The Shirley Legion Double Top League have got their fourteenth season underway with no fewer than 31 players contesting the title. Jordan Ottley began the new season with a straight 4-0 win over Lee Lattimer in which he notched a maximum and recorded a 100 finish. Ottley then suffered a setback when he lost 3-1 to newcomer Emmet Leonard but with a recovering 3-1 win over Wayne Clarke he went top of the table with 8 points from his three games. Kyle Bevan and Wayne Clarke are both just one point behind Ottley, Bevan is second in the table, he has only played two games in which he won 3-1 with a 180 against Sean Talbot and rounded off his evening with a 4-0 success over Dave Fisher. Clarke like Ottley has played three and although he lost to the early leader he won his other two games against Steve Harper and Luke Sahota 3-1.
Other players to find the three treble twenties were John Smyth, Mark Henderson and Luke Sahota, the best finish of the night was 138 which was achieved by Mark Henderson in a 3-1 win over Dave Heighway.
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As the Kings Norton League moves into the second half of the season Avenue C.Fox continue to lead the field with a perfect 24 points from the twelve games they have played. Rubery RBL suffered a somewhat surprising 5-2 home defeat in their thirteenth fixture at the hands of a Bournbrook team who are two places and two points behind them. The defeat has cost Rubery their second place as a 5-2 win by Cock Inn at Grant Arms has seen them draw level on 20 points with Rubery with a slender one leg of average lead on them.
Fourth in the table E57 are also on 20 points after they handed their hosts Weoley Hill a 7-0 whitewash to leave them just four legs of average short of Cock Inn.
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The Four Oaks and District Winter League had the preliminary round of their Coronation Cup on the fixture card which produced some top class darts with no fewer than nine 180’s, three 160 breaks and a score of 171 being recorded.
The Walmley CSC Flights and Boldmere Tap game went to a decider and with two 160 breaks and two 140’s from T.Tyrie Walmley won through to the next round 9-6.
Castle Vale Residents won a tight match 8-7 at Deer’s Leap they took the final leg of the last game with R.Vann scoring his second 180. The Black Signets played away at Drakes Drum A.Carter and A.Ashford hitting ten tons for the visitors but they were beaten 11-4 by their hosts whose J.Mahon hit a maximum.
Third divisions Rosey Mac’s Leopard chalked up 16 tons against first division opponents The Boat but it was to no avail as The Boat recorded three more top scores and they were all 180’s, M.Partridge hitting his second plus a 160 break with J.Prince and K.Reynolds adding two more for an 11-4 win.
Other teams to win through to the next round were Boldmere St Mike’s, Golden Hind, Old Oscott Arrows, Erdington Arrows, Pint Pot Flights, Oscott Social Club, The Digby and The Towers.
D.Walton (Bishop Vesey), A.Linehan (The Digby), S.Alexander (Boldmere Tap) and C.Millward snr (Boldmere St Mikes) all hit a 180.
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The Emerald Club was the setting for the Camp Hill League’s Singles Knockout and with an encouraging entry of in excess of eighty players winning through to the quarter finals were Pete Yardley, Mark Turner, Jaquie Francis (New Inn), Simon Edwards (White Swan Nomads), Joseph Nolan (Marlborough Stars), Mark Coles, Nathan Prentice (Tyseley WMC), Phil Hughes (Emerald Club).
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In game number 16 Gate Hangs Well were the only losers in the top six teams in the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League as they lost 5-4 playing away to third in the table Ten Arches.
Leaders Brickmakers Arms took their unbeaten record to sixteen games with a 6-3 win at Stourbridge RBL who are placed seventh on 20 points, twelve short of their victors while second in the table Britannia kept with four points of Brickmakers with a 6-3 win over Glasscutters and at the same time maintained their four points lead over Ten Arches.
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Week seven results in the Sheldon and District Winter League saw no change in the top three places in the Premier Division as top side Highwood Gerry’s Boys won 6-3 against bottom of the division East Birmingham Allotment Holders Association, second placed Langley Arrows who are two points behind Highwood had a bye and third in the table Dunky’s Boys were 7-2 winners at Sheldon Dukes leaving them two points off the top with a game in hand.
In Division One leaders Hornet took their unbroken winning run to seven games with a 7-2 home win over Lyndon Old Boys who drop one place to third on 8 points, the same number as The Dingle who replace them in the number two spot following their 5-4 win at Shirley Misfits but two legs of average short of Dingle.
An 8-1 win at Hampton and Solihull CC made it seven wins in as many games for leaders of Division Two Holy Souls and keeps them two points ahead of second placed Meadway Sports and Social who had a much closer 5-4 home win over Inn on the Green.
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This coming Saturday based on an entry of a minimum of 64 players a total of £1,000 will be on offer in the Brandon Open which will be staged at the Brandon Club, Main Street, Brandon, Coventry, CV8 3HW. Doors will open at 10.00am.
Players can enter on the day up to 12.30pm with a 1.00pm start. Once again dependent on 64 plus entries prize money will be paid down to the last sixteen, anything less than 64 and it will be the last eight.
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East Birmingham Allotment Holders Association march on in the Small Heath League, an 8-1 win over bottom of the table Sheldon Marlborough Flights taking their unbeaten run to thirteen games and giving them a two points lead, with a game in hand on second placed Heartlands Club whose latest fixture saw them win by the same 8-1 margin against Wagon and Horses. As a result of their defeat Wagon and Horses drop one place to fourth in the league being replaced by Emerald Club who won 5-4 at Cob’s Bar, both teams are on ten points, Emerald Club having played one game more than Wagon and Horses but with a better average.
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Week 26 in the Shirley and District Monday Night League and only average separates the top two teams Dunky’s Boys and Highwood. However Dunky’s do have a game in hand on Highwood after playing their latest which saw them win 8-1 against Shirley Spartac. Highwood meanwhile went one better by handing their hosts Legion Royals a 9-0 whitewash.
Third placed Lion didn’t have a game this week and although they are some six points adrift of Highwood they do have two games in hand on them.
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Congratulations to the Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club who with a 5-4 win over White Horse have been confirmed champions of the Netherton Thursday Night League. The win takes the Ex Serviceman’s Club to 69 points from 25 games with two more to play. Currently second in the league Riddins Tavern won 6-3 at Fairfield but with 63 points they have completed their programme. Bulls Head are third they beat Townsend Social Club 6-3 to give them 57 points and with three more games to play and only six behind Riddins they need two more wins to guarantee them the runners-up spot.
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The Brierley Hill Monday Night League staged their Singles Knockout with three of the last four games resulting in 2-0 scorelines, Justine Moss, Rob Rubery and John Colley in turn defeating Chris Smith, Howard Wakefield and Joe Poole. The other last four game went to a decider with Bob Weatherall beating Richard Jones 2-1.
The semi-finals saw Rubery once again win in straight legs as he took out Justine Moss while Bob Weatherall had a closer 2-1 success against John Colley.
Rob Rubery continued his fine form in the final going on to lift the winner’s silverware when he beat Bob Weatherall 3-1.
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The Silver End Sunday Morning League played their 3 A-Side Knockout down to the last eight teams and winning through to the quarter-finals were M.Rowley, S.Breeze, P.Wakeman; G.Churchill, J.Truman, G.Cartwright; P.Nicholls, B.Davies, I.Davies; C.Hadlington, C.Skelding, G.Jackson; P.Homer, A.Bennett, J.Hendley; B.Perry, C.Pickett, W.Fenning; D.Brown, A.Tonks, S.Billingham; A.Nicholls, R.Bowen, B.Watts.
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Leaders of the Stourbridge and District Wednesday Night League Wilson Hall had a bye in week eight and the chasing pack of six teams Bird (Wordsley), Ashwood ‘B’, Swan ‘A’, Ten Arches ‘B’, Brickmakers Arms and Bell all reduced the arrears with a win, all of them, apart from Bell are on 12 points, just two behind the leaders, Bell have ten points.
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With just one more fixture to play in the Rowley Monday Night League, champions Bell added a 6-3 win over fifth in the table Tividale FC to put them on 58 points six more than George and Cradley Sports and Social Club who are second and third in the table. Any sort of win for George in the final game will be enough for them to claim the runners-up spot as they have a far more superior average than Cradley.
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Lamp Tavern and Netherton Cricket Club extended their unbeaten runs in the Sedgley and Gornal Tuesday Night League to eight games, Lamp’s 6-3 home win over Chainyards keeping them in pole position on average from the Cricket Club who did manage to reduce the arrears somewhat with an 8-1 success over Red Cow.
Reigning champions Old Bulls Head are currently third two points behind the top two teams following their first defeat, a 5-4 home reversal at the hands of the Gornal Labour Club team who are fourth and four points behind them.
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The Brierely Hill Friday Night League have got their new season underway and the early pacesetters are British Oak who kicked off their campaign with a resounding 7-0 win over Miners (Wollescote). Dudley Sports and Netherton Cricket Club were both 5-2 winners as in turn they won against Delph Bell ‘A’ and Glasscutters.
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The Pip Club League have been engaged in their divisional Belgrave Cups. There was some top class darts in the Division One games as league leaders Belgrave Sports and Social Club with breaks of 152 and 146 from Ian Turner beat Birchmoor Club whose Paul Vyse hit a maximum and there was a 180 for Nathan Jackson plus a 160 break for Martin Cairns as their team Belgrave Club defeated Globe (Wilnecote). Dolphin Wanderers and Sports Bar ‘180’ had a bye.
In the Division Two games there were wins for Pip Club and Progressive Club as they beat respective opponents Dolphin and Aldergate Club. Old Liberal House and Kettlebrook Club both had byes.
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With just four more fixtures to play in the Woverhampton Tuesday Night League Riley’s ‘C’ after adding their latest 6-1 win over Dog and Partridge have 46 points from 23 games and head the Singles Division. Second in the table Gilberts Bar won 4-3 at Mount Tavern and although they are on 40 points they have played 26 games and will probably lose that number two placing as third in the division Railway, who won 4-3 against Village Inn, are on the same number of points with three games in hand, however Railway they have played the same number as leaders Riley’s.
In the Doubles Division it’s Riley’s ‘C’ once again that lead the field, their latest 3-0 win over Dog and Partridge taking their number of points to 44, two more than their nearest rivals Railway who had a similar 3-0 result over Village Inn.
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