EVERSON’S SPORTS AND TROPHIES (YSTRAD MYNACH) SPONSORED MERTHYR SUMMER DARTS LEAGUE

THE second round of the Singles Competition produced an excellent standard of darts with all the players taking part in with a very real chance of claiming a place in the final.

Every venue had excitement and high drama with twists and turns with every dart thrown as the players edged further to the prized plunder on offer at the Grand Finals.

VENUE: BAILI-GLAS

THIS venue was a mini who’s who of Merthyr darts with several of the big names in the game present and ready to do battle with the sole aim of making the Grand Finals.

The first game saw Dai Phelps of the Merthyr Vale Ex Club battle Darren Locke of the Ye-Olde Express in a thrilling opener. Dai clocked up 81, 2x85, 2x100 but it was bettered by Darren with 4x100, 96 out as he claimed a spot in the semis.

The next game saw Lloyd Davies of the Merthyr Vale Ex Club face up to Hywel Llewellyn of the Ye-Olde Express in what turned out to be another thrilling match. A hard fought game saw Lloyd hit 87, 97, 3x100, 140 as he claimed a 2-1 win over Hywel 85, 97, 2x100 to claim his spot in the second of the night’s semis.

The first semi saw Kevin Forbes of the Merthyr Labour Club enter the fray where he would face Darren Locke in another hard fought game. Darren knocked up 4x100 but it was Kevin 126, 140 with a 16-dart first leg and 2x95, 100 in a 19-dart second leg who took the game 2-0 to take his place in the night’s final.

The second semi pitched Lloyd Davies against Peter Locke of the Ye-Olde Express and it saw Lloyd amass 2x100, 140 but he was beaten 2-0 by Peter who hit 3x100, 140, 180 and a 15-dart first leg for a 2-0 victory and a place in the venue final.

Peter and Kevin did battle a few short months ago in the Singles Final of the Worthington’s Merthyr and District Darts League 2015/16 season with Peter edging a fantastic game with a 3-2 win so Kevin was out for revenge while Peter was out to extend his winning streak over his great rival. Kevin 99, 2x100 in a 17-dart leg took the first leg with his opponent hitting 81, 100. Peter levelled in the second with 3x100, 80, 70 out in a 17dart leg to set up a deciding final leg. A tense final leg saw Peter record 81, 100 but it was Kevin with 95, 180 who won the battle and the night to claim revenge and book his place at the Grand Finals.

VENUE: LORD RAGLAN

ANOTHER top class venue started with Mike Evans of the Heolgerrig Social Club B battling Keith Lewis of the Colliers Arms with Mike winning 2-0.

And in the second match of the evening Owain Davies of the YeOlde Express beat Nathan Morgan of the Penydarren Social Club B by the same 2-0 scoreline. Chris Price of the Merthyr Conservative Club scored a tremendous 2-0 win over Alun Pearce of the Martyrs Club to maintain his challenge and in a splendid final first-round game Steve Thomas of the Guest Keen Bowls Club A with a 114 out edged past Steve Nicholas 110 out of the Ye-Olde Express by a 2-1 margin to progress to the night’s second semi-final.

The first semi saw Owain Davies progress at the expense of Mike Evans with a hard fought 2-1 win, and the second semi saw Chris Price maintain his remarkable run with a stunning 2-0 win over Steve Thomas.

The final was another thrilling game which saw Owain end Chris’s bid for the title with a 2-0 win to book his spot in the Grand Finals.

VENUE: ROSE & CROWN

THIS was another thrill-aminute venue starting with David Rowlands 100, 174, 180 of the Merthyr Labour Club beating Dean Lewis 100, 140 of the Hills Plymouth Cricket Club by a 2-0 margin.

In the second game Steve Smith 3x100 scored a fantastic 2-1 win over Dale Pinch 160 out of the Guest Keen Bowls Club A to make his way into the first of the night’s semis.

The third game saw Cled Jones of the BailiGlas beat Karl Manns 140 of the Merthyr Vale Ex Club and in the last of the first-round games old campaigner Brian Nicholas of the Ye-Olde Express beat the battling Connor John by a 2-0 margin to take a semi-final place.

The first semi had David Rowlands back in action and with the aid of 4x100 he beat Steve Smith 2-0 to reach the final where he would face Cled Jones 100, 140 who edged past Brian Meek 100, 2x125 by a 2-1 margin in a nip ’n’ tuck battle.

The final was another battling game with David 5x100, 113, 125 beating Cled 100 by a 2-0 margin to earn himself another crack at the singles title.

VENUE: GUEST KEEN BOWLS CLUB

A GREAT venue with some top class darts and twists and turns in every game.

Game one saw Rhys Donovan of the Rose & Crown do battle with Rhys Lee of the Hills Plymouth Cricket Club in a fantastic game with the Rose lad hitting 95, 2x100, 140 but it was the HPCC man 100 who won through 2-1. The second game saw Dean Thomas 80, 2x85, 100 of the Colliers Arms progress 2-0 at the expense of his great mate Matthew Charleston 2x85, 94 of the Ye-Olde Express as the latter missed seven darts at a double in the second leg.

A hard fought third game saw Drew Bradley 81, 92, 2x100, 120 out of the Penydarren Social Club C beat the living legend Lyndon Price 83, 2x100, 140 of the Penydarren Club B as Lyndon squandered countless darts at a winning double. The final game of the first round was a belter between Kerry Ryan of the Baili-Glas and Wayne Titcomb of the Ye-Olde Express with Kerry hitting 180 with his first throw followed by 40, 100, 145 in a 17-dart leg for a 1-0 lead. Wayne took the second leg to level and in a tense deciding leg Kerry hit 91, 2x96, 100 but missed nine match darts as Wayne 100, 140 took the match 2-1 to progress to the second of the night’s semis.

The first semi had Dean Thomas 134, 140 edge a 2-1 win over Rhys Lee 171 to make the night’s final where he would face Wayne Titcomb 83, 85, 2x100, 2x140 who beat Drew Bradley 84, 85, 95, 100 by a 2-0 margin.

A thrilling final saw Wayne advance to the Grand Finals hitting 2x100, 3x140 in a 2-0 victory with Dean amassing 2x100, 2x140 in a hard fought game.

All players are reminded that this Friday, September 30, sees the Grand Finals/ Presentation Night take place at the Merthyr Labour Club with roll call for all players 7.15pm for a start of 7.30pm. Any players not present at roll call will be eliminated from their respective competitions. Due to the unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances the original venue the Supplementary Cup Semi-Finals and Final, the competition has now been re-arranged for this Friday, September 30. The chosen venue was the Merthyr Ex Club, but unfortunately slight alterations have had to be made. Due to the Rose & Crown being short of players and having two players in the Pairs SemiFinals their semi-final in the cup competition will be played upstairs in the Merthyr Labour Club with the other semi being played in the lounge at the Merthyr Ex Club. Hopefully the final will then be played in the bar on the main board in the Ex Club which will be a neutral venue for both sides. at for

Friday, October 7, sees the start of the 2016/17 season of the Worthington’s Merthyr and District Darts League which gets under way with the first round of the Lee’s Computer Systems Challenge Cup taking place.

League information packs will be issued on Tuesday, October 4, in the Merthyr Ex Club from 7.45pm.

Teams must collect their packs as they will not be delivered around the pubs and clubs.