BOBBY’S REPORT

This Saturday there are three major darts qualifiers for the Fife men will be taking place when the CISWO, Glenrothes, plays host to the Gold Cup, the WINMAU World Masters and the Lakeside 2011 play-offs all take place in the club.

It should be a busy day for all involved so all players wishing to participate should be in the venue by 12.30 so the draws can be made and the tournaments toe the oche at 1.00pm.

There is only one place available in the Gold Cup and the Lakeside competitions with the winners gaining direct entry to the British finals, but there is still a Scottish final for the WINMAU qualifiers to go through before they reach the same stage.

The Gold Cup Doubles will also be played on Saturday but this will be subject to the number of entries.

On Tuesday next week (15^th) the CISWO will again host darts, this time it will be the turn of the women as their WINMAU World Masters and Lakeside qualifiers are to be held that evening. All players are reminded that the starting time will be 7.15pm so to be in the club as early as possible.

The final results in the Super League saw the men’s champions Lochgelly A whitewash their league counterparts from the Lochgelly B team and come away with an 8-0 victory in the last match of the season to preserve their unbeaten campaign. There were seven 180’s in the match; Pete Naughton, Alan Small, Colin Feeley and Brendyn Donnelly all scored one each, while Math Wilson registered three maximums. Paddy Reilly’s 141 was the highest checkout and the fastest leg was from Pete Naughton with a 13-dart leg in his set, although, while playing in the reserve set against Brendyn, Alan Small hit an 11 darter following three 140’s and checking out 81. If only he’d kept that leg for when he played Phil Taylor at Pettycur Bay recently he may have had a chance against The Power as Phil hit a 10-darter against Alan.

In the other ties, the two Dunfermline teams met at Jokers and the spoils were shared in a 4-4 draw and at the CISWO, Glenrothes failed to take advantage of their 4-0 lead as East Fife fought back to take a share of the points and earn a 4-4 draw as well to secure second place.

The season ends with the final table looking as follows; Champions – Lochgelly A with 91 points, Runners-up – East Fife with 75, 3^rd Cowdenbeath (73), 4^th Glenrothes (65), 5^th Dunfermline A (41), 6^th Dunfermline B (38) and 7^th Lochgelly B (36).

In the women’s league, the final fixtures were also played out and as a result, the women’s champions for the season are the ladies from the CISWO following their 4-1 victory at the Railway Tavern. Shardys were away against Dunfermline in their match and they won by a 4-1 score line as well to end the season as runners-up. In the other match, the Clansman won on the road with a 3-2 win against the Royal Tavern.

The best stats from the final round matches saw Benda Hunter (Shardys) with the highest average of 17.89, Lynn Torrance (Clansman) had the fastest leg with 23 darts and the highest checkout was by her teammate Julie Forrester with a 98 outshot.

The final table sees the CISWO crowned as Champions with 70 points closely followed by Shardys in the runners-up spot on 66pts. Kennoway Bowling Club finished in 3^rd place with 51 while the other newcomers, Dunfermline, rounded off a good debut season finishing fourth with 32 points. Fifth place went to the Clansman (29), 6^th Royal Tavern (22) and 7^th Railway Tavern (21).

In the recent Under-21 Friendship Cup in Aberdeen, the two Fifers James Scougall and Brendyn Donnelly, both played exceptionally well over the weekend. With Ireland not able to attend, James played with the Scotland team while Brendyn was playing with the Granite City select and on the Saturday, both won their games against the Northern Ireland side but lost against a very impressive Northern England team. On the Sunday in the Scotland versus Granite City select match, as fate would have it, the two were drawn out against each other. With the two knowing each other well, it wasn’t any easier and a nervous first leg from the two went to James after both failing to take advantage of the other’s missed attempts at the doubles. The second leg was a lot different however as Brendyn didn’t mess about and he checked out 129 on the bull to level the tie and take it into the decider. The two players scored well in the third leg and when James slipped up going for a double, Brendyn pounced to take the leg and win the set.

Overall winners were the Northern English winning all their three games with Scotland finishing as runners-up winning two out of three, while the Granite City select and the Northern Ireland team finished joint third.

When the Friendship Cup presentations were over, there was a WINMAU World Masters qualifier for all players and the Fife boys done well in that. James went out in the last 16 round and Brendyn went a round further, losing in the quarter finals.

While on youth tournaments, Bannockburn held an 18-25 competition at the weekend as well as a qualifier for the British Teenage Championship and three players from Lochgelly League were involved with James and Brendyn being joined by Stuart McGaulley. James and Stuart played in the 18-25’s and James reached the quarter finals but Stuart made it through to the final before losing out. In the Teenage Championship qualifier, Brendyn kept up his excellent run of form and went through the field unbeaten to qualify for the finals, which are held in Braintree, Essex, in July.