Thursday, March 29, 2007
South & North West Regionals
In the South regional in London, I had drawn Andrew Coulter in the 1st Round. As I said in my previous, I didn't know too much about him. But searching for some results he had beaten some decent players so I knew I'd have to play well (as I do whoever I draw). I won the bull, and the 1st leg was pretty poor from both of us. I managed to get to the double first and hit it. The 2nd leg was better, but I didn't get a dart at a double as he finished straight away. Then I started to warm up. A 13 darter in the 3rd leg, followed by a 151 finish in the 4th killed him off, and the 5th leg was just steady but I took that to win 4-1. Yet again my 2nd game problem came to bite me though. If i'd have played as I did in the 1st game, I'd have beaten Matt Clark. But I was poor once again. He won the bull, and went 2-0 up. I improved slightly to take the 3rd against the darts, but then missed darts at doubles to level it at 2-2. After this I never recovered, and went on to lose 5-1.
2 weeks later, it was on to Manchester for the North West Regionals. The first round was Dave Green, who I knew all about from his postings on the Superstars of Darts website. I won't go into much detail about this match, as I don't like slagging off fellow players particuarly. But his antics during the game affected me, in as much that after going 2-0 up quite easily, I then started focusing on doing a job on him instead of just getting through to the next round. It almost cost me, as I stopped playing and let him get back to 2-2. I was dire in the 5th leg, and was lucky to win it, before I pulled myself together a bit in the 6th and won it to win the match 4-2. Dave Jowett was my 2nd Round opponent, and it was certainly the best I've played at this stage for a while. I know Dave from the Monday Night Doncaster league I used to play in, and I know how good he can be. He qualified for the 2004 World Matchplay, as well as the World Championship a few months ago. I lost the bull, but won the 1st leg against the darts with an 89 finish (treble 19, double 8, double 8............). He had hit a 180 in that leg, which was a reoccuring event as he hit 6 in the match, plus a 177. He broke straight back in the 2nd, while the 3rd, 4th & 5th went with throw. In the 6th, I missed 1 dart at a double, and Dave punished me by taking 120 out. I broke straight back in the 7th having to take out 85. The 8th was close, but a bad 30 by me let him in. He then hit 177 to leave himself 32. I followed with 145 to leave 57, but he took out Double 16 1st dart. Despite losing, I was relatively happy with my performace to lost 5-3 against a player who was bang in form.
This weekend is the final UK Open Regional in Nottingham. The draw hasn't been too kind, in that I play Graeme Stoddart and then hopefully Dave Askew. It's a chance at revenge for me though, as I bottled a chance to beat Stoddart in September in the Welsh Regional.
2 weeks later, it was on to Manchester for the North West Regionals. The first round was Dave Green, who I knew all about from his postings on the Superstars of Darts website. I won't go into much detail about this match, as I don't like slagging off fellow players particuarly. But his antics during the game affected me, in as much that after going 2-0 up quite easily, I then started focusing on doing a job on him instead of just getting through to the next round. It almost cost me, as I stopped playing and let him get back to 2-2. I was dire in the 5th leg, and was lucky to win it, before I pulled myself together a bit in the 6th and won it to win the match 4-2. Dave Jowett was my 2nd Round opponent, and it was certainly the best I've played at this stage for a while. I know Dave from the Monday Night Doncaster league I used to play in, and I know how good he can be. He qualified for the 2004 World Matchplay, as well as the World Championship a few months ago. I lost the bull, but won the 1st leg against the darts with an 89 finish (treble 19, double 8, double 8............). He had hit a 180 in that leg, which was a reoccuring event as he hit 6 in the match, plus a 177. He broke straight back in the 2nd, while the 3rd, 4th & 5th went with throw. In the 6th, I missed 1 dart at a double, and Dave punished me by taking 120 out. I broke straight back in the 7th having to take out 85. The 8th was close, but a bad 30 by me let him in. He then hit 177 to leave himself 32. I followed with 145 to leave 57, but he took out Double 16 1st dart. Despite losing, I was relatively happy with my performace to lost 5-3 against a player who was bang in form.
This weekend is the final UK Open Regional in Nottingham. The draw hasn't been too kind, in that I play Graeme Stoddart and then hopefully Dave Askew. It's a chance at revenge for me though, as I bottled a chance to beat Stoddart in September in the Welsh Regional.
