Winners decided in the Newark and District Double Board Darts League’s doubles competition
Mandy and Debbie Walker retained their Newark and District Double Board Darts League’s ladies’ pairs title after recovering from losing their opening leg of the competition to claim the crown without dropping any further legs.
Their first round encounter saw the Castle and Falcon Bangers’ duo under pressure as they had to recover from 1-0 down to edge out Falcoholic’s pairing Sherri Hall and Shann Cochrane 2-1.
The reigning champions then overcame Railway Youngers’ Louise Fletcher and Debbie Braithwaite 2-0 before a brace of finishes from Debbie Walker secured their place in the final as they defeated another Falcoholics’ pairing of Stacey Grand-Scrutton and Fran Lawrence 2-0 in their semi-final.
Their opponents in the final were Caffs Ladies’ Jane Hartley and Jackie Dennis, of the Youngers, who reached the final without dropping a leg as they overcame former champions Eugene Hallam and Kelly Barrett before a semi-final victory over Falcoholics’ Di Nuttall and Katie Bowditch.
The final was an evenly contested affair but the finishing of Debbie Walker proved to be the difference.
The opening leg saw opportunities on both sides before Debbie holed out on 13 to give the reigning champions the early advantage.
The second leg again saw chances for both pairings but once again it was Debbie who landed the winning double as she checked out on double-two.
The third and ultimately final leg saw Dennis have an attempt at 72 to keep the match alive but was unable to land it which allowed Debbie to complete her hat-trick of checkouts as she struck double-one to secure the win and retention of their title.
The men’s competition saw John Esam and Neil Ward regain the title they won two years ago as the Wheatsheaf Bellies and Bullseyes’ duo dropped just a single leg on their way to re-claiming the crown.
Their road to the final saw them knock out three pairs from the same team as they overcame a hat-trick of RHP Darts of Hazzard pairings.
Their opening match saw them defeat Oliver Hubbard and Rees Pridmore 2-0 before dropping their only leg of the evening as Stephen Adshead, partnered with reigning champion Josh Tooke, checked out on double-top in their 2-1 quarter-final victory.
Their place in the final was secured as they overcame 2017 winners Steve Alexander and Jon Gough 2-0 in the semi-final.
Their opponents in the final were Rose and Crown Marauders’ Steven Barnett and Tim Tranter, who started with a 2-0 victory over The Taverners’ Dave Chaney and Phil Haycock before being pushed all the way in their remaining matches on route to the final as they needed to win deciding legs as they came from behind on each occasion to defeat RHP’s Paul Gallacher and Kieran Cumberland, Castle and Falcon’s Ian Hurst and Stuart Hay before a semi-final victory over team-mates Jason Hill and Phil Tranter.
The final was a quality match that was evenly contested, but the Wheatsheaf pairing’s better finishing proved pivotal.
The opening leg saw both sides have chances to gain an early foothold but it was Ward who checked out on five (single-one, double-two) to give the Wheatsheaf duo the lead.
The next leg saw Barnett have a chance to level the match, but he just failed to take out 66, which allowed Esam a chance to double their advantage which he did as he checked out on 58 (single-18, double-20) .
The third and ultimately final leg once again saw the two pairings match each other in the scoring stakes before Esam had a chance to seal the victory but he failed to land double-16 which gave Barnett an opportunity to keep their hopes alive.
Unfortunately for the Rose & Crown duo, Barnett wasn’t able to land the attempt at 56 which allowed Ward the opportunity to step up to the oche and secure the win which he did as he held his nerve to land double-eight to complete a 3-0 win and the regaining of the title.
