For the fourth month in a row Robbie Stanger won all his games and finished at the top of the Singles League. Stevie Linklater went down to Robbie for the sixth consecutive time, so despite whitewashing both Brian Moar and Michael Bain he had to settle for second place. The relegation battle was very close with Brian and the two Michaels, Bain and Moodie, all finishing with one win apiece so it went down to leg difference with Michael Bain just beating Brian by one leg. Michael Moodie was only three legs behind.

Bruce Moar and Iain Wilkie have been going up and down like a yo-yo between the top two leagues and once again both players topped League 2 to return straight away to League 1 with Bruce winning their match 9-7. Once again the battle to avoid relegation was close with Leigh Shearer, Martin Peace and Ross Donaldson all finishing with five points and it was Leigh that just edged out Martin by two legs to gain the third spot thanks to a 9-8 win in their respective match. Ross’s leg difference wasn’t helped by his 9-0 defeat at the hands of Iain Wilkie.

In League 3 James Flett continued his climb up the Leagues, winning three of his games to top the league, and he will be joined by Michael Muir Snr who also finished with three wins. Michael Muir Jnr just held onto third place thanks to two very close wins over Ryan Tulloch (9-7) and Neil Drever (9-8). Neil and Ryan finished fourth and fifth with the same leg difference so Neil just edged Ryan thanks to a 9-4 win in their respective game.

In League 4 Craig Moar and Robert Gatt finished on top with three wins each with Craig just pipping Robert by two legs thanks to a 9-6 win in their respective match. In the battle for third place Henry Bateman and Neil Tait both finished with two wins each so it was down to leg difference to decide and thanks to Henry’s 9-1 win over Neil he grabbed third place.

Roy Griffiths convincingly won all his games including a 9-0 demolition of Andrew Watson to top League 5. Sean Stanger, Derek Farmer and Colin Findlay were all tied on six points in their quest to join Roy in League 4 next month and despite losing 9-6 to Derek it was Sean that grabbed second spot by one leg over Derek.

In League 6 Hippy took the top spot with three wins. Despite going down 9-8 to Linda Harcus he had an excellent 9-2 over Paul Davis and a 9-3 win over Stuart Paterson which included a 124 checkout.

Seventeen players scored a total of thirty-four 180s. Robbie Stanger and Iain Wilkie, the top two in the 180 table, extended their lead with four each. Others to score 180s were Neil Drever 3, Bruce Moar 3, Michael Moodie 3, Michael Muir Jnr 3, Stevie Linklater 2, Leigh Shearer 2, Neil Tait 2 and Michael Bain, Henry Bateman, Michael Muir Snr, Martin Peace, Ryan Tulloch, James Flett, Hippy and Robert Gatt all had one each. Linda Harcus also had a maximum on 19s with a 171.

Highest checkout of the month went to Michael Bain with a 136 finish in his 9-5 victory over Brian Moar, his first ever win over Brian. Michael also had a 114 checkout. Others to finish well were Bruce Moar 127, 120, 109, Craig Moar 120, 116, 108, Ryan Tulloch 118, 110, Michael Muir Snr 132, Iain Wilkie 127, Hippy 124, Henry Bateman 120, Roy Griffiths 118, Robbie Stanger 116, Sean Stanger 116, Martin Peace 114, Robert Gatt 113, Leigh Shearer 112, Michael Moodie 105, Michael Muir Jnr 103 and Neil Drever 100.

I'm away for a few days so it'll be Monday night at the earliest before I get the April Leagues posted on here and on the Legion wall.

I'll get them on as soon as I can.

The ODA Parish Cup Final between Holm and St.Ola took place last Saturday in the Quoyburray Inn and with both sides at full strength it promised to be a very close game. Guest of honour Eddie Craigie, a popular and long time stalwart of the game, addressed both teams before the final got underway and his words were appreciated by both teams and spectators alike.

First on for St.Ola were Craig Taylor and Ray Butcher who were both undefeated in the doubles this season however that record came to an end when they went down 2-0 to the father and son combination of Robbie and Sean Stanger. Freddie Tait and Leigh Shearer doubled Holm’s lead with a 2-1 win over Jimmy Miller and Mark Louttit before the final doubles of the first half saw a close game between Holm’s Bruce Moar and Billy Ward and St.Ola’s Roy Foubister and Wayne Monkman. With the score at 1-1 Monkman pulled off a 108 checkout to give St.Ola their first victory and reduce the deficit to 2-1.

The last doubles game provided the four players for the first two singles with Moar playing Monkman and Ward playing Foubister. This time it was Moar that took out the big finish with 100 checkout in his 2-1 win over Monkman and despite Foubister hitting a second 180 he couldn’t stop Ward from winning 2-1 to give Holm a 4-1 lead.

Another two very close games followed with Robbie Stanger defeating Craig Taylor 2-1 and Brian Stevenson Jnr beating Ray Butcher by the same scoreline to give Holm a commanding 6-1 lead with just two games to go in the first half. Jimmy Miller and skipper Mark Louttit were last on in the first half for St.Ola and despite both trying desperately to reduce the overall deficit it was Holm’s Freddie Tait and Leigh Shearer that won both games 2-0 respectively to give Holm a very commanding 8-1 lead at half time.

After some excellent half time sustenance provided by the Quoyburray Inn both teams returned to the oche for the start of the second half with St.Ola needing something dramatic to happen to turn things around.

This time Holm skipper Moar paired up with Stevenson and they duly despatched Monkman and Foubister 2-0 to make the score 9-1 and guarantee Holm at least a play-off. Next up for St.Ola was Louttit and Miller and despite a dogged performance it wasn’t enough as Ward and Stanger won the game 2-1 with Robbie hitting the winning double to put the seal on an emphatic victory and make the score 10-1. Now it was all about pride for the St.Ola team and Butcher and Taylor returned to their winning ways with an excellent 2-0 win over Tait and Shearer in the last doubles to give St.Ola a second point.

Into the second series of singles and despite Roy Foubister hitting a third 180 in the final he went down 2-1 to a buoyant Sean Stanger before Monkman won his singles against Shearer to make the score 11-3 in Holm’s favour. That was as good as it got though for the St.Ola team as Holm closed out the remaining four singles games, all by a 2-0 scoreline, to make the final score 15-3 to Holm.

By the end of the match a good crowd had gathered in the Quoyburray and they watched on as the Holm skipper Bruce Moar was called forward to accept the cup from Eddie Craigie. Although the scoreline was harsh on the St.Ola team, the Holm boys always seemed to be just in control and at the end few could argue that they didn’t deserve to get their name on the trophy. Their experience of losing the previous two finals obviously inspired them to victory this time.

On behalf of the ODA I would like to thank all the teams, players and venues for making the competition the success it has been so far. With the dust barely settled after this season’s final there has already been talk over next season’s Parish Cup and we haven’t even reached the end of March! Word on the street is Stenness will return and Harray are going to enter a team for the first time so that along with some changes in personnel for some of the other teams will no doubt make for an even more interesting competition.

Robbie Stanger continued to dominate the 2011-12 Singles League winning all his games in February, including a fifth consecutive win over his nearest rival Stevie Linklater. Stevie secured second place with wins in his other games against Brian Moar, Iain Wilkie and Bruce Moar. Brian beat Iain and Bruce to remain in the top league with Bruce and Iain dropping down again.

Michael Bain hit form in League 2 to win all his games and grab the top spot. The second promotion place went to the last game of the month and saw Michael Moodie and Ross Donaldson go head to head. Despite being 8-6 up Ross couldn’t finish the job and Michael came back to win 9-8 and grab second place. Ross’s consolation is he remains in League 2 for March.

Two Singles League stalwarts returned to form to grab the top two places in League 3 with Leigh Shearer just edging out Martin Peace 9-6 to finish on top. Michael Muir Snr won two games including a very good win over Leigh to stay in League 3 with Craig Moar and Henry Bateman dropping down with a win apiece.

League 4 was the closest league in February with Neil Drever, James Flett and Robert Gatt all finishing with three wins so it was leg difference that decided who went up with Neil and James just edging Robert into third place. Roy Griffiths and Derek Farmer both drop down a league for the second consecutive month.

Neil Tait overcame a shaky start to the month to win his last three games and finish top of League 5 just ahead of Allan Brown who also finished with three wins. As usual Andrew Watson left it late to play all his games but was successful in two of them and remains in League 5.

Sean Stanger returned to the League in February and won the three games he played including two very close 9-8 wins over Sean Chalmers and Colin Findlay to move up to League 5. He is joined by Colin Findlay after Colin won his other two games over Hippy and Paul Davis.

Thirteen players scored a total of twenty-six 180s with Stevie Linklater having the most with six which included three in his defeat to Robbie Stanger. Neil Drever had 4, Brian Moar 2, Michael Bain 2, Leigh Shearer 2, Michael Moodie 2, Michael Muir Snr 2. Robbie Stanger, Iain Wilkie, Bruce Moar, Derek Farmer, Martin Peace and Sean Chalmers all had one each.

Once again Stevie Linklater had the most ton plus checkouts with five but Brian Moar had the highest of the month with a 156 in his defeat to Robbie Stanger. Other high checkouts were Stevie Linklater 138, 120, 120, 120, 108, Michael Moodie 129, 112, 106, Robbie Stanger 120, 114, 112, Brian Moar 156, 124, Iain Wilkie 125, 121, Neil Drever 117, 100, Michael Muir Snr 126, Neil Tait 113, Sean Stanger 111, Ross Donaldson 108, Robert Gatt 102, Michael Bain 100, James Flett 100.
 

After losing in the last two finals Holm won their first Parish Cup with a convincing 15-3 victory over St.Ola on Saturday at the Quoyburray Inn.

More to follow . . .

Parish Cup

The ODA Parish Cup Final between Holm and St.Ola will take place at 4pm this Saturday, 17th March, in the Quoyburray Inn. Both teams have had some very tough games en route to the final and will be determined to sign off the season with a final victory.

Holm, who will play their third final in a row, had a very tough start when they were drawn away against the defending champions Sandwick and after a tense 9-9 draw Holm won the play-off leg to advance into the next round. Next up for Holm was Sanday who would provide another very stern test although the Sanday team was weakened at the last minute when Alan Gray got stuck in Sanday due to the weather. After leading 5-4 at half time Holm hung on to win 10-8 and progress to the semi finals with a delighted Freddie Tait throwing the winning double. An away trip to Stronsay was next and a full strength Holm team returned with a convincing 16-2 victory to seal their place in the final.

St.Ola are playing in their first final and they have also had some tough games along the way. They started the competition with a comfortable 14-4 win over Eday before being drawn against Shapinsay in the quarter final. The game against Shapinsay eventually got under way at the start of December after the first scheduled date was postponed due to the weather. Shapinsay started well and led 5-4 at half time before St.Ola stormed back to win 10-8 and set up a semi final clash against South Ronaldsay. With both teams looking to get to their first final it was always going to be a close game and when St.Ola got off to the better, winning all three doubles, that gave them the advantage they needed and they went on to win 10-7 after leading 5-4 at half time.

St.Ola skipper Mark Louttit and his Holm counterpart Bruce Moar both have full strength squads to pick from on Saturday so a close game should be on the cards. Orkney Darts legend Eddie Craigie will present the Cup to the winning captain after the game.
 

Singles League

January’s Singles League report was lost in cyberspace so here’s a brief summary of what happened in January.

Robbie Stanger won all his games in League 1 for the second month in a row to extend his lead at the top of the Championship Table. Robbie is on 94 points, three ahead of his nearest challenger Stevie Linklater.

Martin Peace and James Flett made a welcome return to the Leagues and both wasted no time in winning all their games and gaining promotion at the first attempt. Both also conceded a record low total of legs for a month in their respective leagues with Martin conceding thirteen in League 4 and James a round dozen in League 5. Other players to win all their games in January were Bruce Moar in League 2 and Linda Harcus in League 6.

Iain Wilkie was January’s ton eighty king with seven, the equal second highest for a month. Next highest was Stevie Linklater, Robbie Stanger and Henry Bateman with four. Robbie still tops the table with twenty, three ahead of Iain, who is now on seventeen.

Bruce Moar had the most ton-plus checkouts with four in January closely followed by Michael Moodie, Robbie Stanger and Stevie Linklater who all had three. Brian Moar had the highest checkout of the month with a 154 in his 9-1 win over Michael Bain but it is still Stevie Linklater that leads the high checkout table with fifteen followed by Bruce some way behind on ten.

Another significant score in January was Brian Moar’s 9-0 over Michael Muir Jnr, a fairly unusual score in League 1 and also worthy of a mention is Ryan Tulloch’s back to back 177s in his 9-6 win over Ross Donaldson in League 3.

Parish Cup
Semi finals

St.Ola v South Ronaldsay

The first ODA Parish Cup semi final took place on Saturday 28th January when St.Ola played host to South Ronaldsay.

Both teams were making their first appearance in a semi final and St.Ola couldn’t have hoped for a better start, winning all three doubles to take an early 3-0 lead. When St.Ola’s Roy Foubister beat Aaron Edwardson in the first singles things were starting to look bleak for South Ronaldsay but South Ronaldsay skipper Derek Ward Jnr stopped the rot with a good 2-1 win over Ray Butcher. Derek’s old man Derek Snr followed his lead with an excellent 2-0 win over Wayne Monkman before Moose Montgomery beat Craig Taylor to continue the comeback to make the score 4-3 to St.Ola. St.Ola captain Mark Louttit beat Pete Mathieson to put his team back on the winning trail again before Keith Bain beat Jimmy Miller to make the half time score 5-4 in St.Ola’s favour.

St.Ola made a couple of changes at half time by introducing George Grieve at first doubles to partner Ray Butcher and included Derek Manson in the singles. George made an impact straight away by helping his partner win their doubles and they were followed in victory by Louttit and Miller to give St.Ola a 7-4 lead.

South Ronaldsay rallied again with Moose and Ward Snr winning the last doubles to reduce St.Ola’s lead to 7-5 but it wasn’t to last long. St.Ola got off to a flyer in the second series of singles and gave themselves an unassailable lead when Monkman and Manson both won their respective games 2-0 to make the score 9-5. Ward Snr and Keith Bain won the next two games for South Ronaldsay to reduce the deficit to 9-7 but that was as near as they would get. St.Ola darts legend Jimmy Miller secured the winning double as he has done so many times over the years to put St.Ola into the final for the first time with a winning score of 10-7. The only scores of note came from Roy Foubister and Derek Ward Jnr who had a 180 each.

A strong St.Ola team just kept their noses in front after a very close first half and their experience probably helped them to victory in the second half. Mark Louttit, St.Ola’s victorious captain thanked the St.Ola Hotel for hosting the match and said it was the best game his team have played with a brilliant atmosphere.

South Ronaldsay, with a good mix of experience and youth, put up a good fight but losing five of the six doubles matches just left too much to claw back in the singles but they’ll gain from the experience and be back next year.

St.Ola: Mark Louttit, Craig Taylor, Ray Butcher, Jimmy Miller, Wayne Monkman, Roy Foubister, George Grieve, Derek Manson.
South Ronaldsay: Keith Bain, Derek Ward Jnr, Pete Mathieson, Aaron Edwardson, Derek Ward Snr, Michael Montgomery.

Stronsay v Holm

Holm travelled out to Stronsay on Friday 17th February for their eagerly anticipated semi final clash with Stronsay and an overnight stay into the bargain! With both teams at full strength and Stronsay having home advantage a close game was anticipated. The Holm team arrived at the Stronsay Hotel raring to go after being treated to an excellent meal, including cake and shortbread, at their host Barbara Smith’s house.

Holm got off to a perfect start, winning all three doubles 2-0 to race into an early 3-0 lead. Holm’s Billy Ward won the first singles match against Mike Holland to increase the Holm lead before Stronsay’s Trevor Shearer beat Holm skipper Bruce Moar 2-1 to give Stronsay their first game of the night and reduce the deficit to 4-1. The Stronsay team were scoring well with Willie Caithness and Damian Stout pushing Tone Stevenson and Leigh Shearer all the way in the singles but the Holm team’s finishing was sharper and they won the last four singles of the half to make the score 8-1 at half time.

Into the second half and it wasn’t long before Leigh Shearer and Sean Stanger put another point on the board for Holm with a 2-0 win over Richard Groat and Willie Caithness, including a 13 darter in the winning leg, to make it 9-1.

Minutes later and the biggest cheer of the night shook the rafters when Mike Holland nailed a 105 checkout to give him and his brother Jim a 2-1 win over Holm pair Billy Ward and Freddie Tait. The Stronsay team continued to play well but the lack of match practice was the difference as Holm won the last seven games, five of them 2-1, to win with a final score of 16-2. Robbie Stanger had the only 180 of the night.

At the end of the match Holm skipper Bruce Moar thanked the Stronsay Hotel for hosting the semi final and for providing both teams with supper. Barbara Smith was also thanked for looking after them and the Holm team gave a spontaneous ‘three cheers for Stronsay’ in appreciation before both teams returned to the dart board to play loop for the remainder of the night. Both teams also contested the gallon at the end of the match although this correspondent has little recollection of who actually won it! Stronsay played well and no doubt will come back next season better for their experience.

Stronsay: Ian Stevenson (Captain), Trevor Shearer, Jim Holland, Mike Holland, Richard Groat, Willie Caithness, Damian Stout, Gary Dennison.
Holm: Bruce Moar, Billy Ward, Leigh Shearer, Robbie Stanger, Sean Stanger, Brian Stevenson Jnr, Freddie Tait.

A strong Holm team progress to the final for the third year in a row, but this time will play first time finalists St.Ola who also have a very strong squad. The final will take place at 4pm on Saturday 17th March in the Quoyburray Inn. Once again it promises to be a very close final.