The Four Oaks and District League have now got their new season underway adding one more team from last season’s line-up to make it twenty-three on this season’s starting blocks. Another change is that the league have gone from two divisions of ten and twelve teams to seven in division one and eight in each of divisions two and three.
The early pacesetters in division one are Highcroft Hotdogs who opened up their account with a 7-2 win at Old Oscott Arrows with second placed Bishop Vesey winning 6-3 at Beggars Bush and third in the division Beehive having a 5-4 success at home against The Nomads whose Tom Colley recorded an eight darts game while Highcroft Hotdogs player Leigh Dells had a 160 break.
Red Lion lead the way in division two, once again with a 7-2 win as they beat their visitors The Rise Club. Heartlands with a score of 170 from their Jordan Rogers won their home game with Plough and Arrows 6-3 to take over the number two spot with a slender one leg of average lead over third in the division Erdington Arrows who won 5-4 at home against Charley’s Flights, fourth placed Walmley CS Flights also having a 5-4 win at home over Drakes Drum.
Biggest win in the opening round of fixtures went to division three’s Sutton Sharks who handed their hosts Sutton Sports a 9-0 whitewash. Close behind Sutton Sharks with 8-1 wins were both St Thomas Arrows and Rosey Mac’s who in turn both won at home against Rosey Mac’ Bar and St Tom Cats. Pint Pot Flights are fourth in the division after they won 5-4 at Deer’s Leap.
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The Harborne and District League are up to week three and continuing to lead the field is Copper Fox ‘R’ who handed their visitors Kings Norton Ex Serviceman’s Club a 9-0 thrashing to keep them two legs of average ahead of second placed Northfield Conservative Club who also had a 9-0 home victory over next to bottom of the league The Mill. Northfield Town had a close 5-4 home win over Cock Inn but nevertheless had to surrender their third place to Weoley Castle WMC whose 8-1 win over bottom team Windsor gives them a two legs average advantage over Northfield Town who drop to fourth. All of the top four teams have won all of their four games so far. Fifth in the league Smethwick Cricket Club are just two points behind the top quartet, their latest fixture seeing them win 7-2 at home against Copper Fox ‘M’.
There were no fewer than five maximum scores this week and they were provided by M.Collins (Smethwick Cricket Club), T.Hamilton (Copper Fox ‘R’), S.Joyce (Weoley Castle WMC), M.Lloyd (Northfield Conservative Club) and A.Beagrie (The Mill).
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It was game number nine for the South West Birmingham Clubs League and the results had no effect on either the singles or pre-match doubles divisions. Longbridge United remain top of the singles division, their 7-1 home win over bottom of the division Bartley Green giving them a six points lead over both second and third placed Northfield Town and West Heath CEM. Northfield Town lost a little ground as they were held to a 4-4 draw away to Bournbrook who are currently fifth in the league two points behind their opponents but with a game in hand. West Heath CEM won their home tie with sixth placed Stirchley United 5-3, they and Northfield Town are on twelve points and have just one point more than fourth in the table Northfield Conservative Club ‘B’ who had a 6-2 home win over Perfection.
In the pre-match doubles division West Heath CEM lead the way with 104 points and have a lead of two over their nearest rivals, second placed Longbridge United. Northfield Town are third with 97 points before a gap of twenty-one points to fourth placed Northfield Conservative Club ‘B’.
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The Stourbridge and District Wednesday Night League staged the semi-finals of their Shadow Cup which saw league runners-up Hollybush beat third placed Bird in Hand ‘E’ and joining them in the final will be Old Liberal Club ‘B’ who accounted for Dudley Sports.
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The Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League completed their first league matches of the new season which saw league newcomers Horse and Jockey win 7-0 against fellow newbies King Arthur. Another team to keep a clean-sheet was Cottage Spring who won 7-0 at Albion. Reigning champions Allen’s Bar beat last season’s third placed Horseley Tavern ‘A’ with a close 4-3 scoreline, the result could not have been any closer as Allen’s won the fixture in the very last game of the night. A newly formed over sixties team Three Horseshoes were unfortunate to lose 4-3 in their deciding game at home against Tamebridge. Vine ‘A’ and Waggon and Horses are joint third both teams winning 5-2 against respective opponents Vine ’B’ and Ivy Bush.
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The top two teams in the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League extended their undefeated run to nine games, leaders Old Liberal Club winning their home tie with Netherton Conservative Club’A’ 7-0 while second placed Bird in Hand had a 5-2 success at Rose and Crown ‘B’ to now trail Old Liberal Club by some nine legs of average. Bird in Hand were the only team in the top six not to win 7-0 as third placed Netherton Conservative Club ‘B’ beat Raven ‘B’, fourth in the league Five Ways won at Mount Pleasant, fifth in the table Princess beat Rose and Crown ‘A’ and sixth placed Gate Hangs Well ‘B’ won at Glasscutters ‘B’. Netherton Conservative Club ‘B’ are two points short of the leading duo while Five Ways, Princess and Gate Hangs Well ‘B’ are all on fourteen points, four off the top.
S.Blewitt (Princess) had a 160 break.
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Reigning champions of the Netherton ThursdayNight League Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’ have resumed their place at the top of the table as former leaders Townsend Social Club suffered a surpising 5-4 defeat away to eighth placed Old Glasshouse and drop to fourth in the table, on the same eighteen points as the three teams above them but they have played eleven games compared to the leaders having played only nine. Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’ kept their unbeaten run intact with a 7-2 home win over Plough and Harrow. Old Liberal Club’s 9-0 home win over bottom placed Olde Queens Head has seen them move up one place to second with eighteen points from ten games while third placed Bulls Head, who also won 9-0 at Hare and Hounds have a similar eighteen points but from eleven games.
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As early as week two in the Rowley Monday Night League and only five of the starting line-up of seventeen teams are able to boast a 100% win record. With the biggest average and their latest 9-0 home win over Huntingtree Romsley Cricket Club head the table with three legs of average advantage over second placed and reigning champions Bell who won 6-3 at Wonder. Gate Hangs Well are on the same points and avaerage as Bell after they won their home fixture with Hill and Cakemore Ex Serviceman’s Club 7-2. A further two legs behind is fourth placed is Rowley Bar and Grill who had a 6-3 win at White Swan. The only other team besides the top four not to have lost is seventh placed Windmills End but they have only played one game which they won 6-3 at Rowley Labour Club.
Individual achievemments this week went to K.Chambers (Plough and Harrow) who hit a 180 and had a nine darts game, S.Betts, who also had a nine darts game and A.Bunce who hit a maximum both from Rowley Bar and Grill plus B.Smith (Tividale FC) who recorded a 152 break.
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A 7-2 home win over Baggeridge keeps Netherton Sports and Social Club top of the Sedgley and Gornal Tuesday Night League’s Mini League John Walters Cup. A 5-4 home defeat by White Horse has seen Old Bulls Head drop to third on six points while their victors replaced them in second place on eight points, the same number as the leaders and only three legs of average behind them.
In the John Walters Trophy there is no change in the top three places despite leaders Britannia going down 5-4 at home to Red Cow who are second in the table on the same ten points as their hosts but trailing massively on average. The Cabin are third in the division two points short of the top two after they won 7-2 at Jolly Crispin.
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Only a handful of games were played in the Amblecote RBL Premier League this week and although leader Nick Fullwell didn’t play he holds on to pole position with 101 points from nineteen games and has a lead of six over second placed Dan Nicholls who played just the one game in which he won 7-0 against Jayden Harper to leave him with three games in hand on Fullwell. Andy Vellender moves up one place to third following his 4-3 success over Reece Colley to put him on 83 points from seventeen games while fourth placed John Green is one point behind Vellender after he lost 6-1 to Reece Colley.
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Pensnett Liberal Club contimue to lead the Black Country men’s Super League although there was no result for them this week. Second placed Allen’s Bar ‘C’ had a 3-2 win over local rivals Allen’s Bar ‘B’ to put them on the same 103 points as Pensnett but they have played one game more than their rivals. Third in the league Gilbert’s Bar ‘B’ are four points behind the top two teams but they have a game in hand on the leaders and two on second placed Allen’s Bar ‘C’. Whiteheath Tavern are fourth, they have the same ninety-nine points as Gilbert’s Bar ‘B’ but have played two games more than them.
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Week seven in the Gilbert’s Bar Monday Night Singles League and Wayne Jones tops the division one table with sixty-three points from seven games the latest of which saw himm win 7-1 against Andy Mullinder. Second in the division Ian Stanton is five points short of Jones and has played one game more than him after winning his latest against Conor Whitehouse 5-3. An 8-0 win over Jon Blakemore takes Darren Williams up into third place on fifty points from seven games.
Alan Melling added a 6-2 win over Gemma Barrett Jenkins to his tally in division two to keep him top of the table on fifty-one points from seven games with a lead of six over his nearest rival Artur Lubkowski who beat Jon Williams 6-2. Richard Brown is a further six points adrift in third place after he also won 6-2 in his game against Colin Wood.
A 6-2 win over Joe Bartolo keeps Dave Thackeray top of division three with sixty-one points from seven games. Second placed Michele Pritchard has played one game more than Thackeray but is only one point behind him after she beat Anthony Bradley 5-3.
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Corpus Christi was the setting for the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League’s doubles knockout which produced some top-class darts throughout. Just missing out on the final and making their exits in the last four were Reece Cook-Lucas and Ben Johnson (Gilbert’s Bar ‘A’) plus S.Jones and R.Smith (Wednesfield Legion). The final was made up of Ryan O’Connor and Andy Jervis (Gilbert’s Bar ‘A’) and Ian Stanton and Dean Simmons-Fullwood (ECC ‘A’). It was a superb final going the fiull five legs distance with O’Connor and Jervis just getting the close 3-2 verdict over Stanton and Simmons-Fullwood.
In the final O’Connor had top shots of 3×180’s,152f,146f while Simmons-Fullwood notched a maximum
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A date for the diary, on Friday 15th March at 8.00pm local Tipton man and Czech Darts Open Champion Jamie (Yozza) Hughes will be taking on players in a darts exhibition at the Blackheath Liberal Club, St John Street, Rowley Regis, B65 0EP. Tickets are on sale at £5 each which includes a buffet.
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