MARITIME Misfits suffered their first defeat of the season when losing 6-5 away at Fawn B in the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League and subsequently have let Porters Patriots open up an eight-point lead at the top of the table. Patriots were in a rich vein of form and put 59 scores of a ton or more on the board before defeating Indian Inn 11-0, dropping just two legs throughout the entire fixture. Antony Hayman (34.16) (pictured) emerged a 3-0 winner in 14, 13 and 17 while Andy Bates hit the 180 mark on two occasions and Malcolm Johns emerged a 3-0 winner with his best leg being won in 13. The Clifton won for the first time when they came from behind to edge out Maritime Nutters by the

THE most coveted title for a Plymouth darts player to win is the Champion of Champions crown and the competition is back for an unprecedented 35th year. The competition is fierce, evident in the fact that in the previous 34 years, only 23 players have lifted the famous trophy, the latest being Neil White who defeated the five-time winner Simon Stevenson 5-4 in 2018. This time around White will be hoping to become only the fourth winner to defend the title, following in the footsteps of John Goves (1985-86), Flynn Jones (1994-95) and Adrian Lamerton (2005-06). JUST CHAMPION: Reigning Champion of Champions winner Neil White pictured with three of Lyd Ward's nursing staff. From Left to Right: S

OCTAGON Social Club have made an excellent start to their Plymouth City Super League campaign and are in third place despite having played a game less than their rivals. In those three matches they have dropped just two points and showed their superiority once again away at Cherry Tree when they took maximum points and posted four averages above 27.80. Mike Beard (pictured) earned the plaudits when he hit three maximums in a 3-0 singles success, achieving a 31.31 average when winning in 14, 13 and 21. Beard also joined forces with Neil White and Dave Hall to win their treble in 36 (27.81) and he partnered Alfie Ford to a double’s victory in 34 (29.44). White (100x12) was again prominent when

THREE teams lost their undefeated tag in the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League to leave just Porters Patriots and Maritime Misfits with an unblemished record after four weeks of competition and the duo are beginning to open up a significant advantage at the top of the table. League leaders Patriots defeated Brewery Tap 8-3 and once again had John Mann (100x16) as their talisman. He won 3-1 with his best legs being taken in 14 and 15 while for the visitors, a 15-darter was the highlight of Maria O’Brien’s 3-0 victory. Maritime Misfits consolidated second spot following an 11-0 whitewash of Indian Inn and had Dave Matthews (100x12) winning 3-0, aided by a leg in 13. Victory Inn A were an

THE first three weeks of competition in the Monday Premier League have been very competitive and only two points separate the leading six teams. Victory Inn A were one of only two teams to win in double figures and their 10-1 defeat of Plympton Cons has enabled them to move up to joint leaders. Keelan Kay (29.47) produced another vintage performance and won his singles in 14, 18, 19 while Nathan Langdon (100x13) caught the eye for Plympton Cons. Brewery Tap have lost their points advantage at the top of the table but still have a share of the lead after a 7-4 success against Bluebird A with Antony Hayman notching his fourth and fifth maximum in just three weeks. Firkin Scholar won 9-2 when h

MARITIME made a good start to their new Devon County Super League campaign when they defeated Plymouth rivals Ker St Social Club. The Premier Division champions just two seasons ago led 4-0 through Lewis Dare (23.13), Kieran Burns (25.53), Glyn Wells (26.44) and Danny Allen (23.92) before Kelvin Rowe (22.36 halted the slide. John Mann (29.91) restored Maritime’s four-set advantage with a 4-0 victory and although Ker St won two more through Dave Algar (26.14) and Scott Lawrey (24.08), a 4-2 victory from Scott Hutchinson (23.99) sealed a 6-3 success. Octagonals, who won the division one title last season as Poison Ivy, had a tough start when they had to travel to Winchester Warriors (Exeter).

BREWERY Tap took maximum points when hosting St Levan Inn and subsequently have opened up a seven-point advantage at the top of the Plymouth City Super League table. Andy Bates (pictured) was their form player, top scoring with 16 throws of a ton more which included his fourth maximum of the campaign and the week’s highest checkout of 158. Plympton Cons A drop down to third spot after suffering their first defeat despite some very good performances. They trailed Steam Packet 4-1 but despite a competitive rally, went down by the narrowest of margins. Tony Teal emerged a 3-1 winner in 21, 17, 17 while Dave Collins (30.67) recorded the week’s top average when winning 3-0 in 17, 18, 14. Their st

SHANE Havard was in a rich vein of form as he won the final ranking event of the British Disability Darts Association’s 2019 Road to Winmau Tour at The Leigh Academy, Dartford. In the five matches he had to play to win the title, he never dropped a single leg and also threw highest finish with an outshot of 170. On the other hand, his opponent in the final Paul Gelder had to go the full distance in his first two matches before defeating Michael Callaghan 3-1 in the semi-final. Gelder could not replicate that form in the final and Havard proved to be a worthy 3-0 winner. That win gave him a rise in the rankings to second spot, just 17 points behind table-topper Jonathan Hirst. Points won by C

MARITIME Misfits consolidated second spot in the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League when they won 7-4 away at Brewery Tap with young Frankie Stout (pictured) earning the plaudits. Stout made it three wins from three in this campaign with a 3-1 singles victory that included checkouts of 100 and 111. Kieran Burns (100x16) top scored for Tap but was edged out 3-2 by Dave Matthews who hit two maximums, from a total of nine that were thrown on the night. Porters Patriots have opened up a five-point advantage at the top of the table following a 10-1 win away at The Office. John Mann (100x14) won 3-0 with his best legs coming in 17 and 18 while the one point that eluded them was won by Andrew

LAST season’s Monday Premier League champions Steam Packet finally got off the mark after having a bye on the opening week and began the defence of their title with a 10-1 victory against Firkin Scholar. They had Alec Turner top scoring with 12 throws of a ton or more and Luke Johnson (26.84) caught the eye when emerging a 3-0 winner in 17, 18 and 21. The one point that eluded them was claimed by 13-year-old Frankie Stout who recorded an accomplished 3-0 singles victory. Brewery Tap, who had Paul Goundry (100x12) as their leading marksman, restricted Indian Inn B to just a single point and are the early leaders, albeit by a single point. The Tradesman are one of three teams just behind them

THE Staddy suffered one of their heaviest defeats ever in the Plymouth City Super League when they went down 9-2 to a rampant Brewery Tap, who put 68 scores of a ton or more on the board in a fixture that produced nine maximums. Andy Bates hit three 180s and Malcolm Johns won 3-1, aided by an 11-dart leg but the best encounter of the night saw Staddy’s Marc Cresswell take legs in 16 and 20, have darts to win the decisive leg in 11, only to lose 3-2 to John Mann (pictured) (100x16) in 13, 15 and 16. That victory puts the Stonehouse hostelry two points clear at the top of the table from Plympton Cons A who won 9-2 away at Ker St B with Andy Malinowski winning 3-1, with his best leg coming in 1

THE high standards that are normally attributed to the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League were evident in only the second week of the new campaign when the nine fixtures produced 14 ton plus checkouts. Darren Collis recorded the week’s highest with a mark of 164 to bring Victory Inn A back on level terms with Kings Arms at 5-5, only for Tony Gordon to edge out Tony Tasker 3-2 and inflict on the Honicknowle side their first defeat. England Youth captain Keelan Kay (pictured) caught the eye when he top scored with 12 three-figure throws which included a brace of 180s and he emerged a 3-1 winner in the singles in 13, 17 and 21 (29.04). Last year’s champions Porters Patriots are the early t

DAVE Collins earned the plaudits on the opening night of the new Plymouth City Super League campaign when, in helping Plympton Cons A to a 9-2 victory over Bluebird A, he top scored with 18 throws of a ton or more and defeated last season’s individual winner and Players Championship victor, Glenn Halford. Collins (pictured below), who was the individual champion himself in 2018-19, started in a rich vein of form by partnering Tony Teal and Dan Malinowski in a 32-dart trebles success (31.28) before going on to a 3-1 defeat of Halford in 13, 17 and 15. Kelvin Rowe hit two 15-darters for Cons before being edged out 3-2 by Bluebird’s Glenn Austin. One of the pre-season favourites, Brewery Tap, d

IT’S taken Maritime Social Club (formerly City Social) just 10 matches to break through the 100-point barrier and they top the table with an eight-point advantage over the chasing pack. In their 9-4 victory against Royal Naval Arms they had Glynn Wells (pictured) earning the plaudits when he won his singles in 33 (30.33), the last 759 points coming in just 21 darts which included an outshot of 119. Wells top scored with 13 throws of a ton or more, eight of which came in the aforementioned singles success. Only three points separate the next trio, currently led by The Office A who won 11-2 away at Brewery Tap. James Stoodley was on target with a brace of 180s as Porters A defeated their stabl

PORTERS Patriots began the defence of their Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League title with a 10-1 success away at Victory B, one of three teams to win their first matches of the campaign in double figures. Patriots put 65 throws of a ton or more on the scoreboard in a fixture that saw seven maximums recorded, three from Antony Hayman and a brace for Victory’s Kieran Harris. Harris put in a good showing before being edged out 3-2 by Andy Bates (100x14) and also took out a checkout of 124. Harris’s team-mate Graham Farrow earned Victory’s only point when he won his singles 3-2, aided by the week’s top finish of 132. Maritime Misfits restricted their stablemates Maritime Nutters to just a s

PLYMOUTH’s Simon Stevenson returned to winning ways on the PDC circuit and was one of 18 UK players that qualified for the European Darts Matchplay with a good performance at Halle 39, Hildesheim, last night. His first opponent was Peter Hudson who went 2-0 up in 16 and 17 only for The Mirror Man to level. Hudson restored his two-leg advantage when winning the next two in 13 and 11, aided by his third and fourth maximum, but the Plymouth marksman responded by taking the next three in 21, 17 and 18 to lead for the first time at 5-4. The 35-year-old Eccles thrower levelled in 16 but in the deciding leg, and after Hudson had missed darts for the match, Stevenson checked out from 102 to make the

YOU don’t stay in one place for very long if your father is a Naval officer. Kath Roulston was born in Malta, raised and schooled in Portsmouth, had her first taste of darts as an 18-year-old in Ascot and moved to Plymouth in 1978. Despite being encouraged by her darts-playing mother in the early years, Kath never really took darts seriously until she first came to Plymouth and was then known as Kath Le-Grice. Although being a relatively late starter at 27, it did not take Kath long to find her mark. CHAMPION: Kath Brockie pictured being presented with her trophies by Plymouth Argyle manager Peter Shilton after winning the individual title of the Ladies' Independent League in the season of 1