I would like to begin by paying tribute to the late John Gwynne and, on behalf of everyone associated with London darts, both past, and present, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his family. John was a man whose opinions on the game were always carefully thought out, and much respected by all. John’s positive attitude, passion and unbridled enthusiasm for our sport was second to none and our sport is much poorer without him here to encourage and support us all.
Each summer, during the close season, I like to feature one of the many leagues that operate in London. This year the spotlight turns to the Trafalgar Darts League. As the name suggests, the League originally focused on venues in and around Trafalgar Square, but like so many others throughout the land has had to venture out beyond its traditional catchment area.
The League was a close-run affair, with 10 teams going to post. Southwark Huntsmen ended the season as Champions, with X-Men and Boomers taking the minor honours. Orcs Shoe Inns, Horseshoe Misfits completed the top half of the table. Ordinary Punters were next, followed by Holland Club RS, And The Pacemakers, XLT with Albany being presented with the ornately decorated Wooden Spoon on Finals night.
The highest finish went to X-Men’s Nigel Rogers with a 150, and the best leg of the season came from Luke Delicata (Southwark Huntsmen) who fired in a brilliant 12 darter.
The Champions were somewhat surprisingly not represented in any of the matches that were played on Finals night, with the majority being contested in the main by players from X-Men and Horseshoe Misfits.
Some of the finals were played in advance of the big night, Raj Gujjalu (Horseshoe Misfits) and Nigel Rogers (X-Men) took the Memorial Trophy KO. Bernie Morris (X-Men) took both Plate competitions, winning the Singles and partnering with teammate Jacob Hole for the Pairs title.
The first trophy of the night was claimed by X-Men, who bagged a three-nil win over Holland Club RS in the Challenge Cup Team KO, played over five legs of 801. The Jubilee KO (over the 601 trip) saw another cup deposited in the X-Men’s cabinet, the trio of Jacob Hole, Liam Curran and Nigel Rogers winning a fine match that went all the way courtesy of a superb 121 checkout by Craig Munro to square the contest.
All five legs were needed before the destination of the Secretary’s Cup was known, Jacob Hole was again victorious, on this occasion defeating Frank Daly of XLT. The House Championship went with throw until Liam Curran (X-Men) broke the throw in the fourth leg to seal the deal against Raj Gujjalu (Horseshoe Misfits).
Both combatants were swiftly back on the oche, this time to do battle in the Pairs Final, which was a 301 double in, double out format. Nigel Rogers paired up with Curran, while Gujjalu had Simon O’Neil for company. The match was typical of what went before, some good scoring and tidy finishing eventually set up the dreaded one leg shootout. The Misfits pairing had a chance for glory, but it went begging and the X-Men tandem were on hand to collect their final pot of the session.
The final match of a great evening saw Craig Munro square off against Dave Farmer (Boomers) in the Singles final. Munro was in a determined mood from the off, firing in two tons in his first three visits which set up a comfortable opener. Farmer was more competitive in the next. Munro fired in a maximum halfway through, and then broke throw thanks to a fine 78 finish with Farmer sitting on 40. The third leg saw the Boomer off to a flier with a ton and 140 in his first two visits, but Munro kept up the chase and the pressure told as Farmer was unable to locate the big trebles. Munro kept his cool to crack home the title winner and complete the win in minimum time with a more than respectable 23.48 average.
All Change
It’s all change for London as they head into the second season of County darts under the stewardship of the UKDA. The Executive Committee will take on a new look, following the resignation of Richard Biggs (Chairman), Mary Cusack (General Secretary) and Jane Johnson (Treasurer) after a year’s service in each of their respective roles, the latter two following the long-serving Marilyn Smithies who had previously held both positions with distinction for many years.
The fixtures for next season are already out. London starts the new Premiership campaign, which this year is sponsored by Cosmo Darts, on the 3rd and 4th September when Hampshire visit the capital. The first two days of October see the Londoners off to the Midlands to take on newly promoted Staffordshire. Lincolnshire are the guests in early November, before London round off the calendar year with a trip to Yorkshire.
The season is now extended to the first weekend of June, with the Magic Weekend not taking place. Personally speaking, I am disappointed that this is not going ahead. One of the main arguments for counties going with the UKDA model following the demise of the BDO was that they claimed to want a fresh approach to the County scene, with new ideas and innovations. Yet the first of these has seemingly already fallen by the wayside.
I do hope that this concept gets resurrected, perhaps not as a way of ending the league season, but as an alternative option for a new competition that involves all divisions rather than just the top two. With so many new players coming into the game preferring to go down the Challenge / Development Tour route for a weekend rather than travel all over the country to play a solitary best of 5 or 7 legs County match, these concepts ought to be and should be supported by all and allowed to grow rather than be ditched after one year.
—–ENDS—–
“The Pearly King”
Supported by The Horseshoe Pub, Clerkenwell and Darts GB
A version of this piece appears in Issue 580 of Darts World Magazine
