Thomas Bent has been ousted from his number one perch in the Shirley Legion Double Top League but only because for a second consecutive week he was unable to turn up to play. Bent slips down to third place in the table on 37 points from 12 games and replacing him in pole position is Steve Sidwell who followed up last week’s excellent performances with a 3-1 win over Lee Lattimer and a 2-2 draw with Dave Heighway to put him on 41 points from 14 games.
With straight 4-0 wins against Chris Thomas snr and Colin Geens Mark Gwalchmai took his number of games to 14 and his total points to 38 to place him second in the table just three points behind Sidwell. Other players who made notable moves up the table were Jordan Ottley from twelfth to fourth, Adam Stuart thirteenth to fifth and Gary Cleverley who with breaks of 156 and 116 plus three twelve darts games moved up thirteen places from twentieth to seventh after playing four games to take him to seventeen played.
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The Camp Hill League were involved in semi-finals this week, first the League Cup in which Emerald Club who are currently placed eighth in the league table inflicted a somewhat surprising 5-2 defeat on Sheldon Marlborough Flights who are some four places above them and are fourteen points better off.
The second semi-final between New Inn and league leaders White Swan Nomads was postponed.
In the last four games for the Consolation Cup, second in the league Tyseley WMC beat Wagon and Horses who are fifth 4-3. The second semi matched the league’s bottom two teams with North Star who are at the foot of the table losing 5-4 to next to bottom Station Wagon.
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Week nine of the Shirley and District Monday Night League saw The Wharf lose for the second time in nine games, despite a maximum from their Sam Hicks they went down 6-3 at Legion Flights. The loss has seen Wharf drop down to third place with 14 points while their opponents are seventh on 10 points.
A 9-0 win by The Lodge at Sharmans Cross has seen them move up from third to top of the table with 16 points as have second placed Dunky’s Boys after they also handed out a 9-0 whitewash to their hosts Shirley Spartac, John Sidwell finding the three treble twenties for Dunky’s.
Highwood with a 180 from John Buckingham moved up one place to fourth, their 8-1 win over Legion Royal putting them on the same 14 points as Wharf and also fifth and sixth The Bears and Red Lion, Bears winning 5-4 against Saracens Misfits and Red Lion losing by the same margin to Cider House, with Trevor Carter hitting a maximum for the losers.
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After completing all of their domestic fixtures the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League played off their League Cup final between league champions Brickmakers Arms ‘A’ and British Oak who finished the season in seventh place some 30 points behind their opponents.
C.Penzer put the champions 1-0 up with a win over P.Price only to see British Oak open up a 2-1 lead thanks to B.Watts and K.Breeze. A.Turley levelled for Brickmakers before B.Powell restored the Oak’s lead for a second time. In the final singles game J.Batham made it 3-3.
For the first time since the opening game Brickmakers took the lead again in the seventh when C.Penzer and J.Pickett won the first of the three doubles games against B.Watts and K.Breeze and although A.Nicholls and R.Riaz (British Oak) took the game to a decider it was Brickmakers who won 5-4 when A.Turley and J.Batham beat B.Powell and J.Payne.
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A 9-0 whitewash for Weoley Castle Pub over Island Inn Darts has seen the winners go from sixth to top of the Harborne and District League table with a maximum four points from their opening two games. Weoley Castle Pub have a slender one leg of average lead over former leaders Coppper Fox, Longbridge Social Club and Cock Inn, Copper Fox beating The Bear 5-4, Longbridge winning 7-2 at Quinton RBL and Cock Inn having an 8-1 success against Avenue Social to keep all of their 100% wins intact.
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There were 9-0 wins for the top two teams in the Cradley Tuesday Night League as leaders Brickmakers Arms ‘A’ won away to Netherton Sports and Social ‘B’ and second in the table Netherton Sports and Social ‘A’ won at Riddins Tavern to keep both teams level on 36 points. On form for the leaders were Shane Passey with a score of 180 and a 157 finish and Nick Fullwell who checked out with a superb 160 game shot.
Third placed Wheatsheaf had a vital and somewhat surprising 8-1 win over Bulls Head who as a result drop two places to fifth, surprising insomuch as they were previously third in the league and three points ahead of Wheatsheaf.
The leading duo have a massive nine points lead over Wheatsheaf, Brickmakers Arms ‘B’ and Bulls Head (Netherton), Brickmakers ‘B’ winning 5-4 away to Plough.
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Just two re-arranged matches played in the Netherton Thursday Night League which didn’t affect the league table one iota as Bulls Head beat Saracens Head 8-1 and Townsend Social Club won 5-4 against White Horse in a very close game that went to a deciding leg.
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The Brierley Hill Monday Night League played the opening round of their Singles Knockout and successfully winning through to round two were J.Poole, P.Wakeman, H.Wakefield, R.Jones (High Oak), R.Powers, B.Carr (Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’), A.Green, R.Rubery (Dudley Sports ‘A’), B.Weatherall, C.Edwards (Brickmakers Arms), N.Wooldridge, J.Colley (Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘B’), S.Russell, (Delph Bell), C.Smith (Swan), J.Moss (Dudley Sports ‘B’), S.Baker (Portway), J.Bristow (Limes Club), S.Garland (Lamp Tavern), P.Whitcombe (Rose and Crown), J.Archer (Bull and Bladder).
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The Bell continue to lead the field and hold on to their two points advantage in the Rowley Monday Night League after beating Fairfield 7-2 with their Trevor Brennan hitting a 180. George are placed second and kept the pressure on the leaders with an 8-1 win over Wonder, Frank Johnson breaking with 160 and Karl Holton hitting a maximum for George.
Cradley Sports and Social are a further two points adrift in third place even though they won 6-3 against Loyal Lodge, but then comes a four points gap to fourth placed Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’ whose Tommy Johnson hit a 180 in his team’s 9-0 win against Ivy Bush.
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On the agenda for the Sutton and District Summer League was round one of the Prestridge Shield which saw Boldmere Tap beat fellow division one team Erdington Arrows 5-4 and division two leaders Old Oscott Arrows win 7-2 against Oscott Social who are bottom of division one.
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Wythall RBL made it two wins in as many games in the Henley and District Summer League when they beat Beausale 6-3 to hold on to pole position, however their lead is on average only as last season’s runners-up Studley Conservative Club had a crucial 5-4 win against reigning champions Studley Cricket Club to become the only other team besides the leaders with a 100% win record. Studley Cricket Club, Wootton Bears and Wythall Legion are all just two points behind the top two teams.
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The Silver End Sunday Morning League staged the first leg of their Team Knockout and Shadow Cup. All of the four games in the Team Knockout finished with a 5-3 result as Glasscutters ‘A’, Dudley Sports, Woodside ‘A’ and High Oak in turn accounted for Brickmakers Arms ‘B’, Brickmakers Arms ‘A’, High Acres and Old Star.
Biggest winners in the Shadow Cup were New Talbot who won 6-2 against Three Crowns. Not far behind were Kings Head ‘A’ and Woodside ‘B’ who both won 5-3, Kings Head ‘A’ winning the local derby with their ‘B’ side and Woodside ‘B’ taking a lead into the second leg against The Bell. The game between Glasscutters ‘B’ and Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club finished all square at 4-4.
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At the halfway stage of the Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League Tipton Sports consolidated their number one position by handing their visitors Island Inn a 7-0 whitewash to keep them two points ahead of their nearest rivals The Vine who had a closer 4-3 success away to Dewdrop ‘A’.
There were 160 breaks for both P.Sayce (Dewdrop ‘A’) and S.Cliff (Tipton Sports.
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Qualifying for the next round of the Singles Knockout in the Brierley Hill Friday Night League were K.Harris, J.Barrowman (Ashwood), A.Bedford, D.Haywood (Dudley Sports), J.Ward, W.Page (Miners, Wollescote), R.Powers, P.Wakeman, S.Gough (High Oak), M.Price (Gornal British Legion), D.Male (Netherton Cricket Club ‘B’), J.Pickett (Netherton Cricket Club ‘A’).
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A 9-0 win against Dolphin in the Pip Club League has seen Bombay Bob’s Boys replace Belgrave Sports and Social Club at the top of the Combined Division with 40 points, one more than Belgrave Sports and Social who had a bye. An 8-1 win for Birchmoor Club over Belgrave Club keeps them within one point of second place and ten ahead of fourth placed Globe, Wilnecote who won 7-2 at Progressive Club.
There were no fewer than five maximums in the league this week supplied by Sam Whittaker (Bombay Bob’s Boys), Syd Kirkham (Birchmoor Club), Tom Baldwin (Sports Bar ‘180’), Alan Carter (Old Liberal House) and Daz Massey (Dolphin Wanderers).
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The top two teams in both the singles and doubles divisions of the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League played each other in game 15. In the singles division Riley’s ‘C’ opened up a two points lead over second placed Railway after beating them 4-3, this being Railway’s first defeat in the thirteen games played so far this season.
In the doubles division a similar situation exists as once again Riley’s ‘C’ were winners, a 2-1 result giving them a two point’s lead at the top of the division over second in the table Railway.
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With fixtures fast running out in the Stourbridge and District Wednesday Night League three teams are at the top of the table on 62 points. A 7-0 win for Ashwood ‘B’ over King Arthur keeps them in pole position they are just two legs of average to the good on second placed Swan who won 5-2 against Fox Inn (Lye) and third in the league Ashwood ‘A’ are on the same points following their 5-2 win over Ten Arches ‘A’ but they have played one game more than the two teams above them.
There was just one winning team in the bottom half of the league this week High Acres who had a 6-1 win away to bottom of the table Brickmakers Arms ‘B’.
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Allen’s Sports Bar ‘A’ made it a fantastic treble as after winning the West Midlands Men’s Super League title they then added the Jack Jones Cup and Black Country Premier League Challenge Cup to their tally.
Allen’s Sports Bar
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