Pubs battle it out for a place in Monday’s final
Exciting play-offs whittle it down to last 16 contenders
Players from across Paisley gathered to secure a last 16 spot in the most prestigious competition in the Darts League calendar.
The Gibby Bentley and Memorial Singles was up for grabs this week, with all the sides battling it out for a piece of the silverware.
The first of the play-offs was in Court Bar, with St Peter’s captain Andy Callary being the first qualifier for finals night after he saw off his teammate Joe Shirley 4-0.
Burgh Bar had two boards in action on Monday and the first game saw Derek Allan, from Hazel Arms, go through.
On the second board, the second round of the tournament put a couple of ex-champions together as Hagg Bar A’s Dougie Low played St Peter’s Drew Callary.
This time, Low got the better of his opponent thanks to a 4-2 scoreline and continued with the good form as he also dispatched Cafuffals’ Gordon Brown 4-3 to claim a finals night place.
Hagg Bar also had two qualifying boards in play and on the first board it was Railway Inn’s Chris Dowling who emerged victorious after a 4-2 result against The Kelburn’s Ian Burke.
On the second board in Hagg Bar the win went to Martin Brophy of Flying Horse A as he overcame Martin Goodfellow from Tartan Rose by a margin of 4-1.
There were also two boards in use in Pickwicks, with the first finals place going to Keystone A’s Iain Borland after he defeated Hagg Bar A’s Mick Malone 4-0.
And accompanying Borland from Pickwicks will be Hagg Bar A player George Dickson after he picked up a 4-2 victory over Michael Hart from The Kelburn.
Another venue that supplied two qualifiers was Cafuffals. First of all, Keystone A’s Tam Norton got through after beating Arthurlie Inn’s Billy Stevenson 4-2, then Norton was joined by Court Bar’s Paul Carruthers after he beat Inkerman player Don Alexander 4-0.
Hagg Bar C player Fraser Dempsey was next to qualify from Gleniffer Hotel as he completed a hat-trick of 4-2 results on the night, with the last coming in the board final against Gleniffer player Rab McTavish.
Railway Inn was another venue to supply two qualifiers, with the first of these being Burgh Bar’s Paul Hanvidge after he dispatched Hagg Bar A player Brian Gilmartin.
Hanvidge was joined from the Railway Inn by Flying Horse A’s Shaun Arthur who beat Pickwicks’ Paul Brown 4-2.
At The Kelburn, the only qualifier on the night was Hagg Bar A player Ian Thomson as he played and defeated his own captain Evander Stevenson 4-1.
Arthurlie Inns had a play-off in their pub too, and it was Railway Inn’s Henry Kerr who took the spot as he ran out the winner on the night.
Kerr was joined by St Peter’s winner, Richie Baillie of Hagg Bar A.
The last venue to have a qualifying night was Keystone and it was local A team player Andy Goodwin who came through to take up the last of the qualifying slots.
With all of the qualifying places now filled, the draw on finals night on Monday is as follows: Andy Callary v Derek Allan, Chris Dowling v Iain Borland, Tam Norton v Fraser Dempsey, Paul Hanvidge v Ian Thomson, Dougie Low v Martin Brophy, George Dickson v Henry Kerr, Richie Baillie v Paul Carruthers and Shaun Arthur v Andy Goodwin.