Taylor Singles presentation, pictured from left are Mason Taylor, runner-up Bruce Moar, winner Kevin Gray and Craig Taylor.
The fifth of this season's ranking points competitions, the Taylor Singles, took place in the Legion on Friday evening and by the end of play the ranking points table is as wide open as it possibly has ever been. The top five players consisting of Kevin Gray, Bruce Moar, Erland Ritch, Wayne Monkman and Ian Findlay have all but secured their place in the intercounty side, but with only six points separating 6th from 21st, the remaining four automatic places are very much still up for grabs with two events remaining. The next of which takes place this Friday, again in the Legion.
A very open draw saw quite a few surprises with plenty of 'B' league players making it to the last 16 or beyond. Of these, Sands team-mates Ryan Tulloch and Toby Penwarden made it the furthest, reaching the semi-finals where both were defeated 4-2 by Kevin Gray and Bruce Moar respectively.
Kevin and Bruce occupied the top two slots in the ranking points table before play commenced that evening, and not without good reason as they have been arguably the best two players in the KDDL this season. Kevin's form has perhaps dipped slightly from his impeccably high standards in recent weeks whilst Bruce seems to grow in confidence every week.
The final had no legs under 15 darts, no high checkouts and no 180 scores yet strangely it was played to quite a high standard. Very steady and consistent scoring together with assured finishing saw both players averaging north of 80 for the bulk of the match, only dipping in the last leg and a half. He was incredibly unlucky to see his dart hit the bed of double tops only for his flight to catch another dart and cause the dart to fall out of the double, allowing Kevin to nip in and pinch the leg. Kevin also took the fourth before Bruce hit back to make the score 3-2. Kevin had the advantage of throwing first in the sixth leg which he again took, before capitalising on a few slack scores from Bruce in the seventh to clinch the trophy with a 5-2 victory.
Craig and Mason Taylor presented the trophy on behalf of the Taylor family, with Craig highlighting how exciting the points table was now looking.
180s were scored by: Graham Firth, Robbie Stanger, Billy Ward, Ian Scott, Wayne Small, Ray Butcher, Stewart Gray, Simon Parry, James Flett, David Shearer, Erland Ritch, Paul Foubister, Jamie Drever, Kevin Sarling, Erlend Lennie, Stevie Garner,Wayne Monkman (two), Ian Linklater (two), Toby Penwarden (two), Kevin Gray (three), Leigh Shearer (three), Gary Wilson (three) and Ryan Tulloch (three). Ian Linklater, Brett Dickinson and David Shearer all registered a score of 177.
High Checkouts: Brian Moar 100, Ryan Wilkie 100, Robbie Stanger 101, Bruce Moar 101, Adam Savage 102, Ally Linklater 108, Stuart Thomson 108, Ivan Rendall 109, Kevin Sarling 110, Alan Findlay 116, Ian Findlay 117, Graham Reid 118, Wayne Small 120, Ross McQuillan 125, Billy Ward 126, Stevie Garner 141, Martin Peace 141, George Low 154, Erlend Lennie 160, Kevin Gray (112, 112), Jim Brown (125, 144) and Ian Linklater (110, 110, 115).
Short Legs: Robbie Stanger/Brett Dickinson 15, Erlend Lennie/George Low 15, Ally Linklater/Kieran Doherty 15, Brian Moar/Martin Peace 15, George Low 15, Ian Linklater 15, Kevin Sarling 15, Toby Penwarden 15, Bruce Moar 15, Bruce Moar/Stevie Linklater 13, Ryan Tulloch (14, 15), Gary Wilson (11, 15) and Kevin Gray (14, 14, 15, 15, 15).
Results:
'A' League:
Ale Stars 1, Legion 11
OGC 5, Untouchables 7
Muppets 1, Exiles 11
Sanday 7, Tankerness 5
'B' League:
Young Loons 2, The Toonies 10
Quoyburray 'B' 8, Vikings 4
EMYFC 3, Shandy Bass 9
Bilco Boys 10, Quoyburray 2
Murray Arms 3, Sands 9
Rough 'n' Rowdy 3, Wanderers 9
Taylor Singles Final: Kevin Gray 5, Bruce Moar 2
Fixtures:
'A' League:
Ale Stars v Exiles
OGC v Tankerness
Muppets v Sanday
Untouchables v Legion
'B' League:
EMYFC v The Toonies
Bilco Boys v Vikings
Quoyburray v Shandy Bass
Quoyburray 'B' v Sands
Young Loons v Wanderers
Rough 'n' Rowdy v Murray Arms
Friday February 14,
Louttit Cup (Ranking), Legion, 7.30pm