VULCANS HOLD ALLSTARS TO A DRAW WHILE EAGLES FLY HIGH
SFL (Week 4)
Sheffield Darts Franchise League:Leadmill Premier Division
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22nd September 2016
Aces 3-3 Academicals
Mick Smith 3-2 Jack Lewis
Rich Swainston 3-0 Tom Wright
Trev Tye 2-3 Matt Royle
Ian Speed 3-0 Oli Newell
D. Belfitt 0-3 Matt Eardley
Dawn Wills 0-3 Ed McCosh
We start Week 4 with the Academicals travelling to the Newbold Club with both
teams still searching for their first wins in the Franchise League. The night
couldn^t have got off to a better start when Aces^ Mick Smith played
Academicals Jack Lewis in an exciting encounter where the pendulum swung back
and forth where no player were giving an inch. Lewis started well holding throw
in the first leg then it was status quo up until the 4th leg of the game with
Academicals^ Lewis 2-1 up Smith hammered in a 20 dart leg to level the scores
and push the game into a decider where Smith continued to rally to a 3-2
victory and put the Aces into an early lead. The second game of the night saw
Rich Swainston up against Tom Wright. Swainston started well hitting a 21 dart
leg to take the lead and Wright never really got going as Swainston followed by
throwing consistent darts finishing with a 20 darter to win 3-0. Up next was
another close game between Trev Tye and Matt Royle, Tye kicked off in style
with a 21 darter then followed it by hitting a 140 to start the second leg
followed by a ton to set up a 16 dart leg to race into a 2-0 lead but just when
you thought the game will be over early Matt Royle made a fantastic comeback
and it looked like it took Tye by surprise with the scores level at 2-2 it was
Royle who finished hitting the winning double to complete the comeback and pull
one back for the Academicals. The fourth game of the night saw a ultra
consistant performance by Aces^ Ian Speed defeating Oli Newell by a 3-0
scoreline with every leg finishing in 26 darts. With the score at 3-1 to the home side Academicals would have
been forgiven for lying down but that^s not in their nature as a fight back
ensured first Matt Eardley took out Belfitt starting with back to back 21 dart
legs then finishing in style to guarantee theirs something to play for in the
decider.The deciding match of the night saw Dawn Willis have a chance to give Aces the
victory but Ed McCosh had other ideas has he cooly finished the night with a
3-0 victory and rescue his team a battling point.
Railwaymen 0-6 Black Eagles
Jordan Payne 2-3 Micky Stocks
Tom Gurran 0-3 Simon Birkett
Brian Lewis 2-3 Stephen Briggs
Mark Gurran 0-3 Greg Beard
Gav Pilling 2-3 Pete Daffin
Pete Bramley 2-3 Jelger Tuinstra
The Black Eagles travelled to The Station hoping to keep their 100% record in
tact and what a belter of a match it turned out to be with close games aplenty
and the scoreline didn^t do the game justice. First up saw a quality battle
between Railwaymen^s Jordan Payne up against Micky Stocks in a match that went
all the way with both men holding throw throughout the game. In the first leg
Stocks took the lead hitting a 20 dart leg but Payne hit back immediately
making the score 1–1. In the third leg Micky hit another 20 dart leg to go 2-1
in front but once again Payne rallied hitting an impressive 13 dart leg to
equalise for a second time to force the match into a deciding leg which saw
Stocks fire in a maximum and finishing it off in 21 darts to win the game 3-2
and put Black Eagles 1-0 in front. Second up was young Tom Gurran facing a
difficult game against Simon Birkett as it proved as Birkett kicked off with a
21 dart leg. Gurran tried to reply with a maximum but it was all in vain as
Birkett reeled off the next 2 legs hitting a 104 checkout and an 18 dart leg to
win the game 3-0. Third up on the night was an evenly matched contest between
Brian Lewis and Stephen Briggs where every leg went with the throw. Lewis
managed to chuck in a maximum to try and fend off Briggs but as the game wore
on it went to another decider where experience counted for Briggs as he hit a
15 darter and a 106 checkout to win the battle 3-2. In the fourth game of the
night Mark Gurran tried to keep his team in the game but had a mountain to
climb against "The Titan" Greg Beard and it showed as Greg kicked off
hitting a 20 darter but their was more to come in the second where he hit an 18
dart leg and a maximum to go 2-0 in front and just when you thought Gurran had
a chance "The Titan" slammed the door in his face winning the game
3-0 and put his team 4 up overall but we weren^t finished yet. Up next was
Railwaymen^s Gav Pilling as he faced "Super Daffs" Pete Daffin and
what a match it was. It had everything from a maximum a piece and high finishes
aplenty. Pilling took the lead with an 18 dart leg, hitting the first maximum
of the game. Daffin hit back with a maximum of his own, winning legs in 15 and
18 darts not to mention the ton checkout to take the lead 2-1, but back came
Pilling taking out a 112 finish to level the scores again and force the game
into a decider where Daffin showed true class winning the game with a 13 dart
leg and a 134 finish to win the game 3-2. In the final match of the night saw
yet another quality darts match between Railwaymen^s Pete Bramley and Jelger
Tuinstra, It all started well for Jelger taking the first 2 legs everyone
thought he was going to win it comfortably but not Bramley who fired back in
the game hitting a maximum and a 20 dart leg then in the fourth leg Bramley
equalised to set up a decider in the final game of the night. Tuinstra held his
nerve to win the game 3-2 with a 21 dart leg to give Black Eagles a 6-0 victory
but with the scores so close Railwaymen were unlucky not to get anything out of
the game.
Vulcans 3-3 All Stars
Russ Lockwood 3-0 Tony Harper
Chris Gray 1-3 Dave Copley
Anthony Warne 1-3 Terry Temple
Daz Layden 3-2 Daz Johnson
Jim Smith 0-3 Carl Wilkinson
Steve Stacey 3-2 Johnny Daniels
It was a closely fought contest at Frecheville where the All Stars looked to
defend their 100% start to the season against a resolute Vulcans side in a very
even game where it went all the way to the final leg of the night and also
every leg in every game was around 22 darts and saw both teams go in the lead
only to be pegged back. The night started when Frecheville^s Russ Lockwood
kicked off proceedings with a 21 darter against Tony Harper to go in front then
Russ rallied through the match winning 3-0. In the next match saw Chris Gray up
against All Stars Dave Copley in a match which saw 3 solid 17 dart legs between
the pair, the game started well for Gray who hit the first 17 darter to go 1-0
in front but Copley found his range after that winning the next 2 legs both
also in 17 to overturn the deficit and Dave finished off Gray in the fourth to
win 3-1 and equalise for his team. The third game of the night saw Anthony
Warne in a tough contest against Terry Temple. Game started off with Temple
taking the lead with an 18 dart leg and an 88 checkout but back came Warne with
a 20 darter of his own to level the scores, in the third leg Temple regained
the lead calmly taking out the double then turned into over-drive hitting a
maximum and winning the game in style finishing in 15 darts to win 3-1 and put
his team 2-1 up. The fourth match saw 2 warriors battle it out in the battle of
the Daz^s. Vulcans Daz Layden faced All Stars PDC player Darren Johnson, Layden
kicked off in fine form taking a 2-0 lead finishing in 19 and 16 darts but
"Dynamite" hit back with a 17 and an 18 dart leg that also included 3
maximums and a 98 finish to boot to level the tie but Layden weren^t to be
denied in the final leg decider where he managed to race over the line to win a
tightly fought contest 3-2 to equal the scores on the night with 2 to play. Jim
Smith played Carl Wilkinson both knowing that a win for either men guaranteed
their team won^t taste defeat and Wilkinson got off to the perfect start with a
13 dart leg and he didn^t hold back winning the second leg as Jim a Smith tried
to scrape anything Wilkinson managed to run riot and win the match 3-0 and take
the game into the decider knowing his team won^t be beaten tonight. In the
final game of the night with the game delicately poised at 3-2 to All Stars,
Vulcans Steve Stacey was looking to rescue a draw against Johnny Daniels and
Stacey got off to the perfect start taking the lead but Daniels hit back with
an 18 dart leg to equalise then won the third to go in front but then it was
Stacey^s turn to fight back equalising with a 19 darter to take the game into a
deciding last leg of the night it was a matter of who will hold their nerve for
the team in a tussle which saw Stacey take out the winning double and both
teams sharing the spoils in this thriller of a contest.
Warriors 0-6 Panthers
Barry Brittle 0-3 John Leiber
Ian Webster 0-3 Russ Simons
Steve Newton 2-3 Brad Ellis
Jodie Bruce 0-3 Ryan Goffin
Nicola Warne 0-3 Mick Hulley
Paul Brittle 1-3 John Schultz
Over at the Woodbourne we saw Warriors face a tricky tie against a Panthers
team who have started the season well. Up first to toe the oche was
Woodbourne^s Barry Brittle facing John Leiber in a match what saw Leiber
comfortably hold his own hitting a 20 and a 21 dart leg to win the game and put
the Panthers into the lead. Ian Webster was up next against Panthers Russ
Simons but despite Webster playing well couldn^t cope with Simons consistency
hitting a maximum along the way to a 3-0 victory to put his team 2-0 up. Steve
Newton faced Brad Ellis in the closest contest of the night in the third game
which saw Newton shoot out of the blocks and had a superb start after taking
the first leg he followed it up with a 21 darter to go 2 in front with 3 to
play then Ellis hit back finally finding his range to tie the game 2-2 and make
the game go into a decider where Brad managed to complete the comeback and
defeat Newton who played very well and deserved more than he got out of it.
Jodie Bruce was next up for the Warriors as she faced a tough game against Ryan
Goffin and it showed as Goffin kicked off with a maximum then that followed a
13 dart leg to open proceedings. In the second leg Goffin continued the form
hitting a 17 darter to go 2-0 up and after that he raced to victory taking out
the winning double to put his side 4-0 up with 3 to play. Nicola Warne faced
Mick Hulley in the fifth game of the night hoping to take something from the
game but it wasn^t to be as Hulley hit a 20 followed by a 17 dart leg to win
the game 3-0 and put his team 5-0 up on the night going into the final game. In
the last match Paul "The Undertaker" Brittle started brightly taking
the first leg against John Schultz but then Schultz rallied after levelling the
scores at 1 each Schultz stepped it up and took the next 2 legs to win the tie
3-0 and giving The Panthers a 6-0 victory overall.
Wizards 1-5 Sausages
Des Moore 1-3 Ben Dolman
Tony Casril 1-3 Pete Bell
Martin Peel 3-1 Matt Pryor
Michael Slack 0-3 Shaun Greenfield
Simon Simmons 1-3 Ben Beardmore
Lee Slack 0-3 Stephen Ewington
The Cumberland Sausages took their 100% record
to Wilton to play the Wizards team who are yet to get off the mark this season
in a game that saw a lot of 140^s on the night. The match started brightly for
The Sausages as Ben Dolman took on Des Moore. Dolman won the first leg but
Moore hit back equalising to make the game all square, that^s when Dolman
stepped up to the plate hitting a 16 dart leg to go back in front then
finishing the game off cooly in the fourth to put Sausages 1-0 up. Up next was
Wilton^s Tony Casril up against "The Landlord" Pete Bell looking to
level the scores. Both players started well sharing the first 2 legs but then
Bell relaxed more and ran away with the game also winning by a 3-1 scoreline to
put his team 2-0 in front. Martin Peel found a bit of form for Wizards against
Matt Pryor winning the first leg but after Pryor levelled up the score Peel
found another gear and won the game by a third consecutive 3-1 scoreline. Up
next was Michael Slack against Shaun "Croc" Greenfield with Slack
looking bring the scores level but he found "Croc" a tough nut to
crack and Greenfield sailed into the distance winning comfortably 3-0 to put
Sausages 3-1 up with 2 to play. Onto the fifth game where Simon Simmons looking
to keep his team in the game faced Ben "Boom" Beardmore but things
didn^t get off to the best of starts as "Boom" kicked off winning the
first then hitting a 17 dart leg to race into a 2-0 lead but as Simmons
threatened a comeback taking the third leg, Beardmore rattled in a 20 dart leg
to finish the game winning 3-1 and give The Sausages a 4-1 advantage going into
the last game. In the last match we saw Stephen Ewington was just too much for
Lee Slack, After Ewington won the first leg he smashed in an 18 darter to go
2-0 up and he rounded off the night taking out the final double to win 3-0 over
Lee Slack and Sausages win 5-1 overall to continue their 100% start to the
season.
Wolves 0-6 Magic
John Edwards 0-3 Gav Markham
Pat Finney 1-3 Chris Markham
Sue Edwards 0-3 Lester Bowers
John Smethurst 0-3 Paul Harris
Steve Naisbitt 0-3 Chris Keane
Antonio Cruz 0-3 Steve Marfleet
Over in the other room at
The Woodbourne Hotel, The Wolves still searching for their first points of the
season was up against a Magic team who have started with 2 wins out of 3. Up
first was Wolves captain John Edwards facing Gav Markham and things didn^t get
off to the best start for the captain as Markham started well winning the first
leg then racing clear to win comfortably 3-0 to put Magic into the lead. In the
second game of the night Pat Finney started well winning the first leg in his
match with Chris Markham but that^s all he got as Markham stepped it up
equalising then running away with the match which showed both players struggle
through. Lester Bowers confidently put his side 3-0 in front taking out Sue
Edwards. Paul Harris won Magic the game defeating John Smethurst by the same
3-0 scoreline. Chris Keane found a bit of form in his tie with Steve Naisbitt
starting off with a 21 dart leg and a 92 finish as he ran riot winning
comfortably and Naisbitt couldn^t cope with Keane^s darts. The night finished
off with Antonio Cruz trying to salvage something for The Wolves but he faced a
solid player in Steve Marfleet and it showed as Marfleet hit a 16 dart leg in
the second to go 2-0 in front then he rounded off the night by taking out the
winning double for his team to win 3-0 and with it giving Magic a comfortably
6-0 victory.
Pat Finney (Projectdarts Reporter/Media)
