Tuesday night darts – Game 13 of 14 – Dreamtime vs The Tavern

The newly crowned division 3 champions were up against Dreamtime in their penultimate game of the season. This was also our final away fixture at M52 bar in District 1. This was also out of interest the first bar I played darts in nearly three years ago when I came to HCMC.

The Okey - sponsored by tigers, ready for war!

With the pressure off and with Dreamtime 2nd from bottom in the table we were, perhaps rather arrogantly, not anticipating any problems. 

At the end of the doubles and triples we were winning 3-2. This should have been 4-1 but we blew a 400 point lead in one of the matches. I only played in the doubles but won it for the team 2-0. So along came the singles. I was fourth up. Dreamtime had already caused two upsets by beating two of our best players so with the score 4-4 it was important I won.

I'm happy to say I didn't disappoint. I scored ok but my checking was very good. I won my match 2-0 and with one game left I've a season record of W8 L5. 

Top Division 3 darts action

After my game disaster struck! We lost our last two singles matches meaning it was 6-5 to Dreamtime going into the last match - A big, big upset was potentially on the cards. Without drawing out the suspense I'm happy to say the upset didn't materialise and we comfortably won the 6 vs 6 team game meaning we drew the match 6 - 6. This was our first draw of the season but it's better than a defeat.

One more match to go in the championship winning season at our home ground of the Tavern next Tuesday night.

My first 180 in darts!!!!!

Great news! I was playing darts in the pub with my mate the other day and I hit my very first 180! I took a selfie to the occasion.

Darts tomorrow night. I’m hoping this is a good sign for things to come.

Tuesday night darts – Game 12 of 14 – The Tavern vs An Udder Team

The match this week was the potential title decider with us at the top of the league playing the only team that can catch us, An Udder Team, in second place. With three games left we had a 5 point cushion. If we win our lead will be 8 points making us uncatchable, a draw would pretty much put us there with us maintaining our 5 point lead with only 6 points available, a defeat would cut our lead to 2 points making for a very nervy last few games. However we wanted to get the job done tonight at our home ground - The Tavern.

Glorious scenes as The Tavern are crowned Division 3 champions

 It all started very well with us winning both triples, I checked out in my game. In the singles we won another game meaning we had a 3-2 lead going into the singles. I was last up in the singles which meant there was a good chance I would win us the championship. We won the first two singles then lost the next two putting the score at 5-4. Fortunately our next player won which made the score 6-4, this meant we could not loose this match AND I'd have a chance to win us the title!!

It all started really well, I hit three hundreds in a leg of darts which Id never done before. The other guy was still on 300 when I was trying to check out. Sadly the curse of checking out returned and he caught me up and won... very embarrassing. I stormed back to take the second leg to make it 1-1. The third leg he took a big lead but I managed to catch him putting us both on doubles for the finish. I was very nervous as was everyone else. I've never shook so much when throwing darts. Sadly I lost the game meaning I didn't win us the match. No fairy tale ending for me.

Fortunately we had the final 6 vs 6 game to win the match. I'm happy to say we won this, meaning we won the match and the championship!!!! I stayed a bit longer and had several beers which is always risky on a school night.

League table. The Tavern are now can not be caught

I was pretty pleased with how I played. I hit 6 hundred plus scores which nearly beat our team record of 7. I just need to work on the checking out.

So with two games left we are the champions so we can relax now and enjoy the remaining games.

Tuesday night darts – Game 11 of 14 – ACDC vs The Tavern

So, four games left in the season and this week we played the all-girls team  ACDC at Red bar who are currently propping up the league table with a meagre four points. If ever there was a team to bounce back from after last week’s defeat it was this one.

At the end of the doubles and triples we were 4 -1 up. I played in the doubles against two girls who I don’t think had ever played before. We comfortably won 2-0 with me checking out the second leg. After this came the singles. I was playing last in the sixth match. By the time it got to me we already had an unassailable 8-2 lead so the pressure was off. All I was playing for was male pride and once again I was put against the girl who beat me earlier in the season – a nice chance for revenge.

I played well in the first leg but lost, then in the second leg I started to play badly. She was trying to check out whilst I was still on 250 points fortunately she couldn’t hit that double and when I got a chance, I took it 1 – 1. In the final leg I started to throw some good darts again. I got down to checking out with her still on 300 points. This is where all the good news ends because I’m sad to report that I just couldn’t hit a double. Eventually she got down and had a chance to win and took it. I lost the game 2-1, yet another defeat to a girl.

To make matters worse I’m sure this girl must be a Liverpool fan because she is one of the worst winners I’ve ever played coming over several times to commiserate me. So although we won the match I wasn’t happy at loosing again. It’s the fourth time I’ve played this team and lost my singles match every time.

Anyway, the team won which is the important thing. Our closest rivals beat the third place team which means we are now promoted as only the top two teams go up to division 2. This does mean there will be no chance for me to get revenge which thinking about it is just as well as id probably loose anyway.

The next task is to win the league. We could achieve this next week as we are playing the second place team – a very big match!

Lots of practice is needed between now and Tuesday!

Tuesday night darts – Game 10 of 14 – The Tavern vs Phattys Phuckers

Our tenth game of the campaign was a home fixture against Phattys Phukkers at the Tavern. Another tough game and potential banana skin but so far this season things have been going very well so confidence was high for getting another three points. First up were the doubles and triples, all the games were very close but at the end it scoreline was not pretty reading - we were 4 -1 down against a good team. This meant we had to win 4 or 5 out of the 6 singles games to win the match - a very tough ask.

We won the first three games of the singles to bring the scores level. Sadly we could not maintain the momentum and lost the next two matches. I was last up in the singles and by the time it got to me we were 6 - 4 down meaning the best we could hope for was a draw. I didn't play well but somehow managed to beat my opponent 2 - 0. What saved me was that my checking out was pretty good. So my current record is W7 L3 in the singles. I'd have taken that at the start of the season.

So it all came down to the final match to salvage a draw and although we had the most chances of checking out I'm sad to report we lost the game and consequently the match 7 - 5. Disaster. Bad news is that all the teams around us won so our lead at the top has been cut to 5 points with 4 games left. Its still all in our hands but not as comfortable as we would have wanted. 

Fortunately we have the leagues bottom team next week. Its important we bounce back from this one to stay top of the league.

Tuesday night darts – Game 9 of 14 – Tequila Torros vs The Tavern

This week would be another potential banana skin against the third place team in the table 'Tequila Torros'. This team have a couple of really good players too and definitely capable of taking points off us. This match was at Tequila bar on Pasteur street in district 1.

The evening started well with us winning both the triples games. I was then dropped for the three doubles matches, as we have seven players we have to rotate and as I didn't play that well I was out, I didn't mind. However, after our great start disaster struck and we lost all three doubles matches to put us 3-2 behind going into the singles.

It was shaping up to be a tough evening as they had three really good players in their team so we needed to play very well going into the six singles matches. I'm pleased to report that, just like last week, we miraculously won all our singles games which meant we already had an unassailable lead going into the final 6 vs 6 match. I won my game. As luck would have it I was matched with probably their weakest player. I didn't play great and made a meal out of beating him 2-1 but I won nevertheless. 

We lost the final 6 vs 6 game but as I said it was irrelevant as we took the match 8 - 4. Even more glorious news was that our closest rivals, for the fourth week in a row dropped points. We are now eight points clear with only fifteen points available. As we've only dropped three points all season it really does feel now that we have one hand on the championship!

Tuesday night darts – Game 8 of 14 – The Tavern vs Black Magic

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After a one week break we’ve now started the second half of the season. So far all is going well in our division 3 championship with us top of the league by 4 points.

Our first match would see us against black magic who we beat on the opening day of the season a few months back. We beat them 10-2 but we had heard that since this time they had got some very handy returning players that nearly got them promoted last season so we were expecting a very tough match.

It was my turn to be dropped from the triples which ended 1 game each but I did make my return in the doubles. Sadly it didn’t go to plan as me and my partner comfortably lost 2-0. At the end of the doubles and triples we were 3-2 down – it was not looking good as this team were much better than

What happened next in the 6 singles matches was very unexpected not only did our form turn around but we won all six matches! They were close, competitive games but we just managed to come out on top. I won my game 2-0 against a very good player who had a record of W5 L1 before we played. I think I got lucky as I’m sure he didn’t play as well as he could have on the night. I was very pleased with how I played though. I checked out quickly and hit 3 hundred plus scores.

Going into the final 6 vs 6 match we already had an unattainable lead so we could relax a bit. Looking over at the black magic team they were very downhearted after their promising start. Just to put the icing on the cake I checked out in the final 6 vs 6 match with my first dart! I also got another 100 plus score along the way.

I think we all agreed this was our best win of the season against a very good team.To make the evening better all our nearest rivals dropped points. With 6 games left we have a very nice looking lead at the top of the league table.