Shotley Club B Team 5 - 5 Chelmsford

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

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

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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.