Darts & Dominoes: Ridley League title race is blown wide open

SKIPPER Ian Middleton inspired strugglers Hatfield Peverel Swan to victory over CCFC C - the big result of a topsy-turvy week as the Ridley League title race was blown wide open again.

That result, and defeat for top dogs the King’s Arms, left reigning champions Little Waltham back in the hunt – and Felsted Chequers could still steal it on the line.

City C had the better of the darts, despite Middleton’s stunning straight-legs win over Martin Compton; however, the real damage was done in a dominoes whitewash, which saw the Swan home 8-7.

The Black Bull completed a notable double over the leaders in a match highlighted by 180s from Rob Turner and Dave Kelly (King’s Arms) and Jason Vickers and Tom Kerr (Bull). The Bull’s dommies superiority told, though the lack of one of their women’s pair didn’t help the home side.

Little Waltham grabbed their chance with both hands, thrashing bottom club Bird in Hand for the loss of one dominoes game. Victory puts them second, three points off top spot.

The Chequers were almost as impressive in beating CCFC B 10-5, defeat in the women’s game by Carol Hughes and Cass Oubridge being the only blot on their sheet. Having seen off City’s A and B strings in consecutive matches, their acid test comes this week against CCFC C, which could seriously influence the title race.

Depleted City A rounded off a blank week for the club, crashing 9-6 at the Cricketers. They had the edge in the darts (except the women’s pairs), but took a hammering in the dominoes.