Another venture across to the East side of West Yorkshire as BDP visited Castleford for the second time this season, this time the popular venue of Townville WMC situated a couple of miles out of the town centre in the suburb of Townville hosted the event. Once again a busy calendar as the BDO German Open, PDC Youth and York Darts events all in full swing on the day meaning a few regular players would be missing as a consequence, even so the attendance of 113 a little disappointing given the high numbers that have turned up here in previous BDP events. Food was provided by a local catering company who set up a large mobile van in the car park area and looked very impressive indeed, with their Chips and Curry Sauce proving to be particularly popular throughout the day.
ROUND 1
Bob Pinder 3-1 Mark Featherstone John Utting 3-2 Pat Meeson Norman Elliott 3-0 Jack Courtman Wayne Woodhouse 3-0 John Clifford Jamie Ogley 3-1 Mark Fordham Simon Wintle 3-1 Bryan Harrison Steve Jones 3-1 Shirley Sanderson Roy Lilleyman 3-1 Michelle Binns Sam Fordham 3-1 Danny Hall Craig Fisher 3-0 Laura Tye Ian Ward 3-2 Paul Doherty Pete Riley 3-2 Lyndon Baxter Tom Sykes 3-0 Ellis Lawson Tony Marsh 3-1 Scott Wheatcroft Paul Hodkin 3-0 Dave Wilson Mark Riley 3-0 Paul Priestland Pat Blakely 3-0 Sam Hastings Jaron Esteve 3-0 Steve Cadera Scott Smith 3-1 Mick Wiltshire Mark Gale 3-1 Calum Hall Ceri Thomas 3-1 Mark Calvert Kyle Richardson 3-0 Day Riley Les Delderfield 3-0 Rob Sharp Daniel Roberts 3-0 Vernon Walsh Jamie Ingle 3-1 Andrew Clifford Paul Toulmin 3-0 John Lunn Jason Stockings 3-2 Alan Hutchinson Richard Watson 3-1 Dave Broxup Mark Robinson 3-0 Steve Fowler John Richardson 3-1 Jimmy Stonely James Storey 3-1 Ian Falkingham Mark Leonard 3-2 Dave Shore Steve Pease 3-1 Leah Wiltshire Tony Wort 3-0 Bob Brett Peter Armitage 3-0 Craig Nelmes Russell Murphy 3-1 Tony Farrow Josh Scales 3-1 Peter Baker Tony Darlow 3-0 Steve Hattersley Tom Blagg 3-0 Ian Payne Willie Kershaw 3-0 Dave Murray Adam Tooley 3-0 Brandon Lawson Brendan Dawson 3-2 Darren Cartwright Chris Courtman 3-1 Richard Curry Anil Barot 3-1 Regan Pettinger Mark Hanslip 3-0 Richard Schofield Trevor Tye 3-1 Chris Namnieks Jonny Daniels 3-1 Aaron Poole Mark Ashby 3-1 Louise Simmonds Steve Kelly 3-2 Rob Richardson
In the opening batch of games it was local player Richard Watson (25.46) who caught the eye with a very impressive performance to beat Dave Broxup (23.63). The Glasshoughton SL star taking out a 107 finish in leg 3 then opening up leg 4 with a 121 followed by a 180, eventually closing out the match in 18 darts after Dave had pressured the shot with a 180 of his own to leave 28. Shipley’s Mark Hanslip (24.24) has been putting in regular quality practice sessions with the likes of Willie Kershaw and Les Delderfield at their local club, the preparation work seems to be paying off for him with some fine results of late, he had to be on the ball and sharp on the finishing to see off Huddersfield’s Richard Schofield (23.48) who was never far behind in all 3 legs. Nothing short of a disaster for Dave Wilson (17.46) who dominated the scoring against fellow Huddersfield player Paul Hodkin (17.08) but wasted 30 attempts at doubles in 3 legs, most of those on the wire but it just wasn’t his day as Paul virtually stole the victory in 35, 26 and 27 darts, very rarely in BDP would a player win 3-0 with those sort of stats. Elsewhere fine wins for Simon Wintle as he despatched Bryan Harrison 3-1 and Mark Leonard who beat Dave Shore 3-2 to eliminate two very dangerous players early on.
ROUND 2
Bob Pinder 3-1 John Utting Wayne Woodhouse 3-0 Norman Elliott Andy Cheeseboro 3-0 Nigel Atkinson Jamie Ogley 3-2 Simon Wintle Steve Jones 3-2 Roy Lilleyman Sam Fordham 3-2 Craig Fisher Pete Riley 3-0 Ian Ward Tom Sykes 3-2 Andy Smith Tony Marsh 3-0 Paul Hodkin Pat Blakely 3-0 Mark Riley Brendan Marren 3-1 Jaron Esteve Scott Smith 3-1 Mark Gale Paul Hick 3-1 Ceri Thomas Les Delderfield 3-0 Kyle Richardson Daniel Roberts 3-2 Jamie Ingle Paul Toulmin 3-2 Colin Lawrence Jason Stockings 3-2 Scott Cole Richard Watson 3-0 Mark Robinson John Richardson 3-1 Peter Rebanks James Storey 3-1 Mark Leonard Jonathan Hewitt 3-0 Lewis Pride Gary O'Donnell 3-1 Steve Pease Peter Armitage 3-1 Tony Wort Rich Winpenny 3-2 Alex Pride Josh Scales 3-0 Russell Murphy Tony Darlow 3-0 Tom Blagg Willie Kershaw 3-1 Adam Tooley Brendan Dawson 3-1 Chris Courtman Anil Barot 3-2 Mark Hanslip Jonny Daniels 3-2 Trevor Tye Mick Hayward 3-0 Mark Ashby Steve Kelly 3-0 Tracey Gledhill
A glorious triumph in midweek for Skipton’s Mick Hayward as he came through a field of a hundred or so players at the Speedy Hire event in Leeds to win through to the televised UK Open in Bolton in a couple of months time alongside Danny Dutson and Steve Service, both having participated in BDP tournaments in the past. Not quite happened for Mick as yet in BDP Comps despite some decent performances but he progressed into Round 2 with a 3-0 win over Mark Ashby today. An excellent 14 darter by Pete Armitage (23.39) wrapped up the match after an in and out display against Tony Wort (19.43) who was below par himself after some fine showings in local events at East Leeds, regularly getting to the later stages in Comps. Adam Tooley (23.22) was holding his own at 1-1 against Willie Kershaw (28.24) until the Shipley star upped the ante somewhat with 14 and 16 darters to crush the resistance of the South Leeds player. An unlucky bounce out on a Bull finish cost Jaron Esteve the chance to square the match against Brendan Marren at 2-2, instead the Keighley star took full advantage on the next throw to win 3-1, both players attempted to qualify for the UK Open at the Speedy Hire and would have been among the favourites to do so but both failed to score well enough with 15 darts to progress which shows it is not at all as easy as some would suggest to qualify this way. After two consecutive Semi Finals there was to be no repeat for Alex Pride today as he lost a tight battle 3-2 to Rich Winpenny while son Lewis also in fine form of late also bowed out after a 3-0 defeat to Jonathan Hewitt. More useful points for Rotherham’s Sam Fordham as he continues to impress at BDP with another eye-catching win, this time a 3-2 success over fellow South Yorkshire star Craig Fisher.
ROUND 3
Wayne Woodhouse 3-1 Bob Pinder Andy Cheeseboro 3-0 Jamie Ogley Steve Jones 3-1 Sam Fordham Pete Riley 3-2 Tom Sykes Tony Marsh 3-0 Pat Blakely Brendan Marren 3-0 Scott Smith Les Delderfield 3-0 Paul Hick Paul Toulmin 3-0 Daniel Roberts Richard Watson 3-2 Jason Stockings John Richardson 3-2 James Storey Gary O'Donnell 3-2 Jonathan Hewitt Peter Armitage 3-2 Rich Winpenny Tony Darlow 3-1 Josh Scales Willie Kershaw 3-0 Brendan Dawson Jonny Daniels 3-0 Anil Barot Steve Kelly 3-2 Mick Hayward
Castleford’s Wayne Woodhouse back in action on home soil and serving notice of intent with a fine victory over Bob Pinder to take out the favourite from the top section of the draw with anyone of the remaining players there in with a great chance of reaching the Semi’s at least. One of those players being Andy Cheesborough always a danger man at BDP and looking good after a 3-0 victory over young Jamie Ogley. Timely checkouts of 124 in leg 1 and 74 in the decider won the match for Pete Armitage in a game he really should have lost against Rich Winpenny, the Woodlesford man missing 6 darts at doubles in the opener and then 4 match darts to pay the ultimate price. Jonathan Daniels regularly down to the business end in most competitions, the Darfield player such a steely determined opponent on the oche and very difficult to beat as youngster Anil Barot found out after a 3-0 defeat, the ‘Cuddly Bear’ is also proud of the players he has mentored and gets as much pleasure out of watching them succeed as he does winning his own games. Gary O’Donnell is one such player in the Darfield stable and he had his best result to date at BDP with a fine 3-2 win over Jonathan Hewitt, not too many surprises elsewhere though as Marren, Delderfield, Kelly and Tony Darlow with an exhibition style 125 checkout against Josh Scales all came through their games.
ROUND 4
Wayne Woodhouse 3-0 Andy Cheesebrough Steve Jones 3-0 Pete Riley Brendan Marren 3-0 Tony Marsh Les Delderfield 3-2 Paul Toulmin Richard Watson 3-2 John Richardson Peter Armitage 3-0 Gary O'Donnell Willie Kershaw 3-1 Tony Darlow Jonny Daniels 3-2 Steve Kelly
Oakwood’s John Richardson (17.57) held in his head in his hands after blowing a great chance to make the Quarter Finals, he was much the stronger on the scoring hitting 8 x 100 pluses to only 1 x 100 from Richard Watson (16.26) who is probably still wondering how he won that game playing as poorly as that, that he did win was really down to the fact that John missed 33 darts at doubles in the legs he lost to virtually hand the game to the Castleford player who will know he needs to find his 1st Round form to have any chance of progressing any further. A decent effort from Gary O’Donnell (24.20) who hit 5 x 100′s and 2 x 95′s but to no avail as Pete Armitage (26.37) blasted back with a big 180 and 2 x 140′s to claim all 3 legs in 21, 16 and 20 darts. No Semi this week for Steve Kelly but he made Jonathan Daniels work hard for his 3-2 win, while on Board 2 Pete Riley’s best run so far this season ended at the hands of fellow Halifax player Steve Jones. A fine showing too from debutant Tony Marsh despite suffering defeat to Brendan Marren who set up a QF clash with Les Delderfield who overcame SL team mate Paul Toulmin in a close match. Willie Kershaw and Wayne Woodhouse the other 2 players in the Last 8 after fine wins over Tony Darlow and Andy Cheesebrough.
QUARTER FINALS
Wayne Woodhouse 3-1 Steve Jones Les Delderfield 3-2 Brendan Marren Peter Armitage 3-1 Richard Watson Willie Kershaw 3-2 Jonathan Daniels
Easy going Wayne Woodhouse (23.55) had taken out a 136 finish in his opening match against John Clifford and followed it up by smashing in a fine 134 finish to wrap up a fairly comfortable 3-1 win over a disappointing Steve Jones (17.38) who was never really in the game after taking a fortunate lead in the opening leg after Wayne had missed 8 darts at doubles. Pete Armitage beat Richard Watson by the same score while the other 2 ties went to the wire with Willie Kershaw just edging out Jonathan Daniels and Les Delderfield clinching victory with a 154 checkout after earlier being on the receiving end of a 156 outshot from Brendan Marren in a top notch encounter between these two legends of BDP darts.
SEMI FINAL 1
Les Delderfield (24.41) 3-1 (22.07) Wayne Woodhouse
Local star Wayne Woodhouse may feel afterwards that he missed a golden opportunity to reach the Final after finding Les Delderfield just a touch erratic in this match compared to his usual sky high standard. The Shipley veteran pinched the opening leg with a punishing 110 finish after Wayne had missed 3 clear darts at Tops, then continued the assault with a 180 start to leg 2, with only a 45 coming back from Wayne on his opening throw the leg looked to be a formality for Les, however he made a real meal of it and couldn’t finish off from 90 with 12 darts to hand Wayne a lifeline which he took in 24 darts. The Castleford star couldn’t make it count though on his own throw hitting only steady scores rather than the big tons he needed, in the meantime Les was struggling himself with a 24, 58, 26 start to the leg before turning to Plan B and attacking the 19′s, the change of tactic paid dividends as he rescued the leg with further scores of 133, 95 and 133 again before finishing the 32 left for a strange looking 19 darter. Les wrapped up the match with the best leg of the game, a steady 18 darter with Wayne’s good scoring in that leg coming just a little too late for him as he was left on 100 after 15 darts. Les strangely inconsistent on the scoring with 6 x 100 pluses including a 180 but hit 7 scores of under 46, far too many for his liking but able to get away with it because Wayne could only manage 2 x 140′s and 2 x 100 scores in 3 figures, although he did look much the steadier player with lots of straight 60′s but was just a bit unfortunate not to land more of them in the Treble 20.
SEMI FINAL 2
Peter Armitage (26.42) 3-2 (23.96) Willie Kershaw
A fine start to the match for Willie Kershaw with a 180 opening throw to engineer a 17 dart break, however his game dipped alarmingly after that and Peter Armitage went on to claim a deserved victory that was perhaps a bit more emphatic than the scoreline suggests. Fine 16 dart legs from the man nicknamed ‘Showtime’ by his kids as they are regularly treated to exhibition darts by him on the practice board in the kitchen at home put him 2-1 up and in total command of the game, an indifferent 4th leg from the man in the hoodie though but he still had 2 darts for the match but allowed Willie back in at 2-2 with an unconvincing 26 darter. Solid scoring of 99, 97 and 95 enabled Pete to finish the match in 19 darts with Willie putting in a late burst of 85, 95 and 100 with his last 3 scores but proved to be too late in the day as Peter made no mistake on Double 10. A total of 6 x 100 pluses for Pete but superbly backed up with 10 other scores in the 80′s and 90′s to keep the pressure on. A rare below par effort in a big game for Willie as he managed 5 x 100 pluses with 4 x 90 odd scores but similarly to Les in the first Semi he hit far too many low scores with 7 of those 45 or under which ultimately cost him the match.
FINAL
Peter Armitage (26.42) 4-1 (25.01) Les Delderfield
A thoroughly professional performance from Pete Armitage as he out scored and out played Les Delderfield to record a convincing 4-1 victory. The opening 2 legs were evenly fought as Pete took the opener in 21 darts followed by a 17 dart riposte from Les. The East Leeds man formally known as ‘The Ragamuffin’ due to his dodgy dress sense then took complete control as he won the next 2 legs more or less unchallenged, both in 18 darts as Les lost his way on the scoring hitting only a single 3 figure score in 11 visits which is most un Les like. The 1997 Winmau World Masters Semi Finalist never ever gives in though and rallied in leg 5 with a 180 but missed a 56 checkout to get back in the game, with Peter now in a ruthless mood and missing very little especially on the finishes the shot at Double Top was a mere formality as he took it with the 1st dart for a 19 dart clincher. Once again rock solid scoring throughout from Peter with 1 x 180 and 7 x 100 pluses, assisted again by 6 x 90 odds with a 88 finish in leg 3 to make it a clinical all round performance. The epic win over Brendan Marren in the QF almost seemed as if it took a lot out of Les as he wasn’t the same player in the Semi or the Final, still a 25 ave not a disgrace by any means as most other players would be reasonably pleased with that but Les sets such high standards that a 25 ave is well below par for him, especially in a Final, a total of 8 x 100 pluses including a 180 with a 95 score for him, usually when things aren’t going so well for Les he switches to 19′s to great effect but in this game he kept faith on the 20′s and for once his judgement didn’t pay off.
SUMMARY
Not a bad days work for Peter Armitage especially as he wasn’t planning on coming today, only a last minute call with the offer of a lift from Mick Dodds diverting him away from the Bookies and into the car, reckon Mick should be claiming at least 25% of the winnings for being so charitable in the first place but he may just have to settle for a pint of Coke instead if he’s lucky! In all seriousness well done to Pete on his 2nd BDP title after Crossgates in 2011 season, no tips needed for him on how to play darts, just on how to fashionable or else ‘The Ragamuffin’ nickname will come back to haunt him.
