Ebchester Darts

Chelmsford 4 - 6 Leadgate Cricket Club

2012-02-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

It was a really good night of darts in The Chelmsford last night. There was a high standard of play from both teams and there were some bid scores being hit.

We got off to a great start by taking a 2-0 lead in the Team and first Doubles game, but from that point LCC really cranked up the pressure. They won the next five conecutive games to make it 2-5 before Peter and Chris had fine Singles wins to bring it back to 4-5. We lost the final Singles game however, and the final result was a 6-4 defeat for us as it was in the Away leg a couple of weeks ago.

It was a very enjoyable night of darts though. I won't award a Man Of The Match this week, but those 4 points were so hard fought for I'll award double Brownie Points to all those who hit winning doubles (KC, MB, PMc, and CM).

Doubles Dominos Cup 2012

2012-02-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

It was the League's Dominoes Doubles Cup at The Jolly Drovers last night. The Chelmsford were well represented there but sadly none of us made it through to Finals Night. Myself and Angela made it through to the 3rd Round before being narrowly beaten 5-3 by Ian and Shaz.

I must admit I'm not always fully motivated in the Dominos cup games but last night was great, and I could't have tried any harder.

Its back to the darts next week for the Return leg against Leadgate CC.

Leadgate Cricket Club 6 - 4 Chelmsford

2012-01-25T12:38:00.000-08:00

Photo by Deborah McIntyre

We were at full strength minus just one player for the first time in a good few weeks and I was expecting a better performance from us on Tuesday. Kris was the only one who played at all well in the opening Team Game (one brownie point awarded for showing the way) and we lost the game disappointingly. There was a damaging string of five scores which were all under 30, and it is really difficult to recover from such low scoring.

I prefer the Cricket Club's new oche of a line on the carpet rather than the aluminium bar they used to have, but we were finding it hard to put some decent scores together. It seemed the harder we tried the more T1 and T5's we were getting. There was no shortage of effort though.

We only picked up 2 of the 6 Singles points, and Roger finished his 32 really well to get us the last point of the evening and keep the scoreline reasonable.

Chelmsford 5 - 5 Moorcock B

2012-01-19T12:38:00.000-08:00

We lost the opening team game in an appalling way on Tuesday - leading by 300 points we each took two turns at messing up the finish while Moorcock B quietly got down to the finish and hit it. Worse was to follow as we found ourselves 1-3 down after the Doubles games despite playing a decent game.

Any of the Moorcock players who weren't scoring too highly were making up for it by hitting the doubles. The Singles games were better for us though, and we made up a bit of ground by winning 4 of the 6 to at least get the draw.

Our Man Of The Match was Alan P. He hit a 180 in his Singles game which he followed with an 80+ shot to consolidate it. Typical of much of our finishing he still allowed a big lead to be lost due to hesitance on the finishing, but thankfully he finally got the finish to make it 5-4 in the penultimate game.

Moorcock B Team 7 - 3 Chelmsford

2012-01-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

Open fire in The Chelmsford Bar

We were without 4 of our regular players on Tuesday night, but still put up a decent show. The score may not look too good but in every one of the 10 legs we were down to a good double (i.e. D16 etc, not D1!) and just a little more accuracy on the doubles would have seen us draw at the very least.

Michael and Alan both won their Singles games, and I'll award Alan the Man Of The Match for his 70 finish in the Singles as well as a winning performance with me in the Doubles game. They are our three points on the night, but we've played far worse than this and won in the past - it can be a strange game.

Tuesday was a very windy evening up there in Waskerley and many seemed to have chosen to stay at home, with only the 12 participants in the Bar. That said, Helen put on a great buffet and the roaring open fire was so hot you had to keep well out of its way.

Two Match Reports - Moorcock A Team

2011-12-19T13:09:00.000-08:00

6/12/11 Moorcock A Team 3 - 7 Chelsmford
The opening team game found us both needing a D3 finish, which both teams split down to a D1 finish. Luckily Kris hit the D1 for us and it seemed to give us the edge in the following games.

Peter hit a 70 finish in two darts (T18, D8) in the Doubles games, but the rest of our finishes were all 40 and below. All players from The Chelmsford hit a winning double on the night, but Kris scored two of them and takes the Man Of The Match award with finishes on 3 and 36.

13/12/11 Chelmsford 5 - 5 Moorcock A Team
The Moorcock A Team were in far better form for the return game. Their finishing was much sharper and after winning the opening Team game they dominated the Doubles games to take a 3-1 lead.

It was all a bit of a struggle for us as we found ourselves missing several of our finishes. We fared far better in the Singles games but still needed to win the last two games to make it a 5-5 tie. Similar to the Away leg we had a 76 finish in two darts (T20, D8) with the rest of the finishes all 40 or under. Michael hit two of our winning doubles to take the Man Of The Match award.

Chelmsford 7 - 3 Shotley B

2011-12-07T23:37:00.000-08:00

Firstly, a quick correction from my report on the Home leg against Shotley A Team : I referred to the earlier Away leg as a defeat when in fact it was a 4-6 victory for us.

Our Home game against their B Team on 29/11/2011 went well for us. Kris finished the opening Team game with an important finish on 5. Sometimes these small finishes are bust when aiming for the single to leave the Double. The scoreline then went to 3-3 but from this point we had a very strong showing in the final four Singles game to scoop the remaining points.

There are some pleasing highlights to report : Peter hit a 180 in his Singles game (Brownie Point recorded) and Michael finished on 72. Three of our players hit two finishing doubles each (Michael,Kris, Peter), but I'll award the Man Of The Match to Peter for the 180.

Bat Update (see below)

2011-12-06T18:13:00.000-08:00

Here's the bat getting an escort out of the house. Bracken is on a "Leave" command so he won't even look at at

The bat did not struggle at all when gently picked up, and I left him on top of my dog kennel to fly away. I appreciate that bats have a lot of legislation to protect them and I have probably done something wrong, but I hope leaving him where he would have been three days ago before it flew into my house and hid would be OK.

Bats

2011-12-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

My Bat

I have two match reports to update on here, but in the meantime have a look at the most interesting thing to happen recently :o) I returned home on Tuesday night after the darts to find a bat attached to my curtains.

The bat came into to my house three days ago and surprised me (to say the least) while I was in the kitchen, but I thought it must have left through the open front door and I couldn't find it after a long search of the house.

Any animals I find in my house gets safe passage out of the front door. Spiders, bees, wasps, anything - all encouraged to go elsewhere with gentle persuasion, so you can imagine the VIP status this beautiful little bat was given.

Shotley Club B Team 5 - 5 Chelmsford

2011-11-27T03:39:00.000-08:00

Summer 2011

We were back at Shotley Club on Tuesday night to play their B Team. Both teams played fairly well and the points swung evenly between the tams. I was disappointed that the opening Team Game slipped away from us due to poor finishing, but from that point onwards all of the games were close.

Some highlights on the night were Chris from our team finishing on 50 in two darts (S10, D20), Jethro from their team hitting a high finish to win a point in a game we appeared to be winning, and Peter from their team hitting a couple of ton forties.

Following our two defeats against their A Team it was good to see us to settle down and contest a game evenly.

Chelmsford 3 - 7 Shotley Club A Team

2011-11-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

Picture : Summer 2011

This was a very disappointing score for us. We scored quite well in the games but lost out in several of the matches with poor finishing .

Just like last week's defeat it all started so well again with us taking a 2-0 lead, but from that point onwards we consistently failed to hit our doubles and it needed Roger to make it 3-6 with a D7 finish before Shotley sealed it 3-7 to make it a convincing win for them on the night.

Despite the disappointment we do have a Man Of The Match to report, as I was impressed with Peter's 75 finish in two darts early on (T17, D12), and that was precisely the encouragement with the finishing we should have followed.

Shotley Club A Team 4 - 6 Chelmsford

2011-11-10T12:59:00.001-08:00

We got off to a flying start on Tuesday night at Shotley Club against their A Team and took a 0-4 lead by winning the opening Team game and the three Doubles games. By the time we had played the second Singles game we were in a 1-5 lead, but from this point they raised their game and we only gained one further point as Shotley improved in the Singles games.

Peter was our Man Of The Match, hitting three of our six wining doubles and being the difference between the two teams with such a close scoreline.

Chelmsford 1 - 9 Derwentside "B"

2011-11-05T14:45:00.001-07:00

We had an awful result on Tuesday night. The DB team gave us far more chances than the previous week when we lost 8-2 to them, but poor finishing meant we failed to take our chances. Several times we built up good leads in the games but then committed the cardinal sin of dallying on the finishes.

It was good stuff from DB though, and I think they'll do really well this season. We've seen two sides to them in our games : first a strong performance, and then a determined performance, with 17 points for their efforts.

Normally I'd hold back on a Man Of The Match award, but I simply have to award it to Roger for sparing us the indignity of a brushing with his 22 finish in his Singles game.

Derwentside B 8 - 2 Chelmsford

2011-10-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning at the foot of Ebchester Hill

We played the Derwentside B Team last night and had the use of their back room upstairs. It is great for darts, with a raised oche and perfect lighting. They are yet another team who have opted for a Blade 4 board this season and it seems to be the clear favourite this season.

Although DB were good value for their win with some consistently high scoring it was a little disappointing that we missed two or three chances to get more than just the two points. No complaints apart from that though, and when we're outscored like that we really need to take every single chance at a double we might get.

Our points on the night came from Peter in the opening Team Game and Roger with the last dart of the night. In the intervening games DB were were in impressive form and played a great game.

Turf 4 - 6 Chelmsford

2011-10-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

Photo by Amy Thomas

The Turf played far better than last week, and it was a very close game. They are using a Unicorn Radius board. I've not seen this model before. It has thin rounded wires so I wouldn't prefer it to their Eclipse model, but there were no bounce-outs that I can remember.
We started well and took a lead in wining the opening Team Game, but yet again Frank was their secret weapon and he won his Doubles and Singles games to put The Turf in a 2-1 lead with a steady stream of ton plus shots. He played his games first to allow him to leave early.

We had our own secret weapon in Alan though, and he was our clear Man Of The Match with three D8 finishes in the Team / Doubles / Singles games to win half of our points on the night.

Chelmsford 8 - 2 Turf

2011-10-12T12:26:00.001-07:00

Ebchester sunset from 30/9/2011

Firstly a quick recap from last Tuesday : We progressed to the next round of the Team Darts and Dominoes competition with a win Away at The Cricketers. It was a good night as always up there and their young team are a pleasure to play against.

Last night it was back to The League, and we took a very welcome eight points against The Turf. We started the game very strongly and eased into a 7-0 lead. We were throwing fairly average darts, but The Turf seemed to have problems in their score building. One exception to this was Frank from their team who was impressive all evening, hitting many 100 / 140 shots.

By the time The Turf finally got their first points of the game the damage had been done from their point of view and I'm sure they will be doing all they can to avoid falling so far behind in next week's return leg at their place.

It was a good evenly balanced performance across our team so I'll hold back the Man Of The Match award this week, though Frank from their team put in the best overall performance of the night.

Chelmsford 7 - 3 Commercial

2011-09-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

Derwent Walk, late September 2011

The Commercial got off to a strong start on Tuesday night and won the opening Team game. They maintained their decent scoring in the remaining legs but their finishing seemed to desert them, and several times we were allowed to win points in which we were trailing at the mid point. One notable exception to this was Kris' Singles game where he played solidly throughout but still lost what felt like the quickest game of the night.

The majority of our 7 points were scored by three of us who each sank two winning doubles, but Man Of The Match goes to Roger for his memorable 68 finish on The Bull. The importance of finishing was yet again apparent on Tuesday, and Roger's finish was the highlight for us.

Commercial 5 - 5 Chelmsford

2011-09-22T02:23:00.000-07:00

Ebchester's sunset on Tuesday night

On Tuesday night we played The Commercial who are now playing from The Coach and Horses pub. As with Blackhill Club they have also chosen a new Winmau Blade 4 board this season, and I still haven't seen a single bounce out on this model so my early impressions of it are favourable.

All ten of the games on Tuesday were close with neither side dominating. We were well matched with the points being shared throughout the night. Either team could make it a win in the return leg with just a bit more accuracy, so we'll see how that one goes.

Michael was our Man Of The Match, narrowly edging it for higher finishing on his two point winning doubles. Alan also won two points, with Kris getting the other one in his Singles game.

Chelmsford 3 - 7 Blackhill

2011-09-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

Picture : Derwent Walk, Summer 2011

We played much better than last week but so did Blackhill and they increased their margin of victory by a point. It's good to make improvements from last week, but both teams can play better than this.

It was an enjoyable game as always against Blackhill, with some good highlights to report too. Graham from Blackhill hit a 180 and a Bull finish in his Singles game against me, Alan P somehow recovered from a first dart of D17 to complete his 63 finish, and Peter's 96 finish in 2 darts were probably the most memorable events.

On a personal note from me it was so strange to play without nicotine (I stopped smoking on 25/8/11) plus the shoulder injury from a cycle accident two weeks ago which has prevented any practice, but I was really pleased to play a reasonably solid game. I thought I'd miss the usual pre and post match cigs. I will however be marking the board whenever possible to keep these idle hands busy :o)

Finally, congratulations to our friends from The Shepherds. They have made the finals of the Pubmaster competition, to be played in Coventry on 22/10/11. Also, we're sad to hear the news regarding Lawrence Bell from their team. See the comments in The Shepherd's Progress post for details.

Blackhill 6 - 4 Chelmsford

2011-09-06T15:10:00.000-07:00

A practice shot

What a relief to get our first points of the season Away to a team who whitewashed us 10-0 in the exact same opening day fixture last season.

As always with the darts, we actually played a very ordinary game but somehow managed to get 4 points. Last season we played out of our skins but couldn't buy a point, and that is just the way it goes.

Our 4 points were evenly spread within the team and our first Man Of The Match goes to Michael for getting the finishing double in his Doubles game plus our highest scoring Singles game, despite ultimately losing this one. There were pleasing Singles wins for Peter and Kris too.

I had a bad fall from my bicycle last Tuesday morning where I took the brunt of the impact on my right shoulder. I have difficulties putting a shirt on, but I threw OK on the night so no complaints :o)

Blackhill are now using a Blade 4 board which looked as beautiful as it played - congrats to Nev for choosing this one. I've not played on the Blade 4 before and I was impressed.

The Shepherds Progress

2011-08-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

Signals like this did not help us in the Doubles games surprisingly

We were whitewashed again in the Return leg against The Shepherds of Houghton Le Spring on Sunday night. I was unable to attend due to a prior arrangement. Ronnie Scheu from their team very sportingly took my place and was trying hard for our cause by all accounts.

Still not a single point for us from the eleven on offer, but Peter McLean from our team scored a 180, and Micheal forced a deciding leg in a "best of three" Singles match, and I'm afraid that is the sum total we could manage against another very strong display from The Shepherds.

I hope Paul from their team can keep us posted with their progress in this cup competition. I'd be disappointed if they didn't make the finals at least. They have made a real impression on us.

Punch Darts Classic 2011 Round 3 North

2011-08-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

Alan (left) collects the Player Of The Season trophy

We were very convincingly whitewashed 0-11 last night by an excellent Sheperds team from Houghton Le Spring. Their scoring was high (averaging over 100 per throw including the finish in one of the 701 legs) and their finishing rarely took more than one visit to the board. In most of the legs we were too far behind to put any pressure whatsoever on their finishes. One 88 finish was picked off in two darts (T16, D20) and was typical of their accuracy.

So, outclassed and we never had a sniff of a point all night. Kris probably came the closest by forcing a "best of three" Singles game into a deciding leg, but that was it for us!

Regards to Paul from their team who mentioned he had seen this blog prior to the match. I noticed he took a T20 route on a 101 finish, again because there was so little pressure there was no need to take the T17 route. The return leg is next week and I have no idea what sort of odds you'd get on us whitewashing them to force a play off. National Lottery type odds spring to mind.

Downtime

2011-07-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

Downtime indeed, although we do have a cup match on Sunday night at The Chelmsford. We're through to the third round due to "byes" in the previous two rounds, and I never think that's a good thing - I'd rather play the games.

So those new green polo shirts will be worn on Sunday night and I'll be presenting the Player Of The Season 2010/11 trophy to Alan - pictures to follow. The trophy is the same as last year's, with different dates of course :o)

Presentation Night 2011

2011-07-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

First of The Summer Wine (Raspberries)

We had the end of season Presentation Night up at Blackhill Club on Tuesday night. The entertainment was provided by local band The Notice and they went down well with many of us.

Alan Parkin from our team collected his Dominoes Singles to retain this trophy for The Chelmsford following Colin Carr's success last year.

We'll still be meeting up for Tuesday nights darts in the close season, but we don't have anything like last year's Finishing School planned. I'll be doing my usual practice, and I'm hoping to come up with a golf type practice game where hitting the correct Singles is important, because we always have Bob's 27 to practice the doubles on. Details to follow soon.

Practice Night 6/7/11

2011-07-05T16:48:00.000-07:00

The Derwent Walk

There's nothing much happening at the moment. We have Presentation Night next Tuesday at Blackhil Club though, where Alan P will be presented with his Singles Dominoes Trophy, which is our highlight of an otherwise settled season for us.

We had a practice night tonight with a good turn out. Perhaps we were lucky not to be fighting for League points on that display to be honest, but a good night nonetheless.

New Team Shirts

2011-06-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

Deb wearing the new team shirt

Here's the new team shirt Angela bought for the team. I think they're great.

The Chelmsford has always been known as The Knack for some reason, hence the embroidered name. Let's hope they bring us luck. We've played in them twice at the end of the season with decent results.

Chopwell 5 - 5 Chelsmford

2011-06-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

By The Steppy Stones, Ebchester

We finished the season up at Chopwell Central with another very welcome 5 points against the 2nd placed team. After losing the opening 1001x Team Game we briefly found ourselves in a 1-2 lead before sharing the Singles points between the two teams. It was down to Roger to throw our last darts of the season and equalise at 5-5 with a 40 outshot (D5, S2, D14)

It is a great place to play, but I find their Nodor Supabull II board causes plenty of bounce outs due to the large rounded wiring, and there were certainly plenty on the night. Great hospitality as always from them, including a tray of Aftershocks, which was a great touch!

Peter and Alan share the Man Of The Match award for us, sharing four of the match winning doubles with some good play. This means the Player Of The Season goes to Alan, who played in every match of the season and racked up 40 Brownie Points. The trophy is being engraved!

Chelmsford 5 - 5 Chopwell Central

2011-06-08T14:33:00.000-07:00

Firstly, sincere thanks to our Landlady Angela who has bought darts team Polo shirts for us all. They're great and I'll post a picture soon.

We did really well to get 5 points against the League's 2nd placed team on Tuesday. I must admit we seemed to be getting the odd bit of luck, with any wayward T12 / T18 / D20 shots going our way, but we still had to finish well and take any chances which arose.

Michael was a very clear Man Of The Match, hitting three of our five winning doubles, including the final dart of the night to get the draw with a well grouped shot at D4. He has made a late dash at the Player Of The Season trophy, although the 4 point gap may be difficult to overcome with just one game remaining. Prior to the final game of the season the main runners are :

1) Alan - 37 points
2) Kris - 36 points
3) Peter and Michael - 32 Points

Chelmsford 4 - 6 Wheatsheaf

2011-06-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

Picture from nearby Newlands, May 2011

We didn't play well on Tuesday and The Wheatsheaf did enough to get the win, despite playing to a lower standard than their usual too. We really wanted to finish the season strongly at this late stage in the season, but it just wasn't happening.

The highlights from The Wheatsheaf were two 180's, from Rocky and Shaun. From our team Peter played the best Singles match and finished in 18 darts. Our Man Of The Match was Michael, who provided the finishes for half of our wins on the night (a D20 in the Doubles game and a D8 in the Singles).

We are missing a few regular players for the penultimate game at Home to Chopwell Central on Tuesday so there may be some opportunities for the Dominoes and Darts specialists to swap disciplines.

Wheatsheaf 6 - 4 Chelmsford

2011-05-27T13:45:00.001-07:00

We did quite well to get 4 points on Tuesday. We were hitting the odd good shot but not getting true consistency, and we quickly found ourselves 3-1 down. A good showing in the final 6 Singles games was almost enough to see us sneak a draw, but I think the result was a fair one.

The main highlights were from the Wheatsheaf players, with a 180 from Rob, and a very stylish 120 Shanghai finish from Shaun who had to step well to the right to get his last dart in. Our best effort was a 72 finish from Alan (S20, S20, D16) with the rest of our finishes being under 50.

I'll hold back on a Man Of The Match for us this week as none of us really excelled, and this keeps things really tight for the result of our Player of The Season trophy. It is "as you were" from the last post, and looking like a two horse race between Alan and Kris.

We have a Race Night at The Chelmsford on Saturday night 28th May 2011 in support of the darts team, and I hope the Champions League final does not lose us any support for this event. At least you can mention any one of the darts team on Twitter without flouting a super injunction, and you won't catch any one of us messing about with glamour models - we're really noble like that :o)

Chelmsford 6 - 4 Comercial

2011-05-13T11:47:00.001-07:00

We had another enjoyable game on Tuesday night in the return game against The Commercial. The scoring carried on from our Away leg last week with all of the games being evenly contested and the overall result was only decided in the final Singles game of the night.

Although we had a 5-2 lead at one point the games were all too close for us to feel confident in a win, and a strong finish to the match from The Commercial left it all riding on the last leg.

One pleasing aspect for us was another win in the opening 1001x Team game, giving us a 77% success rate in this for the season so far. Usually we struggle to get the 50%, so these are useful points that have helped us reach 4th place in The League.

Kris was a very clear Man Of The Match, hitting half of our wining doubles in one of his best games of the season. This has put Kris joint top of the Brownie Point League, tied with Alan on 35 BPs. Peter (30 BPs) can catch them if they slip up in the final few games, but it appears to be a three horse race for the Ebchester Darts Player of the Season 2010/11 Trophy.

Commercial 5 - 5 Chelmsford

2011-05-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Practicing "Tops"

Sadly, The Commercial was closed and demolished last year, but the good news is that the team stayed together and now play from The Coach and Horses in Leadgate, playing under their original team name.

There have been changes in the Coach's layout. They no longer use the raised oche which I preferred due to the throwing line, but no complains with the new Blade 3 board they now use on the other wall, and as expected with such a decent board there was just one bounce-out on the night.

We won an opening Team Game where we had built up a lead to get down to the finish first against the darts. The remaining nine games were far closer though, and The Commercial checked out their finishes better than we did, taking a 5-2 lead. We had to press really hard to take the final three Singles points and get a draw which had seemed unlikely at the halfway point.

There was some good scoring and finishing from both teams. The Commercial registered a 180 in the first Doubles game with their next score being a ton to make a real dent in the 701 required.

Chelmsford 7 - 3 Derwentside "B"

2011-04-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

The Derwentside "B" team were a player short due to work commitments and this resulted in them giving us a "bye" point in one of the Singles games, a huge advantage in one of the Doubles games, as well as a free throw to us in each cycle of the opening Team game. Such a pity, as this would have been a very close game without this unwanted advantage.

Still, a good night of competition on another very warm April evening up at our place. We pushed our average to a 75% success rate in the opening Team game, which is a decent stat for us. It was 1-1 after the first Doubles game though, and good scoring with low finishes seemed to be the way that most of the games went.

Kris takes Man Of The Match for us with 36 and 48 finishes in his Doubles and Singles games respectively.

Derwentside "B" 4 - 6 Chelmsford

2011-04-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge

Tuesday's game against The Derwentside "B" team played in a similar way to the ones against their "A" team, with both teams taking points in flourishes.

Our opening 1001x Team Game was excellent, with an average score of over 73 per throw including the finish, which was 89 in two darts from Mickey.

We took a 0-3 lead, then it was 2 to them, 2 to us, 2 to them before we took the final Singles point for a narrow win. I thought we were strong in the first few games but from that point they were all in the balance and it was another good night of darts at The Derwentside.

Mickey was a very clear Man Of The Match for us, hitting half of our winning doubles with precise finishes on 89, 32, and 40.

Chelmsford 7 - 3 Ox Inn

2011-04-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

Pictured : A "Baby Ton Eighty" on the practice board

On Tuesday night we were knocked out of the Team Cup competition by Blackhill Club after we won only a single Doms game and a total brush on the dartboard. No complaints, and BC were as strong as usual.

The previous evening we played our Home leg against The Ox Inn, which had been rescheduled due to bad weather in late January. Despite the long gap between the two games we picked up where we left off and repeated the 7-3 scoreline, although this time we had a "bye" awarded in a Singles games due to one of their party receiving an urgent message.

The scoring was quite erratic for both teams. It seemed every god shot was followed by a clanger, and there were quite a few scores which barely broke double figures mixed in with the tons and steady 60's.

Our Man Of The Match was Mick, who despite losing his Singles game was the only player to hit two winning doubles, including a innovative 13 finish of T1/D5 !

Chelmsford 4 - 6 Derwentside

2011-04-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

The Quayside, Newcastle

Another great game to report between our two teams. We started very well and took a 3-0 lead, but the Derwentside took the next four points to take a 3-4 lead. With Kris getting our only Singles point in the six Singles games The Derwentside completed their come back for a win on the night.

There was plenty of effort on display from both teams, and some good scoring too. Our winning doubles were spread evenly between four players, but I'll award MOTM to Kris for the all important Singles point which should have been the basis of at least a draw for us if we could have followed suit.

Well done to Colin for his one dart X8 finish in the opening Team Game. Colin only plays when we are missing a regular, but he played a straong game all night.

Derwentside 2 - 8 Chelmsford

2011-03-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

The Swing Bridge, Newcastle

We had a fantastic result against a good Derwentside team last night, almost 4 years to the day since they beat us 9-1 in the same fixture up in Blackhill. Looking back at previous results we seem to take it in turns to get a high scoring win, and certainly we're well matched pair of teams.

In the opening team game we were 200 points behind and beaten at a canter, so it was a relief to quickly equalise and then press on with six consecutive points. There was great hospitality as always, with the use of the back room, a roaring open fire, a choice of cask ales, and a good buffet.

Peter, Kris, and Alan all hit two winning doubles each, but Man Of The Match goes to Michael for a very steady 501 Singles display in which his first five throws were all high scoring and had him down to a small finish.

Chelmsford 5 - 5 Moorcock "B"

2011-03-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

Swing Bridge, Newcastle

The Moorcock "B" team made three changes to their team from the previous week, but the result was the same on the night, with a repeat of the 5-5 draw.

This game played out quite differently however. We took a 5-1 lead after losing only one of the Doubles games and were playing reasonably well. The Moorcock's team changes may have been forced upon them as they were not scoring as highly as the week before. They showed much determination to win the final four Singles points of the night though, and there can be no complaints with the draw on the night.

No Man Of The Match this week, as our 5 winning doubles were spread evenly between five players.

Regarding the picture : I was looking for a bit of symmetry with a shot of Newcastle's Swing Bridge taken from the Tyne Bridge, but the car passing at the exact mid point was a bit of a surprise when I loaded it up on the PC. No, actually it was intentional :o)

Moorcock "B" 5 - 5 Chelmsford

2011-03-03T11:53:00.000-08:00

We were a little lucky to get a draw against The Moorcock "B" team as one of their players was missing. This meant that one Singles point was given to us by default, and then in a Doubles game we had the odd situation of two of our players taking on just one of theirs. This means the solo player has to score twice as highly as the opponents to stand any chance, and unsurprisingly Mike and Roger took the point.

We also had a slight advantage in the Team game as they had to skip one turn in each six throws. However, Kris's finish for us was a well taken 74 (T14, D16) so the point didn't feel like a gift.

Moorcock "B" are a young team of mostly tall players and they always looked the more likely to get the several 140's which peppered the games. It was their big scores which swung a couple of legs in which we were doing well up to that point. If they can get all six players to our place for the return game we are going to have to raise our game to get a result.

Man Of The Match was Kris. In addtion to the aforementioned 74 in the Doubles he finished on 42 points in his Singles game and was the only one of us to hit two winning doubles.

Doubles Cup Night

2011-02-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

I'm afraid The Chelmsford drew a blank on Doubles Cup night on Tuesday, with none of our players going through to the second round.

Roger and I were the only ones playing at The Chelmsford, with our team mates playing at the other venues. We had a good night despite losing 2-1 in our first game. The best darts of the night came from the pairing of Davey Gill and Nev who were the only ones who had to play two rounds to get through, due to the nine teams competing. Four pairings progressed through to the next round later in the year.

I know the league are always fine tuning these events to ensure there are no late finishes, and I thought it worked well on this year, with the final games completing in good time.

Chelmsford 5 - 5 Moorcock "A" Team

2011-02-16T12:42:00.000-08:00

Picture by Bradley (thanks Kris)

Last night's return leg against The Moorcock "A" Team was another low scoring game, but this time they were far more determined with some very pleasing performances within their team, and a draw was the least they deserved.

Things started off well for us with a win in the opening Team game, but from that point onwards we always seemed to be chasing, and we were 2-4 down at one point.

This was our first Home game in he refurbished Bar area, and the management have done a great job with it. In particular there's an open fire in the corner now and the treated floor boards look impressive.

We had a close tie again for Man Of The Match this week, with Alan and Chris hitting all but one of our winning doubles between them, but Alan shades it with his D20 and D8 finishes, and is now at the head of the leaderboard.

Moorcock "A" Team 3 - 7 Chelmsford

2011-02-09T13:18:00.000-08:00

A 90 finish on the practice board

We didn't have a darts game last Tuesday due to the Dominoes Doubles Cup, where sadly none of us made it through to the next round. We've got some decent dominoes players in the team so it was a real disappointment to come away with nothing other than the usual good night up at the Jolly Drovers.

Last night it was back to the darts league, and despite a slow start in a game which rarely hit any heights we were able to win the game by taking the final four Singles points of the night.

They've got an authentic old fashioned country pub up there with a decent Blade III board, but none of us found it a comfortable throw for some reason. We'd better get used to it because we play their "B" team back there again soon.

There was some real competition for the Man Of The Match award this week, as three of our players sunk two winning doubles each (Peter, Alan, and Micheal). The award goes to Alan however, with his solid 76 finish in his Singles game (S20, S16, D20). He also finished the awful X1 I left him in the team game, which was a huge relief to me.

No game for us on Tuesday gone

2011-01-28T12:10:00.000-08:00

We didn't have a game on Tuesday 25th Jan due to The Chelmsford being decorated.

I'd better stick in with the practice because this has been my worst month in nearly two years according to my DartPro stats. I've been making changes to the way I throw to try and get more stability. I think it will be worth persevering with. Maybe the stats for Feb 2011 will show some sort of progress with it all.

Ox Inn 3 - 7 Chelmsford

2011-01-20T11:37:00.001-08:00

Both teams played reasonably well on Tuesday, but we seemed to take leads and finish well to ensure a victory. We took four of the final five Singles points, which was a marked improvement from our last game where so many Singles points were shipped.

From our team Alan P hit a 165 to leave a good out shot for Willie in the Doubles, but Peter takes the Man Of The Match for being the only one of us to hit two finishing doubles. Although they were both D1 shots they were taken at the first time of asking and it is so easy to spoil a game on this finish.

It was my first visit to The Ox Inn, having missed this fixture last season. It is a smart modern pub which is thoughtfully laid out and I enjoyed the night up there. They had three different types of keg conditioned beer from The Consett Brewery which is based at The Grey Horse which is just 6 miles away. It travelled well!

Singles Cup 2010/11

2011-01-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

Pull!

I tried my hand at a different sort of target shooting today and I only wish I could play darts as well as the clay pigeons went. I know they'll have set the trajectory very much for beginners, but I still got the first two clays, and 17/24 overall. It felt fantastic, and I might take it up. Target shooting only of course.

The Singles cup didn't go quite as well on Tuesday night and Craig and I played a truly abysmal first round game. Thankfully things improved in the 2nd and 3rd rounds and Alan and myself from The Chelmsford are in the hat for the last 16. I've really got to sort out my consistency though because that first round game really shook my confidence.

Chelmsford 6 - 4 Jolly Drovers

2011-01-07T13:08:00.000-08:00

We were very rusty in our first League game since 18th December and our scoring was lower than in previous games. It was all a bit erratic from us which led to some frustration. The Drovers on the other hand played a stronger game than in the Away leg and were well worth their points.

We took a 4-1 lead but The Drovers upped their performance in the six Singles matches to win three of them, with Danny and Maureen in particular playing very steady darts for them.

There would have been a tie for man of the match as our 6 points were shared equally between three players, but I'll give it to Peter for getting our highest finish of 60 and being the most consistent on the night.

Next Tuesday we are all spread to the winds to play the Singles Cup competition at the various venues.

Endorsed Products

2010-12-27T09:39:00.000-08:00

I've just noticed that Best Darts are selling the Unicorn Golden Hero darts that I use without the endorsement of a player.

I can't even remember which players endorsed my two sets (Latinum finish for match night and Titanium finish for the practice board), but all the endorsement will have been will have been a picture on the box and some signature flights which were quickly binned and replaced with my own.

So without any endorsement they're 25% cheaper than I paid two years ago, and I think most of us would rather have the £9.00 difference in our own pockets? I only chose them because of their dimensions and 95% alloy, so the endorsement was of no real concern to me. Best Darts say "All these darts were made as part of Unicorn's Hero Golden range and were endorsed by various pro players. They will come re-packaged with the pro players signature flights replaced by plain flights". It's pity I don't need any replacements at the moment, because these are a real bargain.

Team Cup > Shotley (A) 2 - 4 Chelmsford

2010-12-23T02:01:00.000-08:00

Our darts weren't too good to say the least on Tuesday night. It is unusual for us to play three games and have so few decent shots or any sign of improvement as the matches went on. We were being outscored and this combined with the need for a double start meant that we were sometimes 300+ points behind in these 1001 DSDF matches. This was our worst darting display of the season.

Somehow we managed to ride our luck and win one of the games courtesy of a D1 finish by Mickey B (the D1 should tell it all), but we were rescued by the dominoes players from our team. Lena, Colin, and Willie made it a clean sweep to drag us somewhat unconvincingly into the next round.

On the night we lost the Darts 2-1, but the 0-3 Dominoes victory takes us through to the Semis, where I believe we meet our friends up at Blackhill Club.

Jolly Drovers 1 - 9 Chelmsford

2010-12-18T05:05:00.000-08:00

Still cold up here

The Jollies didn't get their game together on Tuesday and had some problems in score building. I know exactly how it feels when things take that sort of turn on the night, but we were very focused on our own game and I think the result was a fair one. We were allowed to settle and most of the finishes were not pressured. They can put this right in the return game though, as the point they won in the Singles was a good one in the closest game of the evening.

They have a Blade III board which would normally reduce the bounce-outs to "rare", but yet again Alan managed to get four of them on the night.

At last, some finishes which involve a treble to report : Peter finished on 115 in a Doubles game and I checked out on 92 in the Singles. Usual fayre you'd think, but so many of our finishes recently have just been three darts at a double.

Chelmsford 4 - 6 Shotley Club (B)

2010-12-09T05:16:00.000-08:00

The Derwent Walk

Shotley Club B team played a much better game than a fortnight ago and had us under pressure from the very start. We went 0-2 down, but just as in the Away leg it was all square at 2-2 after the Doubles games.

The big difference this week however was the Singles games where we only managed to win two of them, and we were struggling to match the high scoring of Shotley.

Again there were no big finishes but there were quite a few instances of using the board well to end up on a double. Our Man of The Match this week was Kris. He hit two of the winning doubles for us, with Peter and Michael getting the other two.

Footnote : Thanks to everyone for their support of my Movemer 'tache. We've raised £76.05 in cash, cheques, and on-line donations and my Donation Form is in the post.

Shotley Club (B) 3 - 7 Chelmsford

2010-11-24T11:18:00.000-08:00

Picture from the Francis Frith site

We were unrecognisable from last week's game and beat a very strong Shotley Club B Team who had been undefeated since July.

We won the opening 1001 Team Game against the run of play largely thanks to Alan's three throws which averaged over 130. Shaun hit the winning double and this lightened the mood given the manner of last week's defeat..

However, it was 2-2 at the end of the Doubles games and back in the balance. We then gained five Singles points with some steady throwing in which we managed to find the Treble far more often than in the previous game. There was no high finishing on the evening, and all 10 finishes were simply three darts at a double as opposed to taking out a 40 plus finish. Our Man Of The Match was Shaun, who was the only player to hit two winning doubles.

It is Race Night up at Chopwell Central next week, which is always a great night out and a brief break from the League games.

Chelmsford 1 - 9 Shotley Club (A)

2010-11-18T12:14:00.001-08:00

What an awful night for us. We were outscored in almost all of the ten games by Shotley, and they didn't spoil a single finish. Just good high scoring with plenty of tons and 120+ shots, and very efficient finishing. They played a great game and it was a pity to lose our unbeaten Home run with such an emphatic defeat.

The one exception was Peter's Singles game where he won the match in 18 darts with a 112 finish. So at least we avoided "the brush" in style, and there is plenty of room for improvement against their "B" team next week.

It's really hard to think who the Man Of The Match was. Only kidding, and two Brownie Points awarded to Peter. I think the rest of us will be hammering those practice boards.

Huge thanks to my team mates, who swelled the 'Tache fund by £16.05 on the night. The 5p was just a joke by the way, and the fund now stands at £32.30, with only the online donations visible at the moment on my Mo Space page.

Darting 'Taches

2010-11-12T12:49:00.000-08:00

Shotley Club (A) 6 - 4 Chelsmford

2010-11-10T12:35:00.001-08:00

Picture of Shotley Bridge by Dennis Lovett

Shotley Club is becoming a very familiar venue to us following our two friendly games up there in August, plus the fact we play their B team shortly too.

The opening team game of the night will live long in the memory - but not for the right reasons. I think all 12 players had 3 throws each at the finishing double, which unsurprisingly ended up being D1. Shotley ultimately hit it and then went into a 3-0 lead.

Both teams were hitting similar scores, but Shotley were more precise in their finishing. Poor finishing stayed with us during the night and we needed to win the final two Singles games of the evening to avoid defeat by a bigger margin.

They have a nice Blade III board up there, and there were no bounce-outs as far as I can remember.

Trevor

2010-11-09T04:48:00.000-08:00

Trevor (2nd from left)

I've had some very sad news from Nannette at the Barbados Darts Festival 2010 : Trevor from the Cayman Islands Darts Association died suddenly while over there from what appears to have been a massive heart attack.

I really enjoyed his company on my three trips to this tournament and he was always at the centre of the evenings' entertainments. Very sad news and he will be deeply missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.

Movember

2010-11-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to ask for your support during Movember, where my work colleagues and I will be growing 'taches during November in aid of prostate cancer.

Please visit my Mo Space page, rate it, leave a coment, and if you think the 'tache is any good a small donation would be really gratefully received. Don't worry about handing any cash to me - It's all automated so only trustworthy people get the donations :o)

The picture on display is a "Day 1" picture and will be updated each Monday. If the 'tache is particularly tastless I may even keep it.

Chelmsford 6 - 4 Leadgate Cricket Club

2010-11-03T13:13:00.001-07:00

Leadgate CC played a strong game last night and will have felt unlucky to trail 4-0 in the opening games. They were scoring well, throwing in some useful tons, and often finding themselves 200 points in the lead.

They got their reward in the Singles games though, taking 4 of the 6 points on offer to give a fair scoreline.

No Man Of The Match emerged for us as it would be hard to choose between Kris and Peter Mc. They both collected two Brownie Points for their finishes, influencing the result on a night where we were often being outscored and needed to rely on the finishing.

How It's Made - Darts

2010-10-31T04:28:00.000-07:00

Have a look at this. The first 40 seconds are a bit cheesy, but the rest is fascinating. I'll never look at a set cheap brass darts in the same light again.

I think the yellow flights in the film are the R4X type that I use because you can see some small black text at one end of them. I'd love to be able to use the aluminium stems they've shown, but they always seem to need constant replacement.

Leadgate CC 4 - 6 Chelmsford

2010-10-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

Three of our regular players were unavailable for the game last night, but the players who stepped in did well. We won the opening couple of games, and this proved to be an important start for us, as from this point the matches were shared quite evenly.

Leadgate's board was causing quite a few bounce outs for all of the players, but Alan suffered the most, bouncing off the T20 wire in three consecutive throws. The board itself seems to be a promotional item from the Wurth company, but they must prefer this board as there was a boxed Nodor put to one side.

Our Man of The Match was Willie, for his excellent Singles win. Alan remains top of the Brownie Points leader board.

Chelmsford 5 - 5 Turf

2010-10-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Picture courtesy of W/\NG

Our play slipped a bit on Tuesday night and we found it hard to put steady scores together. The Turf on the other hand were playing really well. They improved quite noticeably from their showing in the Away game a fortnight ago and were good value for the points they won.

After finding ourselves 0-3 down we managed to win the final Doubles game and four of the Singles games to scrape a draw, with Mickey B scoring the last point of the night to ensure we remained unbeaten on our new board.

Peter C played his first game since I've been with the team. He won an important Singles point, and I'm sure he'll be real asset.

Team Cup, 1st Round

2010-10-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

Alertness, a wet nose, and a glowing coat. But enough about The Girlfriend :o)

We had a very successful evening at The Derwentside against their "B" Team to progress to the second round. I've never known us play so confidently through three Team games, coming down from 1001 with a double start like we did tonight, and The Derwentside were very complimentary about our game.

I'll give a single Brownie Point to Alan for finishing two of the games, because we didn't spoil any of the finishes and this needs to be acknowledged. It is so easy to let let good leads slip if the finishes are not taken quickly, and we made our leads count tonight.

Turf 1 - 9 Chelmsford

2010-10-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

Practising in The Mad House

Three consecutive 9-1 wins are really going to help us in the league placings, so no complaints with the result. However, it was quite a slow paced game up at The Turf on Consett's Front Street and neither team got into any sustained rhythm.

We scored well in the opening Team Game and our Doubles games were reasonable, but a few of the Singles games were slightly low key, and there were at the very least 2 more points in this game for The Turf but for poor finishing.

The Consett League were playing next door in the main bar, and we had the Lounge which faces the main road to ourselves. Their board is an excellent Unicorn Eclipse Pro, but it could do with turning as the 20 bed is quite worn. The only bounce outs seemed to be darts slapping the board after a deflection and I really think this is the board to get if you want to minimise bounce outs.

Our Man Of The Match was Alan, who again hit three of our finishing doubles.

Chelmsford 9 - 1 The Cricketers

2010-09-29T12:13:00.001-07:00

We again scored some good points in the return game against The Cricketers, but I have to admit they were not rewarded for increasing their scoring since the earlier game and meeting us down on the finishing doubles in most of the games.

Their opening score was a 140, and they also hit plenty of decent scores to put pressure on the games.

Despite the scoreline I didn't think we were as consistent as the previous week, but our finishing seemed to compensate for the slack shots.

Cricketers 1 - 9 Chelmsford

2010-09-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Cricketers are fielding a new team of young players this season and there were many new faces from my point of view. Also, they are under new management and there is a really well designed beer garden at the back.

The game went well for us last night and we settled into some fairly consistent throwing. I felt we were hitting a few more trebles than in the previous games to equalise our lower scores, and we were generally getting down to the finishes first.

They have Unicorn board but not one of the models I'm familiar with. The Cricketers had a couple of bounce-outs on it, but none from us for a change. As always it is a nice spaceous throw up there, with plenty of room to play in and watch the games.

Man of The Match was Alan, who hit three of our winning doubles.

Clarification - The Brownie Points Thing

2010-09-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

Oh, you want that don't you, fat boy

Just a bit of clarification regarding The Brownie Points Thing. Brownies are not cakes. I think people are confusing our outward bound youngsters with chocolate cake or something?

I've got one of these little black vacuum cleaners. Animal, vegetable, or mineral - It's all just food to a Labrador Retriever. He quite literally does summersaults as I bring the food bowl over. Or a stone, or a plant.

The Brownie Points Thing

2010-09-17T17:28:00.000-07:00

In the new arbitrary Brownie Points system for the Player Of The Season trophy there are points to be won and we'd better all know how it is done, so here goes: Brownie Points are collected for any of the following, plus anything noteworthy that anyone wants to bring to the table. That's why its arbitrary I suppose:

A Man Of The Match award
Scoring a 180
Hitting a winning double in Team / Doubles / Singles games
A 9 darter (hey, it could happen)
More realistically, a 15 darter
Consecutive ton forties

If anyone feels they have scored a Brownie Point which is not detailed here please come and see me after the game and talk to the hand. It's not that arbitrary for Juninho's sake :o)

Chelmsford 5 - 5 Blackhill Club

2010-09-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

We had all three tonight - all of us

What a relief to get some points on the board at last. It is so difficult writing a blog with a 10-0 thrashing to try and summarise on the opening day of the season. You just see a big empty screen and somehow try to write something.

I must mention our sincere thanks to the new management for supporting the team so well. Angela bought us a new Winmau Diamond board which is great, and a buffet was laid on even though The Kitchen is being refurbished.

Kris got us off to the best possible start with a 180 for the first throw of the game. Hard to follow, and from that point onwards I thought we were perhaps 10 - 20% lower in the scoring than last week, but this time we were given a few more throws at finishing doubles by a Blackhill team who didn't hit their usual game.

They still made a tough game of it though, and after taking a 2-0 lead we traded points all night until we won the last two Singles matches to secure a draw, and as Roger jokingly said remain unbeaten on the new board.

Kris was Man of the Match for us and he leads the points table for our Player Of The Season Trophy - more details of this to follow. In a change to last season's competition others picked up Brownie Points too :o)

Shirt Idea

2010-09-11T17:08:00.000-07:00

Picture courtsey of Rags

I love this shirt idea. I've had some great advice over the years. I've had a World Champion watch my throw and tell me what was wrong. International players from Trinidad & Tobago like Nannette Brooks and Rose, plus Bajan seniors such as Clyde. Closer to home Graham and the Derwentside crew at Blackhill and the seniors from our team like Parky and Peter.

They really helped me out and spent time with me to go through a few things. And then there's the other. The absolute bo****ks you get from well meaning yet clueless idiots who don't "walk the walk" themselves. They'll criticise your finishing strategies while shouting out "something big down the bottom" like it is some sort of gem?

Please, if you're not mentioned in the first paragraph do us all a favour and STFU!

Blackhill 10 - 0 Chelmsford

2010-09-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

This was not what it is all about . . .

Stephen Hawking has been asking some profoundly searching questions recently regarding the meaning of life and the universe(s). Well, I can confidently relay to Mr Hawking that last night's result against Blackhill Club is certainly not what it is all about. The Hokey Kokey is nearer to what it is all about than last night's outing!

We lost all of the dominoes games too, so basically it was a 16-0 thrashing, and it hurts. It's not that we played badly. In seven of the games we were looking at finishing doubles and only the Davey Gill 14 darter could be described as truly emphatic. But on nights like this one you just have to admit that if we want to take points from a team like BC we've got to raise it just that bit further.

There are perfect throwing conditions up there, with good lighting, an oche with no distractions and an assured aluminium strip, and an Eclipse Pro board with the box marked "Tuesdays Only". They're great people too, and rounded off with a superb pint of Samuel Smiths bitter it wasn't such a bad night after all.

Friendly : Chopwell 7 - 3 Chelmsford

2010-09-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

Picture from last season by Simon Dixon

Tuesday saw our final friendly game prior to the start of the new season on 7th September, and thankfully we improved our performance despite the losing scoreline.

Chopwell Central is a great place to play, but there were quite a few bounce outs on their board. In one throw I had 120 points on the floor. Michael had one particular bounce out where he said he was actually aiming for the T20 wire, so no complaints on that one!

The fixtures are out but I didn't get a chance to see them. I'm looking forward to it though after a steadier performance from us and hopefully we can build on this for next Tuesday.

Shotley Bridge CC 3rd Annual Beer Festival 1010

2010-08-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

We had a great Saturday, enjoying a very well organised Beer Festival down the road at Shotley Bridge Cricket Club. There were an impressive 46 ales on offer, with the vast majority of these being priced at £1 a half. The super strength ones were £2 a half, but I never bother with these in case I need the use of my legs later on.

The stand-out ale for me was Village Idiot 4.1% from White Horse Brewery. I said to Deb that it was quite ironic for me to drink a beer with such a name, but she observed it was even more ironic that I had earlier drank The Stud 4.3% :o)

My five favourites are pictured on the left. In the coming season there will be special shout-outs for any bar which serves a cask conditioned ale. Its always a nice touch when a bar gives you something new to try rather than just the usual suspects.

Friendly : Chelmsford 6 - 4 Shotley Club

2010-08-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

Picture from last season by Simon Dixon

We had a better result than in last week's leg, but the standard was still a little rusty from both teams. We actually played the return "home" leg up at their place due to the inability to plan with certainty while The Chelmsford changed hands.

Both teams would probably like a little more time to ease into the new season, but we're not going to get it so we'd better hit those practice boards if we want to hit the ground running.

Next Tuesday we have a final Friendly game at Chopwell Central, and then the season begins. I'll post a list of the teams taking part as I think there have been a few changes but I believe we still have the same total number of teams.

Friendly : Shotley Club 7 - 3 Chelmsford

2010-08-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

Picture from Simon Dixon

Two bit of news : Firstly, The Chelmsford is opening again tomorrow night 18/8/2010 at 16:00 hrs after the recent change of ownership. I hope a good few of us can be there to get it off to a good start.

Also, we played a Friendly game tonight away at Shotley Club. Both teams were a little rusty and the standard wasn't too impressive, but Shotley Club made a better job of the finishes when they arose so we'll just have to take the result on the chin and try to close the games out a little better in the return game next week. We then have another Friendly up at Chopwell Central.

Changes

2010-08-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Chu Changes. Turn to face the strange.

Lyndon (the Landolord) is leaving our pub after a 5 year stint which coincided with my own arival in Ebchester.

All the best to Lyndon and good luck to him in whatever he does next.

Close Season

2010-07-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

Peter (Left) collects the Player Of The Season Trophy

There's not a great deal happening at the moment. Finishing School has been running and has been quite a success. There are usually around five people taking part, and Kris is keeping track of all the points on the night.

It is a real challenge to finish the scores in just three darts, and there are a few different approaches which don't always adhere to the recognised outshots. I'll give you an example: on 65 you may choose the T17 route to leave D7. This would be a stupid way to go in a game of 501, but splitting an uneven double doesn't matter in Finishing School where there is no second throw, and hitting the S17 leaves 48 which gives an almost guaranteed shot at a familiar double (D16/D20) when you aim for the wire between S16 and S8.

Presentation Night 2010

2010-07-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Colin collects the Dominoes Singles trophy

I have a few pictures from Tuesday's Presentation Night and I'll post them on here over the next few days. Pride of place however must go to Colin Carr's achievement in winning the Dominoes Singles Cup this year.

Winning a dominoes trophy in this league is no mean feat - there are some real sharks out there! So congratulations to Colin and thanks for bringing a trophy back to The Chelmsford this year.

Finishing School

2010-06-23T01:29:00.001-07:00

Last night was our induction into the Finishing School which Kris has organised for our close season Tuesdays. A points system and leader board is being used and there'll be a modest prize for the eventual winner.

The aim of the competition is to check out from high finishes (last night it was 100 to 90) in just three darts. There is no point in getting down to 32 or 40 for example, as missing the finish with three darts is simply a fail and you start again on the next throw.

I think we were a little surprised at just how difficult this can be. When throwing for 100 a stray shot into the S1 is simply "throw over", and quite a few times a good first two darts were let down by the final dart. It was hard work, and it makes a welcome change from just bashing away at the T20 - although admitedly that was the main target with the first dart!

Finals Night 2010

2010-06-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

We were very well represented in Finals Night up at Leadgate Cricket Club last night, and with so many of us taking part it would have been a shame to walk away empty handed. And thankfully it was Colin who won our only trophy in the Dominoes Singles competition.

Myself and Roger went out of the Doubles competition 3-1 in the first game of the evening, only to be followed by Peter and Alan. I really enjoyed the game though, and this will be one I'll remember just like the Singles game against Davey Gill last season.

Our best chance of a darts trophy was in Peter's Singles game. He forced a 2-0 lead against Ray but ran out of steam slightly to lose 3-2. There was a high standard of game as you'd expect from these two.

Well done to Colin in the doms though, and this season's cup competitions have been very eventful for The Chelmsford.

Result - Player of the Season 2009/10

2010-06-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

The trophy

I've totted up the Player of the Match awards from the season just gone and the first winner of this new award is Peter. He and Kris matched each other throughout, and between them they took an impressive 60% of the weekly awards, excluding the 4 occasions when an award was not made.

In the end Peter won just by just two points and congratulations to both of them for a great contribution this season.

Chopwell 4 - 6 Chelmsford

2010-06-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

Our season which started against Blackhill Club back in September 2009 came to an end last night at Chopwell.

Although we didn't really play any better than last week we got a far better result. It started poorly for us though, going 3-0 down. With both teams finding it difficult to hit the T20 with any regularity most of the games could have gone either way, but thankfully we managed to get the points in the final Doubles game and five of the six Singles game.

Man of The Match this week goes to Kris for a spirited Singles win in one of the higher scoring games. I'll now count the MOTM awards and announce the winner of the Player Of The Season trophy very shortly.

We may have some friendly games in the close season and I'll wait for the details before posting anything. Also Kris is keen for a Finishing School competition on spare Tuesday nights.

Chelmsford 5 - 5 Chopwell

2010-06-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

After a disappointing start to the game where we threw away a large lead in the opening Team Game we did quite well to match Chopwell and take some good points against a team which we normally struggle against.

Chopwell were not playing quite as consistently as usual and we traded points throughout the evening, with the draw being a fair result.

On a good night for us it was difficult to choose The Man Of The Match, but I feel Peter just shaded it for sinking two of our five winning doubles. Regarding the Player of the Season title : With only one game to go I'm purposely avoiding the previous stats to ensure my judgement will not be affected. If there is a tie between two or more players I will use the MOTM awards which were awarded during our worst defeats (9-1, 8-2 etc) on the premise that on such nights at least one of us was trying to lead the way.

We're all looking forward to the final game of the season up at Chopwell Central, which is a great place to play darts.

Chelmsford 3 - 7 Cricketers

2010-05-29T06:24:00.000-07:00

I was unable to attend the game on Tuesday night due to a chronic case of the Brad Pitts, and the other end wasn't faring much better I'm afraid.

The feedback I've received from Mickey B was upbeat for a losing scoreline though, and he enjoyed the game. Sadly we've moved down a place in The League but I feel there is a lot of learning going on this season and its good to hear such positive feedback about the night as a whole rather than just regret for the final score.

I fully acknowledge Kris' award of Man Of The Match to Mickey on his site, but Mickey himself has graciously told me he'd prefer it to go to Roger for finding the T20 so often and playing to the full. So I'll give it to Roger on gut feeling. And I've had plenty of that this week!

Cricketers 5 - 5 Chelmsford

2010-05-22T02:31:00.000-07:00

It feels like Summer already up here

After a very strong start to this game it was disappointing to lose so many of the final six Singles games. There are a few new but familiar players in the Cricketers team this season and they played well as a team.

Bounce outs were a very common feature of the game, and I think Cricketers were suffering more than us on this count. There were at least 10 bounce outs, and I really think round wired boards with staples at the intersections have had their day. I could play all night on my Eclipse and not get a single bounce out, and for very little extra cost this type of board would make a real difference in League games.

At least three of our team were level pegging for the Man Of The Match award after the Team and Doubles games, but in the final Singles game of the night I felt it was Peter who edged forward to take the title with a good display and a 93 finish (T19, split D18, D9) to make it 5-5.

Player of the season 2009/10

2010-05-15T05:18:00.001-07:00

Ebchester Darts Player of the Season trophy

The end of the season us nearly upon us with just four games to go against The Cricketers and Chopwell Central. The person who collected the most Player Of The Match awards will be picking up the little beauty in the photo.

I honestly don't know for certain who is in the lead as it my subconsciously affect the awards in the final games, but I think there'll be three players in contention. I obtained concensus awards for the games I missed, so this really will be the prize for a hard season's graft for one of us.

I wanted to try something a little different than the usual style trophies, and Darts Corner came up trumps with this design. It is quite small but heavy, and I can't see anyone's partner objecting to it being on display in the Living Room. You see, a lot of thought goes into this :o)

I'll ask Lena to present it on Trophy Night and get a pic for the blog.

Dominoes Singles Cup Night 2009/10

2010-05-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

There were no League darts on Tuesday night and most of us competed in the 2009/10 Dominoes Singles Cup. A few of us got quite far in the five rounds which were played, but only Colin from our team made it to the finals themselves on Finals Night. Very well done to Colin, and it is further Chelmsford interest in Finals Night.

We were playing at Chopwell Central which is one of my favourite venues. We play them at the end of the season and I'll try and get some photos to put on here.

Chelmsford 1 - 9 Commercial

2010-05-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

A night to forget for us, but more points piled on by a determined Commercial team. If anything, they dropped the pace from last week, but we were really struggling to build the scores and apply any sort of pressure.

It didn't start too badly either. Although we lost the opening team game we quickly equalised in the first Doubles game. However, that was to be the end of our scoring on the night and we have to take a heavy defeat on the chin.

Man Of The Match was Kris. He was the only one of us to find the T20 regularly and play a strong game.

We have just four more games this season against The Cricketers and Chopwell and I really hope we can end the season on a higher note than this pair of games against Commercial.

Commercial 7 - 3 Chelmsford

2010-04-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung up here

The Commercial played a very solid game last night and it has to be said they were good value for their 7 points. Four of their six players in particular were throwing some very steady darts. On two of the points we lost things were going fairly well for us, but both times they closed out the game with Bull finishes on the last dart.

After losing a close opening Team game we fared well in the Doubles games to pull it back to 2-2, but we lost most of our Singles games against a Commercial team who were looking very comfortable.

Our Man Of The Match was Michael. We'd have got a better result if we all played as well as he did.

Doubles Cup Night

2010-04-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

The Chelmsford were very well represented in last night's Doubles Cup Competition up at Blackhill Comrades Club. We had three Pairs there bidding to get into the semi finals to played on Finals Night.

It went very well for us with Peter and Alan plus myself and Roger making it through to the Semi Finals. It was very hard luck for Kris and Michael though, as they played a strong game to get past the first round only to then allow Roger and I to really ride our luck against them in the next round.

You never want to be drawn against team mates, but if it happens again on Finals night The Chelmsford would either be guaranteed a finalist, or better still a trophy.

Chelmsford 8 - 2 Jolly Drovers

2010-04-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

A Winter 2009/10 shot by Simon Dixon

We had another good result against The Joly Drovers in the Home leg last night. Usually I'd say it is the finishing which is the most important aspect, but last night our steady score building got us down to the doubles first and allowed the finishing to be without pressure in several games.

I had a chance to use the 3 dart 90 finish discussed by Zeeple, and for once the theory paid off for me in a League game. Definitely this time last year I would have gone T18 almost as a reflex, but I now don't think D15 should be avoided if it is part of a percentage shot like the T20 route which gives a few options during the throw. I must admit in a Doubles game I'd be mindful of not wanting to leave "15 to go" for my partner though.

Man of The Match was Peter, who opened our six Singles game with a very assured 18 darter to set us on our way.

The Chelsmford Race Night

2010-04-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Photo by Simon Dixon

Thanks to Lena, Jimmy, and Glen for holding a race night at The Chelmsford on Bank Holiday Monday 5th April 2010. The event raised over £200 for the darts team, and money was also collected for the fund which Lyndon has organised for a girl who has cerebral palsey.

This was at least the third one of these Race events I've been to that have been run by Jimmy and Glen, and they're always a good laugh. There was quite a good crowd there too, and it was a successful event.

Jolly Drovers 1 - 9 Chelmsford

2010-04-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

A picture of nearby Whittonstall by Simon Dixon

The Jolly Drovers won a closely contested opening Team game to take the lead. In the following games a few stray shots crept in from both teams, but we always seemed to find the odd high score to get to the finishing double first.

The Jolly Drovers have their dartboard in an alcove which means although it can sometimes feel a bit cramped during the game there are no distractions while throwing.

Player of the Match was Lena who scored well and finished quickly in both of her games.

Team Cup Night

2010-04-02T05:48:00.000-07:00

There was no game for us on Tuesday as we were knocked out in the first round of the Team Cup competition which was playing. Chopwell took on Shotley Club B at our place though so we still had a good night in The Chelsmford with a packed bar.

Both teams were playing just a bit below their usual standards but there were still some good individual performances and high scoring. The darts games alternate with dominoes games in this competition until a winner is found. The dominoes are somewhat of an equaliser so you don't get just the usual suspects dominating.

With a double start needed there is tension from the very start, and both teams took it in turns to struggle with a starting double. This was at odds with their excellent practice shots at doubles, and it just goes to show what a bit of pressure on the double can do.

Chopwell won it on the darts, ironically in a leg which they had trouble starting. I'll be dropping a couple of posts about "doubles" over the next few days.

Chelmsford 4 - 6 Derwentside

2010-03-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

Practicing on the 19's

Although we raised our game a little from last week's Away leg, Derwentside did too with plenty of 80+ / 100+ shots.

Most of the games were quick, with no problems on the finishing. By the time the Team and Doubles games were over the score was evenly matched at 2-2, but we dropped off a touch in the Singles games.

Peter was our Player Of The Match, gaining a very assured point in the first Singes game of the evening.

Derwentside 7 - 3 Chelmsford

2010-03-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Practice on Bob's 27 : Two and a marker

The Derwentside started well and quickly hit a consistent note. There were a few new faces in their team from my point of view (including their new Landlord) and they all seem to have settled in well.

I prefer where they have their board now in the side bar. It gives more space for people who like to stand to the left when throwing and there's a good atmosphere for darts.

On a disappointing night for us I still thought we had joint Players Of The Match nonetheless ; Peter and Kris both played well enough to win their Doubles and Single points. Without these performances it could have been even worse for us.

Congratulations to Alan / Mark / Craig and crew, and we look forward to seeing them in the return game.

Singles Cup, the last 16

2010-03-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

Peter, Kris, and Alan represented The Chelmsford in the last 16 of the Singles Knock-out Cup up at The Derwentside last night. Sadly, Kris and Alan were knocked out despite them both finding the trebles and putting up a strong challenge.

Kris was getting a good number of 100+ shots and Alan seemed to be on his way to a win before his opponent made up a lot of ground with a 180 to snatch the winning leg.

Better news with Peter though, who made it through to the last four for the big match on Finals Night. Although he didn't reach his own high standards there was nothing wrong with the important part of the game - the finishing. If he takes his A Game up there he'll match anyone, so fingers crossed and well done Peter.

Chelsmford 5 - 5 Moorcock "B" Team

2010-03-04T11:22:00.000-08:00

Although we played well in the opening Team game to take a lead it all went wrong from there. We lost all three of the Doubles games and the first Singles game to find ourselves 1 - 4 down despite some reasonable play from us.

Player of The Match though was Lena, who won a very important Singles point to steer us back on track and make it 2-4. Trailing 1-5 down would have been difficult to overcome, and thankfully we were able to win 3 of the remaining Singles game to secure a draw.

The Moorcock "B" Team are above us in the league, so these 11 points over the two games will be useful.

Moorcock "B" Team 4 - 6 Chelmsford

2010-02-25T09:24:00.000-08:00

The Moorcock B Team are a good bunch of young players so these 6 points were a good result for us. We were really disappointed to lose the opening 1001X Team game after building up a decent lead but failing to finish, but by the end of the three Doubles games we were back to 2-2.

Although neither team really hit top form I thought Peter, Alan, Kris, and Mick were all doing well for us, and I'll hold back on a Man Of The Match this week because there was little between them.

Simon D took his camera and I hope to have some better shots for the blog from him, because even I'm geting sick of the dart board pictures I take.

Cup "Doubles" Night

2010-02-17T13:11:00.000-08:00

Roger and I squeezed into the next round of the League's "Doubles" competition last night. I don't yet know the results from the rest of our team's games, as things ran a little late for us up at The Coach and Horses. It was midnight as Roger and I played the final game of the evening so I'm realy pleased we managed to get a result.

I love the throw at The Coach and Horses. It has a raised oche, good lighting, and no distractions in the line of sight. Unfortunately the board itself is a little dificult to play on. The large, rounded wires caused numerous bounce-outs for all players, and some of mine were landing behind me. I think if they get a Blade III or an Eclipse it would really help the players.

Chelmsford 5 - 5 Moorcock "A" Team

2010-02-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

A local game, for local locals

The Moorcock really upped their game from last week and showed determination to get the points. The Special Stuff came from Moorcock's Jonathon Archer with a superb 118 (T20, S18, D20) finish in a Singles game he seemed to be losing.

As with last week we built our scores well, but this time we found that any misses on the finishes were punished, and at no point in the 10 games did anyone have more than a narrow lead on the scoreboard.

I'l hold back on a Man Of The Match this week, as I thought it was just a tight game.

Moorcock "A" Team 2 - 8 Chelmsford

2010-02-03T11:16:00.000-08:00

We got off to a very good start in the opening 1001X Team game, and it seemed The Moorcock team couldn't get into their stride. This meant they didn't apply as much pressure as possible, and in several of the games we got down to the finish first and were then making sure that we didn't spoil the doubles.

Man Of The Match was Micky B. In his Doubles game he scored three consecutive 100+ shots, and he also hung in well to win a Singles point where the finishing was causing both players problems.

The Morcock is a great traditional pub up in the moors of Waskerley. They had a well stoked open fire and some superb Black Sheep on cask. It's a really good pub to play darts in.