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Gary Ledger (left) - Man of the Match for the Mens B against Lincolnshire with Andy Gillam (middle) |
Of
course, they forgot that if a bookie were to offer odds on an opponent
Man of the Match, they would simply see who Andy was playing and make
them odds on favourites as the Croydon man has THE most awful luck of
the Inter-County draw. He
bears a startling resemblance to the Yeti, which probably provokes just
enough adrenalin in his opponents to make them play the game of their
life so they can get away quickly!
Apart
from this though, Surrey was more than competitive and the new players
acquitted themselves very well on the whole.
The obsequious Tony Denman (24.64) made it a black day for his
opposite number with a 3-0 win, and Carl Ramsey (23.94) handled the
pressure of playing the last point well to seal a 7-5 win for the team.
Another
newcomer, James Turner (26.36) went down 1-3 to Carl Parnham, but not
before taking out an exquisite 124 on the bull and narrowly missing a
138 to level.
Terry
Dersley (27.33) also excelled and would have earned the Man of the Match
on many an occasion, but this was not to be his day but Gary Ledger’s
(28.90) instead. The player
with the copper-coloured top has had many a false dawn on the County
stage, but at last he showed his Super League form (he is the king of
the 180 round our way) to waltz to an impressive whitewash.
It’s
always nice to be ahead on the Saturday night, even nicer when you know
that your strengths lie ahead of you and there were quite a few smiles
amongst the Surrey committee when the match reconvened on the Sunday.
The
Ladies A had a tremendous year last year and they will be extremely
difficult to beat again this time as they scored a valuable 4-2 success
over a strong Lincolnshire line-up.
Apylee
Jones (19.03) took a predictable Lady of the Match which she was not too
happy about considering it now means she has to buy a conservatory in
which to house them all (more about Apylee later), but she was nearly
spared the expense by Sharon Cullip (18.89) who, should she have
finished more briskly, would have taken that particular prize.
This
all meant that Surrey were on the threshold of victory. Just 4 more points and the home win was secured. Remember
that phrase? ‘Surrey home win’? The last time that happened
Hear’say were in the charts. Remember them? OK maybe not.
Anyway,
the Mens A came up trumps and more importantly for the expectant Surrey
supporters, they didn’t hang around either.
When Surrey Captain Gary Creamer (25.84) put away Mark Blackwell
for the winning point in the fifth game, the resulting feeling of
gratification was better than the satisfaction you used to get blowing
up a crisp packet and exploding it (this reminiscing is fun ain’t
it?).
Dave
Askew (27.03) took Man of the Match and when he was followed by promoted
ex-B player Roger Kitching (22.10) into the winners’ enclosure, Surrey
were dreaming of a cricket score and the Epsom Legion’s bar has never
been so busy!
However,
Lincolnshire battled hard all weekend and a bigger defeat would have
been harsh on our northern friends. The Saturday hypnotist show in
Skegness a few years ago is still fondly remembered by all in Surrey
darts (well, some more than others I suppose!) and the fixture list that
showed we were at home to them this campaign was greeted with a little
disappointment. So it was
probably fair that Lincs then took the final three singles to stop
Surrey making top spot … Hope you don’t mind me saying that again.
Surrey making top spot! Wow!
While
we’re reminiscing, do you remember the time when Richie Blake (26.52)
was playing so badly that he threw his darts from a moving vehicle on
the way back from Staffordshire? Seems a long time ago doesn’t it,
especially when he’s now winning County games for fun and it seems
that barely a month goes by without our seeing his grinning hair-gelled
mug jumping out of the page at us with recent successes in Clacton and
Combe Haven amongst others to boast of.
I
suppose, like Richie’s, the demise of Surrey has been somewhat
exaggerated (probably a lot down to me!).
You may have noticed a deliberate error at the start of this
article, because if you look in your selection boxes this Christmas, you
may well see a packet of Spangles glinting back at you.
In fact, they have never really gone away; they are just waiting
for their time to come again. By
the same token we’re not really a County to reminisce about, we’re
just waiting till our time comes … perhaps this is it!
“Things
ain’t what they used to be”? Nonsense! What were you blathering on
about Max?
Celebration
Cook-ery
When
you have an atmosphere so jubilant, so inspired by a solid overdue win,
you’ve just GOT to party haven’t you?
And
at said party, you would wish to have some entertainment of course, and
if a cash-strapped County like ours can secure a turn at a decent price,
we’d jump at the chance, but as it happens, we had some homegrown
talent who put on an impromptu stage display with no encouragement from
anyone!
With
the sound system still working, a CD was played as the participants
exited the venue and the strains of the old Irish folk classic “Fields
of Athenry” rang out around Epsom Legion.
Cue
Stage Manager Paul Cook, more used to being behind the scenes, but who
on this occasion hit front stage centre to give his own peculiar dance
routine to the Celtic standard.
On
many an occasion, it would have been met with gales of laughter, but
there was something special in the air on this weekend and Paul’s
performance was greeted by a ridiculous amount of audience
participation, so much so that he was urged onto two encores before
County Secretary wife Aline Cook dragged him from the stage on pain of
missing out on his Sunday night Chinese takeaway! (Boo! Hiss!)
Paul
has promised us Riverdance next home game!
The
Apylee Corner
Here
we go again, you just can’t keep a good girl down can you?
As
President of the Apylee fan club, I am pleased to inform you that she
has been stirring up things in the Ladies game again.
She
has always been tipped for a major title on these pages and that so very
nearly came up at Bridlington as our Ap excelled in the British Open,
reaching the Semi-Final before bowing out to Trina Gulliver.
I
hear you all saying that it would have been expected, but Apylee held a
2-0 lead over the three-time World Champion and had a chance to put out
the awe-inspiring Trina after having comfortably knocked out Mieke de
Boer in the previous round.
I
think there are many in Surrey hoping (and believing) that one day Ms
Jones will be snacking at Ladies darts’ top table and I’m sure the
big competition invitations aren’t far away.
It seems that, unless she makes it through the qualifiers in late
October, Apylee will be missing from the World Championship line-up,
which is a shame, but I wouldn’t bet against her making it next year
where she would be a daunting opponent for anyone!
A
Lovely Qualification for Caves
By
the time you read this, you will already know the outcomes of at least
the first round matches in the Paddy Power Grand Prix in Dublin … I
just wish I knew them now as I have a bookie down the road that could do
with a bit of a financial bashing from me!
One
thing I DO know is that Surrey Super League player Alan Caves will be
taking the stage at the City West Hotel in Dublin to attempt to overcome
tartan terror Jamie Harvey after qualifying from a very tough PDPA
member’s competition.
Alan
has been away for a while (hmmm) but the likeable fellow announced he is
back with a bang by overcoming Eddie Lovely 5-3 to earn his stage ticket
for the PDC show event.
As
a qualifier, he could be a big price, but I’ve had a little nibble, so
you never know, that bookie could get a little of what’s coming to him
after all. Good Luck Alan.
A
Corner of a Foreign Field?
Another
event that will have been played by the time you read this nonsense is
the Bob Anderson Classic at the ex-Surrey player’s plush establishment
in Blackpool.
Bob
has always been a popular character, especially around Surrey, so it is
no surprise that so many from our County have chanced their arm at this
competition.
However,
when looking over the draw, it seems there will be a bit of a Surrey
love-in on Board 12 as Steve Cogger (Salfords) and Jason Roberts
(Ditton) vie for the right to play Lionel Sams (also Ditton) in their
group of eight.
How
terrible is that? Well, it could be worse, as another Ditton player,
Spike Harris, narrowly avoided darting hell by being drawn one away on
Board 11! The only seeded
one amongst them is Lionel, but I reckon he will be hoping they ALL get
bounced out before meeting him as the last time he met a Surrey Super
League player, he was beaten by Matt Clark (Norwood) in the last 32 of
the Open Oost-Nederland.
I’ll
wish you good luck Lionel, because, World number 29 or not, with the
strength of the Surrey Super League at the moment, you may well need it!
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