St Peter’s moving up
New leaders in First Division
Craig Ritchie
There’s a new leader in the Paisley and District Darts League ahead of next week’s top- of-the-table showdown.
First Divison leaders Hagg Bar A were idle this week, allowing St Peter’s to set the pace and become the new frontrunners following an 8-1 win over their hosts the Clachan Bar.
Next week sees the league campaign reach round eight where the match of the day will be St Peter’s against Hagg Bar A in the First Division.
The two undefeated sides meet for the first time this campaign to see who will take the early advantage in the standings.
Court Bar maintain their pressure at the top with a 6-3 win at Charleston Arms to maintain their positive start and are just two points behind the leaders.
Flying Horse A remain fourth as they continue to keep the top three within their sights with a fine 7-2 win away at Cafuffals.
Arthurlie Arrows keep hold of fifth place courtesy of a 9-0 away whitewash against Hagg Bar C and they now lead the midtable’s chasing pack.
The biggest climbers of the week are Keystone A after winning a very close game against Railway Inn. The visitors took an early 3-0 lead, only to be pegged back to 3-3 following the singles.
When Keystone won the first of the doubles games, it looked ominous for the visitors but they held on to win game eight and take it to a decider.
It went all the way down to the wire but the momentum carried Keystone through and win the game 5-4.
Second Division pacesetters the New Saints maintained their unbeaten run with a straightforward victory over and below-par Hazel Pirates side.
However, the Saints will still be looking over their shoulder as Kelburne Cricket Club continue their strong start with a gritty 5-4 win over Inkerman BC.
Court Bar B also stay in touch, just two points behind the leaders, running out 7-2 winners over Hagg Bar B.
They now sit just three legs behind Kelburne.
Keeping it close at the top, and waiting to pounce on any mistakes, are Tartan Rose after they climbed three league places into fourth after coming through a tough game at Railway Black Cats with a 5-4 victory.
Also shooting up the table, albeit only two places, are Arthurlie Inns in sixth following their own 5-4 win victory over Keystone B.
And the last game in the divison saw Gryffe Inn climb one place into ninth after they too had a narrow victory over Flying Horse B.
Eleven players hit the highlights this week as they struck maximums – and there were 18 games finished in 18 darts or less.
The best of those was a 13-dart leg from Robert MacPhee of St Peter’s. MacPhee also had another leg of 18 during his singles match.
And the most impressive finish of the week came from Hagg Bar C’s Richard Walker, as he finished one of his doubles matches with a 122 checkout.
The most impressive finish of the week came from Hagg Bar C’s Richard Walker