Darts ace Boulton raises the Bar A with super double

There were new champions crowned for the Paisley and District Darts League doubles this year when the last eight teams met at Flying Horse on Monday night for the finals.

First up was the quarter-finals. In the opening match, Pockets A’s Chris Coyle and Darren Addison took on Arthurlie Inns’ Kev Peacock and Scott Hay.

Coyle and Hay both hit 180s in the first leg but it was the Pockets A side that took the leg. They then added the second leg before going out in 18 darts in leg three to stretch their lead before going on to make it 4-0.

Match two was between Robert Whitehill and Boab Gibson of Hazel Nutz and last year’s runners-up Paul Hanvidge and David Carmichael from Clachan Arrows.

A steady performance from Hanvidge and Carmichael saw them progress through to the next stage with a 4-0 win under their belts.

The third match was an allHagg Bar A affair between Stuart Christie and George Dempsey and Richie Baillie and Evander

Stevenson with the first leg going to the latter pair.

This was a sign of things to come as they rattled off the next three legs in 18, 18 and 16 darts – with Baillie hitting a maximum for good measure – to win the match 4-0 and send their team-mates packing.

The last of the quarter-finals was a match-up between Pockets A players John McCallum and Brian Maley and Hagg Bar A players Andy Boulton and Dean Fitch.

And it was the Pockets

A duo that took the initial leg in 15 darts before a couple of 17-dart legs from Boulton and Fitch gave them a crucial 2-1 lead.

Two legs later, and with both going to the Hagg Bar A duo, it was ‘game over’ at 4-1 to Boulton and Fitch.

The first of the semis saw Pockets A’s Coyle and Addison take on Clachan Arrows’ Hanvidge and Carmichael.

The game started well for the Arrows team, who took the opening two legs in just 33 darts, including a 180 from Hanvidge.

Coyle and Addison then fought back to level the match at 2-2 before the Clachan Arrows pair restored their advantage.

However, the Pockets A lads were not done yet and a 17-dart leg that included a 180 from Addison won them the leg to make it 3-3.

It was all down to a last-leg decider

and it was the Clachan duo that held their nerve to take the match and book their place in yet another doubles final.

The second semi was another all-Hagg Bar A match as Baillie and Stevenson faced Boulton and Fitch.

Baillie got his team off to the best start with a 180 in a first leg that was over in 14 darts before Boulton and Fitch matched that with a 16 dart leg to make it 1-1.

The teams shared the next two legs before Boulton and Fitch hit an 18-dart leg to go 3-2 up before claiming a decisive fourth leg to earn themselves a place in the final.

And so Hanvidge and Carmichael faced Boulton and Fitch which was a display in scoring power with the first leg going to the Hagg Bar A players in 15 darts.

It ended in a 116 finish for Boulton before the Clachan pairing struck back with a brace of 18-dart legs that included another maximum score for Hanvidge.

With the score at 2-1 to the Arrows, it was time for the Hagg Bar A players to hit back and they did just that with two 17-dart legs of their own to regain the lead at 3-2.

The next two legs were shared so, at the end of leg seven, the score stood at 4-3 to the Hagg Bar pair.

In the eighth leg, and with Fitch adding to the 180 count, both teams were down to a double after 12 darts.

And as Hagg Bar A had the first shot at the double, it was soon over as Boulton hit double top with his first dart to ensure he and Fitch took the Paisley and District doubles crown.