Singles Knock-Out

Denham Carr-ved Up

 

Pete Schembri and James Nicholas represented Denham in the annual Cricketer’s Darts League singles knock-out competition on Wednesday at Ruislip.

Both of the guys had tricky first round ties. James took on the dangerous Steve Bellamy (Bessborough), a previous winner and runner up. Steve wasn’t at his best and James was consistent enough to progress with a comfortable 2-0 victory.

‘Killer’ Pete Schembri on the other hand, took on Allan Hodge (Uxbridge) who had defeated him at this stage two years earlier. Pete, a semi-finalist last year, took the first leg with a 50 finish, audaciously going for the bullseye with his first dart and eventually taking out double 18. Allan levelled it up at 1-1, but it was Pete who held his nerve in the final leg to come from behind to hit double 9 for the win.

Tough draws again in the quarter finals saw James take on Barry Holt (Ruislip) and Pete against Andy Carr (Bessborough). Luckily James had got to the venue early and had already beaten Barry 3 or 4 times in practice games. This was to be no exception as James scored and finished well to win 2-0.

Pete however was unable to get past an in form Andy Carr, and although he did have 3 darts at double top in the second leg, went down 2-0.

A quick break for the food and raffle and James was back at the oche to face surprise semi-finalist Jerry Halfhide (Bessborough). Jerry’s own team were giving odds of 20-1 for a Jerry victory which meant one of their team stood to lose £85 if James was to lose! Thankfully, this added pressure didn’t seem to affect James too much and scored well to win a good spirited game 2-0.

This put James in the final against Andy Carr. Both were below their best in the first leg, but James took out a difficult double 9 with his last dart to win and go 1-0 up.

The second leg saw James with a chance for the match. However two darts for double top landed just the wrong side of the wire and Andy cleaned up to level the game at 1-1.

James took the early advantage in the deciding leg but struggled to get down to an easy finish. Andy hit an important 98 to leave himself double top and when James could only manage to leave himself 32, Andy had a shot for the win. No luck with the first dart. The second hit double 5 instead of double top! Was he going to bottle it? No, the final dart sailed into double 15 for a well deserved victory.

So only second place for the Denham skipper, but he’ll be back!