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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.
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.
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.
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.
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 !
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Derwent WalkShotley 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.
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.
