Untouchables A league winners. From left; Craig Taylor, Robbie Stanger, Brett Dickinson, Ian Linklater, Billy Ward.
Sands won the B League, pictured from left, Jamie Drever, Michael Montgomery, Toby Penwarden (captain), Robbie Scott and Gary Kemp.
The week just passed was the penultimate week of action in the Williamsons Butchers sponsored KDDL leagues, and there were some huge matches played, securing quite a few of the important league positions.
The Exporters were a completely new team to the league, with only captain Mason Taylor having played before, but they have only gone and triumphed in the inaugural 'C' league, beating Shandy Bass to the title, who themselves sealed promotion this week. Commiserations go to the East Mainland Young Farmers Club who find themselves in the wooden spoon position, but hopefully they have enjoyed another foray into the darting world and will be back next year.
The Sands had long since won the 'B' league in a dominant year, but it was Rough 'n' Rowdy who will join them in being promoted to the top tier following what was essentially a play-off with the Young Loons. The Muppets have already been relegated but the second relegation place will go the the wire with both the Bellevue and Quoyburray 'B' hoping to beat the drop.
The 'A' league has been a close affair this season. The relegation spots may have long since been sealed for Ale Stars and Tankerness but results between the other 6 teams have been extremely close at times. As the season finale loomed, defending champions the Untouchables played the Legion in a catch up fixture on Sunday evening, with a 9-3 win sealing the Untouchables second successive title, and their third in four years. Congratulations to Brett Dickinson and his team who can complete an “invincibles” season if they avoid defeat in their final fixture.
East A winners.
East B winners.
The Pomona Inn was the venue on Friday evening for this year's East v West fixture, and what a superb night it was, with some great darts thrown in a fantastic atmosphere.
With the WMDA seeing a resurgence in numbers of late, and visibly improving in standard, the 'A' match was predicted to be a close run tie. By the end of the doubles, the score would pay testament to that with it level at 3 games apiece and the West perhaps should have had more. The singles is usually where the East boys come to the fore and this time was no different. Win followed win as the East rolled off 11 consecutive wins before Josh Alexander stopped the rot. Final score East 'A' 14, West 'A' 4.
The 'B' encounter is generally a much tighter game and it went according to script once more as the match swayed one way then the other multiple times. As the drink flowed, the noise levels from the front bar increased, and it was great to see so many folk taking such a keen interest in it. The East managed to claw themselves just about ahead following the singles and sealed victory with a win in the first team-of-4 match. Final score East 'B' 11, West 'B' 8
There were several scores of note hit on the night. There were 180s for Stevie Moar, Robbie Stanger, Erland Ritch, George Low and two apiece for Andrew Seator and Tony Leask. Kieran Learmonth also scored 171. Ian Linklater had a checkout of 102 and both he and Kevin Gray posted 15 dart legs.
Results:
East v West: East 'A' 14, West 'A' 4
East 'B' 11, West 'B' 8
'A' League:
OGC 2, Untouchables 10
Ale Stars 2, Exiles 10
Legion 8, Tankerness 4
Legion 3, Untouchables 9
'B' League:
Quoyburray 5, Rough 'n' Rowdy 7
Bilco Boys 3, Sands 9
Muppets 2, Young Loons 10
Bellevue 4, Quoyburray 8
Rough 'n' Rowdy 9, Young Loons 3
'C' League:
EMYFC 4, Exporters 8
Shandy Bass 9, Vikings 3
Nomads 7, Bull Hitters 5
Outcasts 6, Sands '2' 6
Bull Hitters 6, EMYFC 6
180s were scored by: Gordy Rendall, Kevin Peace, Ben Hogan, Robbie Stanger, Brett Dickinson, Kenny Gunn, Gary Wilson, George Low, Erlend Lennie, Aidan Robertson, Alex Cooper, Kieran Doherty, Stewart Gray, Wayne Monkman (two), Kevin Gray (two), Davy Henderson (two), Ryan Tulloch (two) and Ian Linklater (five). There were also other big scores of 177 from both Ryan Tulloch and Raymond Williamson, 174 from Billy Ward and 171 each of Derek Firth and Brett Dickinson.
High Checkouts: Glen Foubister 100, Aiden Stout 100, Aidan Robertson 100, Kevin Gray 100, Stephen Griffiths 101, Liam Budge 107, Mark Shearer 108, Stevie Garner 110, Michael Montgomery 117, Jamie Drever 122, Brian Stevenson 126, Geordie Harcus 136, Ross MacPherson 144, Stuart Thomson 151, Derek Firth (100, 107), Robbie Stanger (101, 121) and Billy Ward (104, 110, 120).
Short Legs: Gavin Linlater/Geordie Harcus 15, Leigh Shearer/Ian Findlay 15, Jamie Drever 15, Michael Montgomery 15, Wayne Monkman 14, Robbie Stanger 12, Kevin Gray 15, 14, Ryan Tulloch 14, 13 and Robbie Stanger/Ian Linklater 15, 15, 15.
Fixtures:
Friday April 17, Orkney Championships, East venue tbc, 7.30pm
Saturday April 18, Shetland 'B' v KDDL Orkney 'B', Lerwick, tbc
Friday April 24, KDDL Orkney v Shetland, Legion, 7.00pm
Saturday April 25, Anniversary Shield (open), Masonic, 1.30pm