KINGS Tamerton Community Centre extended their advantage at the top of the Plymouth and District Friday League to 10 points, after they plundered all of the points from their visit to Royal Naval Arms B. Royal Naval Arms A remain in second spot following a 10-3 victory away at Weston Mill Oak Villa, buoyed by two good performances. Andy Bates was consistent throughout and top scored with 13 throws of a ton or more while Andrew Nation (32.29) (pictured below), won his singles in 31, hitting seven ton plus scores in the leg. Dinky Diner A returned from City Social C with a 9-4 victory, the same winning scoreline that was also achieved by Octagon SC away at Mainstone SC. Steam Packet consolidat

MARK Shears proved to be the best player when the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League held their end of season play-off for team champions. He reached the semi-final with 3-0 victories over Dan Hill and Paul Gavican while his last four opponent, Scott Hutchinson, was equally impressive when defeating Mark Webber and Pete Holland, also in straight legs. In the other half of the draw, John Mann defeated Dave Algar 3-0 before achieving a 3-1 victory over Scott Lawrey, aided by an 11-dart leg. The last player to make the semi’s was Lewis Dare after wins against Keith Walton (3-0) and Paul Bowen (3-1). Shears (pictured left), was taken the full distance by Hutchinson but made it through to th

BROOKSIDE A are now the outright leaders of the Monday Premier League and the only side who can boast an unblemished record. Their opponents Firkin Scholar played better than their league position would suggest though and the Honicknowle side only got home by the odd game in 11, in a fixture that produced five maximum scores. Two of the 180s came from the host’s Jim Orchard who top scored with 19 throws of a ton or more, which included an outshot of 151, which came in a 3-2 defeat of Gary Phillips (100x12). WINNER: Paul Barclay won the deciding 11th point as Octagon B came from 5-2 down to inflict on Steam Packet B their first defeat of the campaign. Steam Packet B lost for the first time wh

THROUGHOUT one’s sporting career, there is usually a very special occasion to remember and for one of the most popular darts players within the Plymouth leagues, that occasion came for Tony Turner on Sunday December 7, 1997, when he became only the ninth player in 13 years to win the Champion of Champions. Tony, at 28-years-old, was a late starter, but be began league darts in the 1983-84 season at the City Social, playing in the Plymouth and District Social Clubs League on a Monday night. Within two seasons he had won his first individual trophy when he defeated Eddie Hopkins (WMOV) in the final of the Captain’s Cup. This followed with two seasons at Stuart Road Social Club and Friary Socia

THE Windmill were the biggest winners of the week in the Plymouth and District Friday League and in defeating Royal Naval Arms B 13-0, Steve Marker top scored with 11 ton plus scores which included three 180s. League leaders Kings Tamerton Community Centre secured all but one of the 13 points that were on offer when hosting Pennycross SC but the one point that eluded them was a trebles success for Des Dugdale, Dave Moody and Bob Humphries, in which they threw seven ton plus scores. Royal Naval Arms A defeated Porters 11-2 and had Andy Bates (100x10) top scoring which included an outshot of 105. VINTAGE: Steve Marker showed vintage form and recorded three maximum scores of 180 for The Windmil

SIX of the seven Plymouth sides were all victorious on the opening night of the new Devon County super league campaign, including reigning champions Maritime, who began the defence of their premier division title with a 6-3 win against Racehorse (Tiverton). New skipper Danny Allen (23.72) opened their account with a 4-1 win, taking the last leg in 18 with a checkout of 106, followed by John Mann, who was making his debut for Maritime. Mann (24.14) emerged a winner in four straight legs, including a win in 14 and Paul Palmer (22.77) (pictured below), made it 3-0 when, after trailing 3-2, he levelled with a leg in 12, before winning the decisive seventh leg, aided by a maximum and a checkout o

MARITIME and Brookside A are joint leaders of the Monday Premier League after they both won their matches 10-1. The Keyham side defeated Hyde Park Social Club but the one point that eluded them was a doubles victory for Steve Duke and Rick Trinder. Duke (pictured below), also caught the eye in the individual phases when he took Shaun Dring (100x14) to 2-2, before being edged out in the deciding fifth leg. Brookside were winners against Plympton Cons and recorded 59 throws of a ton or more. Gary Phillips top scored with 100x14 and emerged a 3-1 winner in the singles, aided by a leg in 15. Paul Bowen (100x15) played well for Cons and hit a 15-darter before going down 3-2 to Keelan Kay (100x14)

ROYAL Naval Arms A remain just behind the Plymouth and District Friday League leaders in second spot, still with a game in hand, after defeating Jolly Miller 8-5, in a fixture that produced six maximum scores. Andy Bates (below) notched two 180s from an 11-ton haul and played his part in a 32-dart doubles victory with Ant Pearn (31.28). Tabletoppers Kings Tamerton Community Centre won 11-2 away at Railway Inn while in a much closer fixture, Brewery Tap B edged out Dinky Diner B by the narrowest of margins. City Social A secured all 13 points from their visit to Queens Dock and there was also a maximum points win for Steam Packet who were successful away at City Social B. Octagon Social Club

THE biggest and most popular darts competition, the one that every darts player in Plymouth and the surrounding areas wants to win, has again been launched for the 34th year. Champion of Champions has helped to raise thousands of pounds over the years for local charities and hopefully this year will be no exception. Benefiting from this year’s competition will be St Luke’s Hospice, which is an independent charity providing specialist care and support to people with progressive life-limiting illnesses in Plymouth, South West Devon and East Cornwall. JUST CHAMPION: Simon Stevenson will be defending his Champion of Champions title and will be bidding to win the title for an unprecedented sixth

AFTER nine weeks of competition in the Monday Premier League, no fewer than three teams are sharing the lead on 80 points, four points clear of the chasing pack. Previous table-toppers Steam Packet B were pushed the full distance by Indian Inn A for whom Andrew Nation hit two maximums, but with the score-line evenly poised at 5-5, Quinton Taylor won in three straight legs to preserve Packet’s unbeaten record. Brookside A are now part of the leading trio following a 10-1 victory at Steam Packet A, and they had Gary Phillips on target with two 180s. Maritime also boast a share of the lead following a 9-2 success away at Octagon B in a fixture that saw 106 ton plus scores recorded. Fifteen-year

ROYAL Naval Arms A have moved to within three points of the Plymouth and District Friday League leaders after a 13-0 drubbing of City Social B. The fixture ended in style when, in the last singles of the match, Matt Abbott closed proceedings with the week’s highest checkout of 150. Table toppers Kings Tamerton CC defeated Indian Inn A 8-5 and the same winning scoreline was also achieved by Dinky Diner A and The Fawn against Weston Mill Oak Villa and Brewery Tap B respectively. NO FLASH IN THE PAN: Indian Inn's Mark Hatherley showed his finishing prowess and hit checkouts of 105 and 114 in their victory over Brewery Tap. The Windmill returned to winning ways and defeated Railway Inn 9-4 with

STEAM Packet consolidated their position at the top of the Monday Premier League with an 8-3 victory against Firkin Scholar, a match that produced 100 scores of a ton more. Neil White (100x12) was consistent throughout for the winners and achieved a 3-0 singles success with his best leg being won in 14 darts. Maritime Social Club are now up into second place, three points behind the leaders, but a point in front of third placed Brookside A. STEADY EDDY: Indian Inn's Eddy Bull held his nerve and hit the winning double to give his side a win by the narrowest of margins away at Porters A. Maritime secured all but one of the 11 points that were on offer when hosting Brookside B and had Dan Scott

PORTERS Patriots finished their campaign with a 7-4 victory away at Plympton Cons . . . a victory that saw them emerge as champions of the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League, having gone through the season undefeated. They won the title by no fewer than 54 points, from second placed Brookside with Maritime Misfits in third. POIGNANT: There was a poignant end to the season for the quartet from Torpoint Cons of (from left to right) Keith Bryant, Mike Bulmer, John Goves and Russell Bryant who, after many years playing in and around the Plymouth darts leagues, have decided to call it a day and hang up their darts. Their prowess and friendship will be sorely missed. Not surprisingly, Ant

FOLLOWING play-offs across the city throughout July, seven Plymouth darts players have won through to the final stages of the Worthington / Red Dragon Champion of Champions, which will be contested at St David’s Hall, Cardiff, on August 25. The popular tourney, which mirrors the iconic News of the World “best of three legs” format, carries a prize-fund of £20,000 with £5,000 going to the eventual winner and prizemoney being paid down to the last 64. The 43-year-old Welshman Jonny Clayton, who plays on the PDC circuit was the champion in 2016 but was denied a winning double, when he was defeated in the 2017 final by Paul Hogan, a 54-year-old BDO player from Dudley, who hit a 9-dart leg whilst