The Winmau Centre Thursday Night Champions League in the Wolverhampton Indoor Community Sports Stadium has recorded its first ever NINE darts game of 501 and the man to do it was Chris Williams in his 4-3 win over Devinder Singh. After two consecutive 180’s Williams checked out on 141 a feat which has eluded many, many professionals but Chris who is in his twenties did this in only his first eight months of playing darts, a fabulous achievement.
After many of the players have completed six games only five of the starting 29 players are unbeaten. Reigning champion for the past two seasons Mick Baker is in his usual spot top of the table with 35 points he being one of the undefeated players. Second placed Chris Manoila is just one point off the top and he plus Adam Quinton and Sam Aitkens have also won all six games. Sam Guest was a late starter and has only played two so far and won both.
———————————
In their latest premier division fixture in the BDO Inter County Championships Warwickshire travelled north to take on second in the table Lancashire in what is always a testing fixture, nevertheless the local county returned with a tremendous 19-17 victory to take them up one place in the league table to fourth just three points short of third placed Cheshire.
Both men’s teams chalked up 7-5 wins with the ‘A’ teams match award going to Tom Aldridge who had a superb 30.47 average, taking the ‘B’ award was Prakash Jiwa with his 27.83 average.
There were mixed fortunes for the ladies as the ‘B’ team recorded their first win in five, a 4-2 success with Sue Gulliver (20.04) their top player. It was not such good news for the ‘A’ team as Trina Gulliver (22.60) was their sole winner in a 5-1 defeat.
———————————
In division one of the BDO Inter County Championships West Midlands had an away game against Dorset. Prior to the fixture West Midlands were second in a division consisting of ten teams and their hosts seventh, however despite the difference in their positions Dorset handed their high riding visitors a massive 27-9 defeat, this being West Midlands biggest defeat since they lost by the same scoreline to neighbouring Warwickshire in March 2009 when both teams were in division one.
Although the men’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ in turn lost 9-3 and 7-5 it was a fantastic weekend for Glen McGrandle as he took both match awards with his 27.33 average on Saturday followed by a 30.29 average on Sunday.
Both ladies teams suffered big defeats the ‘A’ team went down 5-1 with Sophie Singh (18.20) their only winner and the ‘B’ were handed a 6-0 whitewash.
Despite the huge loss West Midlands hold on to second place but their lead over third placed Oxfordshire is now only one point and they fall eleven points adrift of leaders Hampshire.
———————————
Round one of the Sheldon and District Winter League’s Punch Bowl Cup brought together premier division rivals Langley Hall Sports and Social Arrows and Saltley Amateur Gardeners. The game was a close affair with Arrows just edging out Saltley by 4-3.
Four of the eight fixtures saw premier teams beat division one sides, Mackadown Social, Castle Vale Residents, Pavilions and Crown at Olton in turn accounting for Iron Horse, Sheldon Marlborough Flights, Holy Souls and Sheldon Dukes.
The remaining three fixtures were between premier and division two teams and again it was the higher division teams that won, Harvester, Pirates and Lyndon taking out respective opponents Greville Arms, Maggies and Ridgemere Social.
———————————
It was cup semi final week in the South Birmingham League first the Knockout Cup in which there were no major shocks as Crown at Shard End and Coleshill Social both had 6-3 wins in turn against The Bell and Smithswood Social while Banbury Arrows and Mackadown Social took out The Raven and The Dog with a 5-4 scoreline.
The last four play off for the Jimmy Walker Cup saw division two team Banbury Flights account for their division one opponents Crown Arrows with a 5-4 result and in the all division two encounter The C’s beat The Kingfisher 6-3 while division one leaders Erdington Members Club won 6-3 against division two outfit The Gate.
Toby Jug versus The Trident is a late result.
———————————
The divisional League Cup semi finals were on the Forest of Arden Winter League’s fixture card and in the division one game’s there was sweet revenge for leaders Journeys End who after losing 6-3 in the league to Highwood KB reversed the result to beat them 6-3 in the cup. Joining Journeys in the final will be Ivy Leaf who won 5-4 against Kingshurst Knights.
In the division last four play offs both games finished with a 6-3 result Journeys End Flights and Highwood Arms beating respective opponents Inn on the Green and Crown Arrows.
———————————
A 7-0 home win over Bear and Staff has seen Hillyfields ‘B’ go top of the Kings Norton League with 12 points from six games. West Heath and Stirchley United are also both on 12 points but from seven games, in their latest fixtures West Heath won 6-1 at Coldstream while Stirchley lost pole position after going down 5-2 at E57 who move up one place to fifth, this being Stirchley’s first defeat of the season so far.
———————————
The Shirley Red Lion Premier League is fast reaching the end of its season with the majority of players having just two more fixtures to play, but so fiercely fought is the title that mathematically any one of the top six players could take the it, however the odds must surely be stacked in favour of current leader Mick Gorst who with 81 points from 31 games is two ahead of the rest of the field plus he has three games in hand on all of his chasing rivals of which Steve Sidwell and Paul Higgins are the nearest two with 79 points from 34 games.
With the finishing line now in sight the Thursday night individual league is already planning for season eight which will get underway on the 2nd March.
The format of the league is best of four legs of 301 start and finish on a double with every player averaging two games each week. Anyone interested in joining the league for the forthcoming season or requiring any further information should contact Mark Gwalchmai on 07908-741661.
———————————
The Coronation Shield semi-finals were on the agenda for the Four Oaks and District League and Old Oscott Arrows had a battle royal with Bishop Vesey as after storming to a 5-1 lead then trailed 7-5, but with wins in the final three games Arrows sealed a 10-5 victory. League leaders The Boat also took a 5-1 lead and never looked back in their tie with Golden Hind as they went on to win 11-4.
In the Norman Day Cup the two semi-finals were both won in the final games Erdington Arrows beating St Thomas’s Social Club and Drakes Drum after trailing 5-4 to Pint Pot Flights rallied and went on to book their final place with a similar 8-7 win.
Five maximums were hit in the four games J.Frost (Golden Hind), J.Clarke (Drakes Drum) and M.Partridge (the Boat) all hit their first while M.Archer (Bishop Vesey) recorded his third and J. Collins (St Thomas’s Social Club) his fifth.
———————————
A 27-21 win over The Outcasts keeps What’s The Point in the number one spot in the Winmau Centre Monday Night League with a total of 518 points. Former league winners The Untouchables are hot on the heels of the leaders recording the week’s biggest win a massive 43-5 victory over bottom of the table Double Trouble, to take them to within 12 points of What’s The Point.
A further 14 behind Untouchables comes third in the table Smash It who had a 38-10 win against Here For the Beer to put them 8 points ahead of The Outcast who are fourth.
———————————
The Small Heath League staged their League Cup final in which league champions East Birmingham Allotment Holders Association beat Gulp Tribe who finished third in the league 8-1.
———————————
The Brierley Hill Friday Night League played off the second leg of their League Cup and winning through round one were Netherton Cricket Club ‘B’, Miners (Wollescote), Netherton Cricket Club ‘B’, Samson and Lion, Brickmakers Arms and Dudley Sports.
The match between Brickmakers Arms and Pensnett Welfare Club ‘A’ went to 8-8, Jeff Batham recording a 156 checkout and then in the deciding leg hit a 177 to leave double twelve which he hit first dart to give Brickmakers the 9-8 win.
———————————
Camp Hill League champions Cotterills Lane Club added the League Cup title to their honours list with an 8-1 win over Gulp Tribe in the final.
The Consolation Cup final saw Hay Mills Social Club gain a narrow 4-3 victory over New Inn to take the title.
———————————
It was League Cup final week in the Netherton Thursday Night League with Bulls Head and Dudley Sports the final contestants. It was an excellent night of darts which saw Bulls Head come from 3-1 down to go on and lift the trophy with a 4-3 result.
———————————
The Silver End Sunday Morning League are up to week five and after a 6-2 home win over Dudley Sports ‘A’ its Woodside who have a slender one point lead at the top of the table over second placed The Bell whose 5-3 win against The Bridge gives them 9 points.
At the other end of the table Blue Brick went down 5-3 at Brickmakers Arms ‘B’ to leave them at the foot of the table and the only team without a point so far.
———————————
After only three games and a starting line up of 24 teams only four remain unbeaten in the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League. Last season’s champions Ten Arches ‘B’ and runners up Ten Arches ‘A’ squared up to each other in week three and it was the ‘A’ team who got the 5-4 verdict to put them in pole position. Gate ‘B’ and Kingswinford Conservative Club have both won their three games and in turn had 6-3 wins over Garibaldi and Quarry Bank Conservative Club. The only other team not to have lost is The Cross (Oldswinford) but they have only played two fixtures the latest of which was a 5-4 win at Starving Rascal.
———————————
Week sixteen in the Bilston and District League and The Nutan head both the 301 and 501 leagues, however after beating Bilston Conservative Club ‘C’ 6-1 in the 301 league they lost to the same opponents 2-1 in the 501 league. Nutan hold a two points lead over Lanesfield RBL in the 301 section but following their defeat in the 501 Tilted Barrel, who beat Orange Tree 3-0, are level on the same 30 points and only trail by one leg of average.
———————————
Despite winning 5-4 at Ex Serviceman’s ‘B’ The Bell have dropped two places to joint third in the Rowley Monday Night League, the reason being that a 9-0 win from Cradley Liberal Club at Fairfield has seen the Liberal Club leap from third to top of the table on average followed by Ex Serviceman’s ‘’A’ who won 6-3 at Whiteheath Tavern. The Roost are the other joint third team they won their home tie with Loyal Lodge 5-4.
TFC who had their opening fixture with Windmills End postponed won their only game so far against Haden Cross 5-4 to place them in seventh place to be one of only five undefeated teams.
———————————
Crown ‘A’ and Landywood ‘A’ the two top teams in the West Midlands Men’s Super League both won 5-0 in week 17, Crown won away to Landywood ‘B’ while Landywood beat Crown ‘B’ to maintain Crown’s seven points lead at the top of the table.
Ten Arches won 4-1 away to Chillington to move into third place above ECC who suffered a surprising 3-2 defeat at Cabin who are in the bottom half of the table.
It was not a good week for Allens Sports Bar as the ‘A’ team lost 4-1 at Olde Queens Head and the ‘B’ side lost by the same margin at home to Pensnett Welfare Club.
———————————
Island Inn followed up their 4-3 win against The Vine in the Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League with a 6-1 win at Waggon and Horses to give them the early lead in the league. The Wonder and Dewdrop are on the same four points as Island Inn and their latest fixtures saw The Wonder win 5-2 at The Vine while reigning champions Dewdrop won 4-3 against last season’s runners up Old Hop Pole and Merry-Go-Round. The top three teams are the only teams to have won both of their games.
———————————
The Britannia, Stourbridge Knockout turned out to be a well supported and well organised affair attracting county super league and local league players.
The semi finals both finished with a 5-2 result in which Nick Fullwell beat Richard Hosey and Ian Jones accounted for Chris Fox to set up an intriguing final between two West Midlands County team mates.
As it was expected the eleven legs final went the full distance, very entertaining and fiercely contested by both players but it was Ian Jones who got the narrow 6-5 verdict plus the winners £250, Fullwell collected £80 as runner up.
The losing semi finalist each received £25 and there was £10 for Gavin Smith, Sam Aitkens, Matt Moore and Dan Haden who all made their exits in the quarter finals.
———————————
Unbelievingly after only two fixtures have been played in the Wednesbury and Darlaston Wednesday Night League only two of the opening eight teams have a 100% win record. English Oak are the early pacesetters, an 8-1 win at Red Lion including a 160 break for their Ryan McCarthy giving them a two points of average lead over second in the table Churchills ‘A’ whose latest fixture saw them win 6-3 at home to Horse and Jockey, Churchill player Gary Bailey hit a maximum.
———————————
Bulls Head ‘A’ (Polesworth) and Queens Head are both on 16 points in the Pip Club League’s Master League, Bulls Head adding a 7-2 win over Pip Club to their tally while Queens Head went one better with an 8-1 win at Sports Bar ‘180’.
In the division one league it’s Bulls Head ‘A’ and Queens Head who are again in first and second place both on 8 points with third placed Winning Post some four points behind.
Globe (Wilnecote) lead division two but Progressive Club in second place have four points one short of Globe with a game in hand.
———————————
Woodstock Timber Presents a charity darts knockout at the Bridge Inn, 118 Moss Grove, Kingswinford, West Midlands, DY6 9HH on Saturday 4th March with all proceeds going to a beautiful, courageous little girl called Evie Taylor. Evie has a condition called “Tibial Hemimelia” in which only her fibula bones have formed, she desperately needs to raise money for an operation, why not enter the knockout and help give a young girl a better life.
Entry to the event is £5 with a £300 prize fund. Registrations will be accepted between 1.00pm and 2.30pm with a 3.00pm start.
———————————