WORTHINGTON’S MERTHYR & DISTRICT DARTS LEAGUE

WELL that’s it folks!

The 2017/18 season of the Worthington’s Merthyr & District Darts League has seen the completion of the league campaign with the Third Division completing their games and now all that remains is the Grand Finals and Presentation Night which takes place this coming Friday, June 8, at the Merthyr Labour Club with roll-call taking place at 7.15pm for a start of 7-30pm.

DIVISION THREE MERTHYR VALE EX CLUB A (DAGGERS) .... 11 CYFARTHFA ARMS ...... 0

THE Daggers put their visitors from the Cyfarthfa Arms to the sword in the final league action of the 2018/19 campaign inflicting the dreaded whitewash on the unfortunate battling guests.

T Probert, Mike Griffiths and G Robertson struck first for the Daggers claiming the first point with a break over P Foxhall, Dominic Illari and J McCarthy and then a following hold from Steve Llewellyn, Kerry Lloyd and Mike Terrett over K Driscoll, Jarred Russell 120, and S Ridgeway saw the home side go 2-0 ahead. The first of the pairs legs saw a second break of the match with T Probert and G Robertson getting the better of Dominic Illari and P Foxhall and again a following hold from S Sullivan and Mike Griffiths over Jarred Russell and J McCarthy saw the Daggers stretch the lead to 4-0. The final pairs also went the way of the home side with Steve Llewellyn and Mike Terrett despatching K Driscoll and S Ridgeway against the throw in a hard fought battle. Five-nil quickly became six at the start of the singles with T Probert 140 holding over J McCarthy and the next game saw Mike Terrett successful with a break over S Ridgeway making it a magnificent seven-zip to the home side. Steve Llewellyn 140 and Jarred Russell 100 enjoyed a close game with the former using home advantage and first throw to just shade the game giving the hosts an 8-0 lead which then became 9-0 with S Sullivan 100 getting past P Foxhall with a break of throw.

G Robertson 100 secured a hard fought hold over Dominic Illari 100 securing a double digit lead with Mike Griffiths then completing the dreaded whitewash with a break over K Driscoll in the final game as the Daggers ended their season on a high note leaving their opponents from the Cyfarthfa Arms to lick their wounds and prepare for their summer campaign.

SILVER BULLET ............ 8 MERTHYR FOOTBALL CLUB ............................... 3

THE Silver Bullet finished off their league campaign in style with a splendid high scoring win over the visiting Football Club.

Anthony Morris, Marc Roberts and Brian Birch broke the darts of Jason Scanlon, Ian Laing and Ricky Cross in the opening triples as the home side took an early lead which they then doubled with Sharif Rasul 140, Owain Pugh 100 and Dean Jenkins 100 successfully holding over Keiron Pike, Bryn Williams and Andrew Williams ahead of the pairs legs.

The first of the pairs saw the hosts go 3-0 ahead with Steffan Williams and Sharif Rasul breaking Andrew Williams and Keiron Pike but then yet another break saw the Football Club kick off their scoring with Ian Laing and Jason Scanlon beating Christopher Davies 120 and Owain Pugh in a hard fought game.

The final pairs leg went the way of the Bullet with Steven Walker 100 and Brian Birch breaking Bryn Williams and Ricky Cross for a 4-1 home lead going into the match deciding singles legs.

Keiron Pike halved the deficit with a great break over Anthony Morris 105, 125, who’s still in shock after losing this game, in the first singles but the Bullet fired back in the next game with Steffan “Van” Williams 2x140 in excellent form breaking Andrew Williams to put the home side 5-2 ahead.

Ian Laing 100 kept the visitors interested with a good break over Dean Jenkins to pull back to within two points but the home side then took full control with Christopher Davies 2x100, 140 breaking Jason Scanlon and Steven Walker 120 beating Bryn Williams. A break in the last leg saw Marc Roberts 100, 68 out beat Ricky Cross to complete a fine home win to end the season.

DYNEVOR ARMS .......... 6

ALL credit here to the Red Lion who pushed the already champions all the way in the final game of the season.

B Edmunds, N Jones and Steve Barnett put the home side into an early lead with a break over Paul Scott-Thomas 100, Johnny Vrettos and R McCarthy and the scoreline then became 2-0 with M Edmunds, J Hawkins and A James 100 holding over Dai Richards, Allen Moore 100 and Ian Davies ahead of the pairs legs.

B Edmunds and NC Jones kept the ball rolling for the Dyn with a break over Ian Davies and Robert McCarthy and a hold from A James and J Hawkins 100 apiece over Johnny Vrettos and Paul Scott-Thomas gave the Dyn a comfortable 4-0 lead. Veterans Dai Richards and Allen Moore 140 apiece then finally got the Lion purring with a hold over M Edmunds 100 and Gavin Nicholls 2x100 in a hard fought final pairs leg to cut the arrears to three points. Allen Moore 100 took the first singles for the visitors with a fine break over M Edmunds 140 to halve the deficit but back came the home side with NC Jones breaking Robert McCarthy 100 to put the Dyn 5-2 ahead.

Dai Richards 125 put a third point on the board for the Lion with victory over B Edmunds and a great hold from Paul Scott-Thomas 2x125 over Steve Barnett saw the away side pull to within a single point with two games to play.

Ian Davies 100 broke the throw of A James 100 in a nip ’n’ tuck battle to level the match at five apiece and in a final last leg shoot out the vastly experienced local hero Gavin Nicholls broke the throw of Johnny Vrettos and the heart of the Lion to earn the champions a last-gasp home win.

All teams and players are reminded that this Friday, June 8, sees the Grand Finals and Presentation Night of the M&DDL take place at the Merthyr Labour Club.

Players are reminded that the roll-call is at 7.15pm for a start of 7.30pm. Any players not present at roll-call will be eliminated from their respective competitions.

All teams are reminded that the league packs for the Everson’s Sports & Trophies Merthyr Summer Darts League 2018 season will be given out on Tuesday, June 12, with the league action starting on Friday, June 15.

The packs will be available to collect from the Merthyr Ex Club from 7.45pm to 8.30pm and all teams are to collect their packs as they will not be delivered to the venues.

The Silver Bullet have withdrawn from this season’s competition meaning there are three spaces available for the first three teams who wish to enter at this late stage.

Interested teams have until midday on Sunday, June 10 to register their sides before the fixtures are printed.

Any teams holding cups /trophies etc from last season that need to be returned for presentation this season (Friday night) please return them in a clean and tidy condition.

They can either return them to the secretary at his home by Thursday afternoon or take them to the Merthyr Labour Club on Thursday evening between 5.30pm-7-30pm where the League Committee will be present setting up ready for the Grand Finals.

If Committee Members have to call to collect any trophies then offending teams will be fined £10.