It’s eight-in-a-row for Hagg’s A team
Johnstone players crowned League Cup champs
Craig Ritchie
The members of Paisley and District Darts League travelled to The Hazel Arms to take part in the League Cup finals night.
The first of the semi-final ties was between Railway Inn and Pickwicks, with the Howwood outfit looking for revenge after their league defeat at the hands of Pickwicks last week.
Getting the Railway team off to a great start was Billy Jackson, winning his singles tie 3-0.
Pickwicks player Robert Morrison then levelled the match after he also ran out a 3-0 winner.
Railway’s Chris Dowling, and then Garry Jardine, stretched the lead to give them a 3-1 lead before Ian Callaghan and captain Dean Fitch won for Pickwicks to leave the score at 3-3 after the singles games.
Into the doubles, and Railway Inn took the lead again through the pairing of Jackson and Robert Povah, before the score was evened out as Fitch and Morrison took their game 2-1.
With the score at 4-4 it would be down to the last doubles game to see who would get into the final.
The first leg went to Railway Inn and then, inevitably, the Pickwicks pairing of Fraser Dempsey and Graham Morrison won the next leg to set up a deciding leg shoot-out.
At the end of the leg, with both teams having darts to win the match, it was the Pickwicks pair who held their nerve. Dempsey hit double top, taking his team into the final.
The second saw defending champions Hagg Bar A take on newcomers Court Bar B.
Dougie Low, from Hagg Bar A, got his team off to a grand start with a 3- 1 win, before Richie Baillie doubled the lead with a 3-0 victory.
Andy Boulton then stretched their lead to 3-0 , as he ran out a 3-1 winner in his match.
Mick Malone added another 3-0 win for the Hagg team, to lead 4-0 and put the team one match away from the final.
When George Dempsey won his game 3- 1, it completed a dream game for Hagg Bar A, who proved too strong for the Court Bar team, as they only won three legs in their 5-0 defeat.
So, it was now down to the final between Pickwicks and Hagg Bar A, in a repeat of the final from two years ago.
Pickwicks got off to the best start as Ian Callaghan won the first match 3-2.
The Hagg Bar team weren’t in any mood to let that get to them and Andy Boulton levelled the match after hitting legs of 15, 14 and 15 darts to win 3-0.
Richie Baillie then put the Hagg team into the lead with a 3-1 win, which George Dempsey added to with a 3-1 win of his own, giving the Johnstone team a 3-1 lead in the match.
This was extended to 4- 1 after Dougie Low won his game 3-2.
With the Hagg team just one game away from the title, it was down to their captain, Evander Stevenson, who obliged with a 3-1 victory, to take the title 5-1 over their Renfrew rivals.
The win gives Hagg Bar A the title for the eighth consecutive year.
Even though there were only three matches played, there were four maximums throughout the night, with Hagg Bar A player Boulton hitting two.
Boulton also had the quickest game of the night as he and his team-mate, Mick Malone, both hit 14-dart legs.
And, to underline a great night for Boulton, he also had the highest finish of the night after checking out on 134 in the final.
It was down to the final between Pickwicks and Hagg Bar A , in a repeat from two years ago