The Seymour District Darts Association’s summer competition finals series kicked off last Monday night, with the top four teams in each division in the play-offs for their respective premierships.
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After 14 rounds of exceptional match-ups the teams are locked in, with the top two teams playing off in a first to six Qualifying Final that will see the winner sent straight through to the Grand Final, while the loser will have to try again next week against the winner of the third and fourth placed teams, who will fight it out in a cut-throat Elimination Final.
The first game of the night pitted the first-placed Lions against the R.C.C. 26ers in a mouth-watering match-up.
After the Lions were bundled out in straight sets last season, they were keen to make amends against the reigning premiers.
The match had a somewhat subdued start as both teams battled to be the first to overcome their nerves.
The 26ers got off to a dream start after winning all three team games before the Lions’ Dave Kennett drew first blood in the first singles of the night. But the bleeding was stemmed quickly when the visitors won the next two games to put the 26ers one more win away from consecutive Grand Final appearances.
The Lions rallied and won the next game easily, but some individual brilliance from Andrew Meiselbach, which included a 180, delivered the 26ers a one-way ticket to the big dance with a 6-2 victory.
Andrew Meiselbach led the way with 6 pegs, four tons, a 134, 135 and a 140. The 26ers’ captain Steve Ash nailed two tons and a 121, Rob Welsh pounded in three tons and a 121 and Shannon Jackson chipped in with a 125. Lions’ Dave Kennett finished the night with four tons and three 140s; Rick Wylie scored a ton, a 120 and a 140; Raymond Maloney threw two tons and a 125; while Gary Power chipped in with three straight tons to wrap up Game 1.
The next Division 1 final had the Broadford Vikings throwing down the gauntlet against their closest rivals, the Golf Club Aces, in a make or break Elimination Final. With these teams sharing such a colourful history of narrow losses as well as incredible comebacks, both sides went in with even money to come away with the points.
The Vikings got the first win of the night in the quads game, but the scores were quickly levelled in the doubles match-ups. Moving into the singles games, the Aces managed to hit plenty of high scores to be well in their matches, but they struggled to close, with the pegging prowess of the Vikings proving to be the difference as they ended the Aces’ season with a 6-2 defeat.
The Vikings’ Mark ‘Robbo’ Robinson was a man on a mission, hitting six pegs to go with seven tons, a 105, 121 and a 140, with Peter Myles also in fine touch as he pounded in three tons, a 120 and 140 as well as a high peg of 76. Their captain Mark Jones led his team well, nailing three tons and a 134.
The Aces’ Frank ‘The Tank’ Roberts was the pick of the bunch, slipping in three tons and a 118, and Dan Raynor was the only other player from the Aces to hit a recordable score, closing out the night with a ton and a 125.
After this victory, the Broadford Vikings have booked their place in the Preliminary Final against the Lions at the Prince of Wales on Monday, June 17.
With the Lions boasting an 8-3 record against the Broadford team, they will go in as the hot favourites to get another shot at the title, but the Vikings will take comfort that they won their latest match-up between the two teams with a comfortable 7-4 victory.
Division 2
Moving onto the Division 2 finals, the first match-up of the night was a Qualifying Final at the Royal Hotel, held between the Bottom Pub Pirates and the Yea Renegades.
With the Pirates finishing the season undefeated at the top of the ladder, they went in confident of getting the job done and earning a week off in their first ever finals campaign. But the Yea players had their minds set on premiership glory and threw everything including the kitchen sink at the Broadford team.
The ’Gades got the first win of the night thanks to a Scott Oakley peg of 59 before the Pirates stole back the lead, winning both double matches.
With the pressure building and the Pirates only holding a narrow 4-3 lead at the start of the reverse singles matches, the gathering crowd could smell an upset brewing. But the Pirates steadied the ship as they have managed to do all season and won the next two games straight to book their spot in the Division 2 Grand Final.
Andrew ‘Harry’ Harrison had his best game of his short darts career for the Pirates, nailing a ton as well as a high peg of 60, while Jamie Dow-Rowan battled hard with his nerves all night but still managed to close his account with a ton, a 121 and a 138. Pirates’ captain Dan Kilroy had five pegs for the night and chucked a 125 and a 140 — although his brother Steve Kilroy was uncharacteristically quiet, scoring just the two tons. Scott Oakley was sensational for the Renegades, hammering in two tons and a 140, with Leigh Turnbull in fine touch too, slipping in two tons and a 140 of his own. The ’Gades newest recruit Jarrod Kerr scored a 121 from limited game time, Roger McCallum snared a 101 and the ’Gades captain Chrystal Turnbull chipped in with a single ton.
The final game of the week was an Elimination Final between the Top Guns and the Pyalong Buccaneers. After the Top Guns fell short against the Royal Rascals in their maiden finals appearance last season, they were champing at the bit to make up for past mistakes and go one better this time round. To do that, the Guns had to bowl over a tough Buccaneers team, which joins an exclusive club of teams who made the finals in their first ever season — and with the head to head record sitting at one apiece, this was anyone’s game for the taking.
The Top Guns hit the target first with youngster Seth Kilroy getting his team on the board, but the Buccaneers returned fire to level the scores once more. The ‘home’ team got the next three wins on the trot to gain a little bit of breathing space, but the arm wrestle continued as the Pyalong team hit back with two wins of its own — and with the scores sitting at 4-3 in the Top Guns’ favour, there was every chance this game was going to come down to the wire. But the Top Guns dug deep into their arsenal and found another gear, winning the next two games straight, with young gun Seth Kilroy hitting pegs of four and 61 in the final game of the night to deliver the Broadford team a 6-3 victory and a spot in the Preliminary Final.
The Buccaneers fought the good fight and will be better for the experience, and had an even spread of contributors with Brett Fowkes proving to be a valuable addition to the team. He finished the night with a 138 and four pegs to his name, Mick Doyle snagged a high score of 120, Buccs’ captain Mark Ruddick finished his night with a ton and Graham Ward made a good return to the team with a singles victory to go with a ton. The Top Guns’ Seth Kilroy was a cut above the rest and closed his night with five pegs, two tons, a 120, 121 and a 134, Alan ‘Shooter’ Sharp returned to his early season form to blast in three tons and a 135, and Top Guns’ captain Tammy Kilroy smashed in a 140 to close the highlights of a jam-packed week of Finals matches. This result sets up a cracking Preliminary Final between the Yea Renegades and the Top Guns at the Prince of Wales Hotel, with the ’Gades winning both their previous encounters this season by the narrowest of margins. Could it be third time lucky for the Top Guns?
Get on down to the P.O.W. on Monday, June 17 to find out and cheer on all the teams as they fight it out for a shot at premiership glory. There will be supper provided for players and spectators.
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