RN Arms A take title in one of the closest finishes ever

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 Packet and had settle for third spot after only winning by the narrowest of margins.

City Social on the other hand could still have pipped both of them as they were on 496 points with two matches outstanding and two 13-0 victories would have given them the title.

They were given a 13-0 walkover in their penultimate fixture when Victory Inn failed to make an appearance and in their final match they won 12-1, which put them on 521 points the same as Royal Naval Arms A, but due to the Keyham side having lost only four of their 50 fixtures, compared to Social’s six, they were declared the champions as per league rules.

Antony Hayman (pictured) secured the individual title having completed the campaign with just one defeat. Andy Bates and Steve Marker were joint second on 46 wins and Simon Godfrey and Mark Shears tied for fourth on 45.

Hayman and Shears both registered the season’s top game with wins in 26 darts while Shaun Williams earned himself the top checkout of the season when achieving the highest possible outshot of 170.