I'll get me coat.........

Cat Update: He's come home!!! After 56 hours of exploration Dillon finally came home. I was awoke by by Linzi screaming 'He's home, he's home'. There he was like nothing had happened. A celebratory drink & a nice Indian are on the agenda for tonight.

Moving onto what are now more important matters. I have been & played in the pre-post mentioned tournament. I turned up bright & early to get a bit of practice in. The tournament was held in St. Helens. No disrespect to place but it seems a rough place. I drove past a few council estates on the way & I was amused to see a group of possible 'community servicers' digging up some wasteland. Anyway, I found the venue. Foreigners may have found it difficulty as the wording on the pub front just read 'ob'.

Venue:



There were a few people there, some familiar faces who I have only briefly spoke to in the past. After an hour or so of practice I heard rumours that Alan Tabern was turning up. He’s a PDC player who reached the semi-final of the UK Open this year (see pic). This didn’t put me off as I would have loved the experience to play him.



The draw was made & surprisingly my name was called first to play on the main board. Usually at these tournaments you have to wait another hour before you play.

My practicing had been OK & I was pretty confident. The first leg saw me play what’s probably been my best ever darts. I twice threw over 100 needing, leaving a 160 finish. Could I do it? Treble 20, Treble 20................Wired tops. Gutted!! 20 remaining to take the leg against the throw. 20 needed, I hit the wrong bed leaving 8 (6x). My opponent comfortably finished a 57.

The next 2 legs saw me play poor. I couldn’t hit a barn door. My opponent was comfortable all the way finally winning the match with a 157 finish (60, 57, Tops).

I left disappointed that I couldn’t have produced another 1st leg.

Personal Performance Indicator (PPI):

Good pre-practice. Possible best leg to date. More concerntration required for legs against throw.

Long haired, black with a white chest.......

Once again no practice last night, although I am positively & mentally prepared for Saturday. If I get down there early enough I may be able to have an hour or two before the competition starts.

On a sadder note, I have lost my cat, Dillon. As mentioned in previous posts we have just moved house. He was let out late Wednesday evening & hasn't returned since. I am extremely gutted. Some people may say 'its only a cat & they're not loyal anyway' but I have a feline fetish & im sure other cat owners will understand how I feel. Walking around a new neighbourhood with toy & shouting a name can make you look a fool, but its all worth the cause. Fingers crossed & pray for his return asap.

Practice makes perfect, if only I could..........

No real darts news today although I have ordered my tickets for the World Grand Prix event in Dublin.

I have recently moved house & have yet to find a suitable place for the board. I am thinking of the garage, but it needs a good clean-up & I havent got time to do it at the mo. Im sure Linzi will allow me to set-up in the spare room for the winter providing I purcahse a surround instead of peppering the door.

I am due to compete in a tournament on Saturday in St.Helens. The winner picks up £300. Not bad for a days works I suppose, but due to the lack of practice over the past few weeks I may be home for 1pm. All are welcome details are as follows:

THIS IS A SMALLER PUB THAN USUAL, A GREAT COMPETITION AND ATMOSPHERE FOR THE DARTS ENTHUSIAST, A GREAT DAY OUT THERE LAST TIME

ENTRY £4.00 IN ADVANCE £5.00 ON THE DAY

Saturday 30th September

WINNER £300.00
RUNNER- UP £125.00
SEMI FINAL £50.00
QUARTER FINAL SUBJECT TO TOAL ENTRIES ON THE DAY

REGISTRATION 11-12 AM TOE TO THE OCHE APPROXIMATELY 12.30pm

GOOD FOOD AVAILABLE ON THE DAYEVERYONE WELCOME IN FREE.VENUE .

GLOBE HOTEL, STANDISH STREET 1 MINUTE FROM TOWN CENTRE (OFF COLLAGE STREET, ST.HELENS, MERSEYSIDE,WA10 1JT)

Check In & Check Out........

Melbourne Social Club - 26/09/06 (a)

Last night saw my teams first match in the Lancaster City Darts League (Winter). We were away at the Melbourne Sports & Social Club. A team we havent played before. I was optimistic as ever about gaining a crucial win to get our campagin off to a cracking start.

We started brightly win Steve Shaw pulling off a 63 double off followed by a 140 & a 52 check out. The next few games saw us go 3-2 down at the break. Both Rob Lancaster & Andy Markham suffering unexpected defeats.

Steve Tennant produced a 72 double off, but sadly couldnt capitalise on a finish which would have given us an early breakthrough in the 2nd half. Once again Paul Haywood was on form to produce a 27 off, 100, 140 & a 32 finish to pull us back to 4-3. Myself took to number 8 getting off 2nd time round with a 36. Sadly no 100+'s this time, but a nice 25 (9, 8x) finish pulled us back to 4-4. Dave Murby put us 5-4 up with a match to play, but sadly we only had 9 players so were unable to bring back a possible win.

Overall we lost on the night with the dominoes score adding to the darts.

Darts: 5-5
Dominoes: 8-4

The oche @ Melbourne:



Personal Performance Indicator (PPI):

Relaxed. Nice double off with 36 (8x, 20). Highest 3 darts were 81 followed by what should have been a 63 finish (13, BULL). I missed out needing 25. This was finished off with a 9, 8x.