Thursday, January 10, 2008

We Won!

We won the finals match last night, so we are are now the B League champions! Next season I am moving up to A League though. Time for me to reacquaint myself with the bottom of the rankings again :( This is how the match went:

I opened the evening against their captain who is ranked second in the league. Finals is different. There was no stage there but it felt a little bit like we were on one since there was a crowd of people who had gathered to watch. My game was solid enough to keep pace with him but I didn't throw any big scores. We got to our outs at about the same time but I took out mine first, a 16 with single 8 double 4.

Ars Gainne Mill up 1-0

My second game was a singles cricket against one of their mid ranked players. I opened with trip 20, a miss at the 19 bed and then a single 20. It turned into a point war early. He went for the 18s but didn't open them so I opened the 19s next round and then we both laid into our honeypots. I was a good 60 points up on him by the time we got those two beds closed. The rest of the game went by in an undramatic fashion but my last round, going for bulls I blocked the bull with my second dart. But I snuck one in around it anyway ;)

Ars Gainne Mill now up 7-1

My third game was doubles 501 and my partner was our highest ranked player. We were up against their captain, a true ringer, and another guy we had not seen all season, their second best player. We managed to stay apace and then my partner left me a 12 out which I took out with a miss into the single 6, and then I hit the double three.

Ars Gainne Mill now up 8-3

Fourth and fifth games were also doubles 501 and I was partnered with our fearless leader for both games. We won them both but the second game was stretched taught with lots of tension. The opponents could feel it too. At one point one of the opposing team accused Capitan (who was several feet to the right of the oche) of stepping backwards during his throw. A small tiff ensued and then civility was quickly re-established when my captain offered to scratch the entire leg and do it over. I thought that was a very magnanimous thing to do, even if it was clearly an unjustified complaint. I don't think it would have mattered to our opponent had it not been a finals match, or if it had not been the game that clinched the title for us.

Ars Gainne Mill wins, 12-3

It was a very satisfying evening to say the least

10 comments:

mcvickj said...

Congrats on the victory. Sounds like a great night of darts was had by all. Our next season starts up on the 29th.

Zeeple said...

Thanks! Even though the finals was two days ago I am still quite stoked about it. The euphoria has not yet worn off. How do you feel about your up coming season? Will you be taking names?

Anonymous said...

Good darts! Ya gotta love an exciting night like that. Drama aside that is.

Zeeple said...

Thanks Rags, but you know... the drama is okay. It is kinda fun to butt heads from time to time as long as it doesn't lead to fisticuffs. Drama adds a little flavor. I think the gentleman involved had been out of darts a long time and I think maybe he was feeling out of his league so to speak, even if in years past he was a good player.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your win.
I stoped playing league last year.

Juergen
www.darts1.de

Zeeple said...

Hi Juergen, thanks for the comment! Why did you stop playing league?

Tommo said...

That makes great reading. I'm sure you'll be OK in the A League. Our local League isn't big enough for relegation / promotion.

Zeeple said...

Thanks Tommo. I am surprised your local league isn't big enough for division. It seems like whenever I see a list of the pubs in your league over at your blog the list is longer than ours!

mcvickj said...

I don't know about taking names. This past season we walked away in last place whimpering with a record of 3-12.

On a personal note this past season was my worst to date. I have really been pounding the board to try to find my stroke.

Zeeple said...

Definitely sorry to hear about the poor season and it seems like it might be getting you down. I will be in the same boat next season as I am moving up a division and I expect to be manhandled on a regular basis. On the upside though, if you have been in a slump lately that might have a silver lining. Afterall, they say that in order to take your game up a notch you must first pass through a slump. This is a truism that is regarded as fact in many books I have read. Good luck next season!