CRAIG RITCHIE
New year but same old story as Hagg Bar A rule the roost in the Paisley and District Darts League.
Hagg continue to set the pace as they remain the only unbeaten team in the league following a convincing 8-1 home win over Arthurlie Arrows.
Four of the six home players involved finished legs in under 18 darts, including Andy Boulton who clocked up an impressive three-dart average of 98.02 in a 3-0 singles win.
A win for Arthurlie could have put them into second place in the table but the home team were too strong on the night.
With Arthurlie facing the league leaders, St Peter’s would have been looking to leapfrog them in the table but they could not overcome Railway Inn in a home match that saw them go down 5-4.
Cafuffals maintain sixth place behind St Peters after they came through a close match at Charleston Arms with the home team taking a 4-2 advantage into the doubles games before losing all three doubles games to give Cafuffals a 5-4 victory.
It was crucial for Keystone A to also take maximum points to keep in touch in eighth place and they did that in emphatic style with a crushing 7-2 win at Fereneze, now playing out of the Flying Horse.
There was also a critical game at the bottom of the table as Clachan Bar hosted Hagg Bar C, with neither team having gained a win so far.
It was the home team that used their advantage to its best as they strolled to a 6-3 victory to claim their first points of the year and leave Hagg C as the only team without a win.
In the Second Division, The New Saints stay top of the table after a close call at Railway Black Cats, where the game went all the way to the last doubles before being settled in Saints’ favour 5-4.
Court Bar B kept up the pressure on the leaders when they visited Flying Horse B and left them licking their wounds with a thumping 8-1 scoreline, the victory keeping them just two points adrfit of the leaders.
Hot on their heels of the top two and just two points off Court B is Kelburne Cricket Club after a narrow 5-4 victory at Arthurlie Inns.
Leaping three places up the table into fifth place and now heading a group of five teams is Inkerman Bowling Club after they took both points with a hardfought 6-3 win at Pockets.
Hazel Pirates join the five teams now on 12 points after they secured victory at local rivals Keystone B 5- 4. The win sees them just behind the Keystone team by a leg difference of seven.
Tartan Rose also climb up one place in the table to 10th after they took both points in a 7- 2 home win over Hagg Bar B.
However, Hagg’s two legs was enough to take them off bottom spot in the table, even if only by a leg difference of one over Flying Horse B.
There were maximums from 10 players this week with Hagg Bar A’s Boulton hitting two.
Boulton also showed consistent form in his game as he had legs of 15, 18 and 13 darts.
Mark Barilli of Arthurlie Arrows also recorded a 13-dart leg to accompany others of 16 and 18.
The best of only four finishes over 100 came from John Williamson of The New Saints as he landed a checkout of 120.
Nest week sees the start of the four-man team tournament and with 40 teams taking part it will run for three weeks.
Boulton showed consistent form in his game as he had legs of 15, 18 and 13 darts