EVERSON’S SPORTS & TROPHIES (YSTRAD MYNACH) SPONSORED MERTHYR SUMMER DARTS LEAGUE 2017

SECTION ONE VNU ................................ 2 GRAWEN ARMS ............ 7

THE mighty Grawen steamrollered into town and put in a strong display as they ran out commanding 7-2 winners in a highly entertaining match.

Errold Jones 120 away and Gareth Jenkins battled hard for the hosts in the first leg but they were beaten by Phil Locke and Lyn Jones as the visitors went 1-0 ahead but the lead was short lived as K Thomas and Tracey Goode held in game two over Steve Thomas and Adrian Thomas 135 for a level game at 1-1. The final triples again went with throw with Roy Element and Marcus Davies 135 getting the better of Clive Powell and Rhiannon Jenkins earning the Grawen a 2-1 lead heading into the singles matches.

Phil Locke 2x100 produced the first break of throw of the match beating Mark Hadley in the first singles for a 3-1 lead and this then became 4-1 with Steve Thomas holding over Errold Jones in a hard fought game. Gareth Jenkins 100, 140 pulled a second point back for the hosts with an excellent hold over Marcus Davies but this sadly for the VNU proved to be their last success. Adrian Thomas 107, 125 held throw over Clive Powell 100, 121 in a great game putting the visitors 5-2 ahead with Roy Element then breaking Rhiannon Jenkins in the penultimate game. The final leg saw Lyn Jones hold his throw over Tracey Goode completing a great win for the away side.

RED LION B ................... 4 ANGEL INN .................... 5

THIS was a hard fought highly entertaining contest from first dart to last with both sides giving their all with every throw.

Aaron Howard and Jake Howard took the opening pairs against the throw putting the Lion ahead with victory over Mark Davies and Alan Phillips but the Angel hit back immediately with Mark Jones and Rhys Phillips edging past Richard Howard and Paul Scott-Thomas for a level game. The break of throw theme continued in the final pairs with Craig Simms and Allen Moore beating Graham Hancock and Steve George putting the hosts 2-1 ahead going into the singles legs.

Chris John took the first singles again against the darts with a win over Allen Moore levelling at two apiece but the hosts replied again with Richard Calahane 112 away breaking John Pugh for a 3-2 home lead. Marcus Clyne produced the first hold of the contest with victory over Ron Davies putting the Lion 4-2 ahead and a point away from the win but the Angel refused to give up with Vic Jones holding over Geraint Thomas and a break from Glenn Callan over Jack Bush saw the contest all square at 4-4. The final game had Brent Morgan in action for the Angel and in a tense hard fought battle he held throw over veteran of many a campaign Craig Simms to claim a last gasp victory for the battling Angel.

SECTION TWO CYFARTHFA ARMS ...... 3 MERTHYR EX CLUB ..... 6

THE Merthyr Ex Club, recently promoted to the First Division of the Winter League, were in fine form on their trip to the Cyfarthfa Arms running out comfortable 6-3 winners.

Andrew Davies and L Davies put the Ex into an early lead with a hold over P Foxhall and Dominic Illari but this was short lived as H Jones and John Toye held over Wayne Jones and L Price for a 1-1 game. Denzil Griffiths and T Freeman then edged the visitors again with a hold over Jarred Russell and M Abbruzzese in the final pairs for a 2-1 lead ahead of the singles.

Jason Davies 100 extended the lead with a break over P Foxhall and a Shane Williams hold over M Abbruzzese saw the visitors go 4-1 ahead. Paul Bayliss 100 broke the throw of Dominic Illari further extending his side’s lead, but back came the home side with Jarred Russell and H Jones scoring fine wins over Steve Mahoney and Wayne O’Neill respectively to trail 3-5 before Matthew Sullivan took the last leg for the Ex with a confident hold over John Toye.

LORD RAGLAN ............. 3 PENYDARREN SOCIAL CLUB C (SEASIDE) ........ 6

WINTER League Division Three winners the Lord Raglan and Division Two winners the Pen C crossed swords in this battle in what turned out to be a highly entertaining game.

Kevin Hyde and Dai Morgan put the visitors into an early lead with a hold over Lance Thomas and Kevin Snowden and 1-0 then became 2-0 with Johnny Murphy and Robert Pike breaking the throw of Mike Matthews 100 and Mike McLoughlin in a close game. The final went the way of the Lord with Kiron Meek and Brian Meek 100 breaking Drew Bradley and Ceri Stent 100 as the hosts got into the game.

Kevin Hyde returned the Pen to the attack in the singles with a break over Mike McLoughlin 125 in the first game for a 3-1 lead which then became 4-1 with Barrie Gilby holding over Lance O’Keefe. Lance Thomas put a second point on the board for the hosts with a fine hold over Ceri Richards but the relief was brief as Drew Bradley beat the unlucky Kiron Meek 100, 123 for a 5-2 lead. Veteran tungsten thrower Brian Meek 100 then handed out the dreaded “tin hat” to the out-of-luck Dai Morgan adding a third point to the Lord’s total with Robert Pike then completing the Pen’s victory with a last-leg hold over Kevin Snowden.

SECTION THREE PENTREBACH LABOUR CLUB ............................... 0 GUEST KEEN BOWLS CLUB A ........................... 9

THE Winter League Division One champions from the Guest A continued their fine form with a 9-0 rout of the luckless Pentrebach Labour who deserved something out of the game.

Jamie Evans 121 and Dale Pinch took the opening pairs for the Guest with a hold over Gary Champion and Eddie Jones and 2-0 quickly appeared with Justin Davies 140 and Phil Williams breaking the throw of Jason Woodford 100 and Craig Clayton. Lyndon Price 100 and Andrew Coombes then made it a clean sweep of the pairs and a 3-0 lead with a fine hold over Rhys Lee and Glen Kitchen.

Phil Williams 3x100 was in excellent form in the first singles with a convincing break over Craig Clayton 140 and a following hold from Justin Davies 112 away 140 over Eddie Jones 123 putting the Bowls 5-0 ahead. Jamie Evans 112 away, 100 in a 13-dart leg broke Jason Woodford further extending the visitors’ lead which then became 7-0 with Andrew Coombes beating Glen Kitchen 100. Lyndon Price broke Gary Champion 125 for 8-0 which then became a 9-0 whitewash with Dale Pinch 100 holding over Rhys Lee 100.

SECTION FOUR COLLIERS CWTCH ....... 1 MERTHYR VALE EX CLUB (DAGGERS) ......... 8

FOLLOWING last week’s great win the Cwtch were brought back down to earth with a bump as the visiting Daggers put them to the sword.

Kevin Downing and Karl Manns took the first pairs for the away side with a hold over Vic Harding and R Davies but the Cwtch were soon level with J Watts and Owain Locke 100 getting a fine hold over Dai Phelps and Mike Terrett. Phil Morris and Charlie Davies 100 then regained the upper hand for the away side with a hold in the final pairs over H Lawrence and P Beck as the sides prepared for the singles legs.

Karl Manns 112 took the first singles with a break over G Jones 119 making it 3-1 to the visitors which then became 4-1 with Kevin Downing 100 holding throw against J Bowcott.

Mike Terrett beat G Williams 100 with a break of throw with Dai Phelps 100 then holding over Aaron Beck for a 6-1 lead. Charlie Davies and Phil Morris 2x100 then completed the scoring with wins over Heather Baker-Beck and H Lawrence respectively.

PARK VIEW ................... 7 RICHARDS ARMS ......... 2

THE Park bounced back from last week’s defeat in fine style with an emphatic 7-2 victory over the visiting Richards Arms who are still looking for their first success of the campaign.

Simon Marks and Ian Goode set the hosts on the winning trail with a break in the first pairs over Keith Lewis and Jimmy Rees with Ian Laing and Andrew Williams then making it 2-0 holding over L Gardner and C Davies. Rhys Llewellyn 100 and J Hughes then got the Richards rocking with a hold over Jason Scanlon and Clive Layne to halve the deficit going into the singles games.

Simon Marks 100, 125 relit the spark for the hosts beating Rhys Llewellyn to put the home side 3-1 ahead which soon became 4-1 as Gavin Moore broke the throw of J Twomey. Ian Goode overcame the stiff challenge of J Hughes 120 as the Park went 5-1 ahead before Trevor Lewis beat Andrew Williams gaining a second point for the battling Richards. Ian Laing 140 held throw over Martin Treen 2x100 in a great game for a 6-2 lead with Brent Oakley completing the job beating C Davies 100 in the last leg.

SECTION FIVE MERTHYR LABOUR CLUB ............................... 7 BAILI-GLAS ................... 2

THE vast majority of the Baili side come from the Winter League A side whose failure to hit a winning double in their games cost them their First Division status in the just finished season, so the double start format of the Summer League is going to do them no favours at all, as this game goes to show.

Wayne Davies and Anthony Carstairs took the opening pairs against the throw over Ian Thomas 100 and Tim Charleston but in fairness to the Baili the latter was waiting on “tops” when the hosts hit the winning double. Gareth Dunn and Chris Galleozzie 100, 125 held comfortably over Geraint Thomas and Alan Mee for a 2-0 lead with Rob Evans and David Rowlands just edging past Andrew Rough and Cled Jones for a three-zip lead going into the singles.

Anthony Carstairs 100 held over Terry Morgan for a 4-0 lead before Ian Thomas held over Gareth Dunn to get the Baili onto the scoreboard. Wayne Davies 2x100 extended the hosts’ lead to 5-1 with a convincing hold over Cled Jones and up next for the visitors was Alan “Jesus” Mee but he could not walk on water, in fact he was up to his neck in it against Chris Galleozzie before being thrown a lifejacket late in the leg for a shot at a winning double but even the lifejacket sprung a leak as Chris took the leg and a 6-1 lead. The Typhoon Geraint Thomas 100 faired no better in the next leg as he was blown off course by Jason Baynham leaving the Galactico Andrew Rough 140 to gain a second point for a ravaged Baili with a last-leg hold over David Rowlands.

SECTION SIX HEOLGERRIG SOCIAL CLUB ............................... 6 MERTHYR CONSERVATIVE CLUB 3

ANCIENT pairing of Ray Williams and Kevin Roberts put the first point on the board for the home side with a break over Jonathon Davies and Greg Howells and with Iory Haines and Colin Morgan then holding over John Hobby and John Hulbert they quickly established a 2-0 lead.

Colin Lloyd and Chris Stansfield then got the Con Club on the map with a hold over Islwyn Price and Jordan Davies to trail by a point going into the singles.

Colin Morgan beat Chris Price in the first singles putting the home side 3-1 ahead but back came the the away side with Jonathon Davies edging past Islwyn Price in the next leg.

Iory Haines upped the heat on the visitors with victory over Chris Price and then the scoreline became 5-2 with Kevin Roberts breaking Ron Phillips.

Ray Williams held throw in leg eight over Eddie Cunnington for a 6-2 advantage with the final point going to the away side with their talisman Ian Evans holding throw over Heolgerrig’s new recruit Jordan Davies.

SECTION SEVEN RED LION A ................... 4 ROSE & CROWN ............ 5

SUMMER has been a washout so far for the Lion who are still searching for their first win.

Mervyn Matthews and Bob Watkins got them off to a good start in this match with a break over Stuart Hughes and Rhys Donovan 140 and then they doubled their lead with Nathan Morgan and Kendrick Howe 100 apiece holding over John Wood and Phil John.

Liam Russell and Kristian Dowd 100 then got the Rose into the contest in the last pairs with a fine hold over Dai Richards and Graham Elias.

Kristian Dowd 122 levelled the match with a break over Graham Elias in the first singles and then a hold from Stuart Hughes 140 over Mervyn Matthews saw the visitors take the lead at 3-2. This then became 4-2 with Liam Russell 2x140 in great shape beating Kendrick Howe and 5-2 was then notched up with John Wood 140 getting the better of Nathan Morgan. Phil John 92 away, 125 was unlucky in the next leg just being shaded out by Dai Richards 100 who grabbed a third point for the hosts with Bob Watkins taking a fourth victory over Steve Evans in the final leg.

All teams are reminded that the first Delegate Meeting of the Merthyr Summer Darts League will be held on Tuesday, July 18 at the Merthyr Ex Club starting at 8pm.

All teams must be represented and all monies owed to the League must be paid.

Teams are reminded that their Singles/Doubles entries must be submitted at the meeting.

With regard to the Singles/Doubles all players are reminded of the change of date of the second rounds of both competitions.

The second round of the Doubles Competition will now be held on Saturday, September 2 with the second round of the Singles Competition now held on Saturday, September 9.

Teams are also reminded that following the Second Delegate Meeting on Tuesday, August 1 the PRE-AGM for the 2017/2018 season of the Worthington’s Merthyr & District Darts League will be held.

This is your chance to put forward your ideas for the AGM. Any and all proposals must be submitted in writing and duly signed. No form of electronic submissions, eg email or any other type of social media, will be accepted. All correspondence is to be made in a written and signed letter.

The full AGM will be held on Tuesday, August 29 with the League set to start on Friday, September 29.

All teams old and new, pub or club are most welcome to join the League. Registration forms are available from Tuesday, July 18.