I USUALLY start my article every week with where I have been over the past week, but this week is different.

Back in 2015 I covered the illness of a great man, a comedian and a superb darter.

Late Monday night I was informed of the sad passing of Alan Butler after a brave battle against cancer.

To many of us he was a friend or opponent and Alan leaves behind four children, his amazing wife Maggie, three step children and nine grandchildren. The hundreds of us who were lucky to know him enjoyed his excellent sense of humour, knew what a lovely, kind, gentle man he was and we are proud to have been in his company over the past 60 years.

I spoke to Alan’s son Keith this week who would like to thank the many of us who have passed on our condolences.

I personally would like to pass on the condolences of all involved within the darting community.

This week I visited the Claremont Arms as I witnessed one of the best team displays of the season from the in-form Mosley Arms.

I always promised when writing my articles that I would never cover the same team twice until I had visited them all, and this week I misread the fixture list and ended up covering the Mosley for a second time.

With the race for promotion heating up in the Men's Section Three this game was huge for the NFA and the Mosley.

Just five legs separated sixth place and second place with the two teams occupying fifth and sixth, respectively, going into the game.

First up was Geoff Bowes for the NFA as he faced Colin Sharpe of the Mosley. Bowes started well too hitting scores of 85, 85, 100, 82 before hitting a great 82 finish on double 10 for the first leg.

Both players went back on forth in the second leg and had chances to win the leg but Sharpe took advantage of 12 missed darts from Bowes to level the tie.

Bowes retained his composure, hitting double 20 with his first dart as his opponent missed a match dart at bullseye for a 130 finish to complete a great win and get the NFA off to a good start and a 2-1 lead.

Our second game featured Ste Griffiths of the Mosley as he faced an out of form Paul Bowes.

Griffiths started well too hitting a 125 and 100 before hitting double two for the leg and his good form continued as he hit another 100 before hitting double six with his second dart in hand. However the best was yet to come.

The third leg saw him up his game as he hit two 100s and an 81 before hitting double 10 to give the Mosley a 4-2 lead.

Our third match of the night had a lot of promise with two great players going head to head.

Nathan Holden, one of the better young players in the Astley Bridge Darts League faced Danny Carter of the Mosley, who was the best player on the night.

I watch the team earlier in the season and he was in great form again in a good game.

He opened the first leg hitting scores of 80, 125 and 81 before hitting double 10 with his second dart.

The second leg followed a similar pattern with Holden hitting plenty of darts just under or over the treble but not going in and it allowed Carter to double his lead hitting double one for the leg after he hit another two 100s. Again Carter scored stronger of the two in the final leg hitting a 100 and 125 to hit double 10 for the second time in the match to give the Mosley a 7-2 lead.

Our penultimate tie featured another great young player, Andy Holt of the NFA, against Josh Alderton who had a chance to secure victory for the Mosley. Holt started the better of the two hitting scores of 125 and 100 before hitting double two for the leg and he doubled his lead hitting double five with his first dart in hand.

Holt looked favourite to clean up the third leg too against an out of form Alderton but he did excellent to remain calm without playing his best darts as Holt continued to miss darts at doubles he stepped up to hit single eight double 20 for a two-dart finish to secure victory for the Mosley and give them a 8-4 lead.

Our final game was our best game of the night with two speedy flingers going face to face. Dave Senior, one of the most improved players in the lower sections, faced Lee Griffiths of the Mosley in a superb encounter.

Interestingly Power started the better of the two hitting a 100, 140 and 91 to leave 40 after 15 darts but he went on to miss 12 darts at double allowing Griffiths to jump in to hit double two for the leg.

He impressively went on to win the second leg too hitting two 100s and a 95 before hitting double two for the second time to double his lead and he secured victory hitting another 100, two 85s and a 94 before hitting double 18 to give his team a great 11-4 victory.

This week’s man of the match is Lee Griffiths who put on a great display to beat Dave Senior with some great, consistent darts. Overall it was a great game of darts between two fantastic teams who will be looking to secure their place in Section Two next season.

Monday is the deadline for entries into the Astley Bridge summer league so please drop off your entry forms at Halliwell Conservative Club before then.