Arrow aces target top spot in fight for victory
As league nears its end, the pressure is truly on
Darts teams across Paisley and District remain locked in battle for the promotion and relegation spots.
In the First Division, in the top half of the table, and with St Peter’s not playing this week, it gave previous leaders Hagg Bar A the chance to regain top spot as they played host to Railway Inn.
The Johnstone team took full advantage of the situation as they came away with the points after a 7-2 victory, with the win giving the Hagg Bar A top spot by leg difference.
And, in the bottom half of the table, Hagg Bar C travelled to Flying Horse A, needing a win to help them stay in the top flight and, with the game level at 3-3 after the singles, they still had a chance.
Flying Horse won the first doubles, before the visitors levelled the match again at 4-4 — it was now all down to the last doubles match.
After two legs, the score stood at 1-1, so even this game would go down to the very last leg and it was Hagg Bar C that claimed the victory 5-4.
In the other game in the bottom half, Keystone A were looking to build on their 5-4 win last week as they too were the visiting team at Arthurlie Inns.
It was the visitors who took the points from the game though as they ran out 6-3 winners, with the result meaning Hagg Bar C takes Arthurlie Inn’s 8th spot, pushing them into ninth, with Keystone now only two points away.
In the Second Division, and with only two games left to play, it is still impossible to say who will be promoted and who will miss out.
Leaders Pockets Red kept up the pressure on the rest of the table as they took both points from their game against Tartan Rose after a 7-2 victory.
Cafuffals, currently in second place on leg difference, went to Flying Horse determined to avoid any slip-ups in their promotion bid. They too made sure of the points as they defeated Flying Horse B by the same 7-2 scoreline so the leg difference stays the same.
The teams meet next week in the penultimate game of the season, with the match surely deciding who will win the division.
Third place team Gleniffer Hotel also showed they will be a threat in the race to the title as they recorded a 9-0 whitewash over visiting team Keystone B.
Inkerman were also looking to capitalise on any mistakes by the top three as they travelled to The Kelburn, but their hosts were in no mood to be charitable and kept the points for themselves as they notched up a 6-3 to claim fourth place from their rivals.
Hazel Arms are also looking to finish with a flourish and they join The Kelburn and Inkerman on 20 points and are now dead level with Inkerman after they beat Pockets Black 7-2.
There were a total of nine maximums recorded in the games this week, with Railway Inn’s Bobby Muir hitting two.
The quickest game of the week was at Flying Horse B, where Willie Mitchell hit a 12-dart leg.
The highest finish of the week was 140 from Hagg Bar A player Ian Thomson to go along with legs of 15 and 17 darts.
Next week all eyes will be on the Second Division top of the table clash between Cafuffals and Pockets Red, with Gleniffer Hotel ready to move into second place should they manage an away win at Inkerman.