Radcliffe and District Darts and Dominoes League - 4th February 2009

FIFTY-six pairs signed on for a tilt at the dominoes title, so the competition had to be spread over eight venues.

At St Mary’s SC, P Brady and D Wroe beat P Gibson and D Hall in the first round, before eliminating fellow Royal Oak pair D and F Burrows in the second. In the third match, they were eliminated by S Whittaker and S Hill who had come through the first by beating T and D Seel, before beating fellow Last Orders pair N Hill and P Hyde.

A Hilton and P Middleton of Stopes Tavern Bridge went through to the third round with wins over D Wyatt and D Thirlwall and A Attenborough and S McQuaid. C Moscrop and A Massey, more renown for their darts prowess, got into the third round by beating two pairs from Bridge Inn, C Bevon and J Hall, and T Bevon and J Marshall before being defeated by Top Bull’s Moscrop and Massey.

T Kiernan and I Sayers of Stall of Life got a bye in the first round, then knocked out A Owen and D Lomas in the second. P Vickers and G Hill, back in the competition after years of absence, overcame R Barrow and W Thomas, and former champions T and M Wilson before going down 91-73 in the third round.

Bridge Tavern saw J Bradford and L Moscrop dispose of H Barnes and T Goular and D Makinson and M Taylor to reach the third round, while I Bevon and A Ryan saw off T Buckley and N Grundy and I Seddon and J Wood. It was then the Bridge Inn's Bevon and Ryan who won.

At Last Orders, A and K Redford beat W Grundy and P Bent, then B Garvey and A Baguley. In the other half of the draw, P Hamer and M Harris had a first round bye, then overcame E Bennett and J Bailey to reach the third.

The decider was between two pairs from Swan and Railway and it was Hamer and Harris who went through.

Bridge Tavern’s S Dockery and A Grundy had a walkover in the first then beat A Bowkett and K Haslam to reach a showdown with B Taylor and C Dunwell (who had a bye in the first then beat G Ashton and P Green). But it was Taylor and Dunwell who made sure Last Orders were represented by two pairs in the quarter-finals.

Stopes B old hands Hammersley and J Fletcher at 5s&3s saw off T Myers and D Hadcroft, and K Pope and R Deakin to reach the third round. There they met V Boylan and L Holt who had disposed of W Farmes and B Kenny before getting a walkover in the second. It was, however, Hammersley and Fletcher who went through.

Though no result sheet was available from Masons Arms, it is known that H Keenan, the league chairman, got through to the quarters with the help of a Iast-minute substitute when his planned partner could not get away from work in time.

In the quarter-finals there will be two pairs from Last Orders and one each from Top Bull, Staff of Life, Bridge Inn, Swan and Railway, Stopes Tavern and Masons Arms.
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