A trip back to Pilky’s Sports Club at Keighley today and by far the lowest attendance in the Main Comp at a BDP tournament for a long time as only 65 players entered the draw. A total of 11 players in the Ladies and only 5 in the Youths making a full total of 81 players. The decline in numbers definitely a concern at the moment but still hard to figure out why this is the case.
YOUTH FINAL
Kai Haddock ( 15.71 ) 3-1 ( 15.74 ) Keaton Haddock
LADIES FINAL
Mandy Mc'Kenzie ( 15.80 ) 3-2 ( 16.20 ) Lynne Horne
ROUND 1
Mark Calvert 3-2 Andy Ward
Just a single game in the opening round and probably one of Mark Calvert’s best ever BDP performances as the Halifax player took out a very capable player in Andy Ward
ROUND 2
Gary Cathcart 3-0 Rob Sharp Derek Lumley 3-1 Wayne Butterworth Jaron Esteve 3-1 Jamie Branton Ryan Hoggarth 3-0 Peter Edwards Steve Fowler 3-0 Peter Baker Tom Lishman 3-0 Ian Falkingham Joe Osgothorpe 3-1 Lewis Pride Mick Hayward 3-2 Shaun Knowles Neil Ward 3-0 Richard Fox Arron Holdstock 3-2 Robbie Lickiss John Clifford 3-0 Martin Copperwaite Les Delderfield 3-0 Mark Calvert Dave Peasgood 3-0 Ian Holmes Rick Waite 3-0 Michael Townend Mark Taylor 3-1 Craig Maddox Ian Ward 3-0 Luke Platts Graham Hoggarth 3-1 Tom Neal Lee Bugden 3-2 Neil Sidebottom Brendan Marren 3-0 Adam Scott Mark Leonard 3-0 Steve Booth Keith Jones 3-2 Sam Loader Pete Neary 3-0 Josh Scales Mally Welsh 3-0 Pat Blakely Alex Pride 3-2 Ady Winterbottom Mark Reynoldson 3-1 Steve Blower Lance Milburn 3-0 Mark Hanslip Robin Towler 3-1 Daz Mawer Josh Clough 3-0 James Ashcroft Trevor Tye 3-0 Gareth Beck Tommy Walsh 3-1 Mick Wiltshire David Lammie 3-1 Mark Featherstone Jason Szamakowicz 3-2 Matthew Hagyard
Very few surprises in Round 2 as most of the results went with the form book or were 50/50 games like the Lee Bugden v Neil Sidebottom clash which looked like being a close game and was with Hull player Lee edging through 3-2. A couple more Hull players in action but facing each other this time with the more renowned player Arron Holdstock pushed all the way by Robbie Lickiss who is more than capable of emulating some of Arron’s success on the oche in years to come. Elsewhere experienced Harrogate star Alex Pride pushed hard by newcomer Ady Winterbottom but on the whole the favourites all coming though fairly comfortably. Unfortunate for Ian Falkingham to break a point which caused a big delay during his game with Tommy Lishman, the result not affected though as Tommy led 2-0 and had a healthy lead in leg 3 at the time before firing in a 137 then a 116 finish with 6 darts on the resumption of play.
ROUND 3
Derek Lumley 3-1 Gary Cathcart Jaron Esteve 3-1 Ryan Hoggarth Tom Lishman 3-2 Steve Fowler Joe Osgothorpe 3-0 Mick Hayward Neil Ward 3-1 Arron Holdstock Les Delderfield 3-2 John Clifford Dave Peasgood 3-0 Rick Waite Ian Ward 3-2 Mark Taylor Graham Hoggarth 3-2 Lee Bugden Brendan Marren 3-0 Mark Leonard Pete Neary 3-1 Keith Jones Alex Pride 3-0 Mally Welsh Mark Reynoldson 3-1 Lance Milburn Robin Towler 3-1 Josh Clough Tommy Walsh 3-0 Trevor Tye David Lammie 3-0 Jason Szamakowicz
Just like the previous Round 3 provided few surprises with the top players mostly holding sway. The stand out result another excellent win for Wakefield’s Neil Ward, the punk music fan adding Arron Holdstock to his list of scalps at BDP. No real surprise that 147 Club SL star John Clifford pushed Les Delderfield all the way, the Pudsey player with the belief now that he can beat anyone after his great run to the Semi’s in GF 1 but just edged out by Les today. Bradford player Steve Fowler noted more for being the driving force behind Sam Hastings career rather than being a serious player himself but almost causing an upset before going down 2-3 to highly rated Tommy Lishman.
ROUND 4
Jaron Esteve 4-1 Derek Lumley Tom Lishman 4-3 Joe Osgothorpe Les Delderfield 4-1 Neil Ward Ian Ward 4-1 Dave Peasgood Brendan Marren 4-0 Graham Hoggarth Pete Neary 4-2 Alex Pride Mark Reynoldson 4-1 Robin Towler Tommy Walsh 4-1 David Lammie
Shipley Builder Tommy Walsh has been learning his darting trade under the watchful eye of Les Delderfield and other top players at Woodbottom, the promise he has shown over the last couple of years is now starting to show in his results this season at BDP, a 4-1 victory over David Lammie one of BDP’s top players so far this season is testament to that and on this form in with a great chance of a career best Semi or better. Ian Ward had a superb season in 2014 with 2 Final appearances to his name but has played relatively few comps in 2015 so far but back with a bang and in contention again after a 4-1 win over Barnsley’s Dave Peasgood. Skipton ace Mark Reynoldson rarely travels far from home territory but always a danger when he turns out at Keighley or Bingley and into the Last 8 with a 4-1 win over Robin Towler.
QUARTER FINALS
Tom Lishman 4-3 Jaron Esteve Les Delderfield 4-0 Ian Ward Pete Neary 4-2 Brendan Marren Tommy Walsh 4-2 Mark Reynoldson
Few pundits would have backed against neither Jaz Esteve or Brendan Marren making it into the Semi’s at this stage but they both came a cropper. Firstly Hull ace Tommy Lishman who has been in fine form locally fired in 4 x 180’s on the way to a thrilling last leg victory over brilliant match player Jaz Esteve to make his reach his first BDP Semi while Pete Neary stunned favourite Brendan Marren with another high profile win, the E/W Ardsley SL player seems to find his best from in the more western venues at BDP after reaching the Semi’s at Bingley earlier in the season. Meanwhile Tommy Walsh took out Mark Reynoldson 4-2 to make his first BDP Semi and ever reliable Les Delderfield stormed into the last 4 with a 4-0 defeat of Ian Ward and be the only regular familiar name into the Last 4 this time.
SEMI FINAL 1
Les Delderfield ( 28.75 ) 5-3 ( 26.89 ) Tom Lishman
A brave effort from Tommy Lishman in his first BDP Semi as he gave veteran campaigner Les Delderfield a real run for his money before going down 3-5. The flame haired Hull ace was in early trouble as Les fired in 17 and 16 darters to race into a 2-0 lead and could have extended the lead to 3-0 had he taken out 40 with 3 darts, not often if at all would a player sacrifice a dart when on 40 to leave 32 instead but that is what Les chose to do and the decision back fired on him as he missed the 2 darts at Double 16 with Tommy taking advantage to pull the deficit back with a 22 darter although he will feel he should have taken it anyway after missing 3 darts at Double 10 on the previous turn. Parity was restored in the next leg as Tommy levelled up with a 17 darter and was now right back in the contest. Leg 5 was a cracker as Les withstood a furious assault on his throw with his young opponent blasting in scores of 134, 96, 98 and 137 to leave 36 after 12 darts and surely expecting a shot at the Doubles to take the lead only for Les to pull a brilliant 110 finish out of the bag to hold throw in 15 darts, time and again the great man has pulled shots like that out of the fire to deny opponents and ultimately win games. Tommy who has just signed a sponsorship deal with Project Darts was far from done though and fought back again to level at 3-3 with a 19 darter. Little in the final 2 legs but Les vitally getting down to the double first and making it count both times especially in the final leg with a 72 checkout with Tom sat handily on 18. Once again Les producing the key darts when he most needed them to make the difference against a very game opponent who comes away with his reputation enhanced after a fine performance in defeat. A total of 16 x 100 pluses and 7 x 90’s for Les but the 110 and 72 finishes were the match winning shots for him. Not quite as prolific on the big shots for Tom with 13 x 100 pluses and 5 x 90’s shots but always in contention throughout the match.
SEMI FINAL 2
Tommy Walsh ( 24.42 ) 5-3 ( 25.73 ) Pete Neary
When it comes to acts of selflessness and kindness then Pete Neary is Yorkshire Darts version of Mother Theresa. The 60 year old Grandfather often goes out of his way to help people and is one of the nicest guys in darts, on the playing front his career has been rejuvenated in the last 2 years since joining E/W Ardsley SL team and playing highly competitive mid week darts competitions at East Leeds. A second Semi of the season for him and just like the first one facing a player in that position for the first time so in with a great chance of making a Final, his opponent Tommy Walsh though has been getting stronger and stronger as a match player and would provide a stern test of his credentials. Little in the match as the first 6 legs were shared and all went with throw although Pete looked the more likely to break the sequence and had chances to break the Walsh throw in legs 3 and particularly leg 5 where 3 darts at Double 16 went begging as the Shipley man held on with legs in 18, 21 and 22 darts, on his own throw the Woodlesford man had looked comfortable and had kept Tommy chanceless with winning legs in 21, 18 and 16 darts. Just like his mentor Sir Les in the first Semi it was Tommy who came up with the big darts at the right time to swing the match his way, firstly in leg 7 with the leg evenly poised he hammered in a 135 and finished the 29 left for an 18 darter before Pete could strike an attempt at 91 and then in the final leg with Pete poised on Double Top to level up the Woodbottom SL ace took out a superb 107 finish to win the match, the only chance or half chance really to break throw all game and he took it majestically. A bit like a football match with Pete having most of the possession and chances but Tommy coming up with the winning goal at the death. A total of 10 x 100 pluses and 3 x 90’s shots besides the priceless 107 checkout at the end. As for Pete, he put in a much better performance than he did in his first Semi at York St a few weeks earlier and will probably wonder how the match slipped away from him when he had looked the stronger player for the most part but all a learning curve even at 60 as he hit 2 x 180’s, 14 x 100 pluses and a 90 score.
FINAL
Les Delderfield ( 25.92 ) 5-4 ( 25.67 ) Tommy Walsh
An all Shipley Final between master and pupil as Les Delderfield faced his protégé Tommy Walsh who was making his first appearance in a BDP Final. Recent matches between the pair have all been close with Les usually coming out on top in the end and this game followed that trend to a tee. The opening 4 legs shared between the players as Les won legs 1 and 3 on throw in 22 and 15 darts with Tommy replying in 25 and 20 darts. The Old Master looked to be forging in front as he went 4-2 up with a pair of 18 darters despite not being at his high scoring best during the game but all credit to Tommy as he hung in to blast back with 18 dart legs in legs 7 and 8 as Les struggled to find the Trebles and going into the deciding leg the momentum looked to be with the apprentice but Les still had the advantage of throw and a timely Maximum on his third visit proved to be the decisive darts although he still had to follow that score up with a further 99 and then a 78 finish just to make sure Tommy didn’t get a shot at 158 in a leg where he had scored well with shots of 81,100,94 and 88. Once again Les finding the killer darts to take the game away from the opponent at the end to win yet another Title and make it back to back tournament victories. Overall not one of Les’s greatest performances as he didn’t score as consistently as he would have liked but still managed to do just enough to win the game with scores of 2 x 180’s, 11 x 100 pluses and 9 x 90’s shots. A fine effort from Tommy who probably knows Les’s game as much as anyone and after a few narrow defeats to him lately probably thought at times during the game that he had his measure in one of the biggest games of all but not to be in the end as he fired in 16 x 100 pluses and 4 x 90’s shots. Defeat in the Final but a massive breakthrough today for him and no doubt he will contest more Finals in the future especially if he keeps learning from the ultimate teacher.
SUMMARY
The great man does it again to win another Final, this time showing all his battling qualities to come through games despite not firing on all cylinders, just like a race horse languishing in the pack and off the pace he comes with a late sprint in the final furlong to win by a head. Timing is the key sometimes in darts and no one times it better than Les and who would back against him making it a hat-trick of wins in the next competition.
