Good win over Jim but lesson learnt against Grubb
Well, I'm another year older than I was this time last week, and the birthday celebrations were in full swing last Friday evening.
I was driving to a tournament in Barnsley, with my wife Kris, and Adrian Gray both in the car catching flies, and occasionally snoring – happy days!
The journey to Barnsley was actually very good, with no hold ups, so we made it there in good time. I even managed to get a birthday pint in the hotel bar before going to bed.
Next day we were up at 8am, and headed off to the venue, The Barnsley Metrodome, a leisure complex adjacent to Barnsley Football Club. The venue was really good, some are better than others at these events, but this was one of the better ones. I even managed to be the first player into the hall, so maximum practice time ahead, no excuses for a poor performance.
Adi and I did our usual regime of practicing scores then high finishes, then sat down and chilled out for a bit. The hall was filling up, so it gets crowded as the day goes on.
The draw went up on the wall at around 11.15am, and I was drawn to play against Jim Leighton. I didn't know much about Jim before today, apart from the fact that he he has been around the darts circuit for a number of years, and at some point in his career even played for the Superleague team that I play for from Pebsham.
We were due to be fourth match on, and with each match before us going near the full distance, we had quite a wait. Anyway, the time came when we could begin, and I was not throwing particularly well.
Despite some pretty lacklustre darts in the match, I managed to take the win six legs to one. I was happy to have won as I had made the prize money and would progress a bit further up the ranking list this weekend. My next opponent was Tony 'The Viper' Eccles, one of the experienced TV regulars.
In this match, I just could not hit the high scores, my darts were straight, but were all sitting on the wires, evading the treble segments. Needless to say, Tony capitalised on this, and I was out of the tournament. Mark Walsh went on to win the day, and we headed back to the hotel to chill out.
In the evening we went out for a birthday meal, meeting up with my wife's parents who were on holiday in the area. We had a nice relaxing night, then headed back for a good night's sleep…well that was the intention.
I awoke on Sunday morning, and found that I couldn't actually move my head! I think I was suffering from hotel bed syndrome – I had obviously slept awkwardly, and was suffering the consequences of trapping something in my neck. Great!
In the venue I threw some darts, and it really wasn't happening – they were going nowhere near the target, and I was hurting. I considered pulling out of the tournament at one point, but I'd paid my entry so wasn't giving up that easy.
I tried ringing local sports massage therapists, but they were on a sponsored run, I would just have to play as I was. Painkillers were swallowed, and I found myself drawn against Steve Grubb, a player who met Phil Taylor in the first round of this year's World Championships.
I won the bull, and my pain had subsided a bit, so was able to concentrate on the game.
I was aware that this would be a tough game, and was really concentrating hard. To my surprise, I could not miss, everything was going in. Soon I found myself 4-0 up…then, disaster struck, and I learned a valuable lesson. I remember thinking at this point, "I've got him." That was a mistake I will never make again, as my mind was now not fully on the game, and I allowed him back in.
Suddenly those easy darts were fractionally harder to throw, and I was missing my doubles, even if only by the width of the wire, they might as well be a mile away! I lost the match and was pretty gutted by the way I had let him back in, but as I said, it won't happen again. Sunday's winner was Colin Osborne, who was runner-up in last week's UK Open.
I'd had a pretty good weekend though. I have climbed to 216th in the World Rankings, and the target of breaking into the top 200 is a possibility at this weekend's tournaments in Dinslaken, Germany.
Monday night was Cardwell League, our team going down 5-4 against the Eastboune DGH. I won my game, but was rather stiff, as I had been to visit the chiropractor to sort out my neck! I did get presented with my rather nice clock for most 180s though – very nice. It might be on Ebay soon, so keep watching!
Tuesday was a practice night, Captain Sheebo organising some round robin competitions. I didn't play very well, but we had a good night.
Wednesday was hectic. First up was the final of the HMI Club Pairs competition. Myself and Dick Matthews were up against Bobby Lee and Jon Taggart.
I literally walked in and within five minutes the match was underway. It was one of those nights where I could not miss – two 180s and numerous other high scores. We won 3-2 in legs in a tight match, no time for a drink, now off to Superleague!
This week we were away to the DGH at Eastbourne. We won the match 7-2, with Adrian Gray taking man of the match with an average over 30, a great performance by him.
If any of you want a chance to win some prize money, there is an open competition at the Royal Albert in Hastings on Saturday June 27 starting at 12 noon, 5 entry fee. 100 winner guaranteed, with runner up, and third place prize also. First round losers competition and highest checkout. Better go now, got a long drive to Germany ahead.
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Weather for Lewes
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -2 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -0 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
