Lickey End A & B Darts Teams were back in action this week.
After a good run in the Winter League so far, Lickey End B lost at home to The Hop Pole, their nemesis team, but now find themselves in a position that could derail the rest of the season for them. Regretfully they’ve lost a player without reason and with others unavailable, last night they almost had to forfeit their match due to lack of players. Only a last-ditch call by Captain Alvin Holland to a player that was signed as a backup but hadn’t played, saved the match.
Dylan Rowe was first on the oche for Lickey but double-trouble cost him and Hope Pole took the first game 1-2. It was a similar picture for Alvin and Colin McKinley too, 0-2 in their games and Hope Pole were off to a flyer, 0-3 up after 3. Step forward the elder-stateman of the team, Roy Davies. He took the match by the scruff of the neck and ground out a 2-0 win in his game to give Lickey a sniff of a comeback. In Game 4, Lickey’s super-sub, Will Brotherhood, who hadn’t thrown a competitive dart in two years, showed us he still had a game in him, taking a leg but lost 1-2 in the end. Due to Lickey only fielding 5 players, game 6 was a bye to Hop Pole which gave them the match.
Dylan and Will teamed up for Game 7 but lost a tight one 1-2. Colin and Alvin salvaged some pride with a spritely 2-0 win in Game 8 but in Game 9 Hope Pole finished the night off with another 0-2 win against Roy and Will. Final score 2-7 The Hope Pole.
For Lickey A away to Greenlands Longbridge, it was a much closer affair. Both teams went toe-to-toe and down to a last game decider.
Captain Jason Evans decided to mix the usual running order up for this one which saw Geoff Nokes up first. In good form recently, Geoff had an uncharacteristically scrappy first leg but robbed it when Greenlands faltered on their doubles. That fired them up and they took the next leg and a very close decider too, despite a 140 from Geoff for a 2-1 win. In Game 2, Paul Prince got straight down to business taking out leg 1 quickly including a140. That seemed to rattle Greenlands. In leg 2 they couldn’t get away, and Paul took it out for a comfortable 0-2 win. In Game 3, Ed McManus faced one of Greenlands’ best players. Power-scoring and a 106-checkout in leg 1 made life difficult for Ed to get into the game which he lost 0-2. Game 4 was one of the best games of the night. Steve Groves saw off Greenlands 2-1 in a game littered with ton plus scores to bring it back to 2-2 overall. In the next game, Jason Evans couldn’t get to grips with his opponent and lost 0-2. For game 6, an evergreen Gaz Troth, flourishing with his new darts, took out an impressive 124 checkout to bag his singles win 1-2 and draw the match level at 3-3 going into the doubles. Game on!
For Game 7, Gaz and Paul Read doubled up but struggled to keep up with Greenlands’ power-scoring again and lost 0-2. Game 8 was a must-win for Paul and Geoff. Paul took out a statement 133 checkout for leg 1. Lickey were away quickly in leg 2 and the scoring continued with 140 and a 160 from Geoff which gave them time to see out the win comfortably 0-2. At 4-4, the match was poised. Game 8, winner takes all. Steve and Ed lost 2-0 but that doesn’t matter. In a match Lickey A probably expected to lose comfortably on paper, they actually gave Greenlands a game and were a whisker away from the win. It’s been a tough campaign so far but are Lickey A finding their feet now in Div 1? It maybe too little, too late this season but it’s definitely drawing the best darts out of them. Final score 5-4 Greenlands Longbridge
