St Peter’s ace sees off rivals to win Champion of Champions
Drew Callary has been crowned the Champion of Champions having fended off competition from 39 other players to land the trophy.
The main competition saw the last 16 players take to the oche, with the likes of Pickwicks, Hagg Bar and Railway Inn all represented.
The first game saw Pickwicks’ Chris Maguire progress as he hung on to see off Flying Horse A’s John Peacock and he would meet former champion John Williamson in the next round after he defeated Hagg Bar A’s Richie Baillie by the same scoreline.
St Peter’s Callary and Railway Inn’s Craig Moore were next to serve up a cracker, with Callary throwing the better darts to win 3-2.
An all-Second Division clash between Danny Craig of Tartan Rose and Gordon Brown of newly-promoted Cafuffals, was also a tense affair with Brown prevailing late on to take the game 3- 2 with the help of a maximum of his own.
The bottom half of the draw saw Railway Inn’s Henry Kerr and St Peter’s Andy Callary face off. And Callary followed in his father’s footsteps to book his spot in the next round courtesy of a 3-0 win.
Meanwhile, last year’s winner Paul Hanvidge booked his spot in the last eight with a 3-2 win over Keystone A’s Tam McInally.
Court Bar’s Paul Carruthers took an early lead against Pickwicks’ Dean Fitch and he never looked back as he rattled off the last two legs to win 3-1.
He would face the winner of the last clash as Hagg Bar A’s Dougie Low dominated from start to finish to see of Pocket Black’s Rab Wallace.
In the last eight and Maguire and Williamson contested a tight clash with it going all the way to the fifth leg before Williamson hit the winning double.
Williamson’s semi- final opponent would come from a match between Drew Callary and Brown. And it was Callary that got the result thanks to a 3-1 win.
Elsewhere, Andy Callary took on Hanvidge in what was expected to be another closelyfought fixture.
Both players lived up to the billing, with Hanvidge clinching his passage into the semi final with a last-leg decider.
And the last of the quarterfinals between Carruthers and Low was another close game. The decisive score was a 180 from Carruthers which helped set up his finish, a feat that took him through 3-2.
The first semi-final between Williamson and Drew Callary saw the latter leap into an early two-leg lead. Williamson hit back to take the next two to level the match. However, it was Callary that held his nerve to fire the winning double to put himself into the final.
The second semi-final between Hanvidge and Carruthers was no less exciting and it too went to 2-2 after four legs.
In the final leg both players had opportunities to win and it was Carruthers’ darts that proved truer as he hit the winning double.
The final saw Callary take the first leg after 14 darts before Carruthers levelled the tie at 1-1.
Callary then took the third leg in 17 darts, including another maximum and he then won leg four to take the game 3-1 and the Champion of Champions title for the first time.
There were 13 maximums recorded this week with Drew Callary proving to be the season’s big hitter as he scored five, taking his total to 31.
The fastest game of the night came from Hanvidge of Burgh Bar with a 13- dart leg in his quarter final game with the best finish of the night coming from Keystone B player David Rayner as he checked out on 133.
With the season now over the league are looking for teams to join the league for the forthcoming year.
Any new teams wishing to join the league can leave a message through the league website on League Republic.