Archers on target to retain the title
Reigning Premiership champions Castle and Falcon Archers recorded their eighth successive victory in the Newark and District Double Board Darts League to maintain their defence of the title.
The Archers, whose sole defeat so far came in an opening day loss at the hands of the Watermill Premiership Virgins, continued their impressive run with a 7-2 defeat of the Horse and Jockey Tic Tacs to stretch their lead at the top to seven points.
The Horse and Jockey had themselves been coming up on the rails in the race for the title after four wins on the trot but the loss leaves them 18 points adrift of their conquerors in third.
The league’s new boys Watermill kept up their challenge with a battling display against the Castle and Falcon Veterans. They appeared to be heading for defeat after finding themselves 3-0 down and then 4-2 down but recovered to take the last three legs to win 5-4.
Previous league leaders Lost Boys of the Horse and Gears, have lost their way and dropped to sixth after they suffered their fourth straight defeat. Their latest reverse came at the hands of their in-house rivals The Power who stormed to a third victory in four with a 6-3 scoreline.
At the bottom the Fun Boy Three of Muskham Ferry were up against the RAFA Club Lads who had gained their only victory to date against the Muskham side earlier in the season, but it was not be this time as the Fun Boy Three gained revenge with a slender 5-4 victory.
In the Singles League Paul Gallacher edged a further point clear of team-mate and reigning champion Mick Pitchford after he picked up his third maximum nine-point haul of the season in the match against Horse and Jockey.
Gallacher, who remarkably has won all 18 legs he has played against the Tic Tacs this season, now leads by ten points, with Pitchford a further 11 points ahead of third-placed Mick McMackin and, while the top two seem certain to qualify for the end of season Premiership Singles Knockout, the remaining six places are wide open with just nine points separating the next 12 players.
In the Men’s Division Railway Club 45s have stretched their lead to a massive 20 points after they won 4-1 at Balderton Cricket Club.
The Castle and Falcon Marauders are back in second after they won 4-1 at Plough Coddington, a side who have now suffered three successive defeats after previously winning eight games in succession.
The Horse and Gears Oxo Club’s slender title hopes have surely been ended after they lost for the first time in eight matches, going down 4-1 at Staythorpe Club, but their cause wasn’t helped by having a player short.
In the Ladies’ Division the Newark Working Men’s Club Youngers have edged a further point clear of reigning champions Cafferatas after they won 4-1 against cup finalists Horse and Gears Boozers. Cafferatas kept up the pressure, though, with a slender 3-2 win against White Swan Ladies.
Latest Men’s Division results: Railway Club 45s 5, Staythorpe Club 0; Plough Inn Coddington 1, Castle and Falcon Marauders 4; Balderton Cricket Club 1, Railway Club 45s 4; Staythorpe Club 4, Horse and Gears Oxo Club 1; Rose and Crown (Farndon) 3, Newcastle Arms 2; Ferry Masters Muskham 1, Castle and Falcon Arrows 4.
Ladies’ Division: White Swan Cygnets 3, Watermill Artists 2; Horse and Gears Boozers 1, Newark Working Men’s Club Youngers 4; Cafferatas 3, White Swan Ladies 2.
Premiership: Fun Boy Three 5, RAFA Club Lads 4; Watermill Premiership Virgins 5, Castle and Falcon Veterans 4; Castle and Falcon Archers 7, Horse and Jockey Tic Tacs 2; The Lost Boys 3, The Power 6.
