ROUND 1 (PRELIM)

Louise Simmonds  3-2 Ian Watson
Gary Hooper      3-1 Anil Barot
Peter Reebanks   3-0 Scott Smith
Jonathan Daniels 3-0 Mark Hanslip
Ian Brown        3-1 Mark Watkins
Lee Foster       3-0 Pete Rushby
Mark Slowacki    3-0 Sharon Whitfield
Steve Kemp       3-2 Paul Hodkin
Chris Cortman    3-1 Chris Thwaites
Kevin Gray       3-0 Shirley Sanderson
Simon Regan      3-0 Michael Wilson

A total of 11 Round 1 (prelim) games needed to streamline the field to 128. Newcomer this season Anil Barot (20.85) of Indian descent but from the other side of Leeds in Morley giving the much more seasoned and experienced Gary Hooper (22.29) a run for his money before going down 3-1. The 18 year old computer student looks a promising dart player but is also a promising cricketer and is a demon fast bowler for Gildersome CC, maybe he could be the new Kapil Dev, in which case let’s hope he chooses to play for England rather than India in future Test Matches. A huge crowd descended around Board 1 especially towards the closing stages of Louise Simmonds game with Ian Watson, almost unbearable tension as both players had darts at doubles to win the game and both ending up in the Madhouse before Louise finally clinched a nail biting victory. After performing superbly here to reach the Semi Final of the end of month Friday night comp Woodlesford Furniture Sales Manager Chris Cortman (22.95) was back for a shot at the bigger BDP event and safely through the opener after a 3-1 win over Chris Thwaites (17.40). Remarkable in fact that he can even hold a dart let alone throw them so well after losing part of 3 fingers to a Band Saw at work in his late teens. Big finishes of 110 and 150 from Ian Brown in his 3-1 win over Mark Watkins showing he is close to his best and a force to be reckoned with once again.

ROUND 2

Steve Kemp       3-0 Peter Neary
Pat Meeson       3-2 Andrew Clifford
Mark Robinson    3-2 Jimmy Stoneley
Graham Hoggarth  3-0 Raymond Long
Daniel Firth     3-0 Josh Hodgson
Daz Layden       3-0 Mick Wiltshire
Kelvin Pease     3-0 Sam Newman
John Jagger      3-1 Trevor Tye
Pat Blakely      3-0 Leah Wiltshire
Vernon Walsh     3-0 Steve Cadera
Mark Gale        3-2 Andy Smith
Kevin Gray       3-2 Aaron Poole
Ian Brown        3-0 Phil Whittaker
Steve Kelly      3-0 Richard Watson
Lewis Pride      3-0 Damian Holt
Simon Regan      3-2 Kyle Richardson
Danny Walker     3-0 Mark Piggott
Daniel Roberts   3-0 Adam Davison
Mark Slowacki    3-0 Regan Pettinger
Mick Hayward     3-1 Ian Payne
Terry Temple     3-0 Brandon Lawson
Dave Broxup      3-1 Ian Ward
Andy Firth       3-0 Robert Smith
Laura Tye        3-2 Tracey Gledhill
Andy Butterworth 3-0 Jonathan Hewitt
Paul Doherty     3-1 Jonny Scott
Peter Reebanks   3-0 Russell Murphy
Nigel Atkinson   3-1 John Clifford
Lyndon Baxter    3-0 Bob Brett
Gary Normington  3-0 Danny Hall
Tony Darlow      3-1 Dave Shore
Antony Moss      3-1 Norman Elliott
John Richardson  3-2 Karl Nixon
Josh Clough      3-0 Ryan Kershaw
Dave Machell     3-2 Marc Paige
Gary Hooper      3-0 Paul Cortman
John Utting      3-1 Dave Murray
Jamie Ingle      3-1 Pete Riley
Sam Fordham      3-2 Paul Priestland
Rob Holroyd      3-2 Josh Scales
Simon Wintle     3-1 Peter Baker
Steve Jones      3-0 Kris Namnieck
Les Delderfield  3-0 Darren Cartwright
Bob Birkenshaw   3-1 Sam Hastings
Peter Armitage   3-0 Michelle Binns
Mark Kerry       3-1 Louise Simmonds
Willie Kershaw   3-0 Dan Nicol
Brandon Walsh    3-0 Richard Brown
Chris Cortman    3-0 Mark Featherstone
Tony Farrow      3-1 Ian Holmes
Jonathan Daniels 3-1 Lee Foster
Jamie Ogley      3-2 Bob Pinder
Jon Crossland    3-0 Brendan Dawson
Chris Winters    3-0 Calum Hall
Steve Hattersley 3-2 Adam Tooley
Rich Winpenny    3-0 Steve Jackson
Alex Pride       3-0 Steve Fowler
Rob Richardson   3-0 Steve Wadsworth
Paul Hick        3-1 Phil Thomas
John Roughton    3-1 Pete Turner
Mark Leonard     3-1 Ian Falkingham
Paul Toulmin     3-0 Joe Harrison
Curtis Turner    3-1 Liam Mowbray

Some intriguing match up’s as early as Round 2 with a number of quality players going out at this stage. Bob Pinder the Grand Final Semi Finalist was amongst the biggest as he went down to star of the future Jamie Ogley 3-2. Dave Shore (24.41) a Semi Finalist at Rowland Road in Comp 1 also perished but in the toughest of early draws losing 3-1 to current Grand Slam Champ Tony Darlow (28.40) who finished their match with a 13 dart leg. Andrew Butterworth (24.24) a local league player for Stanningley pub ‘The Daisy Inn’ causing a major stir with a 3-0 whitewash over Jonathan Hewitt (25.83) one of the most feared players at BDP, no sign of what was to come as Jonathan kicked in with a 180 but then felt the backlash of big scores coming back at him as the Bramley Printer rattled in a Maximum of his own, 7 other Ton pluses and was the more composed finisher as he coolly took out 76 for the match to leave the Wortley star shell-shocked, no wonder East Leeds SC are so keen to sign him up for their SL team on this evidence. Once again Danny Walker (28.90) looking electric early on with 112 and 106 checkouts in a 3-0 win, much too strong today for Sheffield’s Mark Piggott. A welcome return this season for Bradford’s Kevin Gray (21.28) who took out 75 in the final leg to win a marathon battle against Aaron Poole (19.65). Tough going also for Rob Holroyd (18.42) as he scraped past Josh Scales (17.41) in another long drawn out struggle in a desperately poor game by their standards. Skipton’s Mick Hayward (17.72) did enough to beat Ian Payne (13.33) 3-1, same score too for John Jagger (22.34) as he beat Trevor Tye (20.90). Notts star Daz Layden (23.86) by own admission struggling for form of late and probably glad that Mick Wiltshire (19.90) was below par today allowing him a comfortable 3-0 passage into Round 3. Well below par too for Kelvin Pease (18.79) missing a hatful of doubles but not costly as he still had enough to beat Sam Newman (16.95) 3-0. A game of two halves for Steve Hattersley (21.37), dreadful early on allowing Adam Tooley (18.16)the luxury of winning legs in 26 and 29 darts before waking up to win the next 3 with relative ease in 19, 16 and 23 darts. All in all a hit and miss round, some good performances but also a lot of players struggling to find the range and playing well below their normal level so far.

ROUND 3

Steve Kemp       3-0 Pat Meeson
Graham Hoggarth  3-0 Mark Robinson
Jason Stockings  3-1 Daniel Firth
Daz Layden       3-1 Kelvin Pease
Pat Blakely      3-2 John Jagger
Vernon Walsh     3-1 Mark Gale
Ian Brown        3-1 Kevin Gray
Steve Kelly      3-1 Lewis Pride
Simon Regan      3-2 Danny Walker
Daniel Roberts   3-2 Mark Slowacki
Terry Temple     3-0 Mick Hayward
Andy Firth       3-2 Dave Broxup
Andy Butterworth 3-0 Laura Tye
Peter Reebanks   3-2 Paul Doherty
Nigel Atkinson   3-0 Lyndon Baxter
Tony Darlow      3-0 Gary Normington
John Richardson  3-2 Antony Moss
Dave Machell     3-2 Josh Clough
Gary Hooper      3-1 John Utting
Sam Fordham      3-1 Jamie Ingle
Rob Holroyd      3-1 Simon Wintle
Les Delderfield  3-0 Steve Jones
Peter Armitage   3-2 Bob Birkenshaw
Willie Kershaw   3-0 Mark Kerry
Brandon Walsh    3-0 Chris Cortman
Jonathan Daniels 3-0 Tony Farrow
Jon Crossland    3-0 Jamie Ogley
Steve Hattersley 3-0 Chris Winters
Rich Winpenny    3-1 Alex Pride
Paul Hick        3-1 Rob Richardson
Mark Leonard     3-0 John Roughton
Paul Toulmin     3-1 Curtis Turner

During the last Round with the schedule running a little late the 2 boards on the opposite wall became match boards rather than practise boards, the fact that they weren’t used to start with probably because they didn’t have raised oche’s which is the normal requirement, however credit to all players who got on with the games without any complaints. Certainly no complaints from Rich Winpenny (26.51) on Board 7 as he hit 9 x 100 pluses to beat off a stiff challenge from Alex Pride (23.79), closing out the match with a 16 dart leg. Terry Temple (25.47) coasting into the next round with a comfortable 3-0 win over Mick Hayward (21.21). Ian Brown added a 126 on the bull to his repertoire of big finishes to see off Kevin Gray, while Simon Regan repelled a Danny Walker fightback to win 3-2. Ferry Fryston Quarter Finalists Rob Richardson and Simon Wintle both out but no real surprise losing to quality players Rob Holroyd and Paul Hick.

ROUND 4

Graham Hoggarth  3-2 Steve Kemp
Daz Layden       3-0 Jason Stockings
Vernon Walsh     3-2 Pat Blakely
Steve Kelly      3-1 Ian Brown
Simon Regan      3-1 Daniel Roberts
Terry Temple     3-2 Andy Firth
Pete Reebanks    3-1 Andy Butterworth
Tony Darlow      3-2 Nigel Atkinson
John Richardson  3-2 Dave Machell
Gary Hooper      3-1 Sam Fordham
Les Delderfield  3-0 Rob Holroyd
Willie Kershaw   3-1 Peter Armitage
Brandon Walsh    3-0 Jonathan Daniels
Jon Crossland    3-2 Steve Hattersley
Rich Winpenny    3-1 Paul Hick
Paul Toulmin     3-1 Mark Leonard

A tougher test in this round for Terry Temple as he faced Andy ‘The Voice’ Firth. The Doncaster man a renown singer, entertainer and PDC pro marker as well as a good dart player and fresh from some fine displays at PDC Q school, although Andy didn’t manage to qualify he won games and gave a good account of himself as he did here taking Terry to a decider as have a few players in the opening 3 tournaments, however no one as yet has managed to come up with a big 5th leg in order to beat him. Another Doncaster player, Yorkshire Youths Brandon Walsh also with some great performances at the PDC Q school a couple of weeks ago and taking that form into today with an impressive 3-0 win over Jonathan Daniels, while dad Vernon kept up the good work to join his son in the last 16 with a narrow 3-2 victory over Pat Blakely. John Richardson more or less used to show up at Comps to support son Kyle and enter for the fun of it, not the case anymore as John has realised he is actually a very good dart player and is getting down to the money stages regularly these days, a 3-2 win over Dave Machell takes him there again much to the delight of Mrs Richardson. Board 1 has been a nightmare for Jason Stockings (15.80), the previous Friday in the Plate Semi he couldn’t buy a double and lost, today on the same board he just couldn’t hit the scores as Daz Layden (21.78) strolled past him and into the next round. A dose of his own medicine for Ian Brown (20.01) as Steve Kelly (22.41) wrapped up a 3-1 win against him with a 110 finish, while a 121 finish on the bull proved to be the decisive break for Rich Winpenny in a 3-1 win over Paul Hick.

ROUND 5

Daz Layden       3-1 Graham Hoggarth
Steve Kelly      3-0 Vernon Walsh
Terry Temple     3-0 Simon Regan
Tony Darlow      3-2 Pete Reebanks
Gary Hooper      3-1 John Richardson
Les Delderfield  3-0 Willie Kershaw
Brandon Walsh    3-0 Jon Crossland
Rich Winpenny    3-2 Paul Toulmin

Up and coming football Referee Graham Hoggarth now up to Conference League level and destined to become the next Howard Webb was in the warm today as his allocated match had been postponed due to the weather. Besides taking a few match stats for the BDP report he was also having a fine day on the oche to reach the money stages where Daz Layden ended his run with a 3-1 victory. Still only 18 years old Brandon Walsh already has quite a darting CV with an appearance at the 2011 UK Open, a PDC Youth tour player and also the Yorkshire Youth Captain and closing in on a BDP title after a straight legs win over Pontefract’s Jon Crossland. Les Delderfield yet to drop a leg all day overcoming fellow Woodbottom SL team mate Willie Kershaw also 3-0 and looking at this stage like the likely challenger to Terry Temple (27.83) who proved too strong for Bradford’s Simon Regan (21.39) with another straight forward victory. Friday night Plate winner Rich Winpenny came from 2-0 down to topple Paul Toulmin with a 104 finish at the death to seal a 3-2 win in a thrilling game. Gary Hooper concentrating this year on local Comps rather than travelling the BDO circuit also into the Last 8 with a 3-1 win over John Richardson. Not the result that Gary’s uncle Pete Reebanks wanted but a fine effort none the less in a narrow 3-2 defeat to Tony Darlow, while veteran Steve Kelly having a great start to the season making his second venture already into the Quarter Finals after a 3-0 win over Vernon Walsh.

QUARTER FINALS

Daz Layden       3-2 Steve Kelly
Terry Temple     3-1 Tony Darlow
Les Delderfield  3-1 Gary Hooper
Rich Winpenny    3-0 Brandon Walsh

Shipley legend Les Delderfield finally dropped a leg to Gary Hooper but the Lancashire County star unable to prevent Les notching the other 3 to march into the Semi’s. Same result for Terry Temple to see off another tough challenge from Tony Darlow this time, the York star still on course for an unprecedented hat trick of wins, while Daz Layden edged past Steve Kelly 3-2 to equal his best showing since his BDP debut at Crigglestone last season, while clinical finishing from Rich Winpenny proved the difference in a high scoring battle with Brandon Walsh.

SEMI FINAL 1

Les Delderfield (27.33) 3-0 (24.98) Rich Winpenny

Woodlesford’s Rich Winpenny won the advantage of throw but didn’t make it count as he lost all 3 legs to Les Delderfield in 19, 18 and 18 darts. All credit to Les though with a workmanlike performance and particularly good on the finishing to snuff out any chance of a fight back from The Railway SL player. Trebles in the first leg proved elusive for Rich apart from his opening throw of 100 which allowed Les in for the early break who then held off a determined effort from the South Leeds man to get back in the game in the next leg leaving 46 after 15 darts, however the door was slammed firmly shut as Les showed all his class to hit a 140 and then take out the 70 finish to go 2-0 up. A closely fought third leg again settled by superb darts from Les at the end hitting a 138 set up followed by a 56 finish after Rich just missed D14 on a 108 finish to save it, those kind of shots had been going in for him all day but not this time and no second chance. 6 x 100 pluses and 2 x 90 odds for Les with Rich replying with 5 x 100′s and 2 x 90 odds but not quite enough.

SEMI FINAL 2

Terry Temple (28.90) 3-0 (20.92) Daz Layden

A fairly one sided game as Terry Temple comfortably swept past Daz Layden who just couldn’t find the Treble 20′s to put up enough of a challenge. Surprisingly without hitting a 3 figure score in leg 2 the North Notts man still had 2 darts at tops to level up at 1-1, once that chance had gone begging the outcome looked inevitable and so it was as Terry clicked back into gear with a 14 dart final leg with Daz way back on 240, to follow up earlier 16 and 22 darters. A good day for Daz although he will be disappointed with his showing in the Semi as he only hit 1 x 100 score, ironically with his last 3 darts, a series of 60 scores for him with the darts just not landing in that narrow red section which can be so frustrating. Only 3 x 100 pluses for Terry but the 7 back up scores in the 80′s and 90′s kept Daz under the cosh.

FINAL

Terry Temple (29.00) 4-2 (27.66) Les Delderfield

If anyone in today’s field was going to stop Terry Temple it was likely to be the vastly experienced, ice cool figure of Les Delderfield and for a while in the Final that looked to be the case with Les racing into a 2-0 lead with 16 and 17 dart legs, a brilliant 180, 140, 81 start to leg 3 looked like paving the way for a 3-0 lead for Les, however with the match almost at his mercy he missed 5 darts at Tops and Tens to give Terry a shot at 62 which he gratefully accepted to get a foothold in the game. A complete turnaround after that as Terry took control firstly levelling the game with a 19 darter then forging in front with a tremendous 13 dart leg against the throw as Les was left with 50 after 15 darts. A 140, 99, 98, 96 text book leg from Terry ensured there would be no way back for Les as the York man closed out D8 for an 18 dart match winner and a third successive title which very few have managed to achieve previously. A 180, 177, 8 x 100 pluses with 7 x 90 odd scores did the damage for Terry with Les firing back with 2 x 180′s, 11 x 100 pluses with a 93 score but was left to rue those 5 misses in leg 3 which effectively cost him the match.

SUMMARY

Terry Temple makes history by becoming the first player to win the first 3 tournaments at the start of a season since records began and moves into BDP folklaw in doing so. York has produced many fine dart players over the years, the likes of Barry Noble, Chris Thompson, John Mooring, Paul Cooper, Martin Turner, Ray McInally, Rich Corner amongst others all spring to mind and Terry is right there in that top band of players. Can he possibly make it 4 in a row at Tyresal in a couple of weeks? In the meantime the players that were still at East Leeds SC towards the closing stages faced the possibility of being stranded for the night with the snow coming down heavy and temperatures plummeting to freezing point as treacherous road conditions meant the local taxi’s were reluctant to venture too far from the main roads, hopefully the weather won’t be as harsh next time out at Tyresal.

ROUND 1 (PRELIM)

Kelvin Pease       3-2  Bob Crossland
Jonathan Crossland 3-1  Rob Sharp
Tom Sykes          3-0  Kevin Storey
Laura Tye          3-1  Jonny Lester
Brendan Marren     3-0  Andy McGovern
Danny Hall         3-1  Kevin Pease
Rich Winpenny      3-1  Brendan Dawson
Lydon Baxter       3-0  Regan Pettinger
John Quantock      3-1  Rob Holroyd
Mick Hayward       3-0  Trevor Hutchinson
Jake Patchett      3-0  Mark Featherstone
Danny Walker       3-0  Mark Ewart
Peter Mawer        3-1  Joe Harrison
Richard Brown      3-1  Mark Robinson
Ian Brown          3-2  Bob Pinder
Phil Whittaker     3-1  Steven Wadsworth
Mark Leonard       3-0  Dan Nicol
Mark Slowacki      3-1  Adam Fryer
Colin Hendry       3-0  Russell Murphy
Simon Gayle        3-2  Simon Rimmington
Louise Simmonds    3-1  Dave Sykes

A tough task early on for Rob Holroyd as he went down 3-1 to York’s John Quantock, ‘Mr Q’ a vastly experienced and top level competitor having competed for a few years on the PDC circuit and appearing a couple of times in the UK Open Finals in Bolton. At the other end of the scale youth player Jake Patchett a product of the Hull Darts School of Excellence scored a notable 3-0 victory over Mark Featherstone who reached the Last 16 in the opening comp at Rowland Road. Sheffield’s Bob Pinder sporting a very dodgy looking Alan Tabern style moustache led Ian Brown 2-0 in their match but ended up succumbing to a superb fightback from the Castleford ace. A good round for the leading ladies as Laura Tye and Louise Simmonds both came through their games 3-1.

ROUND 2

Jamie Toyne        3-2  Richard Brown
Steve Jones        3-1  Marc Paige
Simon Wintle       3-2  Lewis Pride
Mark Pigott        3-0  Raymond Long
Phil Whittaker     3-1  Ian Falkingham
Josh Scales        3-1  Trevor Tye
Daz Mawer          3-0  Dave Murray
Paul Toulmin       3-0  Reece Catton
Vernon Walsh       3-0  Pat Meeson
Dave Sidebottom    3-1  Ben Gayle
Jason Stockings    3-0  Adam Tooley
Terry Temple       3-0  Colin Lawrence
Alex Pride         3-0  Nigel Atkinson
Jamie Ingle        3-1  Richard Watson
Tom Blagg          3-0  Mark Gayle
Ian Watson         3-0  Calum Hall
Jonathan Crossland 3-1  Phil Morley
Paul Doherty       3-1  Darren Pettinger
Curtis Turner      3-0  Daz Layden
Peter Mawer        3-1  Nick Sanderson
Scott Smith        3-1  Ian Payne
Daniel Roberts     3-1  Karl Nixon
Steve Fryer        3-1  Paul Priestland
Louise Simmonds    3-2  Simon Gayle
Tony Darlow        3-1  Sam Hastings
Les Delderfield    3-0  Jamie Ellam
Steve Hatttersley  3-0  Kyle Richardson
Bob Birkenshaw     3-0  Mark Slowacki
Paul Hick          3-1  Stuart Monaghan
Scott Bennett      3-1  Andrew Clifford
John Quantock      3-1  Danny Joy
Mick Hayward       3-2  Daniel Rudman
Peter Baker        3-1  Leah Wiltshire
Kevin Foster       3-2  Sean Lupton
Rob Richardson     3-0  Lee Foster
Jaron Esteve       3-0  Tracey Gledhill
Tom Sykes          3-0  Anil Barot
James Weldon       3-1  Antony Moss
Alan Hutchinson    3-2  Michelle Binns
John Clifford      3-0  Bob Brett
Lyndon Baxter      3-2  Roy Lilleyman
Mick Wiltshire     3-0  Brandon Lawson
Steve Kelly        3-2  Mark Hanslip
Laura Tye          3-2  Dave Shore
Danny Walker       3-1  Ian Brown
Norman Elliott     3-0  Steve Cadera
Tony Wort          3-0  Scott Cole
Brendan Marren     3-1  James Storey
Adam Ward          3-0  Tony Farrow
Jamie Ogley        3-2  Mark Leonard
Carl Wilkinson     3-0  Sharon Whitfield
Kelvin Pease       3-0  Rich Winpenny
James Barton       3-0  John Richardson
Willie Kershaw     3-0  Danny Lidgett
Ryan Hoggarth      3-1  Sam Cadman
Simon Crossland    3-0  Nick Preston
John Utting        3-1  Pete Riley
Ian Ward           3-2  Danny Hall
Mike Ramsgill      3-0  Shirley Sanderson
Dale Everett       3-2  Andy Smith
Jake Patchett      3-1  Chris Winters
Josh Clough        3-0  Mark Calvert
Colin Hendry       3-1  Dave Scaum
Steve Atkinson     3-0  Aaron Poole

A fairly comfortable 3-0 victory for Steve Hattersley (23.86) as Kyle Richardson (20.27) only really began to get into the game in the last leg, by then it was too late as the Halifax man closed out the game in 17 darts. John Clifford (17.68) made hard work of it even though he still overcame elder statesman Bob Brett (14.59) 3-0, who just couldn’t get going in their game. A very even looking game went to John Utting (23.44) 3-1 over Pete Riley (21.49), steady darts and a much needed win for the Doncaster man. Paul Hick’s fine form continued with a 3-1 victory over high profile Leeds star Stuart Monaghan while Adam Tooley paid the price for a late arrival and no warm up time after dashing from work, slipping to a 3-0 defeat to Jason Stockings, ‘The Spice Boy’ closing the match with a nice 116 finish. A comfortable 3-0 win for Knottingley Welder Mike Ramsgill over Shirley Sanderson as he looks to make an impression this season, already making an impression is Keighley’s Dave Shore after an fantastic Semi Final showing last time out but he was stunned today by a brilliant Laura Tye performance who just missed a 12 darter in her 3-2 victory over him. Meanwhile Tadcaster Carpet Fitter Curtis Turner followed up last week’s impressive showing with another eye-catching win, this time rolling over classy Notts star Daz Layden 3-0. A blast from the past as Halifax’s Lyndon Baxter so successful in the early BDP years making a comeback this season edging past local man Roy Lilleyman 3-2, while Les Delderfield who has never been away looked in good form with a straight legs win over Lincoln Rileys Super League star Jamie Ellam.

ROUND 3

Steve Jones        3-1  Jamie Toyne
Simon Wintle       3-1  Mark Pigott
Josh Scales        3-0  Phil Whittaker
Paul Toulmin       3-2  Daz Mawer
Vernon Walsh       3-2  Dave Sidebottom
Terry Temple       3-0  Jason Stockings
Alex Pride         3-0  Jamie Ingle
Tom Blagg          3-2  Ian Watson
Jonathan Crossland 3-0  Paul Doherty
Peter Mawer        3-0  Curtis Turner
Daniel Roberts     3-2  Scott Smith
Louise Simmonds    3-2  Steve Fryer
Tony Darlow        3-1  Les Delderfield
Steve Hattersley   3-2  Bob Birkenshaw
Scott Bennett      3-2  Paul Hick
John Quantock      3-1  Mick Hayward
Kevin Foster       3-1  Peter Baker
Rob Richardson     3-1  Jaron Esteve
James Weldon       3-0  Tom Sykes
John Clifford      3-0  Alan Hutchinson
Lyndon Baxter      3-2  Mick Wiltshire
Steve Kelly        3-1  Laura Tye
Danny Walker       3-0  Norman Elliott
Brendan Marren     3-1  Tony Wort
Adam Ward          3-0  Jamie Ogley
Carl Wilkinson     3-2  Kelvin Pease
Willie Kershaw     3-1  James Barton
Simon Crossland    3-0  Ryan Hoggarth
John Utting        3-0  Ian Ward
Dale Everett       3-0  Mike Ramsgill
Jake Patchett      3-2  Josh Clough
Steve Atkin        3-1  Colin Hendry

26 year old Danny Walker (29.47) on the verge of securing a lucrative sponsorship deal that will enable him to travel the BDO circuit showed his class to rattle in 21, 16 and 14 dart legs to overcome a game effort from Norman Elliott (23.41) who pushed him all the way in the final 2 legs. Woodbottom SL player Paul Doherty (19.90) scored well but had a disaster in the final leg, missing 13 darts at doubles to let Jonathan Crossland (20.87) in to secure a harsh looking 3-0 win. Fine last legs for John Utting with a 153 finish to beat Ian Ward 3-0 and Louise Simmonds with a 17 darter which included a 180 to overcome Steve Fryer. Steve Hattersley pulled out a game changing 155 finish with his opponent Bob Birkenshaw sat on tops and 1-0 up at the time, a tremendous shot under pressure enabling him to edge a tight match 3-2. Grand Final winner Tony Darlow took out Les Delderfield 3-1 as did Willie Kershaw beating James Barton in the two big games of the round.

ROUND 4

Simon Wintle       3-2  Steve Jones
Paul Toulmin       3-1  Josh Scales
Terry Temple       3-1  Vernon Walsh
Tom Blagg          3-1  Alex Pride
Jonathan Crossland 3-1  Peter Mawer
Daniel Roberts     3-1  Louise Simmonds
Tony Darlow        3-1  Steve Hattersley
John Quantock      3-1  Scott Bennett
Rob Richardson     3-0  Kevin Foster
James Weldon       3-2  John Clifford
Steve Kelly        3-2  Lyndon Baxter
Brendan Marren     3-1  Danny Walker
Adam Ward          3-0  Carl Wilkinson
Willie Kershaw     3-0  Simon Crossland
Dale Everett       3-1  John Utting
Steve Atkin        3-1  Jake Patchett

Quite a few newish names right in the mix at this stage. Former Commercial and Yeadon SL star Paul Toulmin now plying his trade for Shipley team Woodbottom having a fine day so far with wins over Yorkshire County youth Reece Catton, former Lincs County star Daz Mawer and now Wakefield ace Josh Scales. Nottinghamshire County youth Tom Blagg who appeared at a couple of tournaments last year was making serious inroads today with wins over Mark Gale, Ian Watson and former BDP event winner Alex Pride with a fine 3-1 victory. Daniel Roberts another new player this season also going well ending inform Louise Simmonds run with a 3-1 win. Halifax’s Dale Everett a onetime sponsor of Scott Waites and influential in his early BDO tournament development showed he is no slouch on the dart board either with a place in Round 5 after victory over John Utting on the back of a fine showing in a Hartlepool comp over new year. James Weldon another player present in early tournaments last year was having his best run so far after a 3-2 victory over John Clifford, while Danny Walker said he threw the darts of his life with well over 100 average but it was still not enough to beat Brendan Marren who chipped out 120 to close out a 3-1 win over him.

ROUND 5

Simon Wintle       3-2  Paul Toulmin
Terry Temple       3-0  Tom Blagg
Jonathan Crossland 3-2  Daniel Roberts
Tony Darlow        3-1  John Quantock
Rob Richardson     3-0  James Weldon
Brendan Marren     3-0  Steve Kelly
Willie Kershaw     3-1  Adam Ward
Dale Everett       3-1  Steve Atkin

Most of the players mentioned in the last round were to fall at the next hurdle, apart from Dale Everett who stormed into the Quarter Finals with a 3-1 win over York’s Steve Atkin. Lincoln Imps SL player Adam Ward, riding high in the Lincs Ave’s table and carrying that form into today with 3 good wins over quality players Tony Farrow, Jamie Ogley and Yorkshire County player Carl Wilkinson found Willie Kershaw a bridge too far with a 3-1 defeat. Big guns Brendan Marren and Tony Darlow still going strong after victories over Steve Kelly and John Quantock, while the ominous threat of Terry Temple still loomed large after victory over young Tom Blagg. Rob ‘ The Jockey ‘ Richardson the lone Castleford survivor with victory over James Weldon with Si Wintle and Jonathan Crossland making up the Last 8 after close wins over Paul Toulmin and Daniel Roberts.

QUARTER FINALS

Terry Temple       3-2  Simon Wintle
Tony Darlow        3-0  John Crossland
Brendan Marren     3-2  Rob Richardson
Willie Kershaw     3-1  Dale Everett

Guiseley’s Simon Wintle living up to his nickname of ‘The Big Bear ‘ by sporting a big rough, gruff, hairy black beard showed he was a ‘Grizzly’ on the dart board today and came close to a first Semi Final after pushing Terry Temple all the way before going down 3-2. A very under rated player, mostly by himself it has to be said Simon is one of the fastest throwing players at BDP and is great to watch when he’s flying like he was today. Another super effort to topple a hot favourite as Rob Richardson took Brendan Marren to a decider in their game, just another example of how many players in the field are capable of winning a BDP comp, no doubt Rob is in that category especially after this showing. A bit more breathing space for the other 2 favourites as Tony Darlow saw off Pontefract’s Jonathan Crossland 3-0 and Willie Kershaw overcame a brave Dale Everett effort 3-1.

SEMI FINAL 1

Brendan Marren (27.33) 3-0 (26.06) Willie Kershaw

Just too many slack scores in legs 1 and 3 in particular cost Willie Kershaw dear in this Semi Final clash of two old foes, the fact is against a player of Brendan Marren’s class the opponent can ill afford any such scores. A very indifferent opening leg from Willie allowed Brendan the luxury of missing 5 darts at the double before nailing a D10 for a 20 dart start, ironically there was no slack darts from Willie on his own throw as he fired in scores of 85, 60, 140, 140 to set up 76 with the final dart in that combination just missing Tops, that miss was all Brendan needed as he took out a killer 101 finish to go 2-0 up in 15 darts. The final leg was similar in pattern to the first one as Brendan took it in 20 darts again although Willie was much closer in this leg having a shot at 100 to save it. Not vintage stuff by either player but Brendan had the greater consistency in scoring with 8 x 100 pluses against Willie’s 5 x 100 pluses which made the difference.

SEMI FINAL 2

Terry Temple (25.49) 3-1 (22.91) Tony Darlow

A fine opening for current Grand Slam champion Tony Darlow as he broke the throw with a 105 finish and a 18 dart leg to break against opening event winner Terry Temple, however that was to be as good as it got for the Sheffield star as he seemed to lose his way after that as the Treble 20 became more elusive to him as the game went on. Despite struggling a little on the scoring himself Terry was able to take the next 2 legs in 21 and 22 darts, only in the final leg did the man from York really get going with a 140, 180, 95 opening which effectively sealed the game as Tony could only respond with a string of 60 scores allowing Terry to coast home in 17 darts for a much more comfortable win than he could have hoped for given Tony’s present form. 8 x 100 pluses including a 180 for Terry while Tony will be disappointed with only 4 x 100 pluses but so many times his darts were all over the Treble 20 rather than in it, just one of those games for him today.

FINAL

Terry Temple (27.29) 4-1 (27.38) Brendan Marren

A 2nd successive BDP title for Terry Temple as he had Brendan Marren’s number again just as he did in the Rowland Road Quarter Final the previous week. Although not quite matching last week’s imperious form Terry still managed to do enough to win, just beating Brendan to the punch in 4 of the 5 legs, this mainly down to the fact that Brendan hit 11 x 60 scores in the match where in usual circumstances he would expect at least half of those scores to be either 100′s or 140′s, that lack of trebles just enabled Terry to get to the double shots first and what we have learned about Terry so far is that more often than not he takes his chances when they come. Just like Tony Darlow in the Semi Brendan started brightly with a 16 dart break with a similar pattern to follow as Terry took the rest in 16, 21, 18 and 16 darts for a convincing victory in the end. 11 x 100 pluses for Terry with 4 back up scores of 90 odd. Also 11 x 100 pluses for Brendan even allowing for all the straight 60′s which probably goes to show how different the game might have been had even 3 or 4 of those been ton pluses that would have got him to the doubles first, all if’s and but’s though as is every game, the main fact being that Terry got the job done once again.

SUMMARY

The PDC qualifying school was in full swing over a long weekend with a long list of fine tour players including BDP regular Dave Smith having to re-qualify in order to get their 2012 tour card. The fact that Terry Temple didn’t have to go through that minefield because he finished in the Top 64 shows how good a player he is as he proved here for the 2nd week running. No doubt the rest of the field will be breathing a sigh of relief when the PDC tour starts up and Terry goes off to try and claim bigger prizes. Last season Castleford player Kevin Pease looked certain to qualify for The Grand Finals only to miss out in the end due to not attending the last half a dozen or so events, the reason for those absences became apparent today as Kevin turned up to play showing the effects of a battle against throat cancer over the past few months, it was good to Kev back in action on the oche and everyone at BDP wishes him well with his ongoing treatment which we hope will lead to a full recovery.

ROUND 1 (PRELIM)

Joe Harrison      3-2  Mick Wiltshire
Tom Sykes         3-1  John Utting
Mark Robinson     3-2  Sharon Whitfield
Mark Featherstone 3-1  Simon Hall
Bryan Harrison    3-0  Paul Doherty
Ian Brown         3-1  Simon Jackson
Danny Walker      3-0  Gary Smith
Adam Davidson     3-0  Gareth Hannah
Liam Young        3-0  Cameron Arnold
Adam Wood         3-1  Karl Nixon
Dave Smith        3-0  Nat McDonald
Mally Walsh       3-0  Gareth Thompson
Jamie Ellam       3-0  Peter Turner
Scott Bennett     3-0  Danny Lidgett
Dave Broxup       3-0  Stuart Bruce
Dave Wilson       3-2  James Weldon
Mark Gayle        3-2  Phil Ralph
Norman Elliott    3-1  Carl Baxter
Jaron Esteve      3-0  Tom Elliott
Brendan Marren    3-0  Alan Simms
Calum Hall        3-0  Danny Dutson
Pete Riley        3-1  Chris Fawcett
Ben Gayle         3-0  Lewis Pride
Katie Hoggarth    3-1  Jordan Gayle
Simon Gayle       3-1  James Wood
Paul Royston      3-0  Darren Cartwright
Mark Watkins      3-1  Leah Wiltshire
Gary Driscoll     3-0  Simon Rimmington
Steve Kemp        3-0  Mark Broadbent
Dave Calvert      3-0  Paul Hodkin
Ian Holmes        3-2  Mark Stephenson
Andy Smith        3-0  Aaron Stephenson
Lyndon Baxter     3-0  Mark Commons
Rob Richardson    3-0  Benjamin Commons
Anil Barot        3-1  Dave Murray
Jordan Smith      3-0  Pat Blakely
Louise Simmonds   3-0  Paddy O'Conner
Mark Slowacki     3-0  Tracey Gledhill
Les Delderfield   3-0  Russell Murphy
Martin Boltwood   3-2  Jason Stockings
Kelvin Pease      3-0  Charlie Noble

Definitely a lot of tension in the air at the start as everyone involved early on just wanted to get through the round of 41 prelim ties in order to bring the field down to 128, a very tense, nervy game between Mark Featherstone ( 16.79 ) and Simon Hall ( 16.30 ) going Mark’s way 3-1 but both much better players than the stats suggest so purely down to early nerves that game. Nerves too for young Lewis Pride ( 17.61 ) as he lost out 3-0 to another youngster in Ben Gayle ( 19.27 ) from nearby Middleton, more joy for the Gayle family as dad Simon Gayle ( 17.15 ) followed up his son’s win with a 3-1 success over James Wood ( 17.01 ). Top darts promoter Paul Hodkin from Huddersfield, responsible for bringing some of the top names in darts to Yorkshire with his superbly organised exhibitions can also play a bit too and has mixed it on the PDC circuit, however he was no match today for Dave Calvert who beat him comfortably 3-0. Young Joe Harrison gaining in experience under the guidance of dad Bryan and Ian Brown amongst others in and around Castleford pulled off the result of the round with a 3-2 defeat of Mick Wiltshire who was so impressive on Grand Finals day. John Utting another player with some pedigree also lost out 3-1 to an unfamiliar name in Tom Sykes. The best darts of the round came from Outwood’s Danny Walker as he crashed in a 161 finish for a 12 dart final leg in his victory over the unfortunate Gary Smith.

ROUND 2

Bryan Harrison    3-1  John Cooper
Adam Davidson     3-1  Dominic Corr
Fred Smith        3-0  Peter Baker
Richard Lucas     3-0  Paul Priestland
Andy McGovern     3-0  Shirley Sanderson
Daz Hale          3-0  Norman Elliott
Mark Calvert      3-1  Ian Falkingham
Kelvin Pease      3-1  Dan Ladley
Curtis Turner     3-1  Simon Regan
Mark Gayle        3-0  Steve Jackson
Bob Birkenshaw    3-2  Jamie Ingle
Steve Kemp        3-0  Kerry Atkinson
Steve Hattersley  3-0  Joe Harrison
Jaron Esteve      3-2  Peter Armitage
Chris Hall        3-1  Jordan Smith
Alex Pride        3-0  Brandon Lawson
Adam Wood         3-2  Katie Hoggarth
Ian Watson        3-2  Andy Smith
Daniel Roberts    3-0  Rob Sharp
Trevor Tye        3-0  Macauley Gamble
Simon Wilton      3-1  Ian Ward
Steve Kelly       3-0  Steve Cadera
Eddy Noon         3-0  Johnny Scott
Mick Pearce       3-0  Scott Smith
Willie Kershaw    3-0  Jason Stockings
Dave Smith        3-1  Lee Taylor
James Barton      3-1  Danny Walker
John Richardson   3-1  Paul Royston
Darren Goy        3-0  Izzy Wainwright
Phil Whittaker    3-2  Mark Slowacki
Kyle Richardson   3-0  David Owen
Peter Reebanks    3-1  Terry Mizen
Josh Clough       3-0  Mike Ramskill
Richard Watson    3-0  Danny Hall
Dave Calvert      3-0  Raymond Long
Tom Sykes         3-0  Laura Tye
Antony Moss       3-1  Ben Gale
Simon Gayle       3-2  Tony Farrow
Aaron Poole       3-0  Ian Holmes
Les Delderfield   3-1  Lyndon Baxter
Rob Richardson    3-1  Dave Broxup
Andrew Clifford   3-0  Ian Payne
Michael Wilson    3-1  Jim Johnston
Mark Featherstone 3-1  Anil Barot
Mark Watkins      3-0  Sean Knowles
Brendan Dawson    3-0  Matty Acs
Gary Hooper       3-0  Simon Hardacre
Dave Shore        3-0  Ryan Hoggarth
Jamie Ellam       3-0  Scott Bennett
Paul Toulmin      3-0  James Watson
Daz Twist         3-1  Steve Jones
Mark Hanslip      3-0  Bobby Baynham
Nigel Atkinson    3-1  Daz Mawer
Brendan Marren    3-0  Calum Hall
Ian Brown         3-0  Nick Sanderson
Louise Simmonds   3-2  Bob Brett
Pete Riley        3-1  Gary Driscoll
Rich Winpenny     3-0  Chez Pachela
Mark Wainwright   3-2  John Speed
Terry Temple      3-0  Mark Robinson
Dave Wilson       3-1  Mally Walsh
Tony Wort         3-0  Tony Toyne
Liam Young        3-1  Peter Mizen
Paul Hick         3-0  Mick Hayward

A good round for 2 familiar players on the comeback trail, firstly ‘ The Iceman ‘ Chris Hall ( 22.92 ) from East End Park, very steady with a fine 3-1 win over talented youngster Jordan Smith ( 22.53 ) and also ‘ The Rattler’ Paul Hick, missing for much of last season due to work commitments as a lorry driver but back with a vengeance today with checkouts of 120, 131 and 117 in his 3-0 victory over Mick Hayward, not very often even on the World stage you see 3 back to back ton plus finishes, brilliant from the likeable Carlton ace. An exhibition start from James Barton ( 22.40 ) as he took out 100 with a single 20 and 2 Double Tops against Danny Walker ( 22.53 ), however the rest of the game not quite so good especially the final leg where both players missed with 9 double attempts before James clinched it. The tie of the round saw inform Jaron Esteve edge out class act Peter Armitage 3-2 in a high quality game. Elsewhere no major shocks with all the big guns coming through unscathed.

ROUND 3

Bryan Harrison    3-1  Adam Davidson
Fred Smith        3-0  Richard Lucas
Daz Hale          3-2  Andy McGovern
Kelvin Pease      3-0  Mark Calvert
Curtis Turner     3-1  Mark Gayle
Bob Birkenshaw    3-1  Steve Kemp
Jaron Esteve      3-1  Steve Hattersley
Alex Pride        3-1  Chris Hall
Ian Watson        3-0  Adam Wood
Daniel Roberts    3-1  Trevor Tye
Steve Kelly       3-1  Simon Wintle
Mick Pearce       3-1  Eddy Noon
Willie Kershaw    3-2  Dave Smith
James Barton      3-2  John Richardson
Darren Goy        3-1  Phil Whittaker
Peter Reebanks    3-0  Kyle Richardson
Josh Clough       3-0  Richard Watson
Dave Calvert      3-0  Tom Sykes
Antony Moss       3-0  Simon Gayle
Les Delderfield   3-0  Aaron Poole
Rob Richardson    3-1  Andrew Clifford
Mark Featherstone 3-0  Michael Wilson
Brendan Dawson    3-0  Mark Watkins
Dave Shore        3-0  Gary Hooper
Jamie Ellam       3-0  Paul Toulmin
Daz Twist         3-1  Mark Hanslip
Brendan Marren    3-0  Nigel Atkinson
Ian Brown         3-1  Louise Simmonds
Rich Winpenny     3-1  Pete Riley
Terry Temple      3-0  Mark Wainwright
Dave Wilson       3-1  Tony Wort
Paul Hick         3-0  Liam Young

The first major clash of the season on Board 2, a new slimline Willie Kershaw having dropped a reputed 5 stones in weight edged out Dave Smith 3-2, the 70′s Wrestler now down to ‘Catchweight’. Lancashire County ace Gary Hooper in decent form over Xmas with a Semi Final spot in a high class non ranking event at Belle Isle was the big casualty as he fell 3-0 to Dave Shore, another player not all that familiar to BDP having played just one comp last season which was the very last one at Otley but looking like a player of some quality. A fine effort in defeat from East Leeds SL player John Richardson as he took James Barton the distance and no joy for son Kyle either as he went down 3-0 to the vastly experienced Pete Reebanks. No real surprises elsewhere with fitness fanatic Steve Hattersley, looking very trim these days and in form for most of last season losing out in a 50/50 game to ‘The Jazman’ Jaron Esteve.

ROUND 4

Fred Smith        3-1  Bryan Harrison
Daz Hale          3-1  Kelvin Pease
Curtis Turner     3-2  Bob Birkenshaw
Jaron Esteve      3-0  Alex Pride
Ian Watson        3-2  Daniel Roberts
Steve Kelly       3-1  Mick Pearce
Willie Kershaw    3-1  James Barton
Peter Reebanks    3-1  Darren Goy
Josh Clough       3-0  Dave Calvert
Les Delderfield   3-0  Antony Moss
Mark Featherstone 3-0  Rob Richardson
Dave Shore        3-2  Brendan Dawson
Daz Twist         3-0  Jamie Ellam
Brendan Marren    3-0  Ian Brown
Terry Temple      3-2  Rich Winpenny
Dave Wilson       3-1  Paul Hick

The competition certainly hotting up in Round 4 with some quality match ups. Yorkshire Youth U18 star Curtis Turner making a big impression in his first BDP event with a fine 3-2 victory over renown match player Bob Birkenshaw, the Tadcaster youngster also boasting a young Patsi Kensit lookalike girlfriend on his arm so good times ahead on and off the oche it seems for Curtis. York star Terry Temple a regular on the PDC circuit and in their Top 64 system which is a feat in itself given the calibre of players in that field was also trying out BDP for the first time and making steady progress so far but given a rough ride by Rich Winpenny, with the advantage of throw and a 180 start in the decider just about squeezing him through in the end with the Woodlesford player criminally missing big 11 for a shot at the bull on a 121 finish. Fred Smith from Middlewich in Cheshire always makes an impression whenever he comes over to BDP events, a 3-1 victory over Bryan Harrison meant he was in the latter stages once again. Castleford’s Yorkshire U18 star Josh Clough maybe in the headlines for the wrong reasons at The Grand Finals was certainly making headlines for the right reasons, this time on the oche with a stunning 3-0 victory over BDO tour player Dave Calvert, while Daz Twist saw off the dangerous Jamie Ellam 3-0 in an eventful round.

ROUND 5

Fred Smith        3-2  Daz Hale
Jaron Esteve      3-0  Curtis Turner
Steve Kelly       3-0  Ian Watson
Willie Kershaw    3-1  Peter Reebanks
Les Delderfield   3-0  Josh Clough
Dave Shore        3-1  Mark Featherstone
Brendan Marren    3-0  Daz Twist
Terry Temple      3-2  Dave Wilson

Relative newcomer Dave Shore ( 26.57 ) originally from Wiltshire but now residing in Keighley continuing to make a splash as he overpowered Mark Featherstone ( 21.40 ) by 3 legs to 1, the Otley player having no answer from 1-1 as his opponent rattled in impressive 17 and 16 darters to take the match. A fine debut tournament for Curtis Turner ended in defeat to Jaron Esteve, the olive skinned heart throb from Lofthouse in the form of his life at the moment winning 2 small local comps at East Leeds and finishing a gallant Runner Up to James Wilson at Belle Isle over New Year as well as scooping the Xmas Handicap at Rothwell Club so quite a fruitful few weeks for him with more to follow on this form. A great run from Crossgates Fencing Business Tycoon Ian Watson ended with defeat to veteran Steve Kelly while Terry Temple came through another tight game to win 3-2 over Dave Wilson as did Fred Smith over Daz Hale. The ever consistent trio of Delderfield, Marren and Kershaw all in the last 8 too after wins over Clough, Twist and Reebanks respectively.

QUARTER FINALS

Fred Smith        3-1  Jaron Esteve
Willie Kershaw    3-0  Steve Kelly
Dave Shore        3-0  Les Delderfield
Terry Temple      3-2  Brendan Marren

Clinical finishing from Fred Smith gave him the edge over Jaron Esteve with Willie Kershaw also coming through the top half of the draw with a 3-0 win over Steve Kelly. Real drama though in the bottom half as Terry Temple showed just what a class player he really is with yet another 3-2 victory, this time over the formidable Brendan Marren. The other result proved to be the major surprise as Dave Shore stunned everyone with a 3-0 victory over Les Delderfield, maybe the Shipley player, quiet and unemotional on the oche was ruffled by the much more vocal Keighley man, however can’t take anything away from the quality of his darts as he marched into the Semi’s and in sight of a remarkable tournament victory.

SEMI FINAL  1

Willie Kershaw ( 24.86 ) 3-1 ( 25.76 ) Fred Smith

Despite not firing on all cylinders Willie Kershaw’s superior finishing saw him home against Fred Smith in a close scoring affair. Both players though a little hit and miss throughout with quite a few low scores mixed in with the good scores. The best and most consistent leg came from Willie with a 15 darter in leg 3 against the throw to turn the tide his way, scores of 100, 140, 95, 98 and a 3 dart 68 finish coming in that leg. Before that both players broke throws, firstly Willie with a 21 darter, then Fred with a much more convincing 16 darter which included a Maximum mid way through. With a second break in the bag Willie managed to close out the match with a 20 darter after Fred had just missed a 112 shot to save it. Usually a big 140 hitter Willie only managed 1 in this game along with a 125 and 4 x 100 scores, with 3 x 90 odds to back up those scores, as for Fred only 2 really big scores a 180 and a 140, although he also hit a ton and 7 scores ranging from 92 to 97 but will probably feel with Willie not on top form that this was maybe a chance gone begging.

SEMI FINAL  2

Terry Temple ( 31.31 ) 3-0 ( 27.80 ) Dave Shore

A thoroughly professional display from Terry Temple to sweep aside an effort from Dave Shore that would have given him a real shout in most other games today. The fact that he didn’t really get a sniff is purely down to Terry’s excellence in allowing his opponent just 15 darts in each leg. The opening leg proved to be the closest with Dave’s shot at 100 his only real chance in the game, however with only 40 scored he didn’t get the shot at the double he was looking for allowing Terry to take out 20 for a 17 dart leg. The York star piled on relentless pressure to force the break in leg 2 with scores of 140, 140, 100 and 96 and despite a 140 reply from Dave to leave 136 he was powerless to prevent Terry taking out 25 in 2 clinical darts. Another brave effort in the last leg from Dave as he hit 139 and 80 at the end to leave 56 but yet again Terry had all the answers with a 2 dart finish on 60 for another 17 darter to seal the match and a very polished display with precious little weaknesses to exploit. A fine effort from Dave with 5 x 100 pluses and a 99 score to cap a superb day for him. 7 x 100′s and 3 x late 90 scores coupled with deadly finishing for Terry making him very difficult to beat on this form.

FINAL

Terry Temple ( 29.88 ) 4-2 ( 27.82 ) Willie Kershaw

Willie Kershaw probably knew that he would have to up his game considerably from the Semi Final if he was to have any chance against a player in top form all day long who was consistently around the 30/31 average mark. No sign either of Terry Temple letting up as he opened up with a 116 finish for a 15 darter, things looked even gloomier for Willie as he failed to hit a 3 figure score on throw which let Terry in for a 19 dart break, however the medium built Shipley man doesn’t take defeat lying down and roared back in typical Kershaw style with back to back 16 darters to level the game. The tables looked to have turned as Willie turned the screw in leg 5 and must have felt with just 68 left after 12 darts he had a great chance of a break with Terry on a very tricky looking 99, maybe playing week in week out at such a high standard on the PDC circuit he has become used to taking out these kind of pressure shots and he did so again here which was only to hold throw but must surely have felt like a break to Willie and a real body blow at that. An even last leg followed with Willie having first pop at 72 which he made a bit of a hash of in all truth and didn’t get a dart at the double and Terry just like he had done all day to every opponent gets a chance and takes it clinically to close out the match. A very entertaining Final to start the year off with Terry hitting 11 x 100 pluses and 5 x 90 odd scores which were all good but not as good as the 99 finish that effectively won him the match. As for Willie he upped his game like we knew he probably would to hit a 180, 9 x 100 pluses with 4 x 90 odd scores in a valiant attempt.

SUMMARY

Most of the field breathed a little easier at the start of the day knowing that James Wilson was on his way to terrorise the field at Bawtry for a change, however an adequate replacement had arrived in the shape of Terry Temple, without a PDC or York Darts event the approachable York player tried his hand at BDP and left very impressed with the standard of competition and the way it was run as well as walking away £350 better off. As for James Wilson, he went through the field like a knife through butter to eventually win with a 6-0 victory over Notts player Paul Harvey in the Final just to underline how dominant he is at the moment. As they did last season with bumper attendances the Committee pass on the extra revenue with increased prize money on the day for the last 8 players, especially the Winner whose prize money increased by 75% from the standard £200. An super start to the season with the comp running smoothly and to schedule with a special mention to Simon ‘The Big Bear’ Wintle who is reducing his workload due to family commitments this season but has put in so much great work behind the scenes and continues to so now for the benefit of all the players.

1 - James Wilson     - 10.75
2 - Les Delderfield  - 10.31
3 - Brendan Marren   - 10.26
4 - Dave Smith       - 10.14
5 - Dave Copley      -  9.61
6 - Willie Kershaw   -  8.90
7 - Jonathan Hewitt  -  8.80
8 - Tony Darlow      -  8.78
9 - Daz Twist        -  8.73
10- Bryan Harrison   -  8.69
11- Jonathan Daniels -  8.44
12- Darren Hale      -  8.36
13- Daz Layden       -  8.33
14- Bob Birkenshaw   -  8.11
15- Steve Kelly      -  8.00
16- Dave Calvert     -  7.94
17- James Barton     -  7.90
18- Rob Holroyd      -  7.84
19- Jamie Ogley      -  7.82
20- Dave Wilson      -  7.81
21- Brian Dawson     -  7.75
21- Mark Slowacki    -  7.75
23- Kyle Richardson  -  7.66
23- Rich Winpenny    -  7.66
23- John Hayward     -  7.66
26- Colin Lawrence   -  7.55
27- Alex Pride       -  7.53
28- Mark Fordham     -  7.50
29- Nigel Atkinson   -  7.47
30- Wayne Woodhouse  -  7.38
31- Josh Thompson    -  7.37
32- Adam Tooley      -  7.33
32- Jaron Esteve     -  7.33

These are the Top 32 Averages from the Semi’s and Finals of 2011, (Capitals type indicates winning and small type indicates losing games).

1 - 37.11 (111.33) - JAMES WILSON     4-0  Brendan Marren 
Morley, Final
2 - 36.66 (109.98) - LES DELDERFIELD  3-0  Dave Smith     
Rothwell, Semi
3 - 34.95 (104.85) - JAMES WILSON     3-0  Brendan Dawson 
Lea Mount, Semi
4 - 34.16 (102.48) - JAMES WILSON     3-0  Dave Smith     
Morley, Semi
5 - 32.67 ( 98.01) - JONATHAN HEWITT  3-0  Steve Kelly    
Rothwell, Semi
6 - 32.39 ( 97.17) - JAMES WILSON     4-2  Joe Cullen     
Rowland Road 2, Final
7 - 32.35 ( 97.05) - Dave Smith       2-3  GARRY THOMPSON 
Woodbottom, Semi
8 - 32.34 ( 97.02) - GARRY THOMPSON   3-2  Dave Smith     
Woodbottom, Semi
9 - 32.19 ( 96.57) - WILLIE KERSHAW   3-1  Jonathan Hewitt
Sowerby Bridge, Semi
10- 31.93 ( 95.79) - DAVE SMITH       3-2  Brendan Marren 
Grand Finals, Semi
11- 31.91 ( 95.73) - GARRY THOMPSON   4-2  Brendan Marren 
Woodbottom, Final
12- 31.81 ( 95.43) - JAMES WILSON     4-0  Jamie Ellam    
Corpus Christi, Final
13- 31.69 ( 95.07) - Dave Smith       0-3  LES DELDERFIELD
Rothwell, Semi
14- 31.49 ( 94.47) - BRENDAN MARREN   1-4  LES DELDERFIELD
Hunslet Carr, Final
15- 31.31 ( 93.93) - BRENDAN MARREN   3-0  Rich Winpenny  
Woodbottom, Semi
16- 31.16 ( 93.48) - Willie Kershaw   0-3  PETER ARMITAGE 
Crossgates, Semi
16- 31.16 ( 93.48) - Brendan Marren   2-3  DAVE SMITH     
Grand Finals, Semi
18- 30.99 ( 92.97) - GARRY THOMPSON   4-1  Bob Pinder     
Tyersal, Final
19- 30.96 ( 92.88) - WILLIE KERSHAW   3-2  Daz Twist      
Singing Man, Semi
20- 30.67 ( 92.01) - GARRY THOMPSON   3-0  Martin Atkins  
Tyersal, Semi
20- 30.67 ( 92.01) - PETER ARMITAGE   3-0  Willie Kershaw 
Crossgates, Semi
22- 30.65 ( 91.95) - WILLIE KERSHAW   4-3  Craig Barrett  
Sowerby Bridge, Final
23- 30.61 ( 91.83) - BRENDAN MARREN   3-2  Dave Calvert   
Morley, Semi
24- 30.59 ( 91.77) - JAMES WILSON     4-1  Brendan Marren 
Lea Mount, Final
25- 30.41 ( 91.23) - Brendan Marren   1-4  JAMES WILSON   
Lea Mount, Final
26- 30.40 ( 91.20) - Rich Winpenny    0-3  BRENDAN MARREN 
Woodbottom, Semi
27- 30.18 ( 90.54) - LES DELDERFIELD  4-1  Brendan Marren 
Hunslet Carr, Semi
28- 30.06 ( 90.18) - GARRY THOMPSON   3-0  Les Delderfield
Carlton, Semi
29- 29.84 ( 89.52) - BRENDAN MARREN   3-2  Les Delderfield
Lea Mount, Semi
30- 29.47 ( 88.41) - DAZ TWIST        3-0  Willie Kershaw 
East Leeds SC, Semi
31- 29.44 ( 88.32) - BRENDAN MARREN   4-0  Dave Smith     
Pontefract EX, Final
32- 29.31 ( 87.93) - LES DELDERFIELD  3-1  John Martin    
Crigglestone, Semi

These are the Top 32 Averages recorded from around the Boards in 2011, obviously these games were just a small percentage of the overall games played during the season.

1 - 36.66 (109.98) - DAVE SMITH       3-0  Brendan Marren  
    Townville, Round 5
1 - 36.66 (109.98) - BOB BIRKENSHAW   3-0  Gary Cathcart   
    Tyersal, Round 2
3 - 34.16 (102.48) - BRENDAN MARREN   3-0  Willie Kershaw  
    Grand Final, Round 2
4 - 33.42 (100.26) - JAMES WILSON     3-1  Pete Ackroyd    
    East Leeds SC, Round 2
5 - 33.40 (100.20) - LES DELDERFIELD  3-0  Jonathan Daniels
    Pontefract SS, Q,Final
5 - 33.40 (100.20) - STEVE FINNERTY   3-0  Willie Kershaw  
    Morley, Round 1
7 - 32.70 ( 98.10) - JOE CULLEN       3-2  Jonathan Hewitt 
    Harold Club 1, Round 2
8 - 32.67 ( 98.01) - GARRY THOMPSON   3-0  Daz Twist       
    Crossgates, Round 4
9 - 32.67 ( 98.01) - DAVE COPLEY      3-0  Trevor Tye      
    Woodbottom, Round 1
10- 31.92 ( 95.76) - DAVE SMITH       3-1  Willie Kershaw  
    Glasshoughton, Round 1
11- 31.34 ( 94.02) - MARTIN ATKINS    3-1  Jonathan Hewitt 
    Tyersal, Q,Final
12- 31.31 ( 93.93) - BRYAN HARRISON   3-0  Mark Featherstone
    Hunslet Carr, Round 2
12- 31.31 ( 93.93) - GARRY THOMPSON   3-0  Dave Calvert    
    Crossgates, Round 3
12- 31.31 ( 93.93) - DAVE COPLEY      3-0  Peter Armitage  
    Harold Club 2, Q,Final
15- 31.15 ( 93.45) - Willie Kershaw   0-3  Brendan Marren  
    Grand Final, Round 2
16- 30.80 ( 92.40) - BRENDAN MARREN   3-1  Jonathan Hewitt 
    Hunslet, Round 2
17- 30.41 ( 91.23) - BRENDAN MARREN   3-1  Dave Smith      
    Rowland Road 1, Q,Final
18- 30.39 ( 91.17) - DAVE SMITH       3-1  Les Delderfield 
    East Leeds SN, Round 3
19- 30.27 ( 90.81) - Les Delderfield  1-3  DAVE SMITH      
    East Leeds SN, Round 3
20- 30.06 ( 90.18) - BRENDAN MARREN   3-0  Darren Hale     
    Hunslet Carr, Q,Final
21- 30.01 ( 90.03) - WILLIE KERSHAW   3-2  Bryan Harrison  
    Singing Man, Round 2
22- 29.47 ( 88.41) - MARK HANSLIP     3-0  Aaron Poole     
    Crigglestone, Round 1
22- 29.47 ( 88.41) - BRENDAN MARREN   3-0  Steve Kemp      
    Pontefract SS, Round 1
24- 29.19 ( 87.57) - Willie Kershaw   2-3  LES DELDERFIELD 
    Hunslet Carr, Q,Final
25- 29.16 ( 87.48) - Martin Atkins    2-3  BOB PINDER      
    Pontefract SS, Round 3
26- 29.08 ( 87.24) - LES DELDERFIELD  3-2  Willie Kershaw  
    Hunslet Carr, Q,Final
27- 29.06 ( 87.18) - JONATHAN HEWITT  3-1  Bryan Harrison  
    Pontefract SS, Round 4
28- 29.01 ( 87.03) - TONY DARLOW      3-1  Steve Hattersley
    Pontefract SS, Q,Final
29- 28.90 ( 86.70) - WILLIE KERSHAW   3-0  Darren Hale     
    Crossgates, Round 3
30- 28.88 ( 86.64) - DAZ TWIST        3-1  Josh Thompson   
    Harold Club 2, Q,Final
31- 28.86 ( 86.58), Jonathan Hewitt  1-3  MARTIN ATKINS   
    Tyersal, Q,Final
32- 28.65 ( 85.95), BOB BIRKENSHAW   3-1  Wayne Woodhouse 
    Hunslet, Round 3 

A hectic day in store especially for Harry Firth and Mick Dodds our two main organisers who were responsible for overseeing Youth, Ladies and Main Finals as well as a Pairs Competition, a tough task made more difficult without the use of a microphone. As the day unfolded there was the usual mix of high drama, tension and excellent darts along with a fair degree of controversy too. The Youth Finals would kick off the day followed by the Ladies Finals, then The Pairs Event and finally The Main Finals.

YOUTH FINALS

LAST 8

Ryan Hoggarth 3-0 Macauley Gamble
Jamie Ogley   3-2 Calum Gill
Sam Hastings  3-0 Shane Cathcart
Josh Clough   w/o Lewis Pride

SEMI FINALS

Jamie Ogley   3-0 Ryan Hoggarth
Sam Hastings  3-2 Josh Clough

FINAL

Jamie Ogley   3-1 Sam Hastings

There was to be controversy from the word go as Harrogate’s Lewis Pride was amazingly scratched from the event. The organisers had received a call to say Lewis had been held up in traffic and therefore wouldn’t arrive for the start time but would be there shortly afterwards. His opponent Josh Clough was informed of the situation and exercised his right to claim the match which he was entitled to do but hardly within the spirit of the game as most other players were shocked and surprised by his decision. Can’t recall another instance at BDP where this course of action has been taken, some would say a kind of poetic justice was done when Josh went out in the next game to Sam Hastings who would now line up against Jamie Ogley in the Final after having survived a major scare against Calum Gill in the opener before a more straight forward victory in the Semi over Ryan Hoggarth. The difference in appearance between the two finalists couldn’t be more stark with Jamie aged 13/14 having the strapping physique of a Rugby League Second Rower and looking like he would be able to sink 8 pints of Guinness without any trouble at all, whereas 11 year old Sam is barely half the size and looks like a little angel with his long straight blonde hair, however he is a little demon on the dart board as quite a few adult victims can testify this year. He gave a good account of himself again in the Final but the extra firepower of Jamie proved decisive and he collected the £160 winner’s cheque to cap off a tremendous season for him.

LADIES FINALS

LAST 8

Penny Shaw       3-1 Tracey Gledhill
Sharon Whitfield 3-0 Kath Wilson
Laura Tye        3-2 Lynne Horne
Michelle Binns   3-0 Leah Wiltshire

SEMI FINALS

Sharon Whitfield 3-1 Penny Shaw
Laura Tye        3-0 Michelle Binns

FINAL

Laura Tye        3-2 Sharon Whitfield

A successful defence of her Title for Chesterfields Laura Tye after making the decision to compete in the Ladies Finals when she had the choice after finishing 47th in the overall Rankings. With the Ladies Final 8 already shorn of 2 of the top ranked players Laura’s decision to defend gave the competition credibility not only in terms of a Champions defence but the list of Ladies next in line were getting thin on the ground at the lower end of the scale of Rankings. In order to win Laura had to overcome tough challengers with both Lynne Horne and Sharon Whitfield taking her to a deciding leg. A great year for the ever smiling Derbyshire girl who even managed to find time to have a baby inbetween competitions back in the Autumn.

PAIRS FINALS

SEMI FINALS

J Wilson/D Wilson  2-1 D Copley/J Daniels
T Darlow/B Pinder  2-1 L Delderfield/W Kershaw

FINAL

J Wilson/D Wilson  2-0 T Darlow/B Pinder

More controversy again before a dart was thrown in the Pairs Comp regarding the eligibility of players to enter the Comp, most players feelings being that the Comp should only be for players that have competed in at least 1 tournament during the course of the season, a sense of a gatecrasher muscling in on a private party as BDO star and England International Scott Waites turned up to play having not been seen at a BDP event all season, however with no stipulations attached to the Pairs event there was nothing to say that Scott or anyone else for that matter couldn’t play, maybe a loophole that needs looking into at the annual AGM in January possibly. Once again though justice seemed to be done as Scott and his partner Veejay Kumar went down in a Prelim game to the Wilson Brothers, the great man from Halifax / Huddersfield fresh from winning The Zuiderduin Masters in Holland can now concentrate on the bigger fish down at the Lakeside in his quest to be World Champ and goes there with everyone at BDP’s best wishes along with the rest of the Yorkshire players. As it is James Wilson is conquering nearly every challenge put in front of him at the moment so it was no real surprise that along with brother Dave, went on to win another 5 games including the Final against the formidable Sheffield pairing of Bob Pinder and Tony Darlow in a best of 3 legs encounter.

MAIN FINALS

ROUND 1

Aaron Poole     3-0 Danny Hall
Steve Kemp      3-0 Steve Cadera
John Richardson 3-0 Shirley Sanderson
Pete Riley      3-1 Jason Stockings
Dave Smith      3-0 Louise Simmonds
Colin Hendry    3-1 Joe Harrison
Mark Hanslip    3-0 Rob Holroyd
Pat Blakely     3-1 Peter Baker
Simon Wintle    3-1 Gary Cathcart
John Utting     3-1 Jonathan Daniels
Trevor Tye      3-1 Simon Hall
Mick Wiltshire  3-1 Daz Twist
Scott Smith     3-2 Ian Falkingham
Andrew Clifford 3-2 Ian Holmes
Ian Brown       3-2 Steve Jones
Pete Ackroyd    3-1 Mark Featherstone

Once again major drama before a dart had even been thrown as a mix up with the number tags meant the 1st Round draw for players ranked 17 to 48 had to be scrapped, rehashed and then redrawn, an unfortunate mistake but just one of those things that can happen from time to time, particularly unlucky for Louise Simmonds who drew the player that all others wanted to avoid in the Opening Round in Dave Smith and was understandably angry after going down 3-0 to the Ferrybridge PDC star after originally having an easier tie on paper. Another man the players were looking to avoid was 7/1 shot Daz Twist, however playing Mick Wiltshire was never going to be an easy tie for Daz and so it proved as the tall Otley player took out a brilliant 150 shot to win the game and cause the first upset of the day. Mark Hanslip ( 23.85 ) one of 5 Shipley players in the Finals and bristling at a perceived injustice at his tournament odds of 50/1 looked in a determined mood as he swept past highly fancied 16/1 dark horse Rob Holroyd ( 20.60 ) by 3 legs to 0 in 19, 23 and 21 darts, a solid performance as if to prove a point from the otherwise jolly and jokey man known as ‘Hanny’. Disappointing from Rob as he never looked settled and fell away in the final leg. Another Halifax player who fell apart in the final leg was Steve Jones ( 19.69 ) who looked to be in command with clinical finishes of 78 and 80 to lead Ian Brown ( 22.19 ) 2-0, the Kippax player though was scoring well throughout and fought back to level with 19 and 21 darters, an error strewn last leg especially from Steve with a nightmare sequence of poor scoring as the temperature rose and the tension mounted, allowing Ian to coast to victory in 29 unconvincing darts, a fine comeback win for a player still feeling the effects of a broken hand and wrist from an accident a few weeks ago. In the GF preview John Utting was described as having the game to challenge if he could find his real form after a poor run of results in the closing events, maybe that form had returned as he derailed another fancied player in Glasshoughton Winner Jonathan Daniels by 3 legs to 1.

ROUND 2

Bryan Harrison   3-0 Andrew Clifford
Dave Smith       3-0 Nigel Atkinson
Mick Wiltshire   3-1 Steve Kelly
Dave Copley      3-1 Steve Hattersley
Pete Ackroyd     3-2 Les Delderfield
Rob Sharp        3-1 Kyle Richardson
Trevor Tye       3-1 Pete Riley
Brendan Marren   3-0 Willie Kershaw
Tony Darlow      3-2 Mark Hanslip
Colin Hendry     3-1 John Richardson
Pat Blakely      3-2 Paul Doherty
Scott Smith      3-2 Steve Kemp
Ian Brown        3-2 Aaron Poole
Jonathan Hewitt  3-1 Simon Wintle
Bob Pinder       3-1 John Utting
Darren Hale      3-1 Craig Nelmes

More murmurs of discontent as some of the top players thought the draw at this stage should be seeded so the Top 16 would all play Round 1 qualifiers, as it was the draw was an open one and threw up some explosive clashes, not least 3/1 Fav and No 1 ranked Brendan Marren ( 34.16 ) v No 6 ranked and last year’s GF winner Willie Kershaw, an amazing exhibition of darts as Willie blasted in a 180, 2 x 134′s, 2 x 100′s and an average of 31.15 and didn’t even get a shot at a double, I’ll say it again, he didn’t even get a shot a double !, that was because Brendan was like a man possessed with 14, 15 and 15 dart legs and a barrage of 10 x 3 figure scores including a 180, only 4 scores in the whole game from him under 100, they were 81 which was to leave 40, the 40 itself to win leg 1, a 61 to win the match and the other score a 95 in leg 2, as player turned pundit Wayne Mardle would say ‘Lunacy, sheer Lunacy’. Needless to say Willie being a ‘seed’, very unhappy afterwards at having to play Brendan at this stage. The drama continued with the next game on Board 2 as 33/1 shot Pete Ackroyd ( 24.58 ) played out of his skin to hit the scores and finishes at the right times to take out major player Les Delderfield ( 26.92 ), holding his nerve at the end to take out the Double 10 after Les had just missed bull on a do or die 88 shot. Dave Smith ( 22.77 ) made sure there wasn’t another shock on Board 2 as he saw off Castleford’s Nigel Atkinson ( 22.48 ), the 3-0 scoreline looking comfortable but in reality it was anything but and could have been a different story had Nigel taken his chances on the doubles. The Shipley challenge all ended at this early stage as Mark Hanslip slipped out 3-2 to Tony Darlow after another fine effort.

ROUND 3

Dave Smith      3-1 Bryan Harrison
Dave Copley     3-2 Mick Wiltshire
Rob Sharp       3-1 Pete Ackroyd
Brendan Marren  3-0 Trevor Tye
Tony Darlow     3-1 Colin Hendry
Scott Smith     3-1 Pat Blakely
Jonathan Hewitt 3-0 Ian Brown
Bob Pinder      3-1 Darren Hale

Easy going Otley Car Valeter Mick Wiltshire looked like leathering on form Yorkshire County A player Dave Copley as he hoovered up the first 2 legs in 21 and 17 darts with the aid of a bull finish on 75 in leg 1 and a 180 score in leg 2, cheered on by his enthusiastic wife and daughter Mick was throwing brilliant darts as he piled on the pressure in leg 3 with 100, 100 and 135 scores, however class players have a knack of pulling out a massive shot just when they most need it and Dave showed he wasn’t about to be soft soaped with a crucial 106 checkout to turn the game, a 17 dart leveller followed as he began to shine, however the gloss was taken off the game in an extremely nervy last leg as both players missed chances before Thurnscoe’s No 3 clinched it with a 28 darter. Dave closing the gap all the time in the Thurnscoe pecking order and is now just behind the Great Brian Dawson and the slightly less great Gordon Leeming, after his displays this year. Dave Smith a little lacklustre in his opening game was fully focused with brilliant outshots of 130 and 144 to see off the considerable threat of Bryan Harrison, while Bryan’s close friend Ian Brown did very little wrong but was blown away by the power of Jonathan Hewitt. Rank outsider Scott Smith from Halifax in his first full season in competitive darts was making a mockery of his 70/1 odds with his third victory of the day, this time over Pat Blakely after earlier wins over Ian Falkingham and Steve Kemp.

QUARTER FINALS

Dave Smith     3-0 Dave Copley
Brendan Marren 3-1 Rob Sharp
Tony Darlow    3-1 Scott Smith
Bob Pinder     3-2 Jonathan Hewitt

West Leeds star Jonathan Hewitt ( 25.80 ) very much a player that plays with his heart on his sleeve as he displays a full range of emotions during games. Those emotions probably cost him a Semi Final spot today as Bob Pinder ( 25.43 ) battled back to win from 2-0 down against him. Cruising at 2-0 up after 18 and 20 dart legs the match began to turn as Bob awoke from his slumber to fire in a 17 darter, until that point Jonathan’s demeanour had been like a pan of cold water just warming nicely on a low light with no cause for concern but as Bob turned up the heat in leg 4 with opening scores of 140, 180,and 125 to close out the leg in 16 darts, the water was beginning to simmer after Jonathan had missed a dart for the match in that leg. In a tense decider Bob missed 2 darts at Double 18 on a 96 finish to hand Jonathan a shot at 63, a single 13 then disaster as he hit big 15 instead of big 10 then tossed the last dart blindly into the board in frustration to leave him on 21, that early sedate pan of water was now bubbling up on gas mark 5 as Bob moved in on Double 9, however more drama as he was outside the wire on all 3 attempts. Still angry from the previous throw Jonathan inexplicably missed a big number, then unbelievably missed the board so not getting a shot at the double again, needless to say as Bob nailed the elusive Double 9 first dart to end the misery, the lid was finally blown off the pan with the hot water spraying all over the kitchen as the temperature reached boiling point. Only a hastily bought cold bottle of blue WKD by a close friend could put out the fire in Jonathan’s heart as he was left to contemplate a missed chance and surely a harsh lesson learned for future times. Elsewhere Dave Smith ended Dave Copley’s dream with a 3-0 win while Brendan Marren and Tony Darlow were both overwhelming favourites to win their ties but were both made to work hard for their 3-1 victories after spirited and determined efforts from Rob Sharp and Scott Smith.

SEMI FINAL 1

Dave Smith ( 31.93 ) 3-2 ( 31.16 ) Brendan Marren

All day the tournament favourite Brendan Marren had looked like the man to beat and it was always going to take a Herculean effort to do it. Dave Smith provided it in a thrilling game that went the distance with the advantage of throw proving decisive in the end. Brendan threw the kitchen sink at Dave in the opener with scores of 180, 60, 100 and then just the wrong side of the bull wire on a magnificent 161 effort, all to no avail though as the Ferrybridge man held firm with a great 14 dart leg of his own, the blistering pace of the game was maintained right the way through as ‘The Afterburner’ scorched in a 115 finish to level up. A 180 from Big Dave helped him take leg 3 with a 20 darter and he had a chance to wrap up the match but missed 2 darts at Double 4 in the next leg as Brendan saved it in 16 darts. Much like the opening leg Brendan went all guns blazing to force the break with scores of 100, 180, 60 and 65 to leave 96 after 12 darts, once again ‘The Rhino’ stayed thick skinned and repelled the onslaught with equally impressive scores of 140, 100, 94 and a game clinching 131 to leave 36 which he duly despatched for a brilliant under pressure 13 darter. A superb game of fast flowing rat a tat darts which the crowd thoroughly enjoyed.

SEMI FINAL 2

Tony Darlow ( 27.04 ) 3-1 ( 24.65 ) Bob Pinder

Travel partners and close friends Tony Darlow and Bob Pinder clashed in the all Sheffield Semi, it was Tony that took an early strangle hold on the game racing into a 2-0 lead fairly comfortably in 14 and 17 darts and could have wrapped up the match in leg 3 but missed 2 darts at Double 15. One of Bob’s great attributes is he never, ever gives up or gets flustered and is always cool and composed, he took out 80 with the last dart and was back in the game, then such is darts the very next leg he missed 5 darts at Doubles to draw level, even then he might have half expected another shot as Tony stepped up for 76, the equally cool lefthander didn’t give his friend the chance though as he took out the finish to book a Final date with Dave Smith. Not quite the fireworks of Semi 1 but still an entertaining game none the less.

FINAL

Tony Darlow ( 26.62 ) 4-2 ( 25.58 ) Dave Smith

Only half a point separated the Finalists in the Pre tournament betting list as 5/1 Tony Darlow started out as 4th favourite and Dave Smith 5th at 11/2 so very little to choose between the players only the form on the day of which Dave had been superb to see off Bryan Harrison, Dave Copley and Brendan Marren whereas Tony had been more steady than spectacular in his victories. However every game is different and the form of the two players in the Semi’s would have no bearing on the outcome of the Final. A quality opening leg won by Dave on throw with a magic 122 checkout with Tony right on his heels requiring just 31 after 15 darts, this was a pattern of play that was to continue right the way through with every leg evenly contested with break opportunities for both players. The real decisive blow came really in the last leg as Tony fired in scores of 140, 80, 100 then a killer 145 to leave 36, a shot very similar to what Dave had done to edge out Brendan in the Semi and just like Dave did in that game he made no mistake to coolly slot home the Double 18 with the second dart with Dave powerless to do anything about it despite playing a cracking leg himself having just 76 left after 12 darts. Despite a mid game lull which was understandable after such a gruelling day both players performed admirably to produce an exciting Final. 16 x 100 pluses for Tony with 2 x 90 pluses while Dave hit 9 x 100 pluses with 5 x 90 pluses.

SUMMARY

Despite a few hiccups and moans here and there the 2011 Grand Finals were a success, always difficult to please everyone all of the time with issues like the formats, the start times, the venue etc but by and large most people seemed to enjoy the occasion. In my opinion the venue was befitting of The Grand Finals and all credit to the Committee for choosing Cue Gardens and the staff and management there too for doing a fine job of setting up the venue and providing excellent service throughout the day. The quality of the darts all afternoon was there for all to see with Tony Darlow, Laura Tye and Jamie Ogley all deserved winners on the day. We can now look forward to an equally busy 2012 as the calendar is already booked up for most available dates with any changes to the rules, if any, to be discussed at the AGM in early January. One topic up for discussion is the possible renaming of Bradford Darts with the general feeling being that the original name is too regionalised and in effect the product has now outgrown the name, maybe something like White Rose Darts would be more appropriate these days as the events are now spread far and wide from the original small Bradford venues of the early years. The committee are always looking into ways of improving for the benefit of the dart players and will listen to any constructive comments in that regard, however negative and unfair scathing critics, mostly in the heat of the moment it has to be said is uncalled and for which they do not deserve as we have to remember these dedicated individuals give up a lot of their time for the love of the game for little or no reward, they are the real stars of our game because without them there is no Bradford Darts – then what would we all do.

Finally on a sad note Halifax player Dave Cameron passed away over the Christmas period. Dave was a well known figure on the Yorkshire Darts scene, competing in local and Super League as well as being a regular attendee at BDP over the years. Seems he had been battling with illness for quite some time according to the players in Halifax that knew him best. He will be sadly missed by all of us in 2012 and the years to follow. RIP Dave Cameron.

In this year’s field of 48 the majority of players are Leeds based which covers a vast area from Otley in the North to Middleton in the South, across to Kippax in the East and Wortley in the West, a fair contingent too from the Halifax area, with the rest spread all around West Yorkshire apart from the South Yorkshire challengers from Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster and Thurnscoe, not forgetting the furthest traveller Trevor Tye from Chesterfield in Derbyshire.

Of the field itself, very hard to see a winner coming from outside the top 12 in the betting, although no doubt that most of the other players have the game to cause a shock or two but the consistency throughout tournaments lies with the top players. Quite a number of established names like James Wilson, Garry Thompson, Martin Atkins, and Brian Dawson not in this year’s line up solely down to the fact that the darting calendar is now so full they haven’t been able to attend the fixtures. Other serious players such as Dave Wilson, Dave Calvert, Jaz Esteve, Wayne Woodhouse, Alex Pride and Stuart Monaghan haven’t made it this year either so there should be opportunities for some of the lesser established players to shine on Dec 17.

The new rearranged Finals venue at Cue Gardens, Bradford is, according to witnesses that have had a sneak preview, absolutely top notch in set up so we can all look forward to a great day on Saturday and the best of luck to all players.

Grand Final Odds

3/1 F – Brendan Marren – 1 ( Keighley ) – This year’s favourite Brendan has had another superb season contesting a staggering 9 Finals, although his 2 Title victories at Pontefract Ex Services Club and Otley SC 1 probably less of a return than he would have expected with 7 Runners Up spots. 3 other SF’s and 2 QF’s too for ‘ The Afterburner ‘ also known as ‘ BJ ‘. The Mr Consistency of the BDP he very rarely averages much below the 26 / 27 mark and will be very hard to beat on Finals day.

7/2 – Dave Copley – 12 ( Thurnscoe ) – Very much the inform player with his 2 Title wins this season both coming towards the back end at Harold Club 2 and Otley SC 2, a prolific scorer ‘ The Dart Knight ‘ rarely strays out of the 20 segment while his finishing has improved considerably making him the complete player. A Finalist at the opening event at Rowland Road as well as a SF Final and 4 QF’s to show for a productive season for this cool customer who will be a major threat on the day

4/1 – Les Delderfield – 5 ( Shipley ) – Always among the front runners Les along with James Wilson has the most number of wins this season with 4, 3 of those coming in a golden back to back spell in tournaments 6, 8 and 9 at Hunslet, Crigglestone and Shafton, missing out tournament 7 due to major play off event on the same day, his other success coming in tournament 3 at Rothwell, a Runners Up spot at Kippax with 3 SF’s and 2 QF’s show his class, regularly attacks the 19′s where he is just as deadly scoring numerous 171 and 133 scores, unflappable character who shows little or no emotions on the oche, giving little away to his opponents.

5/1 – Tony Darlow – 2 ( Sheffield ) – A tremendous season for Tony establishing himself among the leading players with victory at Pontefract SSC then going close in the following 2 events both times finishing Runner Up at Harold Club 1 and Glasshoughton, a SF and 5 QF’s too as he was rarely out of the money places, vastly experienced he knows what is required to win tournaments and will fear no one.

11/2 – Dave Smith – 49 ( Ferrybridge ) – In by the skin of his teeth but deservedly so in many respects, no tournaments win for Big Dave this season but a Runner Up at Pontefract Ex Ser Club with 5 SF’s and 3 QF’s from only 14 events played represents a healthy return. A silky smooth style Dave has seen and done it all in darts and comes into The Finals in good form on the back of a SF in a high profile Comp at Southport, will have to negotiate a Prelim game which could be tricky.

6/1 – Willie Kershaw – 6 ( Shipley ) – Just a solitary title success early on at Sowerby Bridge for Willie, a memorable one at that though as he came from 3-0 down to beat Craig Barrett, in general though not as formidable as previous seasons suffering a few early shock defeats. Still can never be written off with a Runner Up spot at Shafton along with 3 other SF and 2 QF’s, will not relinquish his GF Title without a hell of a fight one suspects.

13/2 – Bob Pinder – 4 ( Sheffield ) – A very steady and methodical player Bob has been consistent all season without managing to land a major prize, he went closest at Tyresal in comp 2 finishing Runner Up to Garry Thompson, 2 other SF’s and 3 QF’s show that he will be there or thereabouts once again, has won other tournaments this year so quite capable of winning the biggest prize of all.

7/1 – Daz Twist – 17 ( Leeds ) – Lost a shoot out to Steve Kelly for 16th spot which could prove costly depending on the draw, although more than capable of coming through the toughest of fields as he has proved this season with his victory at East Leeds SC, amazingly ‘ Dazzling Daz ‘ also reached the Final at Otley 1 while struggling with a shoulder injury as well as reaching a SF and 2 QF’s. A formidable player on his day and definitely one to avoid in the Prelim especially.

8/1 – Brian Harrison – 3 ( Leeds ) – Only a matter of time before Bryan lands a BDP title, the direct lefthander coming close at the last event at Otley 2, losing 4-2 to Dave Copley in the Final, a SF and a creditable 6 QF showings represent a highly successful season for him, a Finalist only a couple of years ago at the 2009 GF and is playing better than he was back then, has the firepower to go all the way this time.

17/2 – Jonathan Hewitt – 7 ( Leeds ) – A superb first half of the season for ‘ The Albino ‘ highlighted by a brilliant Final win over Garry Thompson at Carlton Club, a Runner Up too at Rothwell with a narrow defeat to Les Delderfield, 2 SF’s and 3 QF’s as he continues to be a major threat in BDP events although not quite as prolific in the 2nd half of the season as he tinkers with the idea of changing darts which can be fatal.

9/1 – Daz Hale – 9 ( Huddersfield ) – A Yorkshire County call up shows how highly ‘ The Sniper ‘ is rated. Still a BDP title remains elusive though with a Runners Up spot to Kyle Richardson at Townville his closest effort this season, a further SF and 4 QF’s very respectable again from him this season. Has self belief and will be confident of doing major damage on Finals day.

11/1 – Jonathan Daniels – 31 ( Barnsley ) – Returned to the big time in stunning style this season with victory at Glasshoughton over Tony Darlow. ‘ The Cuddly Bear ‘ now looks like the player of old again with a SF and 4 QF’s under his belt, represents good value for an each way bet.

12/1 – Steve Kelly – 16 ( Halifax ) – ‘ The Halifax Bomber ‘ just refuses to lie down, one of the elder statesmen at BDP he can still mix it with the best of them, a dramatic last comp 4th Round win over Daz Twist secured his top 16 place, while a SF defeat to Jonathan Hewitt at Rothwell in comp 3 is his best showing this season, 2 other QF places shows he can never ever be taken lightly.

14/1 – Steve Hattersley – 10 ( Halifax ) – A major return to form this season for Steve who has had some fine results, most notably 2 SF appearances at Crossgates and Kippax losing to Brendan Marren and Garry Thompson, the only disappointment for him was not carrying his form through into those Semi’s, 3 other QF’s though represents a massive turn around in fortunes and makes him a serious dark horse on Finals day.

16/1 – Rob Holroyd – 40 ( Halifax ) – Rapid progress this season from Rob with some fine wins under his belt, mostly notably 2 victories over 2 time GF winner Brian Dawson amongst others. 2 QF’s in the latter part of the season at Morley and Lea Mount shows his capabilities. On form, confident and fearless so could be a real handful even for the top players on the 17th Dec.

18/1 – Kyle Richardson – 8 ( Leeds ) – Always a doubled edged sword is Kyle, a tremendously talented player but with a temperament as fragile as Bone China. A turbulent love life played out like a soap opera on Facebook probably doesn’t help, especially for the readers when half the letters are missing making it so hard to follow for anyone over a certain age. Still when in the right mindset he can be brilliant as his Title victory over Daz Hale at Townville showed, largely disappointing apart from that glorious success with just a QF spot to show for the rest of the season.

20/1 – Nigel Atkinson – 13 ( Castleford ) – Nigel’s best results coming in the first half of the season with 3 QF’s, 2 of those coming back to back in comps 5 and 6 at Townville and Hunslet Carr, his other QF appearance coming in comp 13 at Crossgates. If ‘ KNOCKOFF ‘ can produce his early season form then he could well cause some major upsets.

22/1 – John Utting – 36 ( Doncaster ) – Showed his capabilities with a superb Runners Up performance at East Leeds, beating Bob Pinder in the Semi before going down to Daz Twist in a Final that could have gone either way. Has found the going tough since that heady day though with very little joy in his last 6 events. Has the game if he can just find the form again.

25/1 – Mick Wiltshire – 19 ( Leeds ) – A decent season for the Otley man with more than a few decent scalps under his belt, his best performance of the season coming at Harold Club 1 with a well merited QF place going down 3-2 in a tight tussle with Mick Crowson, 3 other Last 16 spots have helped tally up Mick’s total to qualify comfortably for the Finals.

25/1 – Mark Featherstone – 44 ( Leeds ) – A strong second half of the season for Mark who has made great strides this year, a fine spell of 3 back to back tournaments saw him collect a QF place at Morley in the middle of 2 Last 16 spots at East Leeds and Kippax, beating some very good players along the way especially at Morley where he defeated Mark Lawrence, Steve Kelly and Jonathan Daniels, very dangerous if he can reproduce that form on Finals day.

28/1 – Steve Jones – 28 ( Halifax ) – Experienced campaigner Steve looking in decent form going into the Finals having performed really well in the second half of the season to qualify with plenty to spare. His best effort came with QF spot at Corpus Christi which included a 2nd Round win over highly rated Tony Darlow. A gritty determined player who is quite capable of beating anyone on his day.

30/1 – Steve Kemp – 21 ( Leeds ) – Not really produced his best form at BDP this year with only 1 money place in the Last 16 to show for his efforts. Has shown his real capabilities in other similar tournaments most famously a 5-3 victory over England International Garry Thompson which over that sort of distance shows it was no fluke. Sometimes loses concentration on the oche which can be his undoing but has the game in his locker to trouble anyone.

30/1 – Colin Hendry – 27 ( Castleford ) – Another very dangerous player that hasn’t really produced his best form at BDP this year with a QF early on at Tyresal his best result, a Last 16 at Rowland Road 2 being his only other venture into the money stakes this year. Quite capable though of turning up on the day and playing brilliant such is his character.

33/1 – Craig Nelmes – 11 ( Halifax ) – An ever present record this year securing Craig’s place in the top 16. Has had an on/off battle with dartitis for a long time but when he manages to shake it off he can be very dangerous, a couple of Last 16′s his best outings this season at Otley 1 and Corpus Christi, capable of much more as he as shown in the past if he can find his best form and keep the demons at bay.

33/1 – Pete Ackroyd – 26 ( Halifax ) – A very talented player capable of putting in mid to late 20′s averages as he often does in SL, so perhaps his results at BDP this season may be a little disappointing given his ability. 2 Last 16 places at Harold Club 2 and Lea Mount from 22 appearances represent his best efforts this season although both of those coming recently so maybe coming into some better form approaching the Finals.

35/1 – Rob Sharp – 14 ( Leeds ) – Solid player with vast experience who can cause anyone problems, has performed reasonably well this season to finish 14th without really threatening at the later stages. 4 Last 16 spots at Barnsley, Carlton, Glasshoughton and Harold Club 2 helped secure his top 16 place, has the scoring power most of the time but sometimes his finishing lets him down and costs him games.

35/1 – Paul Doherty – 15 ( Bradford ) – Almost identical record to Rob Sharp this season, an ever present record and 4 Last 16′s. Paul’s last one coming in the final event at Otley to secure his top 16 place. Another vastly experienced player with the game to beat the top players as he has shown in the past although he hasn’t managed to beat too many of them during the course of this season. Had darts to beat last year’s GF winner Willie Kershaw in the opening Round last year so can never be discounted.

40/1 – Trevor Tye – 41 ( Chesterfield ) – The wily old Derbyshire Fox showed there is still plenty left in him with a stunning victory over Willie Kershaw at Kippax, far and away his best victory of the season. A couple of forays into the money with Last 16′s at Crossgates and Otley 2, will need to find that kind of form to progress far on Saturday.

40/1 – Gary Cathcart – 32 ( Leeds ) – A comeback year for Gary as he showed signs of his old magic at times especially at Glasshoughton where he toppled Dave Smith on the way to a QF placing. At the moment still only half the player he was but slowly and steadily rebuilding his career and if he can produce that sort of form on Finals day then who knows how far he could go.

40/1 – Pat Blakely – 24 ( Huddersfield ) – Another player amongst the many that every now and again produces a shock result, just like ‘ The Silver Dream Machine ‘ did at Morley to take out overwhelming favourite Dave Copley, the trouble is finding the consistency to produce that form game after game which is what separates the top players from the rest, the trouble for the top players is knowing when Pat will produce that kind of performance against them. Not often enough Pat will feel after just a solitary Last 16 spot at Pontefract Ex Ser Club in comp 8.

40/1 – Simon Wintle – 20 ( Leeds ) – So many players so evenly matched at this stage of the betting with Simon another player capable of causing shocks as he proved against Bob Pinder at Otley 2, can be erratic or brilliant in equal measure with such a fast unpredictable throw, once again a single Last 16 at Rowland Road 2 proving to be his best effort of the campaign.

40/1 – Pete Riley – 34 ( Halifax ) – Yet another unpredictable player, can be poor but can be brilliant also depending on his mood at the time. A happy go lucky character who likes to play with a drink and a smoke so struggles sometimes without having a puff between throws now. 2 Last 16 showings from Pete at Rowland Road 1 and Crigglestone are his best efforts this season.

40/1 – Ian Brown – 43 ( Leeds ) – Has done really well to recover from a broken wrist which forced him to miss a couple of events, still feeling his way back into form so the Finals may just have come round a bit too soon for him, however he tends to produce his best on the big occasions so can’t be under estimated. A Last 16 at Crossgates before the wrist injury was Ian’s best showing this season, tends to exercise his best operatic singing voice at Grand Finals too for extra entertainment later in the day.

50/1 – Mark Hanslip – 18 ( Shipley ) – Generally a little disappointing throughout the season with just a single Last 16 spot at Townville from 23 appearances, however from nowhere he turned the formbook on its head in the final event at Otley 2 to defeat the formidable Brendan Marren, a result totally out of the blue given his patchy form at BDP this year. Can he send shockwaves around the building at Cue Gardens on Saturday that will be the question after that one.

50/1 – Jason Stockings – 30 ( Shipley ) – Looks to have modified his throw in recent weeks to give the darts more impetus on landing which should cut down on the bounce outs from now on, even before this amendment despite looking ungainly with his action he managed a few decent results with a Last 16 at Sowerby Bridge in comp 4. Has fared better in the second half with another 2 Last 16 ventures at Kippax and Harold Club 2. A good role model for the new breed of slim, fit, trendy dart players coming into the game.

60/1 – Scott Smith – 23 ( Bingley ) – Another player with a 100% attendance record this season, accumulating steady points to qualify comfortably with a total of 162. Saved his best effort for the penultimate tournament at Lea Mount where he reached the Last 16. Could be a tricky opponent if he can take that form into Cue Gardens.

60/1 – Simon Hall - 42 ( Keighley ) – Just about doing enough from his 22 outings this year, a Last 16 place at Harold Club 2 in comp 21 more or less sealed his place in the Finals, lively, bubbly character who puts a lot of effort into being able to attend BDP with his shift patterns at work so deserves the reward of being in the top 48.

60/1 – Louise Simmonds – 25 ( Shipley ) – Relishes the challenge of taking on the men and quite often beats a few of them too, as she has shown with a string of 6 Last 32 places but just finding that final hurdle into the money stages a step too far although most of the time she has run into a top player at that stage. A Yorkshire County star she inspires the lady players especially with her talent and enthusiasm for the game.

60/1 – Aaron Poole – 37 ( Leeds ) – Yet another player with a single venture into the Last 16 which shows a capability of winning games, has the ability to do it much more often than just his effort on home territory at Otley SC 1, flattering to deceive at BDP but it wouldn’t t be a massive surprise if he put in a decent challenge on Saturday.

60/1 – John Richardson – 22 ( Leeds ) – An ever present record from John and a reasonably successful season at times upstaging son Kyle with his performances especially at Pontefract SSC where he defeated highly rated Daz Hale on the way to a Last 16 spot, also reached the Last 16 at Rowland Road 2 so has the ability to win games and cause the odd upset.

70/1 – Andrew Clifford – 29 ( Halifax ) – Finally makes it into the Finals after just missing out the previous 2 years, an ever present record helped him stack up the points although he has rarely found any real form in all truth, only getting beyond the 2nd Round once at Harold Club 2. Not impossible to turn form around dramatically as fellow Halifax player Steve Hattersley as shown this season but highly unlikely at the Finals going on this season’s record.

70/1 – Danny Hall – 48 ( Leeds ) – A bye plus a 2nd Round victory over veteran Raymond Long in the final comp at Otley gave Danny the 8 points needed to scrape into the Finals, all boils down to the luck of the draw sometimes as they say, that final 32 spot ended being Danny’s most fruitful return although he will have probably played better and lost in other events. Is a better player than this season’s record suggests having taken Willie Kershaw to a deciding leg in Round 2 at Otley 1 to show he is no mug.

70/1 – Joe Harrison – 39 ( Leeds ) – An encouraging full debut season for young Joe as he looks to follow in his dads footsteps, may have been eligible to play in the youths but if so opted to take his place in the Main Final, getting steadily stronger all the time as he gains knowledge and experience with 3 Last 32 spots coming in tournaments 11, 14 and 22 so has tasted victory a few times although the Grand Finals will probably be a learning experience for him at this stage of his development.

80/1 – Peter Baker – 35 ( Leeds ) – Nothing really to suggest Peter could do much damage on Finals day, a couple of Last 32′s at Otley SC 1 and Harold Club 1 his best returns from 23 appearances this season, other than that all 1st or 2nd Rounds but doing enough to qualify for a shot at the Grand Final.

100/1 – Ian Holmes – 38 ( Bradford ) – A fairly poor return for Ian this year with all of his 23 appearances resulting in either 1st or 2nd Round defeats, has previously had a better record than that but still good enough to get him a place this year, could well be saving his best form for the Finals.

100/1 – Ian Falkingham – 46 ( Huddersfield ) – A bye, then a victory over Damien Holt gave Ian the 8 points he needed to squeeze in the top 48 at the final nail biting event at Otley 2, just like Danny Hall the draw was kind to him on that particular day, all 5,6 and 7 pointers for the rest of his 23 tournaments, a BDP stalwart for years Ian deserves his day in the sun.

125/1 – Steve Cadera – 33 ( Leeds ) – Winning games very few and far between this season for the Londoner now firmly established in the North, like many other players his best result all season came at the last event, a fine victory over Gary Cathcart in the opening Round, looks a better player than his record implies but seems to struggle getting over the line most of the time.

150/1 – Shirley Sanderson – 45 ( Elland ) – Tends to be a little unlucky with the draws, most of the time coming up against the stronger players in the opening couple of Rounds, despite those setbacks Shirley has managed to record victories over Kev Murphy, Luke Cathcart, and Mark Commons this season, has stuck firmly to her guns with her decision to participate in the Main event which she has earned the right to be in. Ironically had she chosen to enter the Ladies Final then the door would have opened up for husband Nick who was next in line in 50th position ahead of Steve Finnerty on appearances.

Ladies Final Odds

8/11 F – Laura Tye
7/ 4 – Lynn Horne
3/1 – Penny Shaw
5/1 – Kath Wilson
8/1 – Michelle Binns
12/1 – Leah Wiltshire
16/1 – Sharon Whitfield
20/1 – Tracey Gledhill

Youths Final Odds

4/6 F – Jamie Ogley
9/4 – Lewis Pride
11/4 – Josh Clough
4/1 – Ryan Hogarth
10/1 – Sam Hastings
25/1 – Shane Cathcart
25/1 – Macauley Gamble
25/1 – Callum Gill

ROUND 1

Sam Fordham         3-1  Kath Wilson
Mark Watkins        3-1  John Roughton
Louise Simmonds     3-0  Lynn Horne
Jaron Esteve        3-0  Callum Gill
Andrew Clifford     3-2  Phil Morley
Wayne Woodhouse     3-0  Mark Gale
Dave Copley         3-0  Pat Meeson
Simon Wintle        3-1  Bob Pinder
Antony Moss         3-1  Eddie Noon
Aaron Poole         3-0  Simon Hall
Phil Whittaker      3-1  Jason Stockings
Tony Darlow         3-0  Darren Hale
Steve Cadera        3-1  Gary Cathcart
Simon Wheeler       3-2  Nick Sanderson
Rob Holroyd         3-1  Laura Tye
Peter Armitage      3-0  Brandon Lawson
Pete Ackroyd        3-0  Scott Smith
Daz Twist           3-1  Nigel Atkinson
Dave Shore          3-0  Kevin Gray
Pat Blakely         3-2  Mark Fordham
Paul Doherty        3-0  Peter Baker
Steve Jones         3-2  Pete Riley
Les Delderfield     3-0  Macauley Gamble
Martin Copperwaite  3-1  Mark Featherstone
Steve Hattersley    3-1  Shirley Sanderson
Steve Finnerty      3-1  Gary Atkinson
Alex Pride          3-1  Craig Nelmes
Jamie Ingle         3-1  Shayne Cathcart
Ian Brown           3-0  Kevin Dilucia
Steve Kemp          3-0  Steve Cadera jnr

Tireless committee man Simon Wintle, responsible for so much good work along with his colleagues at BDP all year, showed he will not be taking part on Finals day just to make up the numbers, the fast throwing Guiseley ace with a massive confidence boosting 3-1 win over Bob Pinder, one of the top performers on the circuit this year. Another Sheffield player Pat Meeson saw his Finals day dream shattered with a 1st Round defeat to form horse Dave Copley while Nick Sanderson’s narrow defeat to Simon Wheeler left him on 140 points and unlikely to qualify. Laura Tye’s defeat to Rob Holroyd meant she would have a nervous wait should she choose the main event as would Shirley Sanderson after defeat to Steve Hattersley although her points tally of 144 likely to be enough. The tie of the Round went Tony Darlow’s way as he beat Daz Hale 3-0.

ROUND 2

Sam Fordham         3-0  Mark Watkins
Louise Simmonds     3-0  Chris Thwaites
Mark Hanslip        3-2  Brendan Marren
Jaron Esteve        3-1  Andrew Clifford
Dave Copley         3-0  Wayne Woodhouse
Jonathan Daniels    3-0  Ian Holmes
Brian Dawson        3-0  Peter Reebanks
James Barton        3-2  Simon Wintle
Antony Moss         3-1  Peter Turner
Aaron Poole         3-1  Steve Allen
Phil Whittaker      3-0  Leah Wiltshire
Tony Darlow         3-0  Joe Harrison
Ian Falkingham      3-1  Damian Holt
Trevor Tye          3-0  Steve Cadera
Rob Sharp           3-0  Simon Wheeler
Ian Ward            3-1  Tony Farrow
Steve Kelly         3-0  Rob Holroyd
Colin Hendry        3-2  Peter Armitage
Pete Ackroyd        3-0  Izzy Wainwright
Daz Twist           3-2  Jonathan Hewitt
Bryan Harrison      3-0  Darren Shore
Danny Hall          3-0  Raymond Long
Mick Wiltshire      3-1  Daz Layden
Jamie Ogley         3-1  John Richardson
Paul Doherty        3-2  Pat Blakely
Steve Jones         3-2  John Utting
Les Delderfield     3-2  Willie Kershaw
Steve Hattersley    3-0  Martin Copperwaite
Alex Pride          3-2  Steve Finnerty
Jamie Ingle         3-2  Mark Wainwright
Lewis Pride         3-2  Ian Brown
Steve Kemp          3-0  Kyle Richardson

By and large Shipley’s Mark Hanslip although qualifying comfortably for the Finals has under achieved this season at BDP with only 1 appearance in the Last 16 to show from 22 events played so far, he is far better than that record suggests though as he proved with a stunning 3-2 win over Brendan Marren who will probably start the Grand Final as the outright favourite to win in most people’s eyes. New Railway SL recruit Daz Twist got one over his new team mate Jonathan Hewitt with a close 3-2 win, while local star Mick Wiltshire outstanding with victory over the dangerous Daz Layden. An agonising last leg defeat for Steve Finnerty to Alex Pride meant his Finals place rested on the decisions of others now. Castleford’s Colin Hendry steady rather than spectacular for most of the season recorded his best result for some time with a 3-2 victory over Peter Armitage, while the big all Shipley battle went to Les Delderfield with a narrow win over close Woodbottom SL team mate Willie Kershaw.

ROUND 3

Sam Fordham         3-2  Louise Simmonds
Jaron Esteve        3-0  Mark Hanslip
Dave Copley         3-2  Jonathan Daniels
James Barton        3-1  Brian Dawson
Aaron Poole         3-0  Antony Moss
Tony Darlow         3-1  Phil Whittaker
Trevor Tye          3-0  Ian Falkingham
Ian Ward            3-1  Rob Sharp
Steve Kelly         3-0  Colin Hendry
Daz Twist           3-0  Pete Ackroyd
Bryan Harrison      3-0  Danny Hall
Jamie Ogley         3-1  Mick Wiltshire
Paul Doherty        3-2  Steve Jones
Les Delderfield     3-0  Steve Hattersley
Alex Pride          3-1  Jamie Ingle
Lewis Pride         3-2  Steve Kemp

After the Lord Mayers Show for Mark Hanslip as he was despatched by Majorcashire’s Jaron Esteve in straight legs, while despite defeat to Trevor Tye the 8 points gained from his best showing all season may just prove enough to take Huddersfield’s Ian Falkingham into the Finals. Louise Simmonds, 6 times this season in the Last 32 came close to a well deserved Last 16 spot, just losing out to Notts up and coming prospect Sam Fordham 3-2, a fine season all the same for the colourful Yorkshire County star finishing as the highest ranked lady in 25th place in the Rankings. Danny Hall also may just have done enough to qualify despite losing to Bryan Harrison, leaving him on 142 points but finishing above Dave Smith also on the same number by virtue of attending more events.

ROUND 4  (LAST 16 )

Jaron Esteve        3-2  Sam Fordham
Dave Copley         3-0  James Barton
Tony Darlow         3-1  Aaron Poole
Ian Ward            3-0  Trevor Tye
Steve Kelly         3-1  Daz Twist
Bryan Harrison      3-0  Jamie Ogley
Les Delderfield     3-0  Paul Doherty
Alex Pride          3-2  Lewis Pride

What boiled down in the end to a straight shoot out for 16th place between Steve Kelly and Daz Twist at the Last 16 stage, the Halifax veteran upsetting the form book to topple Dazzling Daz by 3 legs to 1, a result that now means Daz faces a tricky Prelim match come the Finals where he could possibly face Dave Smith depending on the draw. A good showing from experienced Bradford darter Paul Doherty despite defeat to Les Delderfield cemented his place in the top 16, while at the bottom of the draw the family bragging rights went to dad Alex only just over son Lewis in the all Pride clash, not all doom and gloom though for Lewis as he stands a great chance in the Youths Final along with South Elmsall’s Jamie Ogley impressive again today despite defeat to Bryan Harrison, could this be the day the big Kippax lefthander tastes tournament winning glory after a string of near misses.

QUARTER FINALS

Dave Copley         3-1  Jaron Esteve
Tony Darlow         3-0  Ian Ward
Bryan Harrison      3-1  Steve Kelly
Alex Pride          3-0  Les Delderfield

Harrogate star Alex Pride provided the shock result of the QF’s with a 3-0 whitewash over Les Delderfield, not so much the result as Alex is quite capable of beating anyone on his day but few would have expected a 3-0 scoreline, his first Semi Final this season coming late in the day and so far his best set of results since winning at Kippax early on in the 2010 season. Dave Copley finishing the season with a real flourish, in another Semi after being pushed hard by Jaron Esteve. Tony Darlow and Bryan Harrison both battling to finish Runner Up in the Rankings table and both into the Semi’s after victories over Ian Ward and Steve Kelly.

SEMI FINAL 1

Dave Copley  ( 26.97 )  3-2  ( 24.38 )  Tony Darlow

A brilliant 13 dart last leg finally swung the game Dave Copley’s way after a titanic battle against Tony Darlow. A scrappy opening leg from both players with Dave clinching it in 22 darts with just the better scoring of the 2 players, an explosive start to the 2nd leg though as Dave kicked off with a 140 followed by a 180 from Tony, however all in vain from the Sheffield man as he lost the leg in 17 darts to go 2-0 down. A rare indifferent patch of scoring from Dave in leg 3 with 4 visits not yielding a treble letting Tony back in the game with a 21 darter, all his own work though in leg 4 as he finished the business end off in style with 100, 140 and a 71 finish for an 18 dart leveller, now with the momentum and also the advantage of throw Tony was now the favourite to progress and he played a steady leg leaving 96 after 15 darts, more often than not he would have expected to have at least 3 darts at it from that position but the Thurnscoe star had other ideas firing in easily the best leg of the match with 140, 100, 100, 137 and a 1st dart D12 for a superb finish to the game which was both scrappy and brilliant at different phases of the match. 11 x 100 pluses from Dave with 2 x 90 scores just having the edge over Tony’s 7 x 100 pluses and 1 x 95 score.

SEMI FINAL 2

Bryan Harrison  ( 22.77 )  3-0  ( 22.48 )  Alex Pride

Harrogate’s Alex Pride came flying out of the traps in the opening leg, a whirlwind start of 85, 180, 125 and 71 leaving 40 after just 12 darts. Bryan must have resigned himself to losing the leg at this stage sat on 188 after his opening 12 darts, still the finishing double has to be hit and Alex had 9 attempts going round the houses to be left on 4 when a grateful Bryan cashed in on the misses to checkout 25 in 23 darts for a fortunate lead. He trailed for most of the time in leg 2 until a timely 180 put him back in contention, both missed doubles but Alex again should really have took it with 5 missed darts this time as Bryan went 2 up again with a 23 darter. Scores of 140, 100, 100 in the final leg from Alex but this time he didn’t get a shot at the double as Bryan finished cleanly on 68 for a 20 darter to wrap up a strange sort of game. Maybe after riding his luck a little the gods could be smiling on him at last with just one more hurdle to overcome to lift the so far elusive 1st prize. Only 4 x 100 pluses and a 99 score for Bryan, a statistic that will definitely have to improve considerably for him to have any chance in the Final. 6 x 100 pluses from Alex but left to reflect on a hatful of missed doubles, 0 from 14 the sorry statistic but that’s just the way it goes sometimes in this game.

FINAL

Dave Copley  ( 27.65 )  4-2  ( 27.81 )  Bryan Harrison

A brave effort from Bryan Harrison attempting to win his first BDP title after going close a number of times with, L16, QF and SF places this season. With the Final against Dave Copley evenly poised at 3-2 on throw it was the Thurnscoe star who made the telling break in the 6th leg with a 17 darter to clinch the match and break Bryan’s heart once again. All could have been so different had the Kippax lefthander nailed the last dart with glorious attempts at 144 and 116 on Dave’s throw in legs 1 and 3, such fine margins decide games especially when there are no second chances given. Dave Copley such a steely match player these days is developing a knack like all great players of throwing that killer leg to turn an even game his way which he did in the final leg with scores of 140, 100, 100 to pile on the pressure as Bryan for the only time in the game just faltered slightly to give Dave first shot at a finish of 56 which he took out clinically in 2 darts to clinch his second title of the season and continue his great form leading into the Finals. Very little in the match as Dave took all his winning legs in 20 darts apart from the final one hitting his usual quota of high scores with 5 x 140′s and 11 x 100′s. Bryan so unlucky could have conceivably won the Final 4-0 on another day had those 2 double attempts gone in and consolidated his own winning legs on throw in 15 and 16 darts, a 180 in leg 2 and 8 scores of 100 plus made up the bulk of his scoring tally. A decent quality game to round off the season and both players will be confident going into the Grand Finals.

SUMMARY

A day of high drama as the day unfolded especially at the cut off point area where 48th placed Danny Hall scraped in on 142 points ahead of Dave Smith by virtue of attending more tournaments throughout the season. However Dave was handed a reprieve as Laura Tye on 143 points in 47th position opted to defend her Ladies Title so forfeiting her place in the main Final. Louise Simmonds and Shirley Sanderson the other 2 girls in the top 48 have opted to play in the main Finals so opening the door for Penny Shaw and Michelle Binns to receive their invites into the Ladies Finals consisting of the Top 8 ladies in the Rankings Table, an unexpected bonus for those 2 ladies especially Michelle who finished the season on 37 points in 150th position. Callum Gill in 53rd position finished the highest ranked youth and will battle it with the next 7 youths in the rankings, no place this year for either of the finalists from 2 years ago Brandon Walsh or Jordan Smith, while last year’s winner Josh Thompson is now of senior age.

ROUND 1

Colin Hendry      3-1  Pete Riley
Steve Fowler      3-2  Stuart Palethorpe
Kyle Richardson   3-2  Pat Meeson
Joe Cullen        3-0  Chris Thwaites
Bryan Harrison    3-0  Tracy Gledhill
Mark Gale         3-1  Andrew Smurfitt
Pete Ackroyd      3-2  Mark Burrough
Nigel Atkinson    3-0  Peter Baker
Mark Featherstone 3-0  Sharon Whitfield
Jamie Ogley       3-2  John Richardson
James Wilson      3-0  Brian Dawson
Dave Calvert      3-0  Rob Sharp
Scott Smith       3-1  Richard Craven
Jason Stockings   3-2  Chris Namnieck
Brendan Dawson    3-0  Rob Ramsden
Lee Sutcliffe     3-0  Calum Gill
Pat Blakely       3-0  Joe Harrison
Paul Bellinger    3-2  Phil Harris
Garry Cathcart    3-1  Kath Wilson
Pete Reebanks     3-1  Paul Doherty
Paul Priestland   3-2  Danny Hall
Dave Smith        3-2  Jonathan Daniels
Ian Brown         3-1  Gary Smith
Aaron Poole       3-0  Phil Atkinson
Brendan Marren    3-0  Steve Cadera
Dave Copley       3-0  Raymond Long
Tony Darlow       3-0  Mark Hanslip
Steve Kemp        3-2  Steve Finnerty
Ian Watson        3-2  Daz Twist
Dave Warriner     3-2  Steve Jackson
Dave Wilson       3-0  Shirley Sanderson
Bob Pinder        3-1  Alex Pride
Steve Cadera jnr  3-2  Nick Sanderson
Steve Kelly       3-2  Mick Wiltshire

A major test as early as Round 1 passed with flying colours as bang in form James Wilson, the newly crowned Yorkshire Classic Champion eased past Brian Dawson with a 3-0 win. No joy either for Brian’s friend and former Doubles partner Jonathan Daniels going down 3-2 to Dave Smith in a hard fought battle, while Ian Watson a sponsor of Dave Smith on the PDC tour showed he can play a bit too with a fine 3-2 win over Daz Twist. Early defeats for Nick Sanderson, Danny Hall and Steve Finnerty probably meant they would all need a win or two at the last event to make the Grand Finals.

ROUND 2

James Barton      3-2  Colin Hendry
Kyle Richardson   3-2  Steve Fowler
Joe Cullen        3-2  Bryan Harrison
Mark Gale         3-2  Sam Hastings
Pete Ackroyd      3-0  Kev Grainger
Nigel Atkinson    3-1  Andrew Clifford
Jamie Ogley       3-2  Mark Featherstone
Jamie Wilson      3-0  Ian Ward
Scott Smith       3-2  Dave Calvert
Simon Hall        3-1  Tony Farrow
Brendan Dawson    3-0  Jason Stockings
Lee Sutcliffe     3-1  Leah Wiltshire
Rob Holroyd       3-1  Trevor Tye
Ryan Hoggarth     3-1  Pat Blakely
Garry Cathcart    3-2  Paul Bellinger
Willie Kershaw    3-0  John Utting
Pete Reebanks     3-0  Andy Smith
Dave Smith        3-0  Paul Priestland
Daz Hale          3-1  Anthony Moss
Aaron Poole       3-2  Ian Brown
John Clifford     3-0  Laura Tye
Lewis Pride       3-1  Steve Hattersley
Louise Simmonds   3-2  Simon Wintle
Brendan Marren    3-0  Darren Cartwright
Dave Copley       3-0  Tony Darlow
Jonathan Hewitt   3-2  Steve Kemp
Les Delderfield   3-0  Simon Hardacre
Ian Watson        3-1  Dave Warriner
Steve Jones       3-2  Dave Wilson
Bob Pinder        3-0  Craig Nelmes
Steve Cadera jnr  3-2  Ian Falkingham
Devon Petersen    3-2  Steve Kelly

Halifax lefthander Scott Smith a regular player this season did his chances of Grand Final qualification no harm with a stunning 3-2 victory over highly rated Dave Calvert, Scott’s best result of the season coming on home soil. No real shocks elsewhere as fancied players Kershaw, Smith, Marren, Delderfield and Pinder all swept through without dropping a leg while Dave Copley also progressed 3-0 against another top ranked player Tony Darlow. PDC starlet Joe Cullen at just 21 has already achieved great things in darts with some fine performances on the tour including a victory over Phil Taylor over the best of 11 legs, not quite the same magnitude today but still another good 3-2 win over Bryan Harrison.

ROUND 3

James Barton      3-0  Kyle Richardson
Joe Cullen        3-0  Mark Gale
Pete Ackroyd      3-0  Nigel Atkinson
James Wilson      3-0  Jamie Ogley
Scott Smith       3-1  Simon Hall
Brendan Dawson    3-1  Lee Sutcliffe
Rob Holroyd       3-2  Ryan Hoggarth
Willie Kershaw    3-0  Garry Cathcart
Dave Smith        3-1  Pete Reebanks
Darren Hale       3-0  Aaron Poole
Lewis Pride       3-1  John Clifford
Brendan Marren    3-1  Louise Simmonds
Dave Copley       3-2  Jonathan Hewitt
Les Delderfield   3-0  Ian Watson
Bob Pinder        3-1  Steve Jones
Devon Petersen    3-0  Steve Cadera jnr

Another blistering 100 plus average for James Wilson as he swept past the unfortunate Jamie Ogley who played superbly himself and would have won most games with that showing. Another admirable effort from Louise Simmonds as she gave Brendan Marren a real scare before going down 3-1, however the tough competition against the men week in week out has definitely made her a stronger player and the Shipley star will fancy her chances of making an impression in the Main Grand Finals event. Another tough test for Dave Copley as he edged out Jonathan Hewitt 3-2, with Les Delderfield awaiting it was looking like the ‘hard way’ for Dave today.

ROUND 4  ( LAST 16 )

Joe Cullen       3-0  James Barton
James Wilson     3-0  Pete Ackroyd
Brendan Dawson   3-2  Scott Smith
Rob Holroyd      3-2  Willie Kershaw
Daz Hale         3-0  Dave Smith
Brendan Marren   3-0  Lewis Pride
Les Delderfield  3-2  Dave Copley
Devon Petersen   3-0  Bob Pinder

5 out of the 8 ties ending up 3-0, perhaps Daz Hale’s result over Dave Smith the most eye-catching, while South African ace and World Championship bound Devon Petersen also impressive with victory over Bob Pinder, his friend Joe Cullen also into the Last 8 at the top of the draw with victory over another big friend in James Barton. Rob Holroyd further enhanced his reputation with a 3-2 win over Willie Kershaw and would face surprise package Brendan Dawson in the Last 8, a massive opportunity for either player to reach their first Semi Final at least. End of the line for Dave Copley after defeat to Les Delderfield in a really tough section of the draw. James Wilson continuing another relentless march towards a Final with another whitewash, this time over local boy Pete Ackroyd.

QUARTER FINALS

James Wilson     3-1  Joe Cullen
Brendan Dawson   3-1  Rob Holroyd
Brendan Marren   3-1  Daz Hale
Les Delderfield  3-2  Devon Petersen

4 familiar names making it into the Semi Finals, Wilson, Dawson, Marren and Delderfield, although a second glance at the Dawson name reveals there is no misprint as it is Brendan and not Brian that lines up in the Last 4 today. The Sowerby Bridge player managing to avoid the big guns but still having to beat very handy players in Rob Ramsden, Jason Stockings, Lee Sutcliffe, Scott Smith and now Rob Holroyd to reach this stage. The question once again would be could anyone stop James Wilson from making it 4 Title wins in quick succession after a 3-1 victory over Joe Cullen, finally dropping a leg in his 5th match. Brendan Marren and Les Delderfield coming through the bottom half after hard fought victories over Daz Hale and Devon Peterson and well equipped with bags of experience to further test the Huddersfield Hurricane should he get past Brendan Dawson.

SEMI FINAL  1

James Wilson ( 34.95 ) 3-0 ( 25.38 ) Brendan Dawson

More incredible numbers from James Wilson as he brushed aside the brave resistance of Brendan Dawson in just 43 darts, not allowing his beleaguered opponent the luxury of a shot at the double in any leg. The tall Sowerby Bridge Super League ace scored well with a 180, 3 x 100 pluses and 2 x 90 ‘s scores but to stand any chance against James these days it has to be 140′s all the time to keep pace such is his scoring power. Back to back 140′s in the opener followed by a 62 finish clinched a 14 darter just as Brendan threatened with 119 left after 12 darts. A 140 and 177 helped force the crucial break in 13 darts. A slightly more sedate 16 darter with a 128 and 120 clinched the match as Brendan fought gamely to the end with a 180 and 100 his last scores to leave 60 after 15 darts as he comes out of the match with great credit and massive respect from all fellow players. As for James, he is simply steamrollering everyone at the moment, all everyone can do is watch and admire it seems.

SEMI FINAL  2

Brendan Marren ( 29.84 ) 3-2 ( 25.59 ) Les Delderfield

Despite a 4 point plus per dart average difference it was very much Brendan fighting all the way to stay in the game and at 2-1 down it should have been all over as Les stepped up for a routine Double 16 for the match, usually the unflappable Shipley veteran puts those chances away with the minimum of fuss but on this occasion he didn’t and so let the Keighley man in to level the game. With the throw Brendan made no mistake with a 16 darter as Les floundered in the decider, probably still haunted by that miss as he trailed on 165 left. Early on it was Les’s familiar attack on the 19′s that helped open up a 2-0 lead with 19 and 18 dart legs with Brendan missing shots out on 68 and 41 in those legs. However he retaliated in fine style with a text book leg of 180, 100, 140 and 81 finish for a brilliant 12 darter, then the big reprieve as he snatched a leveller in 18 darts followed by a much more comfortable last leg. The main reason for the big average difference is Les was way behind in 2 of the legs which shows it really makes very little difference if a leg is lost by 10 points or 210 points, the result is exactly the same. A 180, 5 x 140′s, 6 x 100′s and 2 x 90′s scores for Brendan with Les replying with 4 x 133′s, 6 x 95′s and 1 x 99 score. A sweet victory for Brendan after twice losing in Finals to Les earlier on in the season.

FINAL

James Wilson ( 30.59 ) 4-1 ( 30.41 ) Brendan Marren

Another high quality Final with very little room in it for error, in fact the only one in the whole match came in leg 4 and consequently cost Brendan the game. At that stage the match was evenly poised with James leading 2-1 on throw but trailing in the leg as Brendan looked in control, however he couldn’t convert with 6 darts from 66 allowing James in to steal and take a 3-1 advantage and the throw in the 5th leg. To his credit Brendan never gives up and put in a real effort to break back with scores of 100, 100, 140, 100 to leave 61, still not enough though as most of the time it now requires a 12 darter to break James as he rarely seems to go over 15 darts and so it was again although it took a 91 outshot to deny Brendan another chance. A 180, 9 x 100 pluses and 5 x 90′s for James, very little in the scores as Brendan fired back with 15 x 100 pluses.

SUMMARY

A brilliant season for both players, especially James who on the stats is comfortably the best player at BDP this season with 4 Title wins. A shame in a way that he won’t be lining up in the Grand Finals having not accumulated enough points. My own thoughts are that anyone who wins a BDP tournament deserves to be in the Grand Finals if they have attended a fair percentage of events. Maybe worth a discussion at the AGM but for me, The Grand Finals should include the best players as it is a showpiece event while still rewarding the loyal players that attend week in week out.

ROUND 1

Ian Ward           3-0  Mark Bostock
Louise Simmonds    3-0  Heather Lynch
Steve Kemp         3-1  Jason Stockings
Bob Pinder         3-1  Phil Hobson
Dave Calvert       3-1  Steve Hattersley
John Clifford      3-2  Jonathan Hewitt
Ian Brown          3-2  John Utting
Ian Watson         3-0  Peter Baker
Sam Hastings       3-2  Lynn Horne
Steve Jones        3-2  Simon Jackson
Pat Blakely        3-0  Raymond Long
Stuart Bruce       3-1  Mark Broadbent
Peter Rushby       3-2  Tony Farrow
Leah Wiltshire     3-0  Shirley Sanderson
Daz Hale           3-0  Kirk Picken
Josh Clough        3-0  Jason Cole
Trevor Tye         3-0  Johnny Scott
Peter Armitage     3-1  Kath Wilson
Pat Meeson         3-2  Mick Wiltshire
Mick Crowson       3-0  Simon Wintle
Rob Holroyd        3-0  Darren Goy
Dave Copley        3-0  Dave Broxup
Danny Hall         3-2  Steve Kelly
Layla Bontoft      3-0  John Richardson
Scott Bennett      3-0  Steve Finnerty
Jonathan Crossland 3-0  Brandon Walsh
James Wilson       3-0  Kyle Richardson
Craig Nelmes       3-0  Callum Gill
Bryan Harrison     3-0  Dave Sidebottom
Jonathan Daniels   3-2  Rob Sharp
Brendan Marren     3-0  Emma Tomlinson
Mark Hanslip       3-2  Vernon Walsh
Joe Harrison       3-0  Nick Sanderson
Laura Tye          3-2  Dan Nichol
Pete Riley         3-0  Simon Hall
Carl Wilkinson     3-1  Calum Nesbitt
Pete Ackroyd       3-1  Steve Fowler
Dan Starkey        3-1  Aaron Poole

Mixed fortunes for the 2 Lincolnshire ladies in the field, a really unlucky draw for County A teamer Emma Tomlinson as she played Brendan Marren, going down 3-0 to the Keighley star, another whitewash but this time young B team star Layla Bontoft turned the tables with a sparkling victory over a shellshocked John Richardson. The 2 Lincs men in action in the 1st Round also did well, Scott Bennett overcoming Steve Finnerty and Daniel Starkey getting the better of Aaron Poole to join Jamie Ellam who had a bye into Round 2. New mum Laura Tye continues to beat up the men, this time Dan Nichol edged out 3-2, always hard for blokes to distinguish whether a woman is pregnant or has just been wolfing down the pies and put weight on so we tend to urr on the side of causion and say nothing, then all of a sudden a small baby turns up at the next comp and then we realise that she was pregnant after all, so congratulations go to Supermum Laura who must have played a few previous tournaments in some discomfort but never once moaned about it. Young Leah Wiltshire continues to improve with an eyecatching win over the very capable Shirley Sanderson while Louise Simmonds also came through 3-0 in another all girl clash against Heather Lynch. The major casualty from the round was Jonathan Hewitt who went down 3-2 to John Clifford, very rare for the West Leeds star to go out at this early stage but a great result for John. Beeston’s Danny Hall produced the other stand out result, taking out wily old campaigner Steve Kelly 3-2 while on Board 2 another early defeat for John Utting going down 3-2 to Ian Brown, the Doncaster player having a hard time of it since reaching the Final at East Leeds although he still looks more than likely to make the Finals.

ROUND 2

Louise Simmonds    3-0  Ian Ward
Bob Pinder         3-0  Steve Kemp
Dave Calvert       3-0  Paul Doherty
John Clifford      3-1  Dan Lidgett
Ian Brown          3-1  Paul Renwick
Ian Watson         3-0  Steve Cadera
Jamie Ellam        3-1  Sam Hastings
Kevin Grainger     3-0  Ian Falkingham
Steve Jones        3-2  Tony Darlow
Pat Blakely        3-0  Simon Hardacre
Stuart Bruce       3-2  Mandy McKenzie
Peter Rushby       3-1  Leah Wiltshire
Darren Hale        3-0  Josh Clough
Peter Armitage     3-2  Trevor Tye
Nigel Atkinson     3-1  Gary Smith
Mick Crowson       3-0  Pat Meeson
Dave Copley        3-1  Rob Holroyd
Jaron Esteve       3-0  Anthony Wood
Layla Bontoft      3-2  Danny Hall
Simon Bennett      3-1  James Weldon
Jonathan Crossland 3-0  Kevin Murphy
Jamie Ogley        3-0  Andrew Clifford
Colin Hendry       3-1  Eddie Noon
James Wilson       3-0  Scott Smith
Craig Nelmes       3-0  Ian Holmes
Mark Gale          3-1  Bryan Harrison
Wayne Woodhouse    3-1  Daz Twist
Jonathan Daniels   3-1  Tony Wort
Brendan Marren     3-0  Mark Hanslip
Joe Harrison       3-2  Laura Tye
Carl Wilkinson     3-1  Pete Riley
Dan Starkey        3-2  Pete Ackroyd

More surprises in store in Round 2 as highly fancied form players Tony Darlow, Daz Twist and Bryan Harrison all fell by the wayside. Best result of the season at BDP for Beehive+Crosskeys Super League player Steve Jones, the Halifax player stunning Tony Darlow with a 3-2 win. A galeforce performance from York player Mark Gale as he blew away the challenge of Bryan Harrison by 3 legs to 1, while everyone at BDP knows how dangerous Wayne Woodhouse can be, operations on his foot have meant he hasn’t featured too often this season, however he was back with avengence today with a 3-1 win over form player Daz Twist. Fine performances again from all the ladies with Louise Simmons smashing Ian Ward 3-0 and Layla Bontoft edging out Danny Hall 3-2. Leah Wiltshire, Laura Tye and local girl Mandy McKenzie all went down but all 3 ran their male counterparts close.

ROUND 3

Bob Pinder         3-0  Louise Simmonds
Dave Calvert       3-1  John Clifford
Ian Watson         3-0  Ian Brown
Jamie Ellam        3-0  Kevin Grainger
Steve Jones        3-2  Pat Blakely
Stuart Bruce       3-2  Peter Rushby
Peter Armitage     3-1  Darren Hale
Mick Crowson       3-2  Nigel Atkinson
Dave Copley        3-1  Jaron Esteve
Scott Bennett      3-1  Layla Bontoft
Jamie Ogley        3-2  Jonathan Crossland
James Wilson       3-0  Colin Hendry
Craig Nelmes       3-0  Mark Gale
Jonathan Daniels   3-2  Wayne Woodhouse
Brendan Marren     3-0  Joe Harrison
Carl Wilkinson     3-0  Dan Starkey

End of the line for the girls once again at this stage of the competition with no lady this season managing to make it into the Last 16 and the money stages, very few easy games especially when it gets down to this stage with Louise Simmonds coming up against Bob Pinder who has reached 2 QF’s and 2 SF’s in his last 4 appearances, the run looks set to continue with a 3-0 victory. Layla Bontoft impressing everyone today gave fellow Lincs star Scott Bennett a rough ride before going down 3-1. Another dangerman Daz Hale, at the moment diliberating whether to play county darts for Yorkshire or Lancashire lost out in a 50/50 match up with Peter Armitage, ‘The Ragamuffin’ always a force to be reckoned with especially on home territory in East Leeds area. Elsewhere favourites James Wilson and Brendan Marren were cruising through ominously for the rest with 3-0 victories.

ROUND 4  ( LAST 16 )

Dave Calvert       3-0  Bob Pinder
Jamie Ellam        3-1  Ian Watson
Steve Jones        3-0  Stuart Bruce
Peter Armitage     3-1  Mick Crowson
Scott Bennett      3-1  Dave Copley
James Wilson       3-1  Jamie Ogley
Jonathan Daniels   3-0  Craig Nelmes
Brendan Marren     3-0  Carl Wilkinson

More blistering form from James Wilson as he blasted in well over a 100 average to beat youngster Jamie Ogley who was pleased to take a leg off him. Bob Pinder was denied yet another QF place by the quality of Dave Calvert’s throwing as the Kippax star picked up more useful points in his bid to close the gap on the top 48. Steve Jones’s best outing this season now as he saw off newcomer Stuart Bruce 3-0 to move into the Last 8, while Pete Armitage won the battle over East Leeds counterpart Mick Crowson 3-1. At the bottom of the draw straight leg wins for Jonathan Daniels who has had a tremendous season and Brendan Marren who always has a tremendous season, over Craig Nelmes and Carl Wilkinson repectively. The 2 other ties both went the way of Lincolnshire with wins for Jamie Ellam over another East Leeds player in Ian Watson while Scott Bennett showed just why he is near the top of the Lincs SL ave’s with a fine victory over Harold Club Comp winner Dave Copley.

QUARTER FINALS

Jamie Ellam        3-1  Dave Calvert
Peter Armitage     3-0  Steve Jones
James Wilson       3-0  Scott Bennett
Brendan Marren     3-0  Jonathan Daniels

More than likely a 106 ave according to one witness would surely be enough to win 99 out of a 100 games you would think, only for Scott Bennett it wasn’t even enough to win a leg as James Wilson continued like a twisting tornado destroying anything or anyone that strays into its deadly path. The ‘Huddersfield Hurricane’ looks simply unstoppable at the moment, the only respite for the rest of the field is the fact that he hasn’t accumulated enough points to qualify for The Grand Final so those 48 players can breathe a huge sigh of relief in that respect but not much comfort for the players still in this competition left to face him. If anyone could stop him then the ice cool figure of Brendan Marren might be the man after a 3-0 victory over Jonathan Daniels meant he had yet to lose a leg all day, notching up a 15-0 record so far but it would be some achievement if that record could stay intact given James form. Peter Armitage swept aside Steve Jones 3-0 and Lincoln Riley’s SL star Jamie Ellam making a massive impression in only his 2nd BDP event by taking out the stylish Dave Calvert 3-1 to book a Semi Final place.

SEMI FINAL  1

Jamie Ellam  ( 25.30 )  3-2  ( 21.94 )  Peter Armitage

Despite looking the stronger player for much of this Semi Final clash Lincoln’s Jamie Ellam so very nearly ended up losing the match to Pete Armitage who wasn’t as consistent as usual but came close to nicking the game in the end and will feel he ought to have taken out 30 in the final leg with 3 darts, although D15 not the best of doubles to be left knowing a dart in the single renders another dart almost wasted which is exactly what happened as he left D4 in the end. Jamie had found himself 2-1 down when he could have had the game won 3-0 and been relaxing with a pint at the bar awaiting the winner of Semi Final 2, the fact that he wasn’t was down to 3 missed darts at tops in leg 1 and 3 missed darts at 20 in leg 3. To be fair though Peter had also missed 3 darts at doubles in both legs before Jamie’s attempts. Legs 2 and 4 with throw both went comfortably Jamie’s way as Pete couldn’t manage to get within striking range but the man from just down the road in Killingbeck had the advantage of throw in the decider. In these pressure situations ‘ The Ragamuffin’ tends to produce his best darts but he didn’t this time and the leg was a nervy one from both players with Jamie seizing the moment to put away D16 for the match. Not a classic by any means but still plenty of tension, drama as well as a nail biting finish for the crowd to enjoy. Winning legs for Jamie coming in 17, 22 and 22 darts with 12 x 100 plus scores compared to Pete’s 7 x 100 pluses which shows Jamie’s advantage on the scoring stakes. Pete got off to blistering start with 100, 100, 140 with his first 3 throws but couldn’t maintain that sort of accuracy throughout the game, he took legs 1 and 3 in 20 and 21 darts.

SEMI FINAL 2

James Wilson  ( 27.14 )  3-2  ( 28.23 )  Brendan Marren

Memories of a 4-0 Final tonking only a few short weeks ago at Morley must surely have gone through Brendan Marren’s mind as he watched white hot James Wilson fire in a 126 finish to take the leg in 12 magic darts to follow a 17 darter and lead 2-0. Many a player would have caved in under such an onslaught but Brendan is as cool and collected as they come and he is never ever beaten until the last dart goes in. Few could have predicted such a dramatic turn around as the man described as looking like a 70′s porn star even without a thick moustache fought back in tremendous style to even up the contest with legs 3 and 4 in 18 and 15 darts while Jamie proved that he really is human after all by going off the boil all of a sudden. The game now looked to be Brendan’s for the taking as he kept up the pressure in the decider with scores of 140, 60, 100 and 177 to leave 24 after 12 darts with Jamie floundering back on 209. The Keighley man looked certain to add to his 2 earlier titles this year as he is usually so good at closing out games under pressure, however there was to be another twist in the tale as he couldn’t find the elusive D12, D6 or D3 with 6 agonising darts allowing Jamie to get out of jail with 60 finish with his 21st dart of the leg. Why he lost his way in the game and how he managed to win it in the end even he probably never know. 

FINAL

James Wilson  ( 31.81 )  4-0  ( 25.09 )  Jamie Ellam

After riding his luck in the Semi Final against Brendan Marren, there were no such lapses of concentration from James Wilson in the Final as normal service was resumed with another powerful display to sweep aside the challenge of Jamie Ellam. The only real chance Jamie had was in leg 3, missing 2 darts at D8 after landing the T20 with his first dart on a 76 finish after James had missed 3 darts at 18, the writing very much on the wall after that as James blasted in scores of 128, 94, 99 and 140 to finish tops with his first dart to close out the match in 13 darts, so even though Jamie responded well himself with 100, 95, 95 and 60 he was given no chance by the ‘Huddersfield Express’. James set the tone right from the word go with a brilliant 122 finish using two T18′s and D7 to break the throw in 15 darts. Despite 2 x140′s in the next leg a couple of indifferent throws cost Jamie a shot at a double as James finished in 19 darts, then he turned up the heat once more in leg 3 with heavy scoring to break again with a 16 darter. Jamie at this stage must have been praying for a lapse from James similar to the Semi to help him get back into the game, however this time round the prayers definitely weren’t answered as the balding mild mannered Roofer finished in style. 9 x 100 pluses and 3 x 90 odds from James while Jamie hit 5 x 100 pluses and 2 x 90 odds in a very game effort but ultimately not enough against a player at the top of his game.

SUMMARY

Another vintage display from one of the Countries form players in James Wilson, hopefully with sponsorship to play the full BDO circuit next year he will do some major damage if he can keep this blistering form going. A fine effort too from Jamie Ellam and his Lincolnshire mates who all made a big impression, hopefully they enjoyed themselves and will return regularly next season. The season boiling up into a fascinating finish with just 2 events to go, who will qualify for The Grand Finals and who will miss out.

ROUND 1

Steve Cadera      3-1  Callum Gill
Pat Blakeley      3-0  Brandon Lawson
Ian Holmes        3-1  Leah Wiltshire
Willie Kershaw    3-0  Kath Wilson
Mick Wiltshire    3-1  John Speed
Jason Stockings   3-0  Gareth Leighton
Raymond Long      3-2  Steve Cadera Jnr
Dave Calvert      3-0  Pat Meeson
Brendan Marren    3-1  James Barton
Daz Twist         3-1  Rob Holroyd
Rob Sharp         3-2  Steve Finnerty
Louise Simmonds   3-2  Paul Royston
Rich Winpenny     3-1  Ian Brown
Lynn Horne        3-0  Danny Hall
Colin Hendry      3-1  Antony Moss
Bryan Harrison    3-0  Gerry Smith
Jaron Esteve      3-0  Chris Thwaites
Mark Gale         3-2  Nigel Atkinson
Mark Featherstone 3-2  Pete Riley
Mark Bostock      3-1  Kevin Gray
Mark Slowacki     3-1  Joe Harrison
Andy McGovern     3-2  Tony Wort
John Richardson   3-0  Simon Regan
Jonathan Hewitt   3-0  Kevin Pease

Definitely the ladies making the headlines from the opening round, firstly Huddersfield’s Yorkshire County ace Lynn Horne despatching Danny Hall 3-0, then fellow county star Louise Simmonds edging out Paul Royston 3-2 for a fine victory. Huge cheers around Board 6 as veteran Raymond Long, one of the real characters at BDP recorded his first win for 3 years in a tense last leg shoot out over Steve Cadera Jnr. Raymond is virtually an ever present at BDP travelling far and wide on trains and buses to get to the venues and despite having little success on the oche his enthusiasm for the game never wanes, held in affection by everyone at BDP we hope to see his colourful shirts and hats for many more years to come and maybe one or two more victories along the way. Brendan Marren  (28.58) won the match of the round 3-1 against James Barton  (24.10), the usual procession of steady ton pluses from BJ as he hit 11 of them, even so James kicking himself afterwards for not levelling up the game at 2-2, missing 3 darts at 16 after a good scoring leg. Rob Sharp’s  (19.99) winning run over Steve Finnerty  (18.97) continued with a gruelling 3-2 win, the Beeston player making life very difficult for himself by missing countless doubles to hand 2 legs to Steve who having accepted the gifts should have won himself but missed 3 darts at 32 for a 3-1 win which would have been a travesty in all truth.

ROUND 2

Fred Smith        3-1  John Clifford
Pat Blakeley      3-1  Steve Cadera
Dave Warriner     3-0  Ian Holmes
Willie Kershaw    3-0  Craig Nelmes
Bob Pinder        3-0  Mick Wiltshire
Ian Ward          3-0  Nick Sanderson
Jason Stockings   3-0  Shirley Sanderson
Andrew Clifford   3-0  Raymond Long
Dave Calvert      3-0  Steve Jackson
Daz Twist         3-1  Brendan Marren
Rob Sharp         3-1  Paul Priestland
Jamie Ogley       3-0  Louise Simmonds
Rich Winpenny     3-1  Dave Cameron
Josh Thompson     3-2  Simon Wintle
Simon Hall        3-1  Ian Falkingham
Kirk Picken       3-0  Simon Hardacre
Dave Copley       3-0  Aaron Poole
Lynn Horne        3-2  Trevor Tye
Veejay Kumar      3-2  Colin Hendry
Bryan Harrison    3-1  Jaron Esteve
Peter Armitage    3-1  John Cooper
Eddie Noon        3-1  Steve Jones
Scott Smith       3-2  Tony Farrow
Pete Ackroyd      3-0  Laura Tye
Steve Kelly       3-1  Mark Gale
Gary Cathcart     3-1  Mark Featherstone
Kyle Richardson   3-1  Michelle Binns
Mark Bostock      3-2  Peter Baker
Mark Hanslip      3-2  Darren Hannah
Mark Slowacki     3-1  Paul Doherty
Andy McGovern     3-1  John Utting
Jonathan Hewitt   3-0  John Richardson

Andy McGovern’s up turn in form continues to gather pace with a fine 3-1 win over John Utting, the Low Moor player starting to look like player of old who starred many times for Yorkshire County. Definitely a County player in the not too distant future Jonathan Hewitt  (20.59) struggled by his standards but still overcame John Richardson  (18.32) 3-0 on Board 1 and will surely improve considerably for the following rounds. Daz Twist so impressive all season, impressive again today as he took out Brendan Marren 3-1, the Keighley star derailed early for the second comp in a row which is a rarity in itself. Lynn Horne the only lady to progress to Round 3 with a close 3-2 win over Trevor Tye, while Yeadon’s Gary Cathcart had an eye-catching 3-1 win over inform Mark Featherstone.

ROUND 3

Fred Smith        3-1  Pat Blakeley
Willie Kershaw    3-0  Dave Warriner
Bob Pinder        3-1  Ian Ward
Jason Stockings   3-1  Andrew Clifford
Daz Twist         3-2  Dave Calvert
Rob Sharp         3-0  Jamie Ogley
Josh Thompson     3-1  Rich Winpenny
Simon Hall        3-2  Kirk Picken
Dave Copley       3-0  Lynn Horne
Bryan Harrison    3-0  Veejay Kumar
Peter Armitage    3-0  Eddie Noon
Pete Ackroyd      3-1  Scott Smith
Steve Kelly       3-1  Gary Cathcart
Kyle Richardson   3-1  Mark Bostock
Mark Slowacki     3-2  Mark Hanslip
Jonathan Hewitt   3-2  Andy McGovern

Another tough draw for Daz Twist  (24.97) as he overcame Dave Calvert  (25.15) in a ding dong battle on Board 4, all legs won on throw with Daz just having the advantage to clinch it, a 180 and 8 x 100 pluses for Daz with Dave hitting 10 x 100 pluses in an evenly matched game. Rotherham youngster Josh Thompson looking in excellent form as he took out Rich Winpenny 3-1 on Board 3, the Woodlesford player hit 174 to leave 16 in the opening leg only to see Josh finish 86 on the bull, a fine 161 finish from ‘The Boy Rabbit’ levelled the game but he couldn’t stop the Yorkshire Junior star taking the next 2 legs for victory with some super darts. A rare appearance these days from former Yorkshire and Cheshire County ace Veejay Kumar ended in a 3-0 defeat to Bryan Harrison, same score for Rob Sharp with an impressive win over Jamie Ogley. Elsewhere favourites Pinder, Kershaw and Copley all safely through to the last 16, joined by Johnathan Hewitt who was pushed all the way by Andy McGovern for a hard fought 3-2 win.

ROUND 4   (LAST 16)

Fred Smith        3-1  Willie Kershaw
Bob Pinder        3-0  Jason Stockings
Daz Twist         3-0  Rob Sharp
Josh Thompson     3-0  Simon Hall
Dave Copley       3-2  Bryan Harrison
Peter Armitage    3-0  Pete Ackroyd
Steve Kelly       3-1  Kyle Richardson
Jonathan Hewitt   3-0  Mark Slowacki

Fred Smith  (27.11) from Middlewich in Cheshire attended several BDP events last season and made a big impression with his performances. Only his first appearance this season along with fellow Cheshire players John Cooper and John Speed and once again Fred is making an impression with a 3-1 victory over Willie Kershaw  (24.86). After losing the opening leg against the throw the Cheshire County Chairman reeled off 3 legs in 16, 22 and 17 darts for victory although Willie missed 7 darts at D8 to go 2-1 up and never recovered his composure enough to challenge in the final leg. The closest game of the round saw Dave Copley once again get the better of Bryan Harrison as he has done previously in BDP comps. Dave becoming a bit of a bogey player for Bryan these days. All the other ties settled 3-0 apart from a 3-1 success for veteran Steve Kelly over Kyle Richardson.

QUARTER FINALS

Fred Smith        3-2  Bob Pinder
Daz Twist         3-1  Josh Thompson
Dave Copley       3-0  Peter Armitage
Jonathan Hewitt   3-0  Steve Kelly

A couple of vintage Daz Twist  (28.88) legs helped him see off the considerable challenge of Josh Thompson  (24.61). The Yorkshire U18 star once again got off to a good start hitting a bull finish on 85 to take the opening leg. Some response from the Middleton ace though as he hit 140, 180, 123 and 58 in 2 darts for a brilliant 11 dart leg then followed it up with 100, 100, 60, 140 and 101 in 3 darts for a 15 darter to go 2-1 up. To his credit Josh stood up to the storm and could have levelled the game only to see 3 darts at 40 go begging, the big South Leeds ace was never going to miss D8 a second time and wrapped up the win with a 21 darter. A fine display all day from Josh as he showed he intends to be a real force in future seasons. Another whirlwind performance this time from Dave Copley  (31.31) as he overpowered Pete Armitage  (24.38) ‘The Ragamuffin’ looking unrecognisable today as he changed his image to smart / casual instead of his usual trademark tracksuit street urchin look. However the image change didn’t help much here as he was blown away in 17, 13 and 18 darts by a rampant ‘Dart Knight’ who hit 8 x 100 pluses and not a score less than 60 in a display of precision accuracy which Pete had no real answer to despite hitting 4 x 100 pluses himself and not a score under 57 in the match. More like the real Jonathan Hewitt too on Board 1 as he destroyed Steve Kelly 3-0 with the help of a 14 and a 12 dart leg. Fred Smith free to play darts all the time now after retiring from the pub trade after making a fortune ended Bob Pinder’s hopes with a 3-2 win. Fred in the veteran stages now but competing as fiercely as anyone by playing competition darts all over the country and having lots of success particularly in his native Cheshire and in Stoke where he won The Ball Green KO in the summer with victory over fellow Cheshire star Ian White.

SEMI FINAL 1

Dave Copley   (25.91)  3-0   (23.12)  Jonathan Hewitt

Neither player hit the heights of their previous round performances but Dave Copley was the player who did enough to secure victory with winning legs of 21, 20 and 17 darts. Jonathan’s 2 darts missed at 40 in the opening leg proved costly as he would have took the lead against the throw. From then on Dave took control of the game as Jonathan probably still haunted by that miss struggled to find his usual deadly accuracy on the T20 allowing Dave to coast to victory in the final leg. 2 x 140′s and 4 x 100′s for Dave laid the foundations for him with Jonathan replying with 5 x 100 pluses but too many low scores throughout the game cost him as well as the early missed chances at doubles. 

SEMI FINAL  2

Daz Twist   (28.35)  3-0   (25.98)  Fred Smith

Another superb Daz Twist display especially on his finishing paved the way for a clinical 3-0 victory over Fred Smith. Nothing much in the scoring in all 3 legs but Daz took out every shot he had with finishes of 40, 153 and 78 while Fred couldn’t convert his chances at 106, and 74 and that proved to be the difference with Daz winning with 18, 18 and 17 dart legs. 3 x 140′s and 1 x 100 for Daz but backed up well with steady 60′s, 70′s and 80′s shots with Fred pretty similar with 4 x 100′s and 1 x134 and also a number of 80 and 90 plus shots.

FINAL

Dave Copley   (28.03)  4-3   (26.08)  Daz Twist

At long last a deserved 1st title of the season for Dave Copley after going close a number of times with Final, Semi and numerous Quarter Final appearances. He just about got there in a thrilling topsy turvey battle with Daz Twist that went right to the wire. The ascendancy swung both ways a number of times in the game, firstly Daz who raced into a 2-0 lead with 20 and 21 darters taking advantage of some slack finishing by Dave. Those misses could have played on the Thurnscoe players mind but they didn’t as he stormed back to take the next 3 legs in some style with 19, 16 and 16 darters although Daz did have his chances in 2 of those legs with shots at 83 and 60 which he couldn’t convert, however he did convert 65 for an 18 dart leveller under extreme pressure from Dave who fired in scores of 125, 100 and 137 in that leg and was waiting on 24 after 15 darts to seal the match. The final leg was almost a carbon copy of the previous one except the other way round as Daz put in a tremendous effort with 2 x 140′s and 1 x 100 to earn himself a shot at 80, his first dart landing sweetly in the T20, then as the crowd held its breath the tension just got to him as he pulled his second dart into the single 6 to leave a very tricky D7, his last dart landing agonisingly on the outside of the wire, even so with Dave stepping up for 86 he may have thought he had a fair chance of another go at it, not to be though as the cool and unruffled Yorkshire County ace coolly took out the finish to win a thriller. A fantastic 19 x 100 plus scores for Dave including a 180 ironically in the opening leg which he lost on throw with Daz responding with 11 x 100 pluses also with a 180, again the Maximum was in vain as he lost the leg too, 3 x 90 plus scores too from the South Leeds man also, with both players looking in great form coming towards the big Grand Final pay out for which they look to have qualified comfortably even at this stage and both will be among the favourites to lift the coveted trophy.

SUMMARY

An excellent standard of all round play all across the Boards today culminating in an exciting Final which could have gone either way. The race for the Grand Final places is well and truly on now with both today’s Finalists well in the mix, made slightly easier if both make it into the top 16 and avoid a tricky 1st Rounder, both hovering around the top 16 at the moment so will be very interesting to see who gets those places as well as actually making the 48 place cut of point, the calculators will be out no doubt come the Final event at Otley Social as the table takes shape throughout the course of the day.