Tony Cox, my wife Kristina and I were at The Railway, and Jim Clowes, Dave Weaver and Angela Ashley were at the Kings Head.
I'm not a great fan of the triples, as it seems you have to wait 10 minutes for your turn to come around again! The dra
w was done and we were to meet the legendary Leroy 'Same Old Faces' Hobden, and his team mates Rod and Di. A pretty lacklustre match saw us emerge as winners, Kris was having to wear plasters on her throwing fingers, because she had some nasty splits in them, and Coxy by his own admission, couldn't hit a barn door with a shotgun!
Next round was another tough match against a team containing Brian Lindfield and Shaun Stokes. We got a bit better in this one, and again came out victorious, but it was a close run match.
That win saw us in the final against The Smugglers. Despite going one nil down in a best of three match, we came through it, and the real Tony Cox showed up to hit the winning finish. With 72 left he threw for a 12, missed and hit a 9, after some deliberation he then hit a 13, leaving the bull for the match. Good old Tony, straight in the centre of it… we were through to the final on Finals Night.
At the Kings Head our other team were unlucky not to meet us on finals night. They reached their final, but were beaten by a team from The Grenadier.
Over the weekend Christmas shopping was on the agenda… not a very inspiring or successful trip, but I did manage some new trainers for myself.
On Sunday, I received a call from Captain Sheebo, asking if I fancied meeting up for some practice. Of course, I was happy to oblige, and Sheebo, along with Dan Smith headed off to meet me at the Kings Head.
An afternoon of winner stays on was decided upon, and I'm glad to say that in four hours of playing I only lost 4 legs of darts. A successful afternoon and something I shall be aiming to do more of over the next couple of months in preparation for next year. If ever there was an inspiration to play better, go for winner stays on – if you hate chalking, it really motivates you to win!
Tuesday night we went to see Pink in concert at the 02 Arena. She was awesome, one of the best gigs I've ever been to… and I've seen over 300 Heavy Metal concerts in my time.
On Wednesday it was back to Hastings for our singles league. With Adrian Gray top, and myself in second place, tonight could make a difference – I was due to play him. My first match was against Gary Stockwell, and after an ordinary start, I found some better form from the third leg in, and went on to win 5 nil, gaining a bonus point for a 112 out shot. Adrian meanwhile had a 3 – 2 win over Chris Burt.
So to the 'Big Match'. I won the first leg against the darts, with Adi taking the next two. To draw level I had to break his throw again, and hit double 18 in one dart to do so. Deciding leg and I throw a first score that my cat could have beaten, with Adi kicking off with consecutive 140's I was up against it. I caught up, but with the throw, Adi took the 3 – 2 win. Not too bad though… the gap at between us is down to 6 points, and we aren't half way through the season yet.
Don't forget to get your entry forms for the Eastbourne Open running 29 – 31 January 2010 from 0845 4302122 or info@eastbournedarts.co.uk.
