Every week our Lord of the Darts columnist Michael Flatley-Roberts covers a game in the Astley Bridge League. This week he watched Old Doffers v Anchors Away in Section Four

THIS week I visited the local derby at the Doffcocker in Heaton where the Hope and Anchor hit top form with a high quality scoring display which produced an excellent 15-dart leg.

It was a game between younger and older generation of darts players where there was a great deal of respect shown from the Anchor who had got off to a perfect start the week before with a 14-1 win and you could see the confidence oozing out of the Anchor.

On the other hand the Old Doffers got off to a poor start losing 12-3 which wasn’t helped by the fact they only had four players on the night.

It started with Tommy Jessop and Gary Leigh in what was an up and down game where Leigh opened up hitting double 16 for a quick start.

There were signs of Jessop getting into the game at the end of the first leg and he continued his form in the second leg.

It was a complete role reversal with Leigh struggling to find the treble and Jessop hit a 121 on the way to hitting double top with his first dart in hand.

This only got Leigh fired up who was rampant in finishing the last leg. In the best darts I’ve seen so far this season Leigh hit scores of 40, 100, 156 and 180 in consecutive throws to leave himself 25 which he finished in 15 darts to get his team off to a perfect start opening up a 2-1 lead for his team.

Jessop explained after the game how Leigh was brought up playing darts in the Doffcocker since the age of 16 and was happy to see how the youngster has progressed over the years.

Next up was Dave Quinn against captain Jack Foster. The skipper hit some good form hitting six scores over 95 and it was a game Quinn will rue his missed doubles as he had shots to win two of the three legs.

The first leg saw a Hollywood finish with Foster hitting single one and double one twice to finish five after both players missed nine darts at double.

The next leg was very impressive from Foster who hit scores of 97, 100 and 100 before posting double 20 for a 2-0 lead. Quinn started the next leg well kicking off with scores of 80 and 140 but missed 12 darts at double and Foster plodded his way down to a finish hitting double one for the third time in the match to seal a good 3-0 victory and give his team a 5-1 lead.

Looking to get his team back in the game was Roy Fletcher who faced John Marsh.

Marsh was impressive in going 2-0 up, missing just a dart at double and throwing some very steady, consistent darts.

This meant that at 7-1 up the Old Doffers needed to win all the remaining seven legs.

Fletcher played a lot better in the final leg before both players struggled on the double before hitting double 20 at the eighth time of asking.

It was a crucial leg for the Old Doffers to win as this would keep them in the game and it was about to get better for them in the next match.

It was a rather forgettable game that featured Ken Malloy and Andrew Edge, one that featured lots of missed doubles and both players struggling to find any consistency.

It was Malloy who took advantage in winning all three legs and closing the gap to just two legs making the score 7-5.

It meant it was to be a very tense final game which was fought between Dave Laney and Gareth France.

Having watched all the players before the game I was looking forward to seeing how France would play as he looks like he could be a very good darts player.

It was harsh on Laney as in my opinion the nerves didn’t help him and I feel his last leg showed he is a good player. France started well hitting 100 and 96 before hitting eight to secure victory for his team.

He continued his good form in the next leg hitting a 170. Having landed in the treble 20 he slipped a dart into the bull before following up with another treble 20 which raised a few laughs from the teams as he did the same thing in a game between the two teams last season.

He had the last laugh, though, hitting double 20 with his third dart in hand.

Laney then woke up hitting form in the final leg with two scores of more than 100 along with a 94 before hitting double six to pull back a leg for his team meaning that the final score was 9-6 to the Anchors Away.

The beer game followed. Five players from each team put a quid in and play a team game from 1001 down with the winnings going to the winning team.

It was Edge, who earlier lost 3-0, who had the final laugh at the end of the night after being the centre of a lot of banter hitting double 16 to win the beer game for the team. It was a clean sweep from the Anchor who thoroughly deserved the victory on the night.

Man of the match: Gary Leigh

Man of the match was very difficult to choose between Leigh and Jack Foster as they both performed well on the night but I think the fantastic 15-dart leg just about earned it.

Next week I will be going to two matches so that I can start getting some Thursday night games in.

On Wednesday I will be going to Roundhouse where the Roundhouse Rangers host the Colliers Army and on Thursday I will be going to Mosley Arms as they face the Salad Dodgers.