After beginning the season with early cup fixtures, the action in the KDDL’s 51st season finally swung round to the leagues last week, and there were some great darts thrown, considering it is so early in the season.

In the Williamson’s A League the Legion kick started the defence of their title with an 8-4 win over last seasons 3rd place Orkney Golf Club, with Legion skipper Derek Firth hitting three big finishes during the match.  

The addition of recent county debutant Iain Findlay has further strengthened the depth of the Legion squad and they will undoubtedly be a force to be reckoned with again this year.  Last years runners up the Commodores got off to a flying start against newly promoted Quoyburray, posting an 11-1 win.  

Also winning 11-1 were the Untouchables against current B league champions Shapinsay, despite Shapinsay’s Jamie Marwick posting some terrific scoring and finishing. Bolstered by new signing Brett Dickinson, the Untouchables will be hoping to improve on last season’s performance and finish in the top half this time around. 

Sanday produced a typically solid display against Legion Arrows, convincingly winning 9-3.  Elsewhere in the Tankerness hall the Wanderers recorded the same result over Quoyburray B. With Simon Parry returning to the Wanderers fold this season, they will be hoping to have a more fruitful season than last year.

 
The game of the night took place between the Warriors and Untouchables A, with the visitors walking home with a narrow 7-5 victory in a match with plenty on the back of the card. New Untouchables A signing Ryan Tulloch made an instant impression and hopes will be high for them to be amongst the challengers this time out.

The B league was a close affair last year and it appears from the first week’s results that this year will be no different, with very little between most of the teams.  

The Murray Arms showed no sign of letting narrowly missing out on promotion last year affect them as they put away new boys Sanday B 9-3, with recent signing Jamie Drever returning from a two year stint in the A league to win both his singles.  

Nicol Gray rallied his troops from last season and a change in team name saw a change in their fortunes, with the Young Loons winning their first game 8-4 over the Sands, helped by a terrific 147 finish from Logan Peace.  
Streamline entered a team this season for the first time in quite a few years but they fell short, losing 8-4 to the Muppets, helped in no small part by winning all four pairs games.  Meanwhile in the Golf Club a close encounter was expected between the Bilco Boys and Tankerness with both having been in promotion contention for much of last season.  This time around however, the visitors managed to come out on top 8-4.

A week on Friday sees the start of this season’s Ranking points competition, with the Legion hosting the Louttit Singles, names to be in by 7.30pm.  

Competition will be hot this year for a chance to get into the team to face Shetland in April and the opportunity to try to help complete a record breaking 8 year win streak.  Any points earned by B league players will also go towards their separate ranking points system used to select the B team for the annual East v West fixture later in the season.
180s this week were hit by: Robbie Stanger, Billy Ward, Andrew Rendall, Derek Firth, Stevie Linklater, Alan Gray, Graham Firth, Stuart Thomson, Stephen Griffiths and Jamie Marwick (2).

Ton-plus checkouts came from: Simon Parry 100, Ian Eunson 100, Graham Rendall 103, Jamie Marwick 105, Robbie Stanger 105, Andrew Moar 110, Michael Muir 111, Raymie Rendall 114, Trevor Shearer 115, Des Gillespie 120, Stevie Moar 121, Ian Stevenson 123, Kevin Gray 129, Ryan Tulloch 140, Logan Peace 147, Eddie Drever 151 and Derek Firth 118, 101 & 100.

Results
A league:    

        Commodores 11 v 1 Quoyburray
        Legion 8 v 4 OGC
        Warriors 5 v 7 Untouchables A
        Sanday 9 v 3 Legion Arrows
        Shapinsay 1 v 11 Untouchables
        Quoyburray B 3 v 9 Wanderers

B League:    

         Young Loons 8 v 4 Sands
        Streamline 4 v 8 Muppets
        Murray Arms 9 v 3 Sanday B
        Bilco Boys 4 v 8 Tankerness
        Vikings v Ale Stars - postponed

Fixtures    
Week beginning Monday 9th October

A League: 

       Quoyburray B v Quoyburray
        Sanday v Commodores
        Legion v Wanderers
        Warriors v Legion Arrows
        Untouchables v OGC
        Shapinsay v Untouchables A

B League: 

        Nomads v Sands
        Bilco Boys v Young Loons
        Streamline v Tankerness
        Sanday B v Ale Stars
        Murray Arms v Muppets
        Vikings – no game

Friday 13th October
Louttit Singles (ranking singles), Legion, names by 7.30pm