THE traditional end of season finals night of the Lydford Darts’ League was held at Bridestowe Village Hall on Friday evening. All 12 teams in the league were represented and the competitions started at 8pm.

First up was the team game, which was played over one leg of 1001. After the draw, a preliminary and first round there was the quarter finals stage. White Hart A appeared to be dead and buried against Blacksmith A, being more than 200 behind near the end of the game, but a combination of ‘double phobia’ and some high scoring allowed White Hart A to sneak through. Last year’s winners, The Village Inn, played a strong team from Fox A, and the biggest cheer of the night was given to the evergreen Art Cole (Fox A) who calmly stood at the oche and threw a double 12 to eliminate the Village Inn.

White Hart A did the double over the Blacksmiths Arms by beating the B team in the semis, setting up a final against The Mary Tavy, who beat Fox A in the other semi.

The final was a close affair until the Mary Tavy surged ahead, and needed little time in getting the winning double.

Next up was the doubles’ competition, and again games were played down to the semi final stage. Blacksmith A showed early in the competition that they meant business as they knocked out the strong pair from The Village Inn in the first round, but unfortunately for them, they were knocked out in the next round by Bratton Clovelly. Meanwhile Blacksmith B and Mary Tavy were quietly progressing through the rounds and after two well fought out semis, it was the Blacksmith B and Mary Tavy who met in the final.

The game went down to the final leg, and after a spate of nervous double attempts, Andrew and Zak, from Blacksmith B were successful against Bren and Ted Bouton from the Mary Tavy.

In the singles’ competition it promised to be a hard cup to win, as the best player from each team were present.

The early rounds were tight but quick as each player scored and finished well, but it got down to the semi finals and the four players represented teams who had finished in the top six of the league.

First up was The Village Inn, John Yelland, (who had won the cup four times in the last six years) and Fox A’s Martin Smale. Everybody thought that John would prevail, but Martin was having none of it, and after a close game, and some fantastic scoring, Martin reached the final. The second semi was between Blacksmith A (Colin Able) and Bratton Clovelly (Tom Hughes). Again this was a close match, and despite huge vocal support from Colin’s team mates, Tom won through to face Martin in the final. The final was played and Martin quickly won the first leg, Tom replied in the second with a superb 122 checkout, but Martin’s big match temperament allowed him to keep focus and got the job done to win the Singles cup.

Mark Watson, a spokesman for the Lydford Darts’ League, said: ‘The evening was a fitting end to a good season.’

180s: Tom Hughes ( Bratton Clovelly).

Highest checkout: Tom Hughes (Bratton Clovelly) 122.

Organisers would like to thank Mike, Sarah and the team from The White Hart and also to Dan Tossell.

League champions, Village Inn. Knock Out Cup winners, Village Inn. Captains Cup, Dan Tossell (White Hart A).

Team Game winners, Mary Tavy. Doubles winners, Blacksmith B. Singles’ champion, Martin Smale (Fox A).

Final table P W D L Pts

Village Inn 22 20 2 0 169

Fox A 22 13 3 6 125

Blacksmith A 22 12 5 5 123

Blue Lion 22 10 5 6 117

Arundell Arms 22 13 3 6 116

Bratton Clovelly 22 9 7 6 116

Blacksmith B 22 7 6 9 101

White Hart B 22 5 4 13 97

Fox B 22 6 3 13 95

White Hart A 22 3 5 14 89

Mary Tavy 22 4 4 14 88

Tossers 22 3 4 15 85