Leaders see off their early-season rivals

Darts

Early pacesetters the Chislet Colliery Club edged rivals Rising Sun in the top Division 1 game in the Herne Bay & District Winter Darts League . Away side and leaders Chislet Club took a 3-2 lead but the Riser came back to go 4-3 ahead. The Chislet club took their turn to level at 4-4 and then 5-5 but Chislet’s Paul Bunting put in a man-of-the-match display to defeat Riser skipper Alan Howlett 2-0 to secure a 6-5 away win. A 7-4 away victory for East Station Snooker Club over the Catholic Club saw them move above Rising Sun into second. Catholic Club skipper Richard Lee checked out on 131 and hit a maximum. In the Premier Cup Group, a 7-2 home win for Hampton Inn over Tally Ho sees the latter’s hopes of topping the group ended. The result sets up a winner-takesall match between Hampton Inn and Whitstable Cricket Club. Highlights of the match saw Tally Ho gain some consolation with Scott Smith and Jason Cork each hitting a 180, a feat matched by Hampton’s Clive Johnson. In Premier Cup Group A, a 6-3 away victory for Smugglers Inn over Angling Club A means the next match in the group is a winner-takes-all encounter between the Smugglers and Divers Arms. The Smugglers’ Colin Hopkins hit a 101 checkout. In a Premier Cup friendly match, the Divers Arms won 6-3 away to Whitstable Cricket Club with Mike Cattell throwing a maximum. The Brents and the Three Horseshoes hosted the Faversham League Trebles Knockout stages. At the Three Horseshoes, the quarter-finals saw Market A, Three Tuns A, Railway and Castle A going through, defeating the Three Horseshoes, Castle B, Three Tuns B and Market B respectively. In the semi-finals, the Three Tuns A beat Market A and Castle A defeated the Railway. The final saw Three Tuns A take on Castle A but it was Castle who came out on top to reach finals night in August thanks to Bob Mason, Steve Wright and Jon Wright. At the Brents , Three Tuns A defeated Brents B in a preliminary round clash. The quarter-finals saw the Bull A, Railway, Market A and Market B teams go through, defeating the Castle A, Brents A, Three Tuns B and Three Tuns A. In the last four, the Bull A beat the Railway and Market A saw off Market B. It was Market A who came through against the Bull A in the final and booked their place on finals night thanks to Jordan Dadd, Chris Dadd and Pete Davies. Railway’s Mark Bryant hit a 180 and the Bull’s Ben Felts also hit a maximum and a 101 checkout.