WORTHINGTON’S MERTHYR & DISTRICT DARTS LEAGUE

TRIPLES COMPETITION

FOLLOWING the first round, held earlier in the season, 16 triples teams descended on the Merthyr Labour Club with the aim of reaching the Grand Finals, but each team knew they faced a tough battle if they were to achieve their target.

A “bye” on board one saw the Penydarren Social Club C trio of Barry, Nathan Morgan and Robert Pike go through to the second round on the night, while on board two a 180 from Kristian Dowd helped him along with teammates Rhys Donovan and Liam Russell score a tremendous win over the Ye-Olde Express (1) team of Owain Davies, Brian Nicholas and Wayne Titcomb in a hard fought game.

Board three saw the Merthyr Labour Club (1) outfit of Jason Baynham, Gareth Dunn and David Rowlands overcome the challenge of the White Horse trio of Steve Hamer, Gray Price and Roy Evans by a 2-0 margin. On board four the Ye-Olde Express (2) team of Darren Locke, Peter Locke and Steve Nicholas beat their opponents from the Baili-Glas A Mark Hulbert, Byron Jones and Hywel Llewellyn by a 2-0 margin to make progress on the night.

Board Five had the Merthyr Conservative Club representatives of M Hughes, Chris Price and Chris Stansfield bowed out of the competition at the hands of the BailiGlas B (1) outfit in former multiple champions Jeff Pearce, Andrew Rough, Geraint Thomas and Cled Jones while board six had Jamie Evans, Craig Morgan and Dale Pinch of the Guest Keen Bowls Club A make progress at the expense of the Grawen Arms trio of Roy Element, Jason Launchbury, Phil Locke and Steve Thomas in a great game.

The Guest Keen Bowls Club A (1) squad of Scott Bayliss, Justin Davies, Jimmy Martin and Phil Martin featured on board seven with a good win over the Hills Plymouth Cricket Club side of Jason Castaldi, Craig Clayton and Adam Evans and on board eight the last side through to the next round were the Baili (2) side of Steve Haman, Rhys Llewellyn, Mervyn Matthews and Matthew Quinlan edged past the Merthyr Labour Club (2) side of Wayne Davies, Ron Morgan and Rob Evans by a 2-1 margin after Rob missed a 160 out in the final leg, scoring 140, Mervyn took out 94, (25, 19, bull,) to end a great game that saw young Rhys Donovan in great form for the Baili.

Standing just one more win away from the Grand Finals the first to qualify were the Rose & Crown Kristian, Rhys and Liam with a great 2-0 win over the Pen C team of Barry, Nathan and Robert on board eight, while on board six a great battle saw the Labour Club (10) side of Jason, Gareth and David battle past the Express outfit of Darren, Peter and Steve by a 2-1 score in a hard fought game.

On board two the former champs from the Baili A Jeff, Geraint, Andrew and Cled lost out in a tremendous game to the Guest A Jamie, Craig and Dale while on Board four the successful dartists were the Guest Bowls A (2) side of Scott, Justin, Jimmy and Phil who beat another team of former champs from the Baili B (2) Steve, Mervyn, Matthew and Rhys in another hard fought game.

PAIRS COMPETITION

SIXTEEN pairs were due to take the floor here but with one pair failing to turn up 15 went into the draw with defending champions Jeff Pearce and Geraint Thomas of the Baili-Glass B (1) being the lucky recipients of the bye on board one.

On board two the action saw Brian Meek and Keiron Meek of the Lord Raglan edge past Iory Haines and Trad Davies of the Heolgerrig Social Club.

Board three saw Roy Element and Jason Launchbury of the Grawen Arms edged out by Scott Bayliss and Andrew Coombes of the Guest Keen Bowls Club and on board four Steve Haman and Kevin Roberts of the Baili B beat Wayne Davies and David Rowlands of the Merthyr Labour Club by a comfortable 2-0 scoreline.

Board Five had Steve Nicholas and Wayne Titcomb of the Ye-Olde Express in action scoring a 2-0 win over Steve Hamer and Gary Price of the White Horse and in the next round they would face Mervyn Matthews and Andrew Rough of the Baili B who came through successfully from board six with victory over Jason Baynham and Gareth Dunn of the Merthyr Labour Club by a hard fought 2-1 margin.

On board seven Rob Evans and Ron Morgan of the Merthyr Labour Club kept home hopes alive with a 2-1 win over the Baili A’s Hywel Llewellyn and Byron Jones and on board eight the winners were the highly fancied Jason Castaldi and Adam Evans from the Hills Plymouth Cricket Club who accounted for Russ Matthews and Nigel Meek of the Baili B.

The first pair through to the Grand Finals were former pairs champions Jeff Pearce and Geraint Thomas from the Baili B following a hard fought 2-1 win over Brian and Kieron Meek on board eight while on board six Scott Bayliss and Andrew Coombes who ended the challenge of Steve Haman and Kevin Roberts.

Baili B duo Mervyn Matthews and Andrew Rough made it into the Grand Finals following a fine win on board two over Steve Nicholas and Wayne Titcomb while the final duo through were from board four with Jason Castaldi and Adam Evans 180 overcoming local heroes Rob Evans and Ron Morgan.

SINGLES COMPETITION

THIRTY Two players were due to contest the second round here but with three no-shows it left 29 to do battle for the four prized places at the Grand Finals.

There were two “byes” in the top half of the draw with one in the bottom half. A bye on board one saw former multiple champion Peter Locke from the Ye-Olde Express lucky and on board two Chris Galleozzie of the Labour Club made progress with a good win over Clive Powell of the VNU. On board three Brian Nicholas of the Express battled past Eddie Jones of the Pentrebach Labour while board four’s successful candidate was Mark Virgin of the Guest Keen Bowls Club B who battled past young Rhys Donovan of the Rose & Crown. A fantastic game on board five saw former multiple singles supremo Jeff Pearce of the Baili B beat Justin Davies of the Guest Keen Bowls A in a great game and in the next round he would face another former champ and teammate Andrew Rough who ended the dream for Rocking Roy Evans of the White Horse. Kristian Dowd of the Rose & Crown qualified for the next round on board seven while board eight saw his teammate Liam Russell receive the bye.

In the bottom half of the draw Jason Baynham from the Merthyr Labour Club overcame the challenge of the Richards Arms’s Martin Treen on board one and on board eight Geraint Thomas, a former multiple champion, of the Baili B beat Richard Calahane of the Red Lion in a hard battle. Board two saw Steve Thomas of the Grawen beat young Connor John of the Penydarren Social Club C and his opponent in the next round would be Steve Haman of the Baili B who saw off the challenge of Ron Morgan from the Merthyr Labour Club on board five. Board three had a bye for Phil Locke of the Grawen Arms and board six would provide his next opponent with the winner being Phil’s nephew Darren Locke of the Express who beat another former champion Wayne Davies of the Merthyr Labour Club. Board four was lucky for Ceri Richards of the Penydarren Social Club C who scored a surprising and stunning victory over Brian Roberts 180 of the Baili-Glas B whose form suggested a possible candidate for this year’s title. Board eight saw some home joy with the Labour Club’s Rob Evans scraping past the Baili A colossus Andrew Morgan to book the final spot in the night’s second stage.

In the second stage top half a stunning game on board one saw Chris Galleozzie beat Phil Locke 2-1 to take a place in one of the night’s finals where the opponent would be Mark Virgin following his great victory over Brian Nicholas on board number seven. An absolutely outstanding game on board three had onlookers spellbound with Baili B comrades Jeff Pearce and Andrew Rough doing battle with all three legs starting with a 180, Jeff (1) and Andrew (2) with the latter taking the match, and on board three an all Rose & Crown battle saw Liam Russell successful over Kristian Dowd by a 2-1 margin.

The bottom half of the draw had Jason Baynham scrape past Geraint Thomas on board five making it the third of the night’s finals where he would face Steve Haman of the Baili B who came through a great game with the Grawen’s Steve Thomas. The uncle and nephew battle on board eight saw Phil Locke edge past young Darren while on board two the surprise package of the night Ceri Richards beat highly fancied Rob Evans to make the fourth and final, final of the night.

The first final on board three saw local hero Chris Galleozzie beat Mark Virgin by a 2-0 score and the second final on board one the Galactico Andrew Rough remained on course for a second singles crown with a good win over Liam Russell.

The bottom half of the draw saw success for Steve Haman on board seven as he overcame the challenge of Jason Baynham while on board five a great battle saw Phil Locke end the run of Ceri Richards by a 2-1 margin but only after Ceri had the first chance to win missing double tops before Phil hit double 12 to take the match and a place in the last four at the Grand Finals.

The officers, committee and members of the Merthyr & District Darts League would like to thank the officers, committee and members of the Merthyr Labour Club for hosting the event and big thanks to Matthew and his bar staff for the excellent service on the night. Also a huge thanks to Bedwyr Davies and Tom Allen for the supply and set up for the boards for the evening.

Any teams who have not yet submitted their entries for the 2018 season of the Everson’s Sports & Trophies Merthyr Summer Darts League are asked to submit their entries by 4pm on Sunday, May 6 to be registered for this year’s competition. All teams, old and new, pub or club, are most welcome to join the league.

The first game takes place on June 15 at 8.30pm.

It is with the greatest of sadness that the officers and committee of the M&DDL has learned of the sad passing after a long illness of Annette Bond, wife of former league chairman Phil Bond.

The officers, committee and members of the M&DDL would like to extend their deepest sympathies and condolences to Phil and all the family at this very sad time.