Darts Players Regroup After Festive Break

There was a great turn out at Wednesday's darts night with a dozen players competing for points, some showing off their Christmas pressies. Only a few stalwarts still use the kindly donated pub darts, the majority now preferring to throw their own arrows. Two matches of Aussie style Round the Clock were contested followed by an impromptu game of Shanghai which Robert won by leaving his best darts to last and cleaning up the cash.

First up was Ian ‘the Dart' and The Lord of the Arrows. Ian had the advantage (given it was Aussie rules) and stormed into an early lead. With Byron trailing the crowd thought it might be all over in a matter of minutes. Ian struggled to kill the game off and let the Lord back in with a chance which he took by nailing the bull.

The luck of the draw saw two of the better players matched in the first round. Eric and Robert played without much fanfare but the darts were a sight to behold. "It was a pleasure to play against such sporting opponent", said Bob ‘the Bull' "and a shame we met so early. A player of Eric's quality deserves to be longer at the oche."

Stuart from the grove struggled with the conditions and launched a scathing attack on the Creel's climate control system claiming the draft generated by the howling gale blowing through the place meant his darts failed to travel in their usual trajectory. This claim was disputed by organisers, who insisted there has always been a draft heading towards the Gents and that this prevailed for the entire match. But a distraught Rennie couldn't be placated. "I'm basically not happy. My darts pulled to the right - they land on the board squint. I asked for the draft to be sorted because sometimes it was blowing my darts all over the shop. I throw a light dart and I pitch my darts - I'm not a chucker."

Other pleasant chuckers on show that night included Neilie from the grove who was obviously benefiting from some garage practice and proved a handful. Meeting Tommy in match 1 he set about him with consummate ease. Tommy's reply was brief. "You have to take it on the chin - or in my case, chins!"

Brendon and Nigel were both out for the night but their time at the oche was curtailed. "I think its better luck next time for me", said Nigel "and a wee bit practice might not go amiss!"

Hammer Hall was hoping to build on his performance from his last time out but it wasn't to be. "Years of obsessive gaming have left me with the forearms of a four year old girl", he said. "Its stamina and consistency I need to work on", as he went down to great darts from Angus the Hustler. However, the Hammer did find some consolation in a six way game of Round the Clock after the main competition was over. His form returned and he came from behind to snatch the cash prize from under Robert's nose. Philosophical as ever, he remarked "I can't drink points", as he pocketed his winnings.

Match 2 saw the two Stuarts pitting their wits against each other. Steady darts from both player saw them chip away at the numbers until Stuart B got stuck allowing Stuart R to pull away and eventually win. "Its all in the maths", said Stuart B. "Three perfect darts, a good eye and a bit of luck all add up to 5 reasons why I lost that game."

Byron's form continued when he narrowly defeated Tommy in the quarter final. "He put on his shirt just before we started and it seemed to give him extra impetus", Tommy noted.

The tension rose when Angus locked swords with Neil. Neither player gave any quarter and great darts were on display. "It was nip and tuck all the way and a great finish by Angus sent him through" said Neil.

This was the prelude to another high profile final between Robert and Angus with Robert querying whether Angus had been practicing in overtime. For all Angus walked away with the points, Robert's Shanghai cash win made his day.

Match 1 was won by Neil. Match 2 was taken by Angus who also took the points in both matches for the most consecutive darts. Scores for the night: Angus 6 points, Neil 4 points, Robert 3 points and Byron 2. The league positions will be updated in the near future.