The Majority of teams in the Harborne and District League have seven more games to play and it could not be closer at the top of the table with no fewer than four teams on forty points. Current leaders Copper Fox ‘R’ beat local rivals, and placed fifth in the league table, Copper Fox ‘M’ 7-2 to give them an average lead plus two games in hand on most of the other teams. Second placed Northfield Darts Club won their home tie with Lion Bar 8-1, they have played one game more than the leaders and have one game in hand on the chasers. Third in the league Northfield Conservative Club also had an 8-1 win at Weoley Castle WMC to keep them ten legs of average to the good on fourth placed Smethwick Cricket Club after they also won 8-1 at the Crown. After the top four there is a huge eight point’s gap to fifth placed Copper Fox ‘M’. What a game it was at Northfield Darts Club with no less than four maximums in their game with Lion Bar. There were three for the home side from L.Fowler, L.Allen and J.Corbett plus one for Lion Bar from D.McConomy.
The league produced no fewer than eight maximums this week, the other four coming from, K.Webb (Bourneville), D.Hill (Northfield Conservative Club) and P.Sitshebo (Harborne Social),
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A 4-4 draw away to third placed Highwood, has cost Langley Arrows the top spot in group one of the Sheldon and District Summer League, they drop down to second place behind new leaders Raven Arrows whose 5-3 home win over Dog Inn Nomads has taken their points tally to eight, one more than Langley Arrows, both teams having played four games. Highwood, whose Chris King hit a maximum, are four points off the top and have played five games.
The top two teams in group two, both hold on to their places, Kingshurst Labour Club top with nine points after adding on their latest 4-4 draw at Family Tree, who are fourth in the group, Kevin Richards notching a maximum for Kingshurst. Second placed Sheldon Marlborough Ridge are on the same nine points as Kingshurst but trail by three legs of average after they won 5-3 at RAFA who drop two places to next to bottom of the group with four points, the same number as bottom placed RAFA Arrows who went down 5-3 at Smithswood Social Club.
Despite going down 5-3 at Langley Flights and with a 180 from their Dave Sheridan, Lyndon Old Boys hang on to the number one spot in group three with nine points, which is one more than their second placed opponents. Raven are third in the group, they lost 5-3 away to their nearest rivals, fourth placed Arran Way Arrows who drew level on both points and average with their opponents.
Maggies had their group four fixture, at Langley Pints postponed and as a result lose pole position and drop to second place behind Station Inn who had a 4-4 home draw with Raven Flights, A.Malloy hitting a maximum for Station Inn. Maggies are now just one point short of Station Inn but with a game in hand. CBMC-A are third, their 5-3 win at Shirley Misfits taking their points to six while fourth in the group Langley Pints are three points off the top of the table with two games in hand.
Castle Bromwich Spitfires have been ousted from their top position in group five their 6-2 home defeat by Yardley District Amateur Darts Team has seen them be replaced by their opponents who have a total of nine points and a narrow one leg of average lead on the Spitfires who also have nine points. Mackadown Sports and Social Club moved off the foot of the table, their 5-3 home win over Langley Bullets moving them up one place with Trident Flights taking over the bottom spot after they lost 6-2 at Weir Raven.
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The Camp Hill League have played off the finals of the men’s and women’s singles knockouts plus the men’s doubles. Adding to his many, many titles, Neil Parsonage won the men’s singles knockout beating Ant Daly in the final. The doubles title went to Joel Evans and Shay Darby who had a final victory over James Hinkley and Stu Ollerenshaw. Winner of the women’s singles was Pamela Lea with Holly Yardley runner-up.
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Order of the day for the South West Birmingham Clubs League was the quarter-finals of their Bob Price Cup. Biggest winners of the round were Kings Norton Ex Serviceman’s Club who are currently second in division one, they won 6-2 against division two’s bottom team, Longbridge Arrows. In the all-division one clash, third placed Northfield Darts Club accounted for bottom of the division Bournebrook with a 5-2 result. The all-division two game saw top of the table E57, with a 160 break from P.Taylor lose 4-3 to fourth placed Quarry Lane Club. Joining the three winners in the semi-finals will be division one’s second placed side Stirchley United, who with a maximum from S.Hercules beat division two’s fourth placed team Cue Club 5-2.
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Week twenty-five in the Heartlands Sugardarts M&E Co Double Top League was not a good night for current leader Steve Cain. He began the night on the wrong side of a 3-0 result with George Drennan and then lost 2-1 to both Clive Astsin and Charlie Rogers. Although Steve Cain suffered a trio of defeats he remains top of the table with 129 points simply because he has played fifty-eight games which is more than any other player in the league, twelve more than his nearest rival Matthew Cain who reduced the arrears on the night when he beat both Ryan Barritt and Gemma Whatley 3-0 to put him on 120 points, nine short of Steve Cain but from only forty-six games. Third placed Martin Cooper was another player to close the gap on the leader, as he won 3-0 against Brian Meer and Stephen Smith, his 112 points from forty-seven games. Fourth and fifth placed Ryan Cain and Stuart Bloomer have both played forty-six games and are respectively thirty and thirty-six points behind Steve Cain with seventh in the league John Burdett on eighty-eight points with a huge seventeen games in hand on Steve Cain.
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Besides normal league fixtures the Sutton and District League have also played off a couple of their cup finals. The Keaton Lacey Memorial Cup, division one final saw divisional champions Highcroft Hotdogs win 5-3 against Bishop Vesey who finished as runners-up in the league.
Finishing second in division two, Rise Club collected the silverware with a 7-2 success over Beggars Bush.
Highcroft Hotdogs completed a super trio of wins when they won the final of the Norman Day Cup 13-2 against Charley’s Flights.
With division one league fixtures al done and dusted with Highcroft finishing as champions with thirty-eight points and Bishop Vesey runners-up with thirty-six points all that remained were the final division two fixtures. It could not have finished any closer as Great Barr Social with a maximum from C.Bain won 7-2 t home against Oscott Social to put them on thirty-eight points. Rise Club won 6-3 at St Thomas Arrows to not only put them on the same thirty-eight points as Great Barr Social but also level on exactly the same average. Third placed Pint Pot Arrows rounded off their campaign with an 8-1 win at Misfits @ Holly Lane Sports and Social Club to finish four points behind the top two teams.
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With only two more games to go to the midway point of the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League season, leaders Old Liberal Club stretched their unbeaten run to eighteen games when they won 5-2 at Cross, despite their winning run they only have a two points advantage over second placed Gornal British Legion who had a 5-2 home win over Glasscutters Arms ‘B’ which keeps them four points ahead of third placed Bird in Hand after they had a narrow 4-3 home win over Mount Pleasant. Although Cross are currently fourth they have a game in hand on the three teams above them and a win in that game would see them take over third place from Bird in Hand with both teams then on thirty points, Cross having the superior average.
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A 6-3 home win over Townsend Social Club, has seen leaders of the Netherton Thursday Night 501 League, Dudlkey Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’ take their undefeated run to eighteen games and gives them a lead of six points over second placed Rose and Crown, Wordsley who won their home tie with Plough and Harrow 5-4. Plough and Harrow have a game in hand on the leaders and on third placed Old Liberal Club, they hold on to a three points lead over Old Liberal Club after they won 5-4 at home against fourth placed Bulls Head.
There were seven maximums in the league this week, two of them going to Liam Homer (Haden Cross) and one to his team-mate James Wrench. The other four went to Nick Fullwell and George Willetts (Old Liberal Club) and Grant Jackson and Bobby Ratcliffe (Bulls Head.
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With all the domestic fixtures completed, the Sedgley and Gornal Tuesday Night League are winding down their season with cup finals and in the John Walters Trophy Hilly House are champions while the John Walters Cup title went to Red Cow 1.
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The Silver End Sunday Morning League, played off the preliminary round of their League Cup in which Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’ won 5-3 against Old Star ‘B’. The game between New Talbot and Brier Rose finished all-square at 4-4 with Brier Rose winning the deciding leg.
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Twenty-one teams kicked-off the new season in the Stourbridge and District Wednesday Night League, and after only five games just two points separate the top fourteen teams. Six teams, Raven, Plough, Swan, Bird in Hand ‘E’, Old Liberal Club ‘A’ and Beech Tree Miners are all on eight points having lost one game each, there are then eight teams with six points, Chop House, Hollybush, Stourbridge FC ‘A’, Stourbridge FC Youth, Fox Inn (Lye), Netherton Conservative Club, High Acres and Ashwood.
Raven suffered their first defeat this week, a 4-3 reversal at High Acres to leave them top of the table by just two legs of average over Plough and Swan in joint second place, after Plough won 5-2 at Ten Arches and Swan won 4-3 at Chop House.
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The Rowley Monday Night League, have been involved in their singles knockouts for divisions one and two. The division one knockout was played down to the last sixteen players and winning through were, N.Simms, J.Lowe (Tividale FC), C.Allen, D.Homer, L.Horton, J.Allen (Gate Hangs Well), L.Dabbs, R.Kinsella, C.Dabbs, R.McCarthy, B.Gillies, A.Whitehouse (Bell), M.Archer (Hawthorns), S.Siviter (Wheatsheaf), D.Ogden, M.Crumpton (Whiteheath Tavern),
The division two event was played down to the last eight and making the quarter-finals were, L.Mouldridge, C.Armstrong (Double Tops Micro Bar), C.Bates (Bostin Darts ‘C’), L.Craig (Bostin Darts ‘B’), M.Preedy, A.Johnson (Vine), L.Poultney (Coombs Wood), C.Hardy (Huntingtree).
There was just the one rearranged division two game played which saw second in the division, Double Tops Micro Bar lose 6-3 at home to Star Valley who are three places off the foot of the division.
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On the fixture card for the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night Darts League were the finals of their Gilbert’s Bar Shield, in the last four games Junction D beat Red Lion and Bradmore Arms beat Wheatsheaf.
The final went to the wire with Junction ‘D’ running out the 4-3 winners with Bradmore Arms finishing as runners-up.
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