THE Patriots boosted their unassailable lead to 39 points in the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League with a 10-1 win against Indian Inn, but the highlight of the match was a finish of 170 from Andy Bates (pictured) which set a new mark for the season’s top checkout. King Billy were the only other team to win in double figures when they restricted Victory Inn B to a single point. Andrew Nation was their leading marksman with 15 ton plus scores while Andy Coventry, for the hosts, was on target with a brace of 180s. An excellent fixture was played out at the Maritime, which resulted in Victory Inn A defeating the Governors 7-4, with no fewer than 139 ton plus throws being put up on the scor

VICTORY Inn B began their latest Monday Premier League fixture 46 points behind their illustrious opponents but battled well for their success and deservedly won the bragging rights against stable-mates Victory A. The B side won the early exchanges to lead 4-1 and then shared the six singles with Ryan Harris, Phil Hoskin (pictured) and Chris Beale all delivering for the side to prevail 7-4. Steam Packet won 10-1 away at Firkin Scholar in a match that saw six maximums recorded, including two each for Frankie Stout and Dave Matthews who Stout (100x14) defeated 3-2 to earn Scholar’s only point. Neil White (27.33) was prominent in the individual phases and emerged a 3-0 winner in 18, 20 and 17 w

BREWERY Tap went through the 200-point barrier with their 21st victory of the Plymouth City Super League campaign, in what was without doubt their best performance of the season and one of the finest displays I have had the pleasure to report on. In their 11-0 rout away at Victory B they put 63 scores of a ton or more on the board which included six maximums, two of which were thrown by Andy Bates. They began by taking the two trebles in 37 (27.05) and 36 (27.86) darts respectively before going 5-0 up with the three doubles won in 38 (26.34), 37 (27.05) and 39 (25.67). Leading the charge in the singles was John Mann (31.31) (pictured) who emerged a 3-0 winner in 13, 18 and 17 before Antony H

PATRIOTS emphasised their title credentials in the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League when they whitewashed a very strong Brewery Tap side 11-0. They put 64 ton plus scores on the board against Brewery Tap’s 51 and the 115-ton haul included four maximums and 26 scores of 140. John Mann once again won the plaudits with an exceptional singles performance, winning 3-0 in 17, 15 and 13 to post a 33.40 average. Victory Inn A also won in double figures when defeating The Clifton 11-0, dropping just a single leg in the doubles. Neil White hit two maximums and there were solid victories for both Darren Collis (24.24) in 20, 18 and 24 and Tony Tasker (24.24) in 15, 24 and 23. Octagon Social Club

OCTAGON A took advantage of Steam Packet’s bye in the Monday Premier League to open up a seven-point lead at the top of the table with a 9-2 defeat of Bluebird D, but with two matches in hand, Packet still hold all the aces. The Tradesman edged Indian A 6-5 and had John Mann (28.90) winning 3-0 in 18, 14 and 20 while Harry Bull (100x13) caught the eye for the visitors. Firkin Scholar went down 7-4 at home to Brewery Tap but had Frankie Stout (25.91) (pictured) winning well in 19, 18 and 21, one of only two winners. Antony Hayman (26.84) featured strongly for “Tap” and emerged a 3-0 winner in 16, 17 and 23, hitting his 19th and 20th maximum of the campaign while in winning 3-1, Paul Gavican f

THE top three places in the Plymouth City Super League seem to have sorted themselves out and I would be very surprised if they don’t remain unaltered until the end of the campaign. Unbeaten leaders Brewery Tap won 10-1 away at Hyde Park and had John Mann (pictured) winning in 17, 17 and 16 to post a 30.06 average. Also catching the eye were their top scorers Andy Bates (100x12) and Antony Hayman (100x12). Second placed Octagon Social Club were the biggest winners of the week and in beating Plympton Cons B 11-0, put 69 throws of a ton or more on the scoreboard. Fred Goldsmith won 3-1 aided by a leg in 15 and top scored with 16 tons plus throws while being well supported by Dave Matthews (100

DEVON started the journey to the Bitterne Park Social Club, Southampton, on a cold Saturday morning, hoping to register two wins on the bounce in the premier division of the British Inter Counties Championship, but despite an outstanding come back, they went down by the narrowest of margins. The visitors were facing an uphill struggle as early as the opening ladies B fixture when Sarah Brown (17.30) was the only winner in a 5-1 defeat. Dave Matthews (27.72) began the revival with a 4-2 victory. He took the opening leg in 15 darts when finishing at the first time of asking from 156, and with the scoreline evenly poised at 2-2, he made sure of Devon’s second point when taking the next two legs

GLYN Wells (pictured) was in a rich vein of form, inspiring Brewery Tap to a 10-1 victory away at Maritime Misfits in the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League. Wells top scored with 18 throws of a ton or more and emerged a 3-2 winner in 20, 18 and 11 darts. He was well supported by Kieran Burns (29.83) who won 3-0 in 18, 19 and 17. League leaders Porters Patriots defeated King Billy 8-3 with Scott Cook (27.83) winning 3-0 in 17, 17 and 20. The Patriots also had a share in the week’s top checkout award when Malcolm Johns obliged with a kill of 151. There was also a finish of 151 from Scott Wapshott in Porters Pretenders’ 9-2 win at Falstaff while Torpoint Cons defeated Maritime Nutters 7-4

OCTAGONALS returned to winning ways in the premier division of the Devon County Super League and in a Plymouth “derby” match defeated Ker St Social Club. It was the Devonport side though who won the first set through Kelvin Rowe (26.72) who won 4-0, aided by a leg in 14, before Lee Agar (22.11) brought the two sides level after winning 4-3. Paul Barclay (22.88) won 4-3 to edge Ker St back in front only for Alec Turner (pictured) to win 4-0, securing the last leg in 18 with a brilliant 170 checkout. Neil White (22.78) won 4-2 to put Octagonals in front for the first time and although Ker St levelled through Dave Algar (18.43) that was their last point of the match. Fred Goldsmith (24.74) and

PATRIOTS have begun 2020 in the rich vein of form they showed at the end of last year and made it 20 wins on the bounce in the Porters Function Room 501 Top 20 League when they took maximum points away at Maritime Nutters. They put 57 ton-plus throws on the scoreboard which included five maximums, two from Antony Hayman which were his 20th and 21st of the campaign. Malcolm Johns (25.47) won 3-0 in 20, 20 and 19 and John Mann (28.90) was successful in 20, 16 and 16 while Andy Bates (pictured) threw the week’s top checkout of 160. Octagon were another side to take all 11 points when they hosted The Clifton while Maritime Musketeers won 8-3 against The Falstaff and had Kenny McCollum (100x11) a

PORTERS are the new leaders in division one of the Devon County Super League after inflicting on Galaxy (Torquay) a 7-2 defeat. Scott Cook (18.39) won the opening point with a 4-0 victory before the visitors took two on the bounce, but those were the only points that they were to win. Sam Frampton (24.05) emerged a 4-2 winner, aided by a 14-darter before man-of-the-match Mark Shears (26.72) (pictured) won 4-0 in 19, 18, 16 and 22. Phil Stewart (18.30) kept the scoreboard ticking over when he won in four straight legs before Scott Wapshott (22.78) came from behind to win 4-2. The Marksman finished an 18-darter with a kill of 106 but despite trailing 2-1, took three on the bounce for victory.

TEAMS returned to action after the Christmas break in the Plymouth City Super League, and the top seven sides consolidated their positions by all winning. Tabletoppers Brewery Tap made it 19 victories from as many starts when defeating Maritime B 9-2 and had Andy Bates (28.36) emerging a 3-0 winner in 15, 22 and 16 while Antony Hayman hit his 15th and 16th maximum of the campaign. Second placed Octagon Social Club won 7-4 away at The Fawn with Fred Goldsmith (100x13) top scoring in a fixture that produced some excellent individual performances. Neil White scored 140, 100, 140 before checking out from 121 for a 12-dart leg but was defeated 3-1 by Simon Stevenson whose best leg came in 11 dart

PLYMOUTH’s darting golden girl Maria O’Brien competes tomorrow night at the biggest tournament in the BDO calendar, namely the BDO World Darts Championship at the Indigo at the O2 in London, hoping to go one better than her run to the semi-finals last year. She began her 2019 World Championship campaign with a 2-0 win over Deta Hedman before making a mockery of the bookies 1-6 quote to be beaten by Fallon Sherrock, when she swept the Milton Keynes thrower aside by two sets to nil, finishing with a three-dart average of 86.9 and was 43% on her doubles with six hit from 14. But aspirations of competing in a BDO Ladies’ World Championship final at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green were t