 3 vs 4 The Nelson (Didsbury)
Mick Young must have had one eye on his holiday the following morning and was in no mood for messing about in game one with a 180, an 18 darter, and a 77.74 average in a 3-1 win against former Lancashire County player Gary Thompson. Gaz Brickhill then equalized for the Alker winning 3-1, before alternating wins for Tony Green of the Nelson, (who hit a 19 darter in a tight game with Mike Nolan) and Baz Rowland of the Alker, then left the match tentatively poised at two games each with three to go. The Nelson then stepped it up a gear with consecutive 3-0 wins via Ant Hargreaves Sr and Dylan Wimbury, Dylan sealing the win for the Nelson hitting a 20 dart leg and 68.8 average along the way. Ewan Donegan snatched an extra point for the Alker with a 3-1 win over Steve Moane giving the final scoreline a nicer look at 4-3, though it was the Nelson who got to enjoy the win on the long flight back to Didsbury.
Wythenshawe CSC 4 vs 3 The Victoria (Withington)
Game One saw Dave Stanley get his and the Vic’s season underway with a 3-1 win featuring a 180 and an 18 dart leg. Dave Peploe captain of Wythenshawe CSC made it one each smashing a lovely 148 finish along the way. Terry Jepson put the Vic ahead with a 3-0 win over Becky Knott, Terry with a 16 darter and 73.92 average.
In a back-and-forth game, Wythenshawe CSC came straight back again with an elementary 3-0 win for Kian Sherlock over league treasurer Sean Edwards who found it hard to make his scores count. Martin Power surged to a 3-1 win over Paul Mitchell of the Vic, before Matt Jepson edged a tight 3-2 win against Stockport and County legend Paul McCreevey setting it up nicely at 3-3 and all down to the deciding game between former Burnage Rugby star ‘Big’ John Brown and former SMD Superleague Captain Tony Fogarty (this isn’t weird writing this at all…). I then gave an impressive example of why I should drive to games in the future, putting in a tepid performance, while John did what he needed to do (and one thing he didn’t need to do was get out of second gear), with a 3-1 win, 4 tons and a 20-darter to seal the match for Wythenshawe.
Ammies Darts 6 vs 1 Timperley CC
I’d honestly been looking forward to seeing how this game went all week. The league champions against Saudi-owned Timperley CC who had three of their new signings on show in Callum Loose, Andy Pearson and Connor McCorkell.
And what a way to get underway, ton machine Karl Cooper of the Ammies facing Timperley’s big-hitting Gary Sullivan in what on paper was sure to be a close-fought game. Coops did his thing with a massive 11 ton-plus scores during his 3-2 win, although Sully, who is always there or thereabouts in the individual merits, placed an early marker down in the highest finish category with a whopping 157 kill.
The Ammies then opened up the engines with back-to-back 3-0 wins for captain Paul Devine over Connor McCorkell and Andy Tucker beating an out-of-sorts Ian McCulloch. Makka has been one of the best players in this league for many years and should remember that form is temporary, and class is permanent, but Andy showed class of his own with a slick 15-darter and a 104 checkout along the way.
At 3-0 down, a shell-shocked Timperley sent out Kev Kelly who, although managing a nice 18 darter against Scott Livingstone, ultimately came up short as Scott hit a 19 darter, and a 68.75 average on the way to a 3-1 win and a 4-0 lead for his team. Ray Dore was up next for the Ammies, turning the screw even further winning 3-2 against Timperley newcomer Andy Pearson.
Game 6 when drawn out would have got some oohs and ahs, with a face-off between last season’s two individual champions – Adam Watson the SMD league champ of the Ammies, and Callum Loose of Timperely – the Kenny Tong League Champ, Callum now back in Division 1 after a season bullying people in Division 3. Both players had a summer season unbeaten in the league, so something had to give. And so it did, Callum earning his side their first point of the night with an impressive 3-1 win which included a league-best 14 dart leg and 76.62 average. That single point was as good as it got for the Tory boys, as Mark Johnson wrapped up the 6-1 victory for the Ammies with a 3-1 win over Andy Brownhill while finding room for a tidy 119 finish.
Division 2
Division Two got underway with three away wins and comprehensive victories for all the newcomers to the division.
LMRCA 2 vs 5 Cringlewood B
Cringlewood B started their season off on the right track at the railway club, with a 5-2 win over LMRCA in what seemed a tight match, with three games going the distance at 3-2.
Gary Williams got the Cringlewood B off to a great start, winning 3-0, hitting a 20 darter, a 92 finish and a cool 72.73 average against Dave Brooks, before Joe Davis made it all square in game two. Next there followed a couple of those tight 3-2 games I mentioned, with the Cringlewood picking up the points in each – Charlie Sanders beating Tony Spilsbury, despite Tony hitting 6 tons, a maximum 180 and a 20 dart leg, and Dan O’Donnell pipping Ryan Woods to make it 3-1 overall. Ron Cooke reduced the deficit to 3-2 with a 3-0 win, but that was to be all she wrote for the LMRCA with Cringlewood B winning the remaining two games through Geoff and Billy Sanders, Geoff with 5 tons and a 20 darter in a 3-2 win over Derek Ostick, before Billy wrapped it up with a comfortable 3-0 win.
Urmston SC 5 vs 2 St Antony’s
Urmston Social Club took no time getting used to a higher division following last seasons promotion by gaining a solid 5-2 win against visitors St Antonys. Mark Stomper and Steve Lye got Urmston to two nil in quick time following respective wins of 3-0 and 3-1, Steve getting 7 tons and a respectable 64.83 average in his game. Carl Paton got his team on the board with a 3-0 win and put himself in the driving seat of the Highest Finish list for Division 2 with a classy 136 finish. Urmston then pulled further clear, with a close 3-2 win for Lee Capper against Dom Batty and a comfortable 3-0 win for Jim Higginson which secured the bonus points for his team. Shaun Gill added a consolation point for the saints winning 3-1 over Dylan Bell, before Michelle Fitton rounded it all off for Urmston with four tons in a 3-2 win to make it 5-2.
Trafford SC 1 vs 6 The Silver Birch
The Summer Division 3 winners Silver Birch (formerly Royal Oak B) set their stall out for the coming season with a resounding 6-1 win over hosts Trafford Social Club. Former Royal Oak player Kyle Wands had got Trafford off to the best start possible with a 3-0 win over Andy Skinner including a 20 dart leg, but it was downhill for Trafford after that, as the Birch won every other game on the night.
George Moss took game two with a 3-1 win over Liam Galvin who managed 5 tons in defeat, while the third game saw Kraig Loose claim five tons of his own in a 3-0 win, after having had a change of heart and passing up the reported move to Division 1’s Timperley. Martin Tyson made it 3-1 with a close 3-2 win over Mark Leather, while Alan Dawson claimed the points winning game five by 3 legs to 1, with 5 ton plus scores against another former teammate of last season, Alan Wands. The Birch finished off the match in style with a pair of 3-1 wins for Rob Moss and Lee Davies making the final score 6-1.
Carters Arms 3 vs 4 The Royal Oak (Chorlton)
The closest game in Division 2 on the night saw last seasons third placed finishers The Royal Oak Chorlton edge a tight game 4-3 against Sale’s Carters Arms. Dave Sills put the Carters one up, hitting a 180 in a 3-1 win over Tracy Kirby, before Pete DeCordova (have we got the right spelling here?) and Jordan Kirby replied with 3-1 wins of their own to make it 2-1 to the Chorlton side. Lee Medd then had an excellent game (and a couple of additions to the merit tables), winning 3-1 against Gavin Halton, hitting five tons, a 180 and a 14 dart finish to make it 3-1 overall and put the Oak on the verge of winning. The Carters has other ideas and came storming back to 3-3 following a 3-0 win for Terry Caine, and five tons for James Flynn helped him edge game six over Pete Perry. That was to be that for the Carters, with the deciding game going the way of the Royal Oak after a comfortable 3-0 win for Tony Kirby.
Division 3
It was a clean sweep of home wins in Division 3, with three 4-3 wins and a 5-2.
Malt Shovels 4 vs 3 The Melville.
Malt Shovels should really have been promoted last season, however they will be hoping to put that right this season. The Melville could also be there or there abouts, having had a decent result in the Cup last week.
Phil Wright won 2-1 to put the home team one up, before Tay Benjamin rather impressively hit a 180 for the Malt Shovels, but no other tons, and lost game two 2-0 to Jon Powell. James Golds put his team back in the lead with a 2-1 win, but The Melville’s Sam Mackintosh also won 2-1 to tie the match at 2-2. James Roberts made it 3-2 to the Malts after a tidy 2-0 win in which he hit a 20 dart leg, then Dave Hindmarch wrapped up the points, after also winning 2-0. The Melville did manage another point in the last game of the night with Owen Powell winning 2-0 against Rob Clark.
Excelsior WMC 4 vs 3 The Bent Brook.
The Bent Brook got their season underway at last when they visited Sale Excel, however they only managed to bring 5 players, which gave the Excel 2 walkover wins, helping them on the way to a 4-3 win despite losing the played games 3-2. The Brook in fact got off to a great start by winning the first three games – Peter Dalli winning 2-1 in game 1, Craig McManus winning 2-0, before the return of Gigglin Gaz O’Donnell who showed hes still got it winning 2-0 with four ton plus scores and a 20 darter. Peter Ellison and Andy Cheetham got the Excel on the score sheet with 2-0 and 2-1 wins respectively. That was it as far as the darts was concerned, with the walkover games effectively handing the points to the Excel.
Bulls Head 4 vs 3 Wythenshawe FC.
The Bulls Head welcomed Wythenshawe FC to Hale Barns, hoping to get one over on the team that finished just above them in Division 3 during the summer. A decent amount of ton plus scores in this game, though the averages suggest some double trouble for both sides – so it was probably edge of the seat stuff!
Chris McGrory got the visitors off to a good start with a 2-1 win in game one, before what looks like a cracker of a game in game two, between Bulls Heads Chris Cordingley and Brian Sproston of the ‘other’ ammies. Brian getting the upper hand in this one winning a close game 2-1. Each player hit six tons in three legs, one of which was a 100 finish for Brian, putting him top of the Division 3 Highest Finish table. Steve Hazelhurst got the Bulls Head going with a 2-0 win in game three, before Alex Rydstrom put them level at 2-2 after beating Steve Foster 2-1. Gareth Sullivan restored the lead for Wythenshawe with a 2-0 win, but the Bulls head won the final two games with Rob Barber winning 2-1 and Adrian Stock wrapping it up.
Old Market Tavern 5 vs 2 Stretfordians.
Last but not least this week, we have the Old Market Tavern who hosted Stretfordians. Sally Corfield won game one by two legs to nil for the OMT against Michele Butt. Games two to five all featured a Haycocks representative for the OMT with a mixed bag of results – Mandy losing 2-0 to Morgan Nickson, Richard and Angela both won 2-0, and Howard lost 2-1 to Lindsey Rice to leave the game poised at 3-2. OMT were not to be denied, with a 2-0 win for Ian Fensome securing the points, before a 2-1 win for Steven Foster added some gloss and giving his side a 5-2 win overall.
So some good close games this week, and a couple of big wins for teams displaying their title intentions early on.
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4 Responses
Other Ammies? Wyth FC are a professional outfit these days!! ? Great Roundup Foggy.
Cheers mate, I knew the Other Ammies comment would work 😀 I quite enjoy doing the roundups, the more stats the better! I needed something to destress while watching England in the rugby World Cup semi!!
Love the new website. Great effort ?
Nice one Chris – I’ll try and keep it updated but will see how it goes. Hopefully can get more people involved as the season progresses or for next season.