In the context of how this season has panned out no real surprise to find just 61 players in the Main draw boosted by 11 in the Ladies but just 4 in the Youths as they played separate Comps, looking at the situation in future it seems to make more sense to amalgamate the Youth and Ladies to have much more of a healthy competition rather than having a situation where we have 4 players in their own Comp. No doubt this issue amongst others will be reviewed at the end of the season by the Committee.
YOUTH FINAL
Kai Haddock ( 17.33 ) 3-2 ( 17.47 ) Jack Morritt
LADIES FINAL
Giffy Khasoi ( 19.66 ) 3-1 ( 18.45 ) Mandy Mc'Kenzie
MAIN EVENT
ROUND 1
No Games
ROUND 2
Carl Wilkinson 3-0 Arron Wike Rab Mc'Kenzie 3-0 Trevor Tye Jordan Fisher 3-0 Sam Squire Steve Blower 3-0 Ray Long Brendan Marren 3-0 Ian Ward Johnny Daniels 3-0 Joe Harrison Jonathan Hewitt 3-0 George Cook Curtis Turner 3-2 Charlie Beaumont John Van Leiber 3-0 Michael Townend Matt Green 3-2 Rich Winpenny Tony Darlow 3-0 Sam Fordham Tommy Walsh 3-1 Eddie Simpson Mally Welsh 3-1 Dave Calvert Josh Clough 3-1 John Bowler Barry Nicholls 3-2 Jake Dickenson Tom Neal 3-1 Peter Baker Steve Silver 3-2 Cam Hinchcliffe Daz Johnson 3-0 Steve Booth Dave Peasgood 3-1 Tom Sykes John Clifford 3-1 Andy Ward Lance Milburn 3-0 Jason Barker Derek Lumley 3-1 Johnny Lester Jaron Esteve 3-1 Pete Neary Jack Kirtland 3-2 Craig Fisher Mick Wiltshire 3-0 Dave Smith Ronnie Roberts 3-0 Richard Yates Kevin Gray 3-1 Wayne Butterworth Terry Temple 3-0 Andy Cheesebrough Rick Waite 3-2 Josh Scales
Straight on to Round 2 and not even a full complement of ties in that as Sam Loader and Ian Holmes had another bye and went straight into Round 3. Some interesting results though in some of the other games with top player Dave Smith going down 3-0 to Mick Wiltshire, not a scoreline many would have expected but with the Ferrybridge man due to watch his beloved Leeds Rhino’s later in the evening his mind probably not as focused on the darts as it normally would be. Young Durham star Jack Kirtland pulled off another surprise result as he took out top Barnsley player and Winner of GF 1 Craig Fisher 3-2, while Curtis Turner avenged one or two defeats lately at the hands of Charlie Beaumont by beating him 3-2 this time around. Another quality player bowing out as Dave Calvert went down to dangerous Mally Welsh who took out a brilliant 158 to clinch that game. Elsewhere some unconventional finishing from Rick Waite got him over the line in a tight game with fellow Wakefield player Josh Scales while Wheatsheaf SL star Steve Silver toppled Cam Hinchcliffe in another 3-2 game.
ROUND 3
Carl Wilkinson 3-1 Rab Mc'Kenzie Steve Blower 3-0 Jordan Fisher Brendan Marren 3-1 Johnny Daniels Curtis Turner 3-2 Jonathan Hewitt Willie Kershaw 3-0 John Van Leiber Matt Green 3-0 Ian Holmes Tony Darlow 3-0 Sam Loader Tommy Walsh 3-0 Mally Welsh Josh Clough 3-0 Barry Nicholls Steve Silver 3-0 Tom Neal Daz Johnson 3-0 Dave Peasgood John Clifford 3-2 Lance Milburn Jaron Esteve 3-1 Derek Lumley Mick Wiltshire 3-2 Jack Kirtland Ronnie Roberts 3-1 Kevin Gray Terry Temple 3-0 Rick Waite
An all Barnsley affair at the top of the draw as Darfield SL star Carl Wilkinson beat Keel Inn SL ace Rab Mc’Kenzie who dipped his toes in the PDC water with some success at Qualifying School early in the year but coming off second best against the Yorkshire County man. Tadcaster youngster Curtis Turner with a hellish draw today and coming through another tough battle with a 3-2 win over Jonathan Hewitt and not about to get any easier with Brendan Marren awaiting in the next round after he beat Johnny Daniels 3-1. No real shocks in this round as most of the favourites went through with Terry Temple and Daz Johnson yet to drop a leg and looking in ominous form at this stage.
ROUND 4
Carl Wilkinson 4-1 Steve Blower Brendan Marren 4-1 Curtis Turner Willie Kershaw 4-2 Matt Green Tommy Walsh 4-3 Tony Darlow Josh Clough 4-3 Steve Silver John Clifford 4-2 Daz Johnson Jaron Esteve 4-0 Mick Wiltshire Terry Temple 4-1 Ronnie Roberts
Matt Green gave it everything he had against Willie Kershaw, firing in 4 Maximums but it still wasn’t enough to beat the Shipley man who played well at Bridlington in reaching the Last 16 of the British Open before losing out to ‘Big Robbo’ Gary Robson in a quality game. Mick Wiltshire is capable of beating anyone on his day but never seems to perform well against Jaron Esteve as he lost tamely to ‘The Spaniard’ again with a 0-4 defeat. Shipley Builder Tommy Walsh has been the major player to emerge this season with a string off impressive showings and is definitely a man to be feared these days as he held his nerve to take out Tony Darlow in a 4-3 thriller. No doubt about the stand out result of the round and maybe the whole season as West Leeds player John Clifford upset all the odds to beat the inform player in Yorkshire at the moment in Daz Johnson, the 147 Club SL star keeping his cool all the way through to match his opponent on the scoring and taking his chances when they came against a man who has beaten all comers at BDP the last couple of times he has attended with only the high end Pro’s in the PDC able to get the better of him this season until now.
QUARTER FINALS
Brendan Marren 4-2 Carl Wilkinson Willie Kershaw 4-3 Tommy Walsh John Clifford 4-1 Josh Clough Terry Temple 4-2 Jaron Esteve
3 very familiar names in the Semi’s but all had to work extremely hard to overcome some dogged resistance from their opponents with Brendan Marren and Terry Temple both winning 4-2 against Carl Wilkinson and Jaz Esteve while Willie Kershaw had to hold off another strong Tommy Walsh effort before prevailing in the decider. The other QF tie a real chance for 2 less familiar names to make a statement of intent today although both Josh Clough and John Clifford have reached a Semi previously and it was John marching forward to join an illustrious group after a 4-1 win over the Rock Inn SL young gun.
SEMI FINAL 1
Willie Kershaw ( 30.81 ) 5-3 ( 27.33 ) Brendan Marren
A perfect start to the match for Brendan Marren as he held his opening throw in 17 darts and then broke his old adversary Willie Kershaw with a fine 15 darter and a crisp 76 finish to lead 2-0, however from this point onwards he was simply steamrollered for the most part as Willie started to pile in the big scores and Brendan not being able to match them apart from an excellent leg 6 from him to stay in the game with a 88 finish and another 15 dart leg against the throw to halt the march of Willie who had reeled off 3 legs in 15, 17 and 18 darts, with a 86 finish on the Bull the highlight out of the trio of legs. The break of throw to level up at 3-3 should have encouraged Brendan in the next leg but it seemed to have the opposite effect as the tall Keighley man failed to hit a Treble with 15 darts, most unlike him with his precision usually on the Twenties, this was an open invitation for Willie to take full advantage and he did so in ruthless fashion in 14 darts with Brendan miles back requiring 258 after a shocker of a leg for him on throw, he did rally to make a better fist of it in the final leg but was always chasing at this stage with Willie first to get a shot at the double and made no mistake to take out 50 in 2 darts for a fairly convincing win in the end. A rock solid 90 plus average for Willie as he scored well with 15 x 100 pluses and backed up superbly with cover shots on the 18’s and 19’s as he hit 11 other shots in the 90’s to keep constant pressure on Brendan who just couldn’t quite keep pace today as he hit 14 x 100 pluses and 4 x 90’s shots but will feel a poor 7th leg cost him the game in the final analysis.
SEMI FINAL 2
Terry Temple ( 26.09 ) 5-0 ( 22.72 ) John Clifford
No more heroics this time around for Pudsey star John Clifford as the Semi Final against hardened old Pro Terry Temple proved one match too far. Always looked like being a tall order to topple another top drawer player after brilliantly taking out the clear pre tournament favourite Daz Johnson at the Last 16 stage. All the way through Terry seemed to just do enough to win the legs, each time John challenged him with some big scores then he stepped up his own scoring to combat the threat and always stayed one step ahead throughout. The former York ace now resident in Conisborough and playing SL darts at The Castle with arguably the best team in the country which can only help his game and keep him even sharper. He cruised into a 4-0 lead without John being able to lay a glove on him really, the best leg of the game a 14 darter from him when John had managed to fire in 3 big Ton pluses in a row but it still wasn’t enough to get him a shot at the double, however Terry was in a slightly more generous mood at the end of leg 5 as he gave John every chance to get a consolation leg at least as he missed 6 darts at Doubles before clinching the match with a less impressive 25 darter and it was job done as far as he was concerned. Not vintage Terry but always the feeling he had another couple of gears to go up if needed as he hit a 180, 6 x 100 pluses and 7 x 90’s efforts. As for John a superb effort today after surviving match darts against him early on by Lance Milburn to then go on and produce a great performance to beat Daz Johnson that will live long in the memory but maybe a little disappointed he couldn’t produce a bit more of that form to give Terry a stiffer challenge, a total of 11 x 100 pluses from him in defeat but a few too many low scores let him down in this one.
FINAL
Willie Kershaw ( 27.58 ) 5-4 ( 29.80 ) Terry Temple
A fine comeback win for Willie Kershaw after trailing 1-3 at one stage in the contest to PDC tour star Terry Temple. Shipley ace Willie struggling to find his range early on as he fell 0-2 behind with Terry taking those legs in 20 and 22 darts but only after missing 7 darts at Doubles in leg 2 and looking in complete control early on. However not for the first time Willie can be really struggling then all of a sudden like flicking a switch he can suddenly find top form in an instant and that is what happened here as he blasted in a 180 in leg 3 to fire back with a 15 darter, not unduly worrying for Terry though as he knew if he could hold his throw throughout the game he would run out the Winner and he took a step closer in leg 4 to respond in similar style with a 180 himself and also a 15 darter to lead 3-1. Both players now well into their stride and throwing excellent darts with Woodbottom SL star Willie upping the ante, even more with some brilliant scoring to keep Terry at bay with a 14 darter which it had to be with the Conisborough man sat on 32 after 12 darts in superb leg of darts. A big turning point in the match in leg 6 as Terry fired in a brilliant 180 to set up Double 8 but then chased it down to Double 1 after his next 3 darts to let Willie in for the break back with yet another 15 darter. More huge scoring from both players in the next leg as Terry rifled in his third 180 in 4 legs besides a 177 too but it still wasn’t enough to shake Willie off as he replied in kind with a 177 to forge in front for the first time in the game with a 18 darter, however the match was soon back in the balance as Terry dominated leg 8 to draw level at 4-4 with a 17 darter. Few players are better at handling the nerves of a deciding leg more than Willie, time and again he has produced magic last legs to win games and this was another one of those occasions, 100,140,140 and 81 to leave 40 after 12 faultless darts and despite another Maximum from Terry there was nothing he could do to prevent Willie taking an enthralling match with another 15 darter. A terrific contest after a slow start in the first 2 legs with Willie showing all his class and battling qualities to overcome a great player who was hitting him with everything bar the kitchen sink and Terry must be wondering what more he could have done having hit 4 x 180’s, a 177, 4 x 140’s, 5 other Ton pluses and 10 other scores in the 90’s for good measure but somehow Willie had an answer with a 180,177, 6 x 140’s, 9 x 100 pluses and 3 efforts in the 90’s, with a game of such fine margins just one mistake in the game was enough to cost Terry the match and had he took out Double 8 to go 4-2 up then it would have been a huge mountain for Willie to climb but it couldn’t manage and that was that as they say but still got to be happy with that performance even in defeat.
SUMMARY
Vintage Willie Kershaw today, if ever there is a man you would put your house on to win a last leg decider then it would be him, nerves of steel as he chews his gum and fires in the scores and puts away the finish. Another great player to watch when he gets rolling, fast and furious and relentless on the Treble 20’s and so hard to beat.
