Division 1
A couple of tight games and a couple of big scorelines in week 2, with Broadheath and Timperley coming out on top in the tight ones, and the Vic’ and Ammies benefitting from big wins in their games.
Broadheath Central 4 vs 3 The John Alker
Broadheath finally got their Division One season underway and showed some mettle in a hard-fought home win against the Alker. Game One saw the away team strike first when Baz Rowland beat Lee Marsh 3-2. This looks like it was a really good game, Baz came out on top after hitting a maximum 180, a 15 darter, and a 120 finish whilst Lee hit five tons, and a 17 darter for a 66.55 average in defeat.
Game 2 saw Andy McCormack of BHC take on Chris Wormald, with both players getting a 180 and a 19 darter, but it was Andy who picked up the 3-1 win with a creditable 70.43 average. Leyton Jackson made it 2-1 to the home team in game 3, pipping 5-ton Ewan Donegan 3-2 with a 19 darter and 65 average, before Dave Wood extended the Broadheath lead to 3-1 with a 3-1 win of his own against Mike Westlake.
Gaz Brickhill of the Alker picked up a nice 3-1 win over Chris Woodhouse, including six tons, an 18 darter, and a 129 kill, finishing the game with a 66.13 average to pull the match score back to 3-2.
Lee Darcy sealed it for Broadheath with a 3-2 win against Gary Thompson, before Mike Nolan of The Alker got his side an extra point and gave us a final score of 4-3 after a 3-2 win over Shane Crellin.
The Victoria (Withington) 6 vs 1 Cringlewood A
The Vic got a win under their belts at the second attempt after picking up a comprehensive 6-1 win against a team that beat them 5-2 the last time they met.
Matt Jepson got the hosts off to a flyer with a 3-0 win over Ray Levesconte, Lewis Holley doubled the lead beating Phil Lauder 3-2, before Vic captain Connor Wigley found there was no room to wiggle around Mike ‘The Mountain’ Morrison (if it’s not his darts nickname it should be), who got the Cringlewood underway with a 3-0 win, 64.41 average, and a 112 finish.
That was to be all she wrote for the Cringlewood, as consecutive 3-0 wins for Dave “The Knife” Stanley over John Mulhern, Tony Fogarty against Hayley Mulhern, and 1985 Rugby League Challenge Cup winner Sean Edwards over Liane Lauder (ok, not that Sean), put the Vic into a commanding 5-1 lead.
Terry Jepson finished it off for the Vic in an engrossing 3-2 win in the last game against young Luke Mulhern – a player who showed lots of potential. Both players throw incredibly quickly and the marker (me) had a pissy fit halfway through as I couldn’t keep up. Terry also got first blood in the Jepson 180 challenge contested each season against son Matt.
The Nelson (Didsbury) 3 vs 4 Timperley CC
A close-fought game between two strong sides next, with the honourable members of Timperley Conservative Club coming from behind to beat last season’s league runners-up.
The two Micks, Young and Cooney, got the Nelson off to a good start, winning 3-2 and 3-1 respectively, Young with his third 18 darter of the season. Connor McCorkell showed he’s settling into Tory life well with a 3-2 win in game 3, before Chris Stone hit a 19 dart leg whilst beating Ant Hargreaves Sr by 3 legs to 1 to even it all up and leave the match delicately poised at 2-2. Andy Pearson of Timperley then hit a 19-darter en route to a 3-0 win, leaving his side on the brink of victory at 3-2.
So onto game six, and no one would have been surprised if either player delivered a whitewash in a game involving The Nelson’s 180 king Dylan Wimbury, and the balding but brilliant, newly 50+ individuals eligible Gary Sullivan of Timperley. With the team win on the line, Sully went into overdrive by winning 3-0 with 7 ton plus scores, a division best equalling 14 darter, and a fantastic 95.94 average to give his side the win. Steve Moane got a consolation point for the Nelson in the final game, winning 3-0 over Michael Watling.
Wythenshawe CSC 0 vs 7 Ammies Darts
Wythenshawe caught the Ammies on the wrong day it would appear, as despite some seemingly good individual performances, they ended up on the wrong side of a heavy 7-0 defeat.
Kian Sherlock couldn’t find any clues in game 1 as Ray Dore swept to a comfortable 3-0 win featuring a 19-dart finish. Andy Tucker continued his impressive start to the season helping himself to 9 tons, an 18 darter and a ton finish while beating Paul McCreevey 3-1, Maccas managing a 180 in consolation.
Scott Livingstone then took out John Brown 3-1, before Ammies new boy Liam Solanke showed some real class with a 71.57 average in delivering a 3-0 outage of Martin Power. Wythenshawe captain Dave Peploe got what is becoming his weekly ton-plus finish with a 111, however, he couldnt stop his opposite number Ammies Captain Paul Devine from winning 3-1. Paul added another 180 to his total to sit at the top of that particular merit table.
At 5-0 down the last thing you need to see is Karl Cooper and Adam Watson up next for the opposition. Alas, that’s how the cards were dealt, and both won 3-0 to earn the whitewash for their team.
Division 2
Interesting week in Division 2 with The Silver Birch gaining another statement win, Royal Oak falling to an unexpected defeat, and close wins for Ashton-on-Mersey Cricket Club and Trafford Social.
Cringlewood B 2 vs 5 Silver Birch
Silver Birch followed up their impressive start last week with another big win against Cringlewood B to cement their place atop the early Division 2 league table.
George Moss and Kraig Loose had 3-1 wins over Eddie Clare and Gary Williams to put the Birch in the driving seat before Charlie Sanders pulled one back with a 3-0 win over Diane Davies. Rob Moss got the league leaders further in front with a 3-0 win over George Lewis, while Geoff Sanders of the Cringlewood pulled it back to 3-2 against Lee Davies.
Long-time South Manchester Superleague player Andy Skinner won 3-2 against Billy Sanders to seal it for the Birch, before Martin Tyson delivered the knockout blow with a 3-1 win, 18 darter and 101 finish.
Ashton-on-Mersey CC 4 vs 3 Carters Arms
Ashton finally got their season underway after consecutive byes in cup and league, pulling off a late 4-3 home win against an unlucky Carters Arms.
Newly relegated from the top flight, Ashton would have been keen to declare an early intention to return from whence they came, however they nearly came unstuck falling 3-1 down after the first four games. Ashton’s James Compton, George Hardman and Harry Guthrie each lost 3-0 to Jim Morris, Gavin Halton and James Flynn in games 1, 3 and 4 with a 3-0 win from Mark Robinson against Bob Mitchell in game 2 the sole reply.
With only one route to avoid defeat, Ashton found the way via consecutive wins for Andy Matias, 3-1 over Martin Jennings, Chris Chapman who hit a 108 finish in a 3-2 win against Andrew Nicholson, and Mike Buckley sealing it for the Cricket Club with a 3-0 win over Dave Sills.
Royal Oak A 2 vs 5 LMRCA
Not much in the way of stats to work from on this one, but given last seasons form, this may be percieved as a bit of an upset.
Sharon Kirby of the Oak lost game one to Ron Cooke, before Lee Medd made it one each. Three consecutive 3-2 wins for the LMRCA via Tony Spilsbury, (who I think hit an impressive 7 tons based on the Sanskrit I was provided with) Alan Gleave, and a 180 hitting Dave Brooks, meant LMRCA sealed the win after only five games. [** UPDATE – it was nine ton-plus scores for Tony, so I’m not surprised there was a struggle to fit them in the box on the scoresheet! **].
Ryan Woods turned the knife further with a 3-1 win against Jordan Kirby, however a late win for Pete DeCordova earned a consolation point for the Oak in what ended up 5-2 to the railway enthusiasts.
St Antony’s 3 vs 4 Trafford Social Club
St Antonys found themselves 3-1 down after four games, with Dom Batty the sole responder in game 2, whilst Andrew Wood, Jake Neersoo and Mark Kelly (who hit a 110 finish along the way) put TSC firmly in front.
Shaun Gill pulled one back in impressive style, hitting a 17 darter and 7 ton plus scores against Kyle Wands, and Mark Paton made it go to a decider, after pipping an out of sorts Alan Wands 3-2.
Andrew Davies won the decider for TSC beating Ian Paton 3-2.
Division 3
An evening for the away team in Division 3, with the Excel getting a big 6-1 win at Stretfordians, and the visitors in the other fixtures picking up 5-2 wins – Malt Shovels and The Melville overcoming the Bent Brook and Wythenshawe FC, whilst the Bulls Head charged through the Old Market Tavern.
The Bent Brook 2 vs 5 The Malt Shovels
Apparently, the food at the Bent Brook is awesome – so good in fact, that there has been no mention of the darts from either side since Wednesday. It certainly seems that the newcomers to the league are playing at a venue that other teams will be licking their lips to get to.
In this week’s transfer gossip, (since there’s sod all darts to report on) late news arrived regarding a number of new signings for the Bent Brook, including former long-time Lancashire County Captain The Salford Devil Paul Whitworth, and a mysterious signing known only to some as ‘The Guinness Man’.
Wythenshawe FC 2 vs 5 The Melville
The Melille made short work of this one as a contest winning the first four games via Owen Powell (2-0 against Gareth Sullivan), Cam McFarlane (2-1 against Lee Billington), Jake Powell (20 darter in a 2-1 win over Mike Swindells) and Paul Sambrook (2-0 over Steve Foster).
Chris McGrory stopped the rot for Wythenshawe with a 2-0 win over Sam Macintosh, and Liz Sweeney made it more respectable winning by the same scoreline over Tom Powell.
Jon Powell made it 5-2 to the Melville with a 2-0 win over Brian Sprotson.
Stretfordians 1 vs 6 Excelsior WMC
Sale Excel made it two from two with a comprehensive win over Stretfordians.
Andy Cheetham, Steve Mulrooney, Georgio Corbett, Adam Richardson and Warren McCoubrey put the Excel into an unassailable 5-0 lead, Morgan Nickson hit a consolation 2-0 win for Stretfordians, before Peter Ellison finished it off for the Excel winning 3-0 with a game high 3 ton plus scores.
Old Market Tavern 2 vs 5 Bulls Head
OMT started this game well with a 2-0 win for Lee Knowles over Steve Hazelhurst. The Bulls then charged through the next four games, making it 3-1 overall with three 2-0 victories for Alex Rydstom, Gareth Shaw and Chris Cordingley. Adrian Stock then sealed the points for the Hale Barns side with a 2-1 win over Howard Haycocks. Sally Corfield gave the OMT one more point on the night beating Jamie Harris 2-0, but Bulls Head wrapped it up with a 2-0 win for Rob Barber against Amanda Haycocks.
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