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Gretton Summer Darts League 2011 |
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Gretton Summer Darts League 2011 |
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*** DARTSFLASH ***
Another season over: Talbot wins almost everything, again! - find out more
The Gretton Summer Darts League is now a well-established fixture in Gretton village life thanks to the dedication and organisation of Jess and Keith Wheatley, the hospitality of the participating venues and, of course, the 'players' themselves.
All four watering holes in the village — The Blue Bell, The Hatton Arms, The Talbot Inn and Gretton Sports & Social Club, as well as an itinerant 'Odd Bods' team, take to the oche on Friday nights throughout the summer to participate in this light-hearted league.
If you fancy a throw of a Friday night, contact your local pub to sign up or talk to Mike at The Post Office if you wanna be an Odd Bod. New players of all standards are always welcome.
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Singles Knockout:
Pairs Knockout:
Captains Cup:
Four-a-Side Charity Knockout:
Highest Checkout: Most 180s: Archive:
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Reports |
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Annual General Meeting The undoubted highlight of this year's well-attended AGM was the introduction of a new points scoring system: Following the scoring controversies of recent years, the assembled delegates voted in favour of simply awarding a point for each leg won in the match. No bonus points will be available for winning or drawing a match. Click here to read the new rules. It was also agreed that Summer League 2011 will commence on Friday 17th June, the Friday after the Welland Valley Beer Festival. Other innovative proposals, all of which were voted down however, included:
Sports Club 8-10 Hatton Arms The Hatton ran out winners at the Sports Club thanks to a perfect six legs from Bev "Corporal" Jones and a little bit of help from this year's new rules. Jones gave The Hatton the perfect start with a 3-0 over the Sports Club's new signing and Corby darts scene stalwart, Billy Rae. But 2-1 wins for The Club in the other three singles, courtesy of Rab "Jacobite" Sloan, Mark "Mac" McIntyre and John Duffy evened up the score going into the doubles games. Cue Jones, who bounced back to the oche with another 3-0 victory in tandem with partner, Mark Handford, to give The Hatton an impregnable 9-6 lead. Despite the best efforts of Mark "Mac" McIntyre and Callum Reilly, The Arnhillian outfit stumbled over the winning line with Andy "The Councillor" Royle clinching a scrappy penultimate leg with double one. Under last year's rules, this would have been a 7-2 win for The Club. But The Hatton team finished the evening toasting the new 'every-leg-counts' league legislation over a fine haslet sandwich spread prepared by league chairwoman-cum-chief-caterer, Jess "The Judge" Wheatley. Special mention should also go to Rab "Jacobite" Sloan who set the early season pace in the highest checkout competition with an impressive 93 finish. However, within minutes he was on the wrong end of a slightly-more-impressive 99 outshot by his opponent, Eamonn "Brit" Britnell. Blue Bell 5-13 Talbot Inn The Talbot picked up the last six legs of the match to take an early lead in The Gretton Summer League after the first round of matches. In the first game, Catto gave Dave Moffatt a Summer League baptism of fire taking all three legs. But The Bell fought back with wins by John "Rodders" Fursdon and Graeme Baines to leave the match in the balance going into the final six legs. Unfortunately for Dave Moffatt, Catto was again in merciless mood in the doubles, teaming up with Bill Fraser to conquer legless Moffatt and partner Graeme Baines 3-0. Mart "The Dart" Polley and JJ Shannon sealed the match taking the last three legs off Blue Bell co-captains Lee "The Tight" Wright and John "Rodders" Fursdon before making a swift exit back down the High Street to celebrate a successful start to the season.
Hatton Arms 8-10 Blue Bell The Blue Bell edged a tight match at The Hatton thanks to a match winning finale from co-captains Lee "The Tight" Wright and John "Rodders" Fursdon. It was nip-and-tuck all the way to the line with Hatton wins from Eamonn "Brit" Britnell and Andy "The Councillor" Royle offset by victories for John "Rodders" Fursdon and Graeme Baines for The Bell. But with the score delicately poised at 8-7 going into the last doubles game, it was the Tight/Rodders combo that held their nerve to deliver the goods. Talbot Inn 15-3 Odd Bods The Odd Bods received a sound education at the Talbot Academy of Darts, breeding ground for some of the finest darts players called Milligan outside Scotland. 9-0 behind in a jiffy, Mike "The Powell" Powell's band of merry men were contemplating a whitewash before they'd even seen the bottom of their first pints. Enter Jamie McEwan, who finally snatched a rapturously applauded first leg for the Bods. Momentum then gathered as George Wright and Pete Reilly found the audacity to beat Catto and debutant partner Sam Milligan 2-1. But it was a false dawn. The Talbot duo of Mart "The Dart" Polley and in-form Iain Milligan maintained unbeaten records on the night to land a comprehensive 15-3 scoreline for their inn of choice. And to add to The Talbot's joy, Catto upped the ante in this year's hotly competed highest checkout contest with a 115 three-dart finish on a near perfect night for his team.
Sports Club 10-8 Blue Bell The Blue Bell enhanced their reputation for squeeky-bum finales in the tensest possible ending to their visit to The Sports Club. John Duffy gave the Club a perfect start with a 3-0 win over Lee "The Tight" Wright. But The Bell fought back to 5-4 after consecutive wins for John "Rodders" Fursdon and Graeme Baines. The advantage then swung the other way as Mark "Mac" McIntyre overcame Jim "The Landlord" Caulfield in a rare but hapless away match cameo from the esteemed squire of The Blue Bell. The Landlord's misery was compounded when he immediately lost again in the doubles to leave his team 9-6 down with three legs to play. But boy did they play! John "Rodders" Fursdon and Lee "The Tight" Wright stormed back in contention with nerves of steel, taking the first two legs. Both sides turned on the turbo scoring in the final leg but after some agonising double-missing action, it was The Club who snapped up the final leg to take the spoils.
Odd Bods 6-12 Sports Club The Odd Bods maintained their 100% record of being handsomely beaten this season with defeat at the dextrous hands of The Sports Club in the Gretton local derby. Mark "Mac" McIntyre and Billy Rae quickly put The Club in command with 3-0 wins over Mike "The Powell" Powell and Colin Hall respectively. Thereafter, it was a well executed damage limitation exercise for The Odd Bods: Young prospect, Jamie McEwan, chalked up The Bods' first point of the match in the next game and George Wright briefly raised the prospect of an unlikely comeback with a 3-0 win over John Duffy. But Paul "The Call" O'Leary and Billy Rae snuffed out any hope of recovery beating Wright and McEwan to make the match safe for The Club. Thus the scene was set for Mark "Mac" McIntyre and Callum Reilly to put the cherry on top of a comfortable win. And they duly obliged with a 2-1 victory over Mike "The Powell" Powell and Colin Hall. Hatton Arms 8-10 Talbot Inn Iain Milligan and Catto were the driving force behind The Talbot's 10-8 victory at The Hatton, both winning 3-0 in the singles and teaming up to take the final — and decisive — leg in the doubles. The match was played under 'best-of-order' conditions for much of the evening, creating a pressure-cooker atmosphere in this top-of-the-table tussle. Such was the tension that even regular bar-room events — such as good old-fashioned conversation and, most memorably, the pouring of a glass of pear cider — tested the temperaments of some of the players. Despite having a pre-dawn engagement with his alarm clock the following morning, Iain Milligan showed admirable after-dark dedication to his darting duties. His first contribution was to brush aside last week's headline maker, Mark Handford, giving The Talbot the perfect start. But only six legs later The Hatton had fought back to take a 5-4 lead, with a 131 checkout by Eamonn "Brit" Britnell providing the impetus for the turnaround. Yet again the match turned on its head as Catto illuminated the oche with a 3-0 obliteration of Andy "The Councillor" Royle to take The Talbot 7-5 ahead. With it all to do, The Hatton somehow managed to snatch three of the next four legs to put the match back in the balance at 8-8 with two to play. But it was Catto and Milligan who thrived under pressure to storm the last two legs and take The Talbot back to the top of the table with a game in hand over their opponents on the night. And there was still time for Neil Smith, The Hatton's chef-in-residence, to showcase his forte at the fryers with a fullsome fish and chips supper to end the evening.
Talbot Inn 12-6 Sports Club After a promising start for The Club, The Talbot won ten of the last twelve legs to cruise to a comfortable victory. Billy Rae and Paul "The Call" O'Leary came out winners for The Club in the first two close encounters to move into an early 4-2 lead. But thereafter it was one way traffic... JJ and Catto turned the game on its head with wins in their singles games before teaming up with their respective partners to take both doubles games as well. So at the halfway point in the season, The Talbot hold a intimidating twelve point lead in the Summer League having won all their matches, most of them at a canter. Barring a remarkable comeback from one of the chasing pack, it seems that the real contest is now for second place... Blue Bell 9-9 Odd Bods The Blue Bell added to their mounting collection of tense-as-can-be matches with an extraordinary comeback to cruelly prevent The Odd Bods from registering their first ever Summer League win. The Bods were flying high at the halfway stage: Singles wins for Pete Reilly, Mike "The Powell" Powell and George Wright sent them hurtling into the hitherto unknown territory of a 7-2 lead. But Graeme Baines struck back for the Bell with his fourth consecutive 3-0 victory of the season and the seeds of recovery were sown. Pete Reilly and George Wright then bounced back to the oche with a 2-1 triumph over the impressive Baines and Jim "The Landlord" Caulfield to put The Odd Bods 9-6 up and on the very verge of their maiden league victory. Sadly for the neutrals, they buckled under the pressure and just couldn't find their way over that elusive winning line. John "Rodders" Fursdon and Leon Villette of The Blue Bell produced a sensational 3-0 lifesaving performance to level up this memorable match at 9-9.
Hatton Arms 8-10 Sports Club The Sports Club staged a dramatic late recovery to move alongside The Hatton into second place in the Summer League. Singles wins for Paul "The Call" O'Leary, Rab "Jacobite" Sloan and Mark "Mac" McIntyre put the Club in control going into the doubles, but a clinical 3-0 victory for Mark Handford and Barry Spencer of The Hatton turned the tide the way of the Arnhill army. Going into the last game, The Hatton led 8-7 and looked a good bet for at least a draw. But they reckoned without the might of The Club's experienced final pairing of Mark "Mac" McIntyre and Billy Rae who took a tight first leg to make it 8-8. This gave them the impetus to go on to dominate the next two legs and bring home The Club's third win of the season. Conversely this was The Hatton's third 10-8 reverse of 2011, on each occasion having lost the crucial last doubles game. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the pub copy of The Yellow Pages could be spotted open on the 'Sports Psychologists' page as punters filed out after another disappointing evening for Hatton darts fans. Talbot Inn 11-7 Blue Bell Yet again, Catto was the man in form for The Talbot to help extend their lead at the top of the league to fifteen points. Having brutalised Lee "The Tight" Wright 3-0 in the first singles, Catto sat back and watched as his comrades lost three of the next four games to leave the match on an 8-7 knife-edge with three to play. But his return to the oche alongside Iain Milligan in the doubles settled the home team's nerves. Another three legs and yet another step in The Talbot's relentless march to the title, all the more impressive considering the ongoing absence of 2010 singles champion, Ian "Wardie" Ward, and Jim "Grandad" Milligan's recent injurious dalliance with a chainsaw. As a footnote, the most captivating highest checkout competition for years nearly took another twist with Mart "The Dart" Polley's thrilling attempt at a maximum 170 checkout. Having sunk the requisite two treble-20s to leave bulls-eye, his final arrow was sadly somewhat less accurate (rumour has it there's still a search party out looking for it).
Blue Bell 7-11 Hatton Arms With The Blue Bell getting on down for Jim "The Landlord" Caulfield's birthday bash, the venue for this mid-table clash was switched to The Hatton Arms, ironically something of an unlucky venue for The Hatton this season. After a winning start for both The Bell's co captains, John "Rodders" Fursdon and Lee "The Tight" Wright, The Hatton took the match in style with nine consecutive legs, six of which came from the tungsten of Mark Handford. Fursdon came back to the oche with partner Pau Barefoot for a consolation win to end the evening but it was The Hatton who eased clear in the race for second place in the league. Odd Bods 6-12 Talbot Inn Mart "The Dart" Polley played the lead role in a routine win for The Talbot over league basement boys, The Odd Bods. Polley rolled back the years in a 3-0 drubbing of Mike "The Powell" Powell before proceeding to deliver the match winning legs in the doubles alongside JJ Shannon. Elsewhere, Ian "Wardie" Ward made an unexpected guest appearance for The Odd Bods against his old team-mates taking five of The Odd Bods' six legs, but even he could not prevent his side from sliding to yet another defeat against the all-conquering Talbot.
Blue Bell 10-8 Sports Club The Blue Bell made a strong start to their encounter with The Club and never looked back although the final scoreline suggested a close match. Three wins on the trot from John "Rodders" Fursdon, Pau Barefoot and (sensationally) Jim "The Landlord" Caulfield put the home team in command but an impressive 3-0 triumph for Paul "The Call" O'Leary over Lee "The Tight" Wright brought the score back to 7-5 going into the doubles. But The Club had left themselves too much to do and with the spoils shared in the two pairs games, The Bell ran out 10-8 winners to avenge the narrow defeat they suffered in the reverse fixture last month and edge into third place in the league. Hatton Arms 14-4 Odd Bods The Hatton Arms produced a ruthless performance to trounce The Odd Bods 14-4 on a raucous evening in the band room. The presence of assorted WAGs, pets and a rather worse-for-wear "Wee Man" lent a carnival atmosphere to the match with the Hatton team leading the procession at the oche. An early 2-1 win for George Wright gave the Odd Bods some hope of getting a result but weak finishing proved to be their downfall as the home side romped through the latter stages, racking up the final eight legs. Mark Handford and Bev "Corporal" Jones each contributed wins in both singles and doubles and Carl Butler, despite mistaking his glasses case for his darts as he left home, planted the final double to cap a great night's work for The Hatton.
Talbot Inn 13-5 Hatton Arms The Talbot Inn clinched the Summer League title with a match to spare following a convincing win over their closest rivals, The Hatton Arms. After a series of four close singles games had left the match in the balance at 7-5, the home team turned on the turbo in the doubles taking all six legs to maintain their perfect winning record this season. A superb 130 finish from Iain Milligan proved to be the darting highlight on this, the last night of singledom for happy Hatton couple — Eamonn "Brit" Britnell and Bev "Corporal" Jones — who tied the knot the following day. Sports Club 11-7 Odd Bods An impressive comeback by the Odd Bods, who took the last six legs of the match, merely prevented them from getting comprehensively thrashed by The Sports Club in the localest of local derbys at the Club on Friday. The Club produced an almost flawless 12 legs in the singles, losing only one. But with a golden opportunity to turn the screw and close the gap on The Hatton Arms in the league table, they took the proverbial foot off the pedal in the doubles losing all six legs. The result leaves The Odd Bods wallowing cheerily at the bottom of the table with one match to go, and The Club needing to win twelve legs against The Talbot in their final match to overhaul The Hatton and snatch the runners-up spot.
Sports Club 7-11 Talbot Inn The Talbot Inn completed an amazing 'Played 8, Won 8' season with victory at the Sports Club in the last match of the season. Despite losing the first game 2-1, Mart "The Dart" Polley and Catto put The Talbot back in control with consecutive 3-0 wins and, once in front, they never looked like surrendering the lead. Having hit 50 points by the halfway stage of the season, The Talbot couldn't quite reach the century at the end, pulling up three short. Nevertheless, 2011 was a season utterly dominated by this transitional Talbot side who look set to win annual Summer League titles in perpetuity. Now immune to the joys of winning the league, the champions nibbled on a couple of celebratory corners of egg sandwich before shuffling quietly back out into the night, no doubt planning their assault on next month's singles and doubles competitions. Odd Bods 5-13 Blue Bell The Blue Bell made an impressive late bid to overtake The Club on the final day of the season but agonisingly came up just three points shy, finishing in third place. The Bell welcomed back Graeme Baines and Leon Villette to their line-up, both of whom won their singles games 3-0 to set the tone for a series of almost unchallenged wins for The Bell. In fact, a trend-reversing 3-0 victory by George Wright was the only bright light in an otherwise characteristically disastrous performance from The Odd Bods, Gretton's foremost practitioners in the ancient art of throwing inaccurate darts but still having a great time. But sadly, the Summer League table is not based on a 'good times' index so The Odd Bods got hammered and ended the season out-of-sight in last place, just like last year.
Singles and Pairs Knockout Competitions After another crazy night in The Gretton Sports & Social Club (now on Facebook!) featuring nine doubles teams and eighteen contenders in the singles, the field was whittled down to the last four players in each competition. The lucky few still alive and kicking are: Doubles final: Singles semi-finals: The remaining matches will be played on Finals Night next Friday along with the Captains Cup and assorted revelries. The Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) was again the beneficiary of further frantic fundraising and raffle activities as the Summer League's donation to its nominated charity of the year reached £197, including a very generous donation from our hosts on the evening, Gretton Sports & Social Club.
Finals Night The Talbot made a brave attempt to defend every Summer League winner's trophy going on an exciting finals night at the Sports Club, and they very nearly managed it... First up was the pairs final which proved to be an excruciating affair. Scoring was low and finishing edgy, but Mart "The Dart" Polley showed all his experience to hit the decisive doubles and seal a 2-1 win alongside Catto against the Hatton pairing of Mark Handford and Bev Britnell. In the singles, John "Rodders" Fursdon edged ahead of Mark Handford in the first semi-final, winning a tense first leg. But Handford found his form in the next two legs to come back and clinch a 2-1 win. Meanwhile on the other board, it was an all-Talbot clash featuring Catto and JJ Shannon. After a slow start, Catto eventually moved through the gears, peaking with an immaculate do-or-die three-dart checkout to book his place in the final. The final itself was another close run thing. Catto took the first and looked favourite for the second until Handford took out 76 under pressure to even the match. This proved to be the turning point as Handford took the decider with a minimum of fuss while Catto was left to rue a number of missed doubles at the start of the leg. The evening's action concluded with The Captains Cup. The five representatives, Keith Wheatley (Sports Club), Mike Powell (Odd Bods), Bev Britnell (Hatton), Lee Wright (Blue Bell) and Catto (Talbot) produced some 'battle royales' before the field was eventually whittled down to two. In the final, Catto prevailed, successfully defending his title against Lee "The Tight" Wright with yet another 2-1 win.
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