Its as-you-were in the A league following this weeks round of games.  

The Legion blew away the Wanderers 9-3, thanks in no small part to Kevin Gray's impeccable run of form which saw him hit yet another three 180s and a 14 dart leg.  

The Commodores remain second and narrowed the game difference between them and the Legion slightly with a whitewash over the Ola.  

Sanday remain level on points with the Commodores but they were made to sweat against the Legion Arrows. A draw at half time had everyone wondering and, when Graham Firth and Kenny Gillespie took out the league's top statistical pairing of Ivan Leslie and Michael Moodie, last seasons B league champions would have been forgiven for thinking an upset may be on the cards. Unfortunately for them the Islanders ran away with all four singles to clinch an 8-4 victory.

An inspired performance from the Orkney Golf Club saw them steamroller the Untouchables A 11-1 and keeps them close behind the pack in second place.  

Bottom of the table Nomads produced a plucky display against the Untouchables but ultimately fell short, losing 9-3 in a game notable for the high scoring prowess of both sides.  

The weeks A league schedule was completed on Tuesday night in the Sands Hotel where Derek Farmer managed to snatch a point right at the death for RBLM against Sands '2'.  That point coupled with a superior leg difference should see the RBLM safe from the possibility of receiving the wooden spoon, although they are far from safe from the threat of relegation just yet.

There is an old adage that the strength of a chain is determined by its weakest link and this week the B league boys proved how far the level of darts has improved in recent years within the KDDL.  

Between the five games played there were four maximums and eight high checkouts, as well as a 15 dart leg for Andrew Rendall and a 13 dart leg for recently crowned B league singles champion Eddie Drever.

Quoyburray B started the week in pole position albeit having played a game more than nearest rivals the Warriors.  With this being the leader's week off, the Warriors had a chance to regain top spot on leg difference but required a whitewash over bottom side Vikings. They pulled out all the stops and managed to achieve the feat, remarkably conceding only five legs in the process.

Davy Henderson's Quoyburray team played two matches this week as they caught up on a previously postponed game and won both 9-3, over the Masonic and Muppets respectively, leapfrogging the Masonic into third place for the time being.  

The Masonic then ground out a tough 7-5 victory at home against the Bilco Boys the following night.  

Shapinsay won their third game in a row, beating Tankerness 8-4 in a very close match to keep themselves within range of the Quoyburray and Masonic in the battle to finish in the top half of the table. 

This Friday sees the Masonic play host to the final ranking points competition of the year.  Places are still up for grabs and it is extremely tight this year with 13 players all within 7 points of each other vying for the last three automatic places.  

Any points gained by B league players will also be added to their separate ranking system to finalise selecting the B team to play in the East v West clash on April 1.

In the event that a points tie prevents a clear top 9 in the main ranking competition, a playoff will occur in the Kirkwall Legion on Sunday, March 13, at 6.00pm between all those that are tied.  

The committee will then have a meeting at 8.00pm later that night to finalise selection of the wildcards and reserves for the team to face Shetland later in April. All players either qualified or selected are required to pass on their ADS card numbers to Craig Taylor by Sunday at the latest if at all possible, as the booking for the flights to Shetland has to be completed the next day to enable discounted travel for the team.

180s this week were hit by: Colin Barnett, Gordon Rendall, Stevie Linklater, Brian Moar, Robbie Stanger, Billy Ward, Archie Yule, Eddie Drever, Derek Manson, Andrew Rendall, Hamish Baillie, Wayne Monkman (2), Clive Hewison (2), Ian Linklater (2), Alan Gray (2), Michael Muir Snr (2) and Kevin Gray (3). 

Ton-plus checkouts came from: Michael Muir Snr 130, Billy Ward 100, Michael Moodie 100, Colin Leslie 103, Raymie Rendall 104, Brett Dickinson 104, Robbie Norquoy 106, Gavin Linklater 111, David Henderson 112, Andrew Rendall 115, Gary Drever 117,  Ryan Tulloch 117, Callum Miller 120, Ivan Leslie 120, David Mowat 130, Bruce Moar 147 and Simon Parry 149.

Results

A league

Untouchables A 1 v 11 OGC, Wanderers 9 v 3 Legion, Commodores 12 v 0 St.Ola,

Nomads 3 v 9 Untouchables, Arrows 4 v 8 Sanday, Sands '2' 6 v 6 RBLM.

B League    

Quoyburray 9 v 3 Masonic, Tankerness 4 v 8 Shapinsay, Muppets 3 v 9 Quoyburray, Masonic 7 v 5 Bilco Boys, Warriors 12 v 0 Vikings.

 

Fixtures

Friday, March 11

League Singles, Masonic, names by 7.30pm

Week beginning Monday March 14.

A League: Nomads v Sanday, Untouchables A v Legion, Arrows v St.Ola, Wanderers v RBLM, Sands '2' v Commodores, Untouchables v OGC 

B League: Vikings v Tankerness, Shapinsay v Quoyburray, Quoyburray B v Masonic, Muppets v Bilco Boys. Warriors - No game.