Prince Of Wales V Plough Wanderers

A Very Memorable Match Against The Plough Wanderers 26/10/09

The Prince Of Wales match against the Plough Wanderers was a very memorable match for many reasons not least being the superb, if somewhat erratic, scoring from just about every player in the match. There was one player who did have a very bad night and that was Neil Bott’s son who unfortunately had two brushes. I have to admit, in his defense, we have all been there at least once. Jimmy Richards nearly gave me two brushes a few weeks back and he went out of the Prince with a grin from ear to ear that night! A year or two ago Peachy nearly did the same against me in a Knock Out at Libby’s as well!

For the Prince, Tam’s first game included a 103 break and in the doubles he hit a 140. I hit a somewhat erratic 117 score and a ton, Steve Holroyd’s son Rob hit a 140 and a ton, but the player who excelled for the Prince was Captain Billy Evans. In the Captains match he hit a 100 and 120 start. Then in his singles he started with a 120 break and went out in 10 darts. He followed that up with another 120 break in the 2^nd and a score of 140 in 3^rd. In the doubles he hit a ton score and yet another 120 break. In short Billy won his captains, singles and doubles games.

For the Plough Wanderers, A Morgan scored very well with a ton, 98, 121and a missed a 103 finish. Although Dazza didn’t hit any tons he hit at least half a dozen or more scores in the 80’s in his different legs. Neil Bott was another Plough player to excel on the night with various scores of 100, 138, 140 and a superb 103 finish. Neil also narrowly missed a 10 darter. Kaz Morgan did not have a such good night, but Marj Giles, another Lady for the Plough, put in some brilliant darts. I am told she took a leg off our local superstar Mark Hylton last year and on last nights performance it is obvious why. In a hard fought game against Steve Holroyd her scores included 94, 97 and a break of 120. Not surprisingly she managed to beat Steve 2-1 even though he played well with the one exception when he scored three individual big ones!

That only leaves the young prodigy for the Plough, Dan Williams, who played Aiden Barry. Much has been written about young Dan on the Guestbook and after watching him play last night I can see why many older, more experienced players, would fear playing him. At only 11 years old and barely able to pull his darts out of anything higher than the 19’s he can work out his scores and finishes with the best of them. Although Dan has virtually no match experience he plays with the confidence worthy of a player 3 times his age. In his first leg against Aiden he broke with 92, 40, 131 and left 38, his favourite double 19, which he got first dart, going out in 10 darts. A late start in the second meant that Aiden had a lead over him which he capitalised on. In a very hard fought third leg, that he could have taken, Dan was let down by his doubles and Aiden took it 2-1.

In the doubles Dan hit a great score of 121 when it was needed that put him and his partner back in front. At the end of the first leg Dan was left double 1 by his partner and everybody thought that at the top of board he had got no chance, but he confidently got it 2^nd dart. The 2^nd leg saw an early start for the Prince of Wales, but Dan was soon after them with a break on his favourite 38, followed later by a ton. Unfortunately a couple of bad shots at a finish for the Plough enabled Rob Holroyd to take the leg on double 7. Another late start again in the 3^rd didn’t look good for the Plough, but Dan was back in again with a great 92 start that put them back in the leg which they then took.

If Dan carries on playing in the league the way he is, it won’t be long before a Superleague team request his presence to strengthen their side! Given a little encouragement I believe he could go all the way to the top of the darting world in a very few years, perhaps even before he is officially a teenager!