The New Season 2006/7

We kick off on Tuesday 5th September. We are not allowed early sight of the fixtures, but for the sake of planning (travel arrangements, bar food etc) we do know it's a Home game.

It'll be interesting to see who the new teams are and which teams have left the League. The game is supposedly in decline, so I'm hoping for a good strong League of 12 plus teams. Also, I'll be keen to see how strong we'll be this year, as there may be changes to the people who are signed on to play for us. There are some changes to the format of the games too.

The only target I'm setting myself is to win more matches than I lose, and this time I'll try to enjoy it all a bit more, rather than getting too uptight. Easier said than done though :o)

Getting Going

We had a team practice night tonight, ahead of our game in the Regional Finals on Saturday. It's amazing how long it takes me to get going and play some decent darts. For the first hour I was really uncomfortable and throwing some very average darts, but by the end I was hitting most of my targets and was only a wire away from a 160 finish.

I just need to ensure I get to the Finals in the right frame of mind, as I'm determined to put up a good performance. I think I'll skip practice on Wednesday and Thursday, and just have a session the night before. We depart from The Chelmsford at 10:30hrs on Saturday 2nd September and I'll do a full write-up on Sunday.

Regional Finalists!

That's right – The Chelmsford are now regional finalists in that cup competition I've been tracking on here. Our scheduled opponents from Jarrow sadly had to withdraw and grant us a “by” into the regional finals on Kenton Road (Newcastle Upon Tyne) on Saturday 2nd September.

I'm genuinely disappointed to get to the biggest match in my two years with the team by virtue of a “by”, but we must now take the opportunity with both hands and play out of our skins in Newcastle.

I gather the venue is large, and there'll be a gallery of floor standing dart boards with several matches being played concurrently. We are not allowed to wear any clothing which shows a commercial logo of any kind other than the sponsors' logos. I don't think I have many totally plain T shirts, but I'll have to dig one out as this is a very strict rule.

This is the biggest event I've ever been involved in. I'll be practicing like mad, and I'll take my camera and do a full spread on this blog when I get back!

Double Ones

Pictured : The Mad House
It continues to be quiet on the darting front, and my practice is suffering. I’ve got some awful DartPro stats for the last two months, and I’m struggling to even get an average of 50 in the games of 501 including the finish. The trend is upwards though, and I hope to be back in the mid 50’s when the season starts (date not yet confirmed – it was September 6th last season).

At least the practice shot (pictured) was an unusual moment of perfection. My least favourite double on the board totally nailed! Let this give me some hope that I can find accuracy – at times.

Needless to say, I'd never dream of using these pink flights in public. Well, not after the stick I got last time, anyway :o)