Match Reports

Shropshire 14 v 22 Salopian 03/09/22 – 04/09/22

SALOPIAN darts began their second UKDA campaign with what will be there shortest away trip of the season to Albrighton as they took on local rivals Shropshire.  Keen to improve on last season’s maiden 19 v 17 home win over Shropshire, Salopians handed out fourteen debutants for the first encounter of the 2022 / 23 season & it was one of those, Whitchurch’s Hayley McGuiness (14.47) who was first on for Salopian & she could consider herself unfortunate to go down to a 3 v 1 defeat against Sophie Fawcett (14.12).  Shropshire took the next two games to open up an early three nil lead before Salopians responded taking the remaining three games whilst conceding just one leg to level up at three each. Claire Boyle (13.52) & Tracey Dean ( 12.96) with debut wins sandwiched between a lady of match performance by Alison Gallagher (15.34) to conclude an even Ladies B encounter.

It was essential Salopian capitalized on the momentum gained going into the Saturday afternoons Men’s B matches & sure enough Steve O Callaghan (19.27) put Salopian’s ahead for the first time.  That progress was checked in the following game when Shropshire’s Brian Hickman (21.76) fired a 17 darter in the deciding leg against Nigel Neale (22.05) who had shown grit to come from 2 nil down.  Eric Ryan (20.04) restored the lead for Salopian before Luke Wildman (24.62) put in a man of the match performance for Shropshire defeating Mark Crutchley (22.96 including two maximums) in another game that went the way of the hosts in the deciding fifth leg.  Mark Jones (23.20) responded for Salopian who crucially took the following two games through Paul Ashworth (22.85) & Adrian Logsdale (22.81) to give Salopians an overall lead they wouldn’t relinquish.  The remaining five matches followed the earlier pattern with no team able to back up a victory in the following match with Darren Lane (21.27) & Shaun Pryce (21.52) securing further wins for Salopians who took the Men’s B game 7 v 5 to lead 10 v 8 overnight.

The Ladies A side, keen to consolidate the slim advantage going into day two , raced into a 4 v 0 lead dropping just three legs in the process.  Rachel Williams (12.66), Sarah Roberts (20.59), Steph Clarke (15.89) & Evonne Taylor (18.98) did the damage although Shropshire checked their progress through Becky Harris (14.42) before Sue Lane (14.21) rounded off a fine Salopian Ladies A performance that saw them triumph 5 v 1 & extend the overall lead to 15 v 9

That lead was reduced after Phil Clarke (24.35) took the first Men’s A match for Shropshire, but  Salopians replied with back to back 4 v 0 wins for Eddie Price & Jon Mansell who both averaged over 25 per dart.  Steve Lynch (22.90) which levelled the Men’s A for Shropshire was a prelude for another three game winning swathe for Salopian.  Matt Elsey (23.96), Kacey Jones (26.51) & Man of the match Paul Rowley (28.20) the victors which also secured the overall victory for Salopian.  Shropshire beaten but valiant responded taking the next three games which included a stunning performance by Richard Parker who had the highest average of the match 29.27 per dart.  The final two games went the way of Salopians thanks to Terry Nash (25.69) & John Roberts (25.13) which secured a 7 v 5 victory for the Men’s A side, and a victorious final score of 22 v 14 to the Salopians.

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Salopian 20 V 16 Northumberland 01/10/2022-02/10/2022

Salopian’s unbeaten start to the 2022 / 2023 season continued after a hard fought 20 v 16 victory at home to Northumberland following the latest round of UKDA Inter County matches. 

At a vocal Bagley club, it would be the visitors who made the early breakthrough in the Ladies B matches after Lisa Barnes defeated the luckless Hayley McGuiness who had been drawn out first for the second successive game.  Claire Boyle (12.68) responded for the Salopians to level the Northumbrians hit back taking the next three to establish a 4 v 1 lead.  The significance of the final Ladies match could not be overstated with Julie Griffiths (17.06) winning the deciding fifth leg to reduce the overall deficit to two points going into the Men’s B matches.

Paul Ashworth (21.35) & Adrian Logsdale (21.17) ensured the momentum was maintained by Salopian Men’s B although that was checked after Gary Crowther (21.78) came up against eventual Men’s B MOTM Paul Sinclair (25.03) who prevailed 3 v 1.  Salopian’s hit back with wins for Mark Crutchley (21.17) & Darren Lane (20.93) although both successes were repelled with wins for Northumberland before Salopian appeared to take control of the game with three successive wins for Jamie Kynaston (20.59), Ben Morgan (23.86) & Shaun Pryce (25.05) who put in a MOTM performance for the Salopians which also ensured victory in the Men’s B section. However, Northumberland hit back to take the last two games to ensure the overall match was locked at 9 v 9 at the end of a compelling day of darts.

Alison Gallagher (17.57) gave Salopian Ladies A the perfect start taking the first game of Sunday 3-1 but again Northumberland responded taking the next match through Casey Stephenson (14.17).  Back came Salopian with twin turbo wins for Steph Clark (23.12) & Sarah Roberts (18.11) to give Salopians the advantage which was once more reduced after Sara Gownes (18.42) took the penultimate match for the visitors.  Evonne Taylor (20.60) won the final Ladies A match in a high quality affair against Phonsawwan Whills (20.19) 3-1 as the Ladies A won their section 4 v 2 to give the Salopians an overall lead of 13 v 11 going into the final quarter of the match.

John Roberts (24.50) gave the Salopian Men’s A the perfect start with a 4-2 victory in the opening match, but indicative of the Weekends darts, Northumberland hit back to take the next two games.  Kacey Jones (26.89) restored parity in the Men’s A winning the fourth match but once more Northumberland took the next through Daniel Stephenson (26.01).  Salopian hit back taking the next two matches through Matt Elsey (26.02) & Joe Higgins (25.14) to put the home side one game away from overall victory.  Northumberland weren’t finished however taking the next two matches although it was just prolonging the inevitable as Paul Rowley (27.75) secured victory a man of the match performance.  The final two games also went the way of the Salopians through Scott Dockerty (26.30) & Jon Mansell (24.99) that not only ensured the Men’s A victory 7 v 5 but an overall 20 v 16 win that avenged last season’s 21 v 15 defeat when the two sides met at Ashington.

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Wirral 16 V 20 Salopian 05/11/2022-06/11/2022

Salopian darts made the short journey North to Wirral looking to build on their solid start to the 2022/23 UK Division three campaign which had seen overall victories in their opening two encounters away at Shropshire & home to Northumberland.

Despite the perfect start to the season, three debuts were awarded within the Ladies B side, two of which featured  in the opening two games with lady of the match Paula Davies (16.61) & Karen Weston (14.75) enjoying respective 3-1 wins. Claire Boyle (14.83) then suffered her first loss for Salopian Ladies before Rachel Williams (12.67) returned to winning ways to restore the two game advantage.  The third debutant, Kate Leach (13.91) was on next & despite showing promise went down 3-1.  The Ladies B match was concluded with an emphatic 3 v 0 win for Tracey Dean (14.45) which ensured an overall 4 v 2 victory which was also Salopian Ladies B first win of this season.

That two game advantage was halved after Chris Sharp (23.77) defeated Rob Paine (21.90) in the opening Men’s B match but after Darren Lane (17.43) won a nervy second match in the deciding leg Salopian never again trailed in the Men’s B section.  Once Andy Kynaston (19.10) had fired Salopian B ahead, the spine of the team fired once more as Salopian reeled of three successive victories through Mark Jones (23.76), Jamie Kynaston (23.15) & Paul Ashworth  (18.02) to put the Men’s B 5 v 2 ahead.  Wirral fought back taking the next three games the Robbie Ward (25.44) before Phil Lambson (20.24) levelled the men’s match having survived match darts from Tony Middleton (20.04). Martin Riggs (18.79) responded taking the penultimate match for Salopian who saved the best for last as Whitchurch’s Gary Crowther (25.91) secured his first county win with a man of the match performance winning 3–0 in 58 darts to give the Men’s B a 7 v 5 win & overall 11 v 7 advantage overnight.

Evonne Taylor (17.68) started the Ladies A match with an emphatic 3-0 win but Salopian progress was checked as Wirral hit back through Jane Robson (19.03).  Allison Gallagher (16.49) & Julie Griffiths (15.73) responded for Salopian before Sarah Roberts (22.51) fell to her first ever Salopian defeat losing a high quality match 3-1 to Kim Holden (21.41) as both players register ten ton plus scores. It was left to Steph Clarke (17.68) to secure Ladies A third successive victory of the campaign winning 3-0 to give the Ladies a 4 v 2 victory & overall 15 v 9 lead going into the Men’s A matches.

With Salopian needing just four games to secure overall victory Jon Mansell (23.18) set them on their way with a last leg win to g one nil up  although Wirral levelled straight away through Mark Patmore (27.00). Joe Higgins (24.97) restored the Salopian advantage only to see Wirral level once more through Andy Cummins (26.70).  That three game winning axis was to feature again for Salopian as Ash Hilditch (24.71), Matt Elsey (27.37) & Kacey Jones (23.48) ensured the overall victory with five games still to play. However those remaining five games would yield just six legs for Salopian as Wirral fought back to take the Men’s A 7 V 5 & inflict a first ever defeat on Salopian Men’s A. 

Nevertheless, the overall 20 v 16 victory maintains Salopian’s winning start to the season which sees them in second place in the promotion table 12 points behind league leaders Middlesex

Salopian 28 V 8 M&R 07/01/2023-08/01/2023

SALOPIANS hosted near neighbours MONTGOMERTY & RADNOR early in January 2023, keen to build on their unbeaten start to the 2022 / 23 UKDA Division 3 season, and through the ladies B, made the ideal start registering a 4 v 2 win.  A brace of 3 v 1 victories by Paula Davies (12.84) & Sue Lane (13.81) gave Salopian the ideal start & despite setbacks for Karen Weston (13.70) & Kate leach (12.38) deciding leg wins for Claire Boyle (10.89) & Rachel Williams (13.40) closed out a second successive victory for the Salopian Ladies B.

Gary Crowther (23.12) increased the overall advantage to three winning the Men’s B first game only for Salopians progress to be checked with back to back wins for M&Rs Jamie Major (23.13) & Ashley Orchard (19.86). Salopians replied a 3-0 success for Ben Bevan (19.03) only for M&R S Terry Williams (17.76) to take the next reducing the overall deficit to one.  That would be as good as it got for the Welshman as the Salopians clicked to take the remaining seven games. Paul Ashworth (20.88), Robert Paine (22.43) & Steven Ritchie (232.48) all with successive 3-0 wins before Mark Jones (19.28) rounded off a fine B team performance checking out 76 in the fifth & deciding leg of the final match as Salopians establish a 13 v 5 overnight lead.

The Ladies A through Julie Griffiths (18.41)  increased the overall lead before M&R replied through Sharron Shepherd (16.91) who defeated Evonne Taylor (19.52) in the deciding leg.  Evonne, who had match darts had earlier checked out on 112 to finish off a 15 dart leg.  Allison Gallagher (14.98) restored Salopian Ladies lead which was converted into a fourth overall victory of the season following back to back 3-0 victories for Steph Clark (23.86) & Sarah Roberts (19.03).  Tracey Dean (18.20) completed an Ladies A performance winning the final game on debut for the A to put the  Salopians  18 v 6 ahead overall.

The Men’s A side, still reeling from a first ever defeat in their previous outing had a point to prove & Joe Higgins (23.56) gave them the ideal start. His 4–1 win also securing the overall victory, undeterred  M & R hit back, and then some, through John Williams-Jones (31.00) & veteran Tony Lloyd (24.40) to move ahead in the Men’s A section. This provoked a reaction from Salopians led by John Roberts (22.77) before back to back 4-0 27+ performances by Ash Hilditch & Paul Rowley saw them regain control.  Further wins for Scott Dockerty (25.26) & Mark Crutchley (27.33) secured the Men’s A victory that was then complemented by a Man of the match performance from Terry Nash (32.32) who used just 62 darts to claim 4 legs.  Ben Morgan (28.97) & Kacey Jones (26.03) claimed the final two games for Salopians who ran out 10 v 2 victors in the Men’s A who registered a  one dart team average of 26.31 per dart.

Salopians, who won all four sections for just the second time, move up to fourth in the promotion table with games in hand over most counties in the league.