Hay Makes Top Checkout

Antony Hayman plundered a magnificent 160 checkout for King Billy in the Plymouth City Super League Division A, but the Devonport team still fell to a 7-4 loss at the hands of Cherry Tree A.

Hayman's mammoth effort bettered a 109 from Rick Trinder for the successful away side whilst two of Hayman's teammates reached a dectet of ton plus scores.

Paul Goundry joined Lee Doncaster in achieving that feat whilst there was a 180 a piece for each of the talented sides.

Mark Yeoman struck for the home side in riposte to a three treble visit by Nick Miller and Paddy Archibald showed his class with an 18 darter in his 3-0 individual success.

Simon Stevenson showed the form that once had him mix it with the darting professional elite as a PDC Tour Card holder after he put up nineteen scores of a ton or more in Cornwall Gate's 8-3 win over Kings Arms B.

Stevenson's tally was littered with highlights as his two maximums were added to by a 114 checkout that was the best of the triumph.

That narrowly bettered a 110 by Simon Kelly for the defeated side and his ten ton haul was rounded off by a 101 combination out shot.

Next best in the scoring stakes for the home side was Stevenson's teammate Andy Malinowski who played his supporting role well with ten tons overall.

A third 180 of the night was added by Matt Vosper whilst a flurry of short games was started off by the trio of Malinowski, Col Maddocks and Shaun Dring (25.67) in the trebles.

Their 1001 game was plundered in just 39 darts whilst Stevenson paired with Dan Bunney (26.13) put away their 601 doubles 2-0 with legs in 25 and 21 darts highlighting that dominant affair.

Vosper was a 3-0 winner in the singles phase thanks in part to a 17 dart leg whilst Stevenson stole the show at the business end of legs with a brace of 14 darters in his win by the same score line.

Glenn Halford produced thirteen tons but saw his team's title bid falter slightly with a 7-4 win over Cherry Tree C meaning they ended the night five points off the top.

Halford's ton tally was added to by a maximum and a 120 whilst the main avenue of support came from Glenn Austin who put his name to twelve of the tons bagged in the match.

Austin added a brace of 180s to tick his ton total over to the duodectet mark and Dale Halford chipped in with eleven tons to his name to make it a trio of players for the Compton side that reached double figures.

As the score line suggests, it wasn't all one way traffic with Darren Smith putting up eleven tons of his own for the defeated side.

Moments of brilliance also came from the arms of Steve Towl and Frankie Stout who added a 90 checkout and a 180 respectively.

Both players produced the goods when Smith met Austin in the singles, but it was the latter who came out on top 3-2 thanks to what turned out to be a crucial 17 dart leg.

The Indian derby match between A and B served up some excellent displays with the most prominent scoring player coming from the A team who lost 8-3 to their B side.

That man was Harry Bull who added one of three maximums in the match to his eleven ton tally whilst the other 180s all fell to the designated home side of the evening.

Paul Gavican heard '180' after throwing once on his way to ten tons whilst Tom James put a second onto the scoreboard for the victors.

Mark Shears equalled Gavican's ten scores of a ton or more whilst Shears and Scott Cook stood out in the oh so important finishing part of the game.

Shears' 17 dart leg helped him to a 3-1 win over Bull who checked a leg in 16 during that contest whilst Cook's 128 checkout wasn't bettered by any of the twelve on display.

Ker St came away from their trip to Bluebird B with a 6-5 success, which was helped along by the scoring exploits of Roger Bailey who reached ten tons for his night's work.

A number of highlights came in the latter stages of games starting with Ian Heggie's 119 checkout in the very first trebles rubber of the match.

That finish was narrowly bettered by a 120 combination by Ralph Lancaster in an 18 dart 601 leg when pairing with Heggie in the doubles.

Mike Evans checked 95 in a single visit in a 2-1 doubles loss before Fred Lamerton lit up the individual phase with an 18 dart leg that decided the destination of his 3-2 success.

The best was most definitely saved until last though as Vince Scallan heard 'game shot' called after throwing 135 in his 3-2 singles success, which made the score line respectable in the eleventh and final game.