SURREY
DARTS
February
2004 - by Martin Cullip
(as
featured in the March issue of Darts World)
Parsons The Big Fish?
For quite a while now, Surrey-based players have been gingerly dipping
their toes in the turbulent, shark-infested waters of the PDC circuit.
A quick paddle here; a small splash there; with occasionally the luxury
of a little bit of agitated water-treading, before being shaken around
in the jaws (no pun intended Mr Lloyd) of some big name darter &
tossed contemptuously back to the comfort & safety of the Surrey
Super League.
Only Dave Askew has managed to swim with the big fish for any considerable
amount of time, even having the temerity to steal some of the PDC
spoils from under the snub noses of the Professional ranks on occasions.
However, it seems that things are changing and Surrey players are
starting to throw themselves into the raging sea with not a care in
the World and are these days cavorting merrily with the ‘Great Whites’
of the game, weaving in amongst the snapping Pros without so much
as a thought of a safety cage!
Mark ‘Spike’ Harris has been regularly nibbling away at various competitions
& has had some success at ‘giant-harpooning’ in the past year;
Andy Gillam also announced himself to the darting World with an appearance
at Bolton in the UK Open in the summer. Going further still was Norwood’s
Matt Clark, an experienced player who has Embassy appearances to his
name & who has adapted to the PDC code well, most memorably with
a Semi-Final berth in the Bobby Bourn Memorial in Blackpool.
It seems, though, of late, that the darts being displayed by those
involved with our fair County is upsetting the PDC food chain more
than was expected with some huge results in the last couple of months.
One need look no further than Lionel Sams (to keep this analogy going,
we’d best call him “sea-Lion”), who not only locked teeth with some
of the best in the game, but came away with a Quarter Final appearance
& a bulging mouthful of PDC ranking points in the Ladbrokes.com
World Championship. Closely following Lionel was Hersham Super League
player, Alan Caves, who took the Budweiser UK Open North East Regional
Open title, defeating Dennis Priestley in the Final.
However, in Surrey circles, it seems that the result from the latest
UK Open Regional competition has engendered a huge amount of satisfaction
& admiration as ‘dyed-in-the-scales’ Surrey man Steve Parsons
splashed loudly & heavily (literally) into the PDC ocean!
Steve has been a top Surrey County player for many a season &
was always able to live with the  best
at that level (just ask England Captain Martin Adams who knows all
about the Guildford man, having been turned over twice by him in consecutive
seasons). In fact, his performances not only made him Surrey’s Player
of the Season, eclipsing Dave Askew twice before his quitting the
County scene, but also had the Surrey fans singing the same song so
often at matches that he was often referred to as “Parsons for England”!
Quite ironic, then, that the Parsons moment of glory should happen
… in Scotland!
The Salfords Super League player was beaten in the Final by Steve
Maish after a run that saw him defeat Andy Jenkins in the Quarters
& Alan Reynolds in the Semis, following good wins over World Championship
contenders Mark Walsh & John MaGowan amongst others.
The reward for the Surrey man with a sea slug on his top lip was
a hefty 12 PDC ranking points, an automatic entry to the last 32 in
Bolton, some deserved respect amongst the elite … oh and the small
matter of £2,000 in cold, hard cash!
I believe from the reaction of the Surrey fraternity that the popular
& genuinely affable Parsons will be well-supported in his next
foray into the murky waters of the Pro circuit and we all hope he
can sharpen his teeth & continue to bite chunks from the big boys.
Of course, now he’s challenged the ranks of the big fish, the last
thing many want to see is him getting fried & battered. He definitely
has the talent to go on from here though … methinks he’s a long way
from having had his chips! (I’ll get my coat)
Eastbourne Caught on the Hop-kins
Hey, never mind Parsons, what about “Hopkins for England”?
Yet again these pages are infiltrated by our current youth sensation,
Anthony Hopkins, who took the Eastbourne Youth Crown with a blistering
weekend’s darts culminating in a cool & assured performance in
the Final on the intimidating ‘Winter Gardens’ stage.
‘Coldfinger’ has taken the youth circuit by storm & has only
the Yarmouth title on his wish-list, having taken all the other significant
youth competitions, including Sheppey & Clacton, to add to his
World Masters Semi-Final appearance last year.
Unfortunately for 17 year old Anthony, who plays for Super League
leaders Ditton FC as well as lining up for the County side, an England
youth international spot is still to materialise after he was omitted
earlier this year by the selectors.
The youngster’s reaction, though, was immense, as he stormed to the
final stages of the Eastbourne competition, & then defeated current
World Master & Kent A player Kirk Shepherd 2-0 in the Semi-Final,
before brushing aside Sussex’s England Youth Captain Michael Hammond
on the stage with another whitewash, to take the Title with a 3-0
scoreline. He seems to have made a quite compelling case for his international
selection, I think you’ll agree, and all of us at Surrey hope the
young star of the future gets to fulfil his burning desire to don
an England shirt sooner rather than later.
South Coast Shenanigans
Apart from Anthony, Eastbourne was a particularly disappointing weekend
for Surrey players, as no-one really won much of note, even though
the character & wit that our players possess shone through in
abundance.
In the Pro event, it was a case of ‘hands up if Steve Beaton DIDN’T
beat you’ as Surrey hopes Andy Nye & Aaron Turner were both sent
packing by the housewives’ favourite. There was one player who answered
the question in the affirmative, though, as Richie Blake volunteered
that he had, indeed, not lost to the ‘Barry from Auf Wiedersehen’
soundalike.
“So who beat you then Richie?” I enquired. “Andy Nye” he replied,
“but I WOULD have lost to Beaton if I’d got that far!”
Richie was our best performer in the Open Singles on the Sunday,
unfortunately throwing away a two leg lead against Adrian Gray in
the last 32 before a meeting with Roland Scholten in the next round,
but the Tripod was in excellent form, knocking Dave Askew out of the
Pro & accounting for Alan Caves in both the Pro AND the Open,
so it was probably best that Richie didn’t progress & Surrey didn’t
have TWO professionals to bar from the County in the future!
Unluckiest of the Surrey contingent was undoubtedly Tom ‘The Looney’
Eley, who missed 8 darts at double to beat the very genial Dave Creasey
3-0 in the first round, only to then see the victorious Creasey go
all the way to the last 16, beating Colin Lloyd & Paul Hogan on
the way, before bowing out to Jamie Harvey. It was sad for Tom, but
incredibly funny for the rest of us as we watched his despairing face
after every Creasey win. Thanks Tom, you’re always good value mate!
Lastly, I must mention Surrey County Chairman Mark McLaughlin, a
player who, by his own admission, is never going to rub shoulders
with the elite of the game. However, for a few moments on the Sunday,
he was able to dream he was on the Purfleet stage.
“I’ve got a nice easy draw”, declared Mark as we all waited for the
punchline, “Mark Robinson in the first, & when I beat him, I play
Graeme Stoddart, & after ditching him, it’s John Part”! Needless
to say, Mark’s first game attracted some interest & he performed
well … even managing to get beneath 300 in one leg!
Much respect to the ultimate professional Part, who managed (just)
to keep a straight face as he consoled Mark, “it was the 22, 25, 29
start that lost you the game” encouraged the Ex-World Champ after
chalking the carnage. “I don’t know”, contradicted McLaughlin, “I
think the lack of 50 beers & 300 years practice had something
to do with it!”
Aline Cook the Bag Lady
Surrey now occupy third place in the BICC Division 1 after a very
creditable draw against Cumbria in Carlisle, but the drama of the
weekend undoubtedly occurred in or around Croydon early on the Saturday
morning!
County Secretary & odd-job person Aline Cook was on the way to
Gatwick for the flight up north along with several players, confident
in the knowledge that she had her laptop, County forms & stationery.
However, that ‘I swear I’ve forgotten something’ feeling was nagging
away at her.
No, this wasn’t a Home Alone moment, there was no kid involved &
Aline always leaves hubby behind anyway (not surprising if you’ve
seen him dance after a few beers!), so after discounting these, there
was only one thing missing … her handbag & the documents needed
for travel to Newcastle!
After a frantic dash back to Croydon, the absent-minded Aline managed
to retrieve the bag & was able to board the plane, ruffled &
suitably embarrassed, without the indignity of chasing the vehicle
up the runway!
Of course, without Aline, not much would get done at Surrey games,
so it was lucky the ‘Bag Lady’ remembered her mistake when she did
as we would not have the luxury now of sitting 3 points from the promotion
places with matches against the top two, Bucks & London, to come.
The Ladies, usually as reliable as a Swiss watch, had a nightmare
weekend, with the B team losing 2-4, only to be followed by the A
suffering even more with a 1-5 reverse that almost extinguishes their
hopes for the Ladies A title. Lady of the Match games came from Helen
Cullip (18.83) in the B & Apylee Jones (20.62) in the A. Our thoughts,
though, must go out to Sharon Cullip, one of our perennially best
performers, who was subject to a real battering by Chrissy Howatt
(28.36) in the first match of the Sunday which must have been a body
blow to the team.
This all meant that the men had to earn their corn to gain any sort
of result for the County & this they did with considerable zeal,
albeit in the face of some performances that the home side may wish
to forget.
A highly encouraging 7-5 win for the Mens B keeps them on course
for the top spot in that particular section & a Man of the Match
game from James Turner (24.64), shared with Carl Ramsey, will be particularly
welcome as he was beginning to think that the L for loser was indelibly
tattooed on his young, enthusiastic forehead (the less said about
his young, enthusiastic strip show in the Hotel on the Saturday night,
the better!)
The match was finally rescued for Surrey with a fine 8-4 win for
the Mens A (including a second success of the encounter for the promoted
Carl Ramsey (25.30)) with Captain Gary Creamer (28.36) nailing the
final point of the weekend to lay to rest the ghost of losing the
last point for victory in the last home game against Berkshire
Four matches left & all to play for with visits to London &
Bucks, and ‘homes’ versus Suffolk & Sussex … two from the top
& two from the bottom please, Carol!
Fancy a Chat?
Just a last mention to the fact that the Surrey web-site is now regularly
updated & a message board has been added for not only Surrey darters,
but also anyone who fancies a chat about darts. Log onto http://www.toe-the-oche.co.uk/
& you too can post your witty remarks & outrageous insults!
Hope to see you there soon
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