Baili B take the Express route to the semi-finals

Quinlan 2x100, 140 beating Peter Locke to put the home side one point away from the semi-finals and this they secured in the next leg with Steve Haman 3x100 breaking the throw of Brian Nicholas to see the Baili safely into the next round.

PENYDARREN SOCIAL CLUB C (SEASIDE) ........ 1 GRAWEN ARMS ............ 5

A HARD-FOUGHT contest here got under way with the Grawen taking the opening fours leg with Phil Locke 121, Marcus Davies, Steve Thomas 100 and Kerry Green holding throw over Kevin Hyde, Drew Bradley, Ceri Stent and Connor John 140, but the lead was short lived with Kevin Hyde 100 and Ceri Stent 100, 131 taking the first of the pairs legs with a fine hold over the gruesome twosome from the Grawen’s Phil Locke 100 and Marcus Davies 140 to level the match at one apiece.

The final pairs went the way of the away side with the outstanding Steve Thomas 3x100, 65 out and Lyn Jones holding over Ceri Richards and John Sedgemore 100 for a 2-1 lead going into the matchdeciding singles legs.

Adrian Thomas 100, 2x140, in a 18-dart leg, took the first of the singles against the darts with a break over Robert Pike putting the visitors 3-1 ahead and this then became 4-1 with the veteran Kerry Green 100, 119, 180 in a 14-dart leg beating Barry Gilby. The sixth leg of the match then proved to be the last with another of the golden oldies Marcus Davies 100, 121 breaking Ceri Stent to see the visitors safely in the semifinals.

MERTHYR LABOUR CLUB ............................... 5 HILLS PLYMOUTH CRICKET CLUB ............. 2

THIS was an excellent game from beginning to end with both sides giving their best in pursuit of a place in the semi-finals and the action got under way with the hosts taking the opening fours against the darts with Ron Morgan 100, Rob Evans, David Rowlands 100 and Kevin Mahoney 100 getting the better of Jason Woodford 100, Craig Clayton, Dean Lewis and John Harnedy and then they extended the lead to 2-0 with Wayne Davies and Kevin Forbes 2x100 edging past the unlucky Craig Clayton 140, 180 and Rhys Lee. An excellent second, and final, pairs saw the Crick then get into the game with Dean Lewis 2x100, 140 and John Harnedy holding over Anthony Carstairs 100 and Chris Galleozzie 100, 123 to halve the deficit heading into the singles battles.

Dean Lewis 100, 180 broke the throw of Gareth Dunn in the first of the singles to level the match at two each but back came the home side with Wayne Davies 100, 125 breaking Keith Harnedy 140 for a 3-2 lead with Anthony Carstairs 125, 140 beating Jason Woodford. The next leg then proved to be the last with Kevin Forbes 2x125, 135 breaking a battling Rhys Lee to secure the defending champions a place in the next round.

MERTHYR VALE EX CLUB B (DAGGERS) ...... 3 BAILI-GLAS A ................ 5

NOPE! This is not a misprint.

The Baili A were the victors here in a hard-fought game. The match started with the Fantastic Four of Alan Mee 100, Mark Hulbert 100, Kerry Ryan 100 and Ian Thomas holding throw over Lloyd Davies 2x100, Nick Baldwin, Phil Morris and Dai Phelps giving the Baili an early lead but it was short lived as the Daggers hit back with the excellent Phil Morris 2x100, 180 and John Terrett striking back to level at one apiece. The hold-of-throw theme then continued in the final pairs leg with Kerry Ryan 117 and Andrew Morgan beating Dai Phelps and Warren Rees 122, 134 in a hard-fought game to take a 2-1 lead into the singles.

The first of the singles was a game that neither player wanted it seemed with Warren Rees of the Daggers and the Baili’s Terry Morgan 140 missing countless shots at a double before Warren finally nailed the winning shot to level the match at two apiece. Nicky Baldwin 2x100 was left in a state of shock as he was beaten by an out of sorts Kerry Ryan as the Baili took the lead again at 3-2, but back game the home side with Lloyd Davies beating Tim Charleston in another scrappy game. Baili captain Ian Thomas was in fine form with a convincing win over John Terrett putting the visitors 4-3 ahead, and then in the first break of throw of the match the Baili legend Alan Mee beat Phil Morris 100 to take the match and a semi-final spot for a delighted Baili A side.

LORD RAGLAN SUPPLEMENTARY CUP QUARTER-FINALS ABERFAN SOCIAL CLUB X ........................... 5 JOHN STREET CLUB TREHARRIS ................... 0

THE journey to the Aberfan Social X proved to be a painful one for the John Street Club as they were beaten 5-0.

Glen Kitchen, Greg Butler, Mike O’Neill and Byron Jones 100 got the home side off to a winning start with a break over Claire Jones 180, H Samuel, B Lewis and M Evans and then the X went 2-0 up with Glen Kitchen and Greg Butler 100 apiece holding over Martin Jones 100 and P Clayton in the first of the two pairs legs.

The second and final pairs saw the hosts go 3-0 ahead with Byron Jones and Dai James breaking B Lewis and J Evans as the sides prepared for the singles battles ahead.

Mike O’Neill took the first singles with a hold over Martyn Jones putting the Social 4-0 ahead and victory was made complete in the next leg with S Rees breaking Claire Jones to put the home side safely into the next round.

DOWLAIS CON CLUB ... 2 MERTHYR CONSERVATIVE CLUB 5

THIS was a highly entertaining game with both sides in good form battling hard for a place in the semi-finals.

The home side claimed the first point on the match with Josh Richards, Gary Thomas 100, A Williams 100 and Martin Thomas 100 breaking the throw of Ron Phillips, Geoff Jackson 123, John Hulbert and Colin Lloyd but the Merthyr boys were quick to respond with M Hughes 180 and Jonathon Davies breaking in the first pairs against Gary Thomas and Josh Richards for a level game at one apiece. The final pairs saw yet another break of throw with Martin Thomas and Scott Keefe beating Chris Price and Chris Stansfield 100 to take a 2-1 home lead heading into the singles battles.

Chris Price 100 levelled the match with a break in the first singles over A Williams 119, 135 and then a good effort from Chris Stansfield 2x100 saw the first hold with victory over Josh Richards as the visitors took the lead for the first time. Jonathon Davies extended the lead with victory over Martin Thomas to 4-2 and then in the seventh game M Hughes 2x100, 140 completed the win with a convincing hold over George Quirke.

ROSE & CROWN 4 VNU 5

THIS was a hard-fought, highly entertaining game from beginning to end going right to the wire before revealing the winner in a match that could have gone either way.

The VNU started well with Clive Powell, Steve Darlow, G Jenkins and Rhiannon Jenkins 100 holding throw over John Wood 100, Paul O’Dell, Kristian Dowd and Kevin Morgan and 2-0 then appeared on the scoreboard with Andrew Fitzpatrick 100 and Mark Hadley 2x100 breaking Paul O’Dell and Kristian Dowd in the first of the pairs legs. The final pairs leg went the way of the Rose with John Wood 100 and Kevin Morgan edging past Errold Jones and G Jenkins to get the hosts into the game.

The first of the singles legs saw Rhys Donovan 100 hold throw over Andrew Fitzpatrick levelling the match at 2-2 with veteran John Wood then putting the hosts ahead with a break over Rhiannon Jenkins. Steve Darlow 100, 140 squared the match with a break over another veteran Kevin Morgan but back game the Rose with Kristian Dowd 100, 125 edging past Gareth Jenkins 138 with a hard fought break to level at 4-4. Errold Jones broke Steve Evans 100 in a nip ’n’ tuck game to make it 4-4 with one to play and in a nail-biting finale Mark Hadley 160 edged past Paul O’Dell 140 to send a delighted VNU through to the semi-finals. and K Driscoll to level at 1-1 ahead of the pairs legs.

Dean Moulds and S Price scored the first hold of the match with victory over M Abbs and Scott Davies putting the visitors ahead at 2-1 and this became 3-1 with Dai Jones 121 and Wayne Morgan breaking Jarred Russell and R James. Steve Hamer 125 and Gary Price 100, 140 then completed a clean sweep of the pairs legs with victory over Dominic Illari and J Bailey earning the away side a 4-1 lead ahead of the singles legs.

Wayne Morgan 120 added another point to the Farmers total with a break over K Driscoll before Scott Davies 2x100 pulled a second point back for the home side with an excellent break over Dean Moulds. Dai Jones edged the Farmers 6-2 ahead with victory over M Abbs and further wins from Shaun Price and Gary Price over S James and J Bailey respectively saw the Farmers go 8-2 ahead, with Jarred Russell 100 claiming a vital third point for the hosts with a last-leg break over Steve Hamer.

All teams are reminded that registration forms are now available for the 2017 season of the Merthyr Summer Darts League, sponsored by Everson’s Sports and Trophies of Ystrad Mynach.

Registration forms are available from the BailiGlas, Merthyr Ex Club and members of the league committee.

All teams – old and new, pub or club – are most welcomed to join the league. So put your flip flops and shorts back in the attic, forget your paella and sangria and grab your arrows get down the local for a pie and some Strongbow and have the best fun all summer in the Everson’s Merthyr Summer Darts League.