Brian Moar beat Stevie Moar 5-1 to win the festive singles.
What a week of darts in the KDDL season that was! The 'A' league could hardly be tighter now with Legion just pipping Untouchables to draw completely level with them at the top. The Golf Club are just a point behind with a better game difference and Sanday are two points behind them but with a game in hand following a hard fought draw with a resurgent Exiles.
The 'B' league continues to throw up tight scorelines so it is surprising to see that Tankerness and Murray Arms are now starting to open up a bit of a gap in the promotion places. Well done to Shapinsay and Shandy Bass for finally chalking up their first wins of the season.
It almost seems a lifetime ago since Brian Moar defeated Stevie Linklater 5-0 in the 2019 Festive Open Singles, but Friday night saw the competition finally resume. Always one of the big entries of the season, it was encouraging to see a mix of WMDA, 'B' league and one or two none registered players taking part, which helped boost the entry to a very healthy 53. Slightly down on previous years but very encouraging to see a good few new faces at a singles event, particularly almost the entire Skippers team who only formed this season.
The draw provided a decent chance for some fringe players to make a push up the ranking points table, and Stevie Moar took full advantage of this as he progressed in the top half of the draw to reach his first ever Semi-final. Meeting him there would be Erland Ritch who had really opened up the competition by beating hot favourite Kevin Gray in the quarters. As the lead swung back and forth in their semi, it was tough to call who would progress but, with the score tied at 3-3, Stevie power scored his way to a commanding lead and never looked back as he secured his place in the final.
The evergreen Alan Gray defeated in-form Ian Linklater in the preliminary round, and he progressed to the semis following another tough run of games. Meanwhile the defending champ had been drawn in arguably the toughest quarter of the draw, and wasn't playing particularly well as he rode his luck to finally face off against Alan. Both players raised their game but the wily old Sanday man started that bit better, opening up a 3-1 lead courtesy of a timely 100 checkout. Brian dug deep and seemed to raise his scoring game by another gear and soon clawed it back to three each. Both had chances to win the tie but it was Brian who eventually hit the double to seal a place in the final.
Interestingly, depite there being several family duos within the KDDL, including the Linklater brothers of Ian and Stevie who have racked up numerous finals between them, this was to be the first time two family members would go head-to-head in a final since the ranking points system was introduced in 2007. With sibling rivalry adding to the pressures of needing to gain ranking points, as well as the prestige of winning this trophy and the £100 that comes with it, a close and nervy game between the Lettally boys was expected.
It transpired however that this was not to be the case. Brian used his greater experience to start with some big scores, whilst Stevie, who had played the better of the two for most of the evening, was clearly struggling a bit with nerves. Stevie had a dart or two at doubles here and there but it wasn't long before Brian had a 4-0 lead. The chance to seal another whitewash came but was missed, before stevie finally got a leg on the board, accompanied by a little dance of delight on his way to retrieve the dart. This clearly riled the elder brother who was on a double in the 6th leg after just 14 darts. A few misses at double allowed Stevie one dart at his double but he failed to capitalise, which was immediately followed by Brian sinking double 8 to seal the win for only his fourth ever ranking points competiton. Good points and the £50 runners up prize gained by Stevie, who also still managed to get a lift home from his older brother!
The KDDL would like to thank all those who bought and sold tickets for our big festive raffle draw, also making its return since 2019. The first prize of a huge drinks hamper went to Jamie Maclennan, with Robbie Stanger claiming the 2nd prize. All other prizewinners should have been contacted by the time this goes to press.
180s came from: Robbie Stanger, Ian Findlay, Alistair Rendall, Robbie Norquoy, Daryl Robertson, Nicol Gray, Stevie Moar, Brett Dickinson (two), Kenny Gunn (two), Erland Ritch (two), Paul Foubister (two) and Gary Wilson (three and a score of 174).
High finishes came from: Karl Scott 100, Alan Gray 100, Aaron Mitchell 100, Colin Kirkpatrick 102, Andrew Green 104, Raymond Foubister 108, Keith Holland 114, Michael Scollie 116, Gordy Rendall 117, Davy Henderson 118, Keith Brumpton 120, Alistair Rendall 122, Jamie Drever 130, Kevin Sarling 141, Erland Ritch (102, 110), Kevin Gray (120, 138) and Paul Foubister (114, 117 & 126).
Results:
'A' League:
Untouchables 5, Legion 7
Exiles 6, Sanday 6
Bilco Boys 1, OGC 11
'B' League:
Shandy Bass 7, Sands 5
Vikings 4, Shapinsay 8
Skippers 1, Murray Arms 11
Tankerness 7, Young Loons 5
Muppets 6, Quoyburray 6
Festive Singles:
Brian Moar 5, Stevie Moar 1
Fixtures
'A' League:
Untouchables v Bilco Boys
Exiles v OGC
Legion v Sanday
'B' League:
Shandy Bass v Vikings
Skippers v Shapinsay
Tankerness v Sands
Muppets v Murray Arms
Young Loons v Quoyburray