PORTERS were the only team to win in double figures and have subsequently moved to within striking distance of Plymouth City Super League leader’s Maritime A, who have had their lead trimmed back to five points. Porters secured all available points on their visit to Cherry Tree and had John Mann hitting a brace of 180s while tabletoppers Maritime A won 9-2 when hosting Ker St Social Club. Quentin Taylor was once again Maritime’s form player hitting three maximums, which all came in a 3-1 singles victory. John Sturdy hit two 180s in a 3-2 singles success but finished up on the wrong end of a 7-4 scoreline when St Levan Inn were defeated on their visit to The Clifton. Maritime B won 7-4 at Kin

THE race to the Plymouth and District Friday League title was the closest in the league’s history and despite a season stretching just two weeks short of a full year, Royal Naval Arms A were eventually crowned champions, due to the fact that they had won more games throughout the season. Royal Naval Arms A had finished their campaign the previous week with an 8-5 victory over Brewery Tap A to finish their 50-game season with 521 points but didn’t know at the time whether it was good enough to lift the league title. Kings Tamerton CC went into their final match of the campaign knowing that a 13-0 win would put them on 522 points, one above Royal Naval Arms A, but they were thwarted by Steam P

PLYMOUTH teenager Keelan Kay competed in four events on the PDC Unicorn Development Tour, at the Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan, and his performances were such that he moved five places up the Order of Merit to sit inside the top 30 at joint 28. Keelan’s first opponent in the opening match of Development Tour Five was Josh Habgood and despite the Surrey thrower winning the opening leg with a checkout of 119, Kay moved into the next round when taking four on the bounce in 22, 19, 18 and 20. Keelan won the opening leg against Jason Goff in 17 only for the Norwich marksman to level in 18 when checking out from 136. The Lord of the Board then portrayed his own finishing prowess when checking ou

LOCAL derbies usually bring out the best of both sides, irrespective of the sport, and the Monday Premier League fixture between Octagon A and Octagon B was no different. Before this encounter, the A side were 35 points higher in the table than their stablemates, but that counted for nothing as Octagon B turned around a 3-0 deficit to win the match 6-5. Octagon A hit all the trebles, putting 50 ton plus scores on the board, but it’s doubles that win matches and Octagon B hit more of them. Bill Rennie (100x14) top scored but lost 3-2 and Lee Hellings hit 100x13, three of which were 180s all thrown in his singles but once again the doubles eluded him and Steve Daley (pictured) defeated him 3-2

LEAGUE leaders Porters Patriots made it 30 wins on the spin when defeating their stablemates Porters Pretenders in the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League and not for the first time this season they did it in style. They put 65 throws of a ton or more up on the scoreboard which included the week’s highest checkout of 157, executed by Andy Bates (28.90) (pictured), coming at the end of a 3-0 victory which was won in 15, 19 and 18. John Mann was on target with a brace of 180s while Antony Hayman (100x17) emerged a 3-1 winner in 14, 19 and 18. Another well contested derby match was played out at the Maritime when the Marauders, in second spot, edged out Musketeers 6-5. At the start of this

TWO Plymouth darts players are “putting something back into the community” and opening the first Junior Darts Corporation (JDC) academy in the city after both suffering industrial accidents. Matthew Lang played for many years at different levels in the Plymouth darts leagues before breaking his scaphoid bone in his wrist which curbed his playing days for 10 years while Mark Henley, who fell off a roof, injuring his foot which still does not bend, is his academy partner. ​​​​Matthew is the licensee at the Eggbuckland hostelry, The Bluebird, and this will be the home of the Plymouth Darts Academy who have been helped to get the venture off the ground by sponsors Need-a-Cab Taxis and L & D Rhin

MARIA O’Brien travelled to Grietherstrasse, to contest the Bull’s German Open and Bull’s Darts Masters and in both events had her title hopes dented by the four-times world champion, Lisa Ashton. The two tournaments, which were held at the popular Wunderland Kalkar, were Cat B events and Maria opened her account in the opening match of the Bull’s German Open with a 4-0 victory over Corinna Sehnert. Sehnert’s German compatriot Kristina Erkelenz was also defeated in straight legs as was the Netherland’s Samantha Raaphorst in the board final. In the last 16, O’Brien pulled out all the stops to defeat the former World No.1 Trina Gulliver 4-1, before herself losing by the same margin in the quart

FOLLOWING Friday’s disappointment of failing to qualify for both the Austrian Darts Open and the European Darts Grand Prix at the Barnsley Metrodome, it was back to the bread and butter tournaments that are the Players Championships on Saturday and Sunday and with two good showings, Simon Stevenson added 1500 points to his Order of Merit placing. He was drawn against Kirk Shepherd in Players Championship 11, who he played against twice in 2018 with each player winning once. The 32-year-old marksman won the opener in 16, only for Simon to edge 2-1 in front with wins in 19 and 13. A 15-darter from Shepherd levelled it up once more before The Mirror Man, aided by two maximums, won the fifth leg

IN any sport you need that little bit of luck at times, but at the moment, on the PDC circuit, Plymouth marksman Simon Stevenson is getting none of it. Two European qualifiers were contested yesterday at the Barnsley Metrodome and in the opening contest for a place in the Austrian Darts Open, The Mirror Man was drawn against the former JDC European Open winner, Bradley Brooks. In the early stages, the 19-year-old was virtually unplayable. He won the opening leg in 12, took the second in 13 before going 3-0 up in another 12-darter which he finished with an outshot of 142. He had scored a maximum in all three legs and his average at this stage was a staggering 121.86. Stevenson hit a 180 of hi

BREWERY Tap lost 9-2 when entertaining unbeaten leaders Porters Patriots in the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League but played a lot better than the scoreline would suggest and competed in an excellent fixture that produced 122 throws of a ton or more including nine maximums. Porters had Andy Bates (30.67) emerging a 3-0 winner in 14, 16 and 19 while John Mann (100x15), despite taking a leg in 14, was taken the full distance by Glynn Wells (100x12). Alex Turner (100x13) had to pull out all the stops to edge Maria O’Brien (100x16) 3-2, while 16-year-old Jordan Grimshaw (100x12) earned Tap’s only point in the singles with a 3-2 defeat of Malcolm Johns (100x11). Second-placed Maritime Marau

PORTERS A have played themselves into contention for the Monday Premier League title after they won 11-0 against Indian Inn B and the two frontrunners, Victory A and Steam Packet B, both lost. Porters had John Mann top scoring with 14 ton plus scores which included checkouts of 102 and 100 while team mate Kev Lofthouse (26.84) emerged a 3-0 winner in 22, 16 and 18. The Barbican side are 10 points off the pace in third but do have a game in hand on the front two. Victory Inn A are top with a two-point lead but suffered a 6-5 defeat away at Brewery Tap, despite a good performance from Gary Phillips whose 12-ton haul included outshots of 107, 110 and 120. Second placed Steam Packet B were defea

AN outstanding fixture between fourth placed The Staddy and Plymouth City Super League leaders Maritime A, saw the tabletoppers consolidate their position with an 8-3 victory. The contest produced 97 throws of a ton or more, 24 of which were 140s and seven maximums which included braces for both Scott Lawrey and The Staddy’s Warren Gordon. Lawrey also caught the eye when emerging a 3-1 winner in the individual phases, taking legs in 16, 18 and 19 and was well supported by Dave Matthews who hit a 13-darter in a 3-0 success and top scorer Neil White (100x13) who also won 3-1 aided by two 17-darters. Second-placed Porters defeated Maritime C 9-2 with the highlight being a 3-0 singles victory fo

ROYAL Naval Arms A finished their campaign with an 8-5 victory over Brewery Tap A to finish their 50-game season with 521 points, but they don’t know whether it will be good enough to lift the Plymouth and District Friday League title. Tap’s Antony Hayman (28.60) (pictured) made sure of the individual title when he defeated his nearest rival Andy Bates in 35, but Bates on 46 points, will now have to play off for second place against Windmill’s Steve Marker after the Windmill marksman won his final match. Second placed Kings Tamerton CC defeated Victory Inn 8-5 and a 13-0 win in their final match would put them on 522 points, one above Royal Naval Arms A. But even that may not be enough as Ci

THE race for the premier division title of the Devon County Super League took another twist at the weekend when the two front-runners both lost 5-4. League leaders Winchester Warriors (Exeter) were defeated 5-4 by Royal Anglers (Bideford) while Maritime Social Club also lost by the narrowest of margins when hosting Exeter Eagles. The Plymouth side were given a good start by Danny Bull (26.37) who won 4-0, which included a 15-darter before the visitors levelled. Danny Allen (26.51) then edged Maritime back in front with a 4-3 victory that started with a win in 14 and finished with victory in 15, which was followed by a man of the match performance from John Mann (28.26) (pictured left). The m

PLYMOUTH darts duo Maria O’Brien and Keelan Kay did themselves and the city proud when they represented their country in the BDO British Internationals, which was held at the Glenrothes Recreation and Social Club in Fife over the weekend. This was the 40th anniversary of the three-nation tournament between England, Wales and hosts Scotland and England came out top in three of the four categories. England Boys opened their account on the first day of competition and defeated their Welsh opponents 3-1. Brad Phillips (22.80) (first left) came from a leg down to defeat Ethan Haymes 3-1, securing the fourth leg in 17 before their new captain, Keelan Kay (23.12) won 3-0 when defeating the opposing

NO fewer than five teams won in double figures and not surprisingly the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League leaders, were amongst them. Porters Patriots secured maximum points when hosting The Melbourne and in doing so, recorded 62 scores of a ton or more. John Mann (100x15) won 3-2 in 13, 18 and 14, clinching the 18-dart leg with a kill of 101 but was pushed the full distance by a gallant Dan Sheikh. Antony Hayman (30.06) was also prominent and emerged a 3-0 winner in 14, 15 and 21. Victory Inn A were another side to plunder all 11 points when they hosted Maritime Nutters and had Neil White emerging a 3-0 winner with his best legs being won in 16 and 18. Octagon Social Club secured all

QUINTON Taylor became the fifth player this season to hit the top finish of 170 in the Monday Premier League, inspiring Steam Packet B to a 10-1 victory over Prince Maurice B, a win which keeps them just one point behind the leaders. The feat finished an 18-dart leg before the Welshman (pictured) went on to win his singles in three straight legs. League leaders Victory A maintain their one-point advantage after they also won 10-1, when hosting Hyde Park, the highlight being Keelan Kay (100x11) and Tony Conn winning their 601 doubles 2-0, taking one of the legs in 19 darts. Danny Allen (100x11) and Paul Palmer (100x12) kept Maritime on track before they won by the narrowest of margins away at

JUST two hours before Plymouth teenager Keelan Kay represents his country in the BDO British Internationals, he was given the news that he has been chosen as the England Youth captain for 2019. He will captain his side at 8.15pm tonight against Wales, before his side play Scotland tomorrow morning at the Glenrothes Recreation and Social Club, Fife. Later in the year, Keelan will again captain England Youth when they compete in the Europe Cup in Ankara, Turkey, in July. Keelan said: “It’s an honour just to play for your country but to be chosen as captain is the ultimate accolade”.

MARITIME A consolidated their lead at the top of the Plymouth City Super League with a 9-2 victory against Plympton Cons B and had Cameron Pickard emerging a 3-2 winner, aided by two legs in 18. Second placed Porters had John Mann (100x16) top scoring in their 8-3 win away at Victoria and Scott Wapshott also caught the eye when, in winning his singles in three straight legs, took out finishes of 105 and 111. Maritime B won 7-4 away at Plympton Cons A in a high-scoring match that saw six maximums recorded, two coming from the visitor’s Johnathon Easterbrook. Joint singles leader Marc Cresswell (100x16) was The Staddy’s top performer as they secured all but one of the 11 points on offer at Che

ROYAL Naval Arms A consolidated their lead at the top of the Plymouth and District Friday League with an 11-2 victory away at The Tradesman, inspired by an excellent showing from Andrew Nation (100x14). The marksman (pictured) secured a singles victory in 28 darts for a 35.75 average, scoring 726 points with his first six visits which were all ton-plus scores. The table-toppers also had Steve Allen throwing the week’s top checkout with a mark of 107. Second placed Kings Tamerton Community Centre also won by the same winning margin while an outshot of 102 from John Brady was the highlight of Fawn’s 8-3 victory away at Railway Inn. Paul Gavican (27.81) won his singles in 36 as Indian Inn A def