Both darts teams were back in action this week. Lickey A were away to Batchley Club in a top 2 clash while Lickey hosted South Redditch Mallards, a tough but winnable game.
With the demise of Lodge Park in Division 2 recently, Lickey A have been boosted to 2nd place. A win last night would have seen them draw level with Batchley Club on points.
In Game 1, Paul Prince made a strong start for Lickey going to-to-toe with Batchley and taking it 0-2 including a nice 76 checkout. In Game 2, Batchley restored parity, Geoff Nokes losing 2-0. Batchley reinforced their lead in Games 3, 4 & 5 with Ed McManus, Jim Mildner and Jason Evans losing 0-2. Game 6 saw Gaz Troth come back from a strong scoring start for Batchley to nab leg 1 then build on it in Leg 2 to take that one too and keep the match alive.
At 4-2 down, Lickey needed to win all their doubles matches. In Game 7, Gaz and Jason gave them a game and only narrowly lost 2-1. Jason Evans almost took out a 148 checkout to take it 0-2 but the loss handed Batchley the match. In Game 8 Paul and Jim chipped away and some good darts on the doubles got them over the line 1-2. In the final match Ed and Geoff gave Batchley another game but they eventually pulled it together to take that one 2-1 too.
In a match where Lickey had a couple of key players missing and some close games not reflected in the scorelines, Batchley probably had their toughest match of the season so far last night and they knew it. Final score 6-3
Lickey B hosted a strong South Redditch Mallards and went into it with a number of league wins on the bounce.
In Game 1, South Redditch opened their account sneaking past Dylan Rowe 1-2. In Game 2, South Redditch doubled up beating Cameron Meakin 0-2. Dean Caswell made sure Lickey got on the board in Game 3 taking it 2-0 backed up by Steve Brunn in Game 4 taking that one 2-1 to level the match. Mark Wynn-Smith lost Game 5 0-2 and South Redditch restored their two game lead beating Alvin Holland 0-2 making it 2-4 going into the doubles.
In Game 7, South Redditch got over the line to take the match beating Matt Anthony and Roy Davies 0-2. Dean and Cameron restored some pride winning 2-0 in Game 7 and it was another close one in the final game, Mark and Steve been seen off 1-2. Final Score 3-6
