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Fall 2010 Tournament Champs

5 Mark's Easy

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Newbies, 5 Marks Easy, Unseat League Leaders Subway to Take Their First End-of-Season Trophy

At 14 and 2 for the season, league leaders, Subway, took on the newest team in the Triangle Dart League, "5 Marks's Easy" (13 and 3). Putting their team together just this season, 5ME joined Darty Old Men (A team), as the second team to come out of Top of the Hill.

The blind draw for 301 pitched Dan Titsworth, (5ME's #1, and low 301 Hot Shot joint leader with 12 darts) against long-time league stalwart Chris Boling (0.711 All Stars per game for the season); David Needham against league-leader in win percentage (12 and 2), Pete Gannon; Jon Thorne vs Mike Slomianyj; and newbie Mike Hackett (5ME's Most Improved Player) against Bob Ferguson.

Pete Gannon was on fire, and totally outplayed Needham, with his best game of the season, taking out double 16 with his 14th dart. With Titsworth, Thorne and Hackett all scoring wins, the match went into singles cricket, with 5ME taking an early 3-1 lead, --a lead they would not relinquish.

Singles cricket saw 5ME list the same players in the same order, while Subway went with the strong line up of Pete Slomianyj, Doug Venema, Chris Bolling and Mike Slomianyj (--the league leading Hot Shot low 21 dart cricket). In four hard fought games, Subway characteristically picked up the pace, and the teams split cricket singles, 2-2, giving the match score as 5-3 at the end of the singles rounds.

Listing for the doubles cricket, saw 5ME go with the line-up they had used most of the season, partnering Titsworth and Thorne, the two Mike's (Hackett and Murray), and in the third game, David Needham and 5ME's captain, Darrell Schwartz. Three tough, scratching and clawing, seesaw games, with Bolling and Vennema, Pete and re-Pete (Gannon and Slomianyj), and Mike Slomianyj and John Poteat (joint low 301 Hot Shot for the season), saw 5ME edge out to a 9-5 score line at the end of doubles cricket.

Going into doubles 501, 5ME needed just one game to win the trophy. "OK, we just need one win," Titsworth said in the huddle. Needham responded, "No, we need three!" leaving nothing to chance, or complacency.

Subway's Pete and Re-Pete, took on Titsworth and Thorne, and the formidable duo of Bolling and Venema (league Hot Shots with a low 18 dart doubles cricket) were listed against Schwartz and Needham, who themselves had logged a 19 darter earlier in the season. As the first 501 was coming down to the wire and both pairs in site of a double, in the second game, the teams were trading 45s, 41s, and an odd 60, neither side able to pull away. With both in the low 200s, Needham opened it all up by hitting a ton 25 (125), leaving 94 for Schwartz. Schwartz got the 5ME pair down to 60, and then Needham stepped up, and, with the match on the line, took it out hitting the fat 20 and double top for match and tournament dart.

Subway, were magnanimous in defeat, and admittedly just a little under par. But that's the way it goes some nights.

The 5 Marks'S Easy team left Bub's with Darrell Schwartz proudly carrying the trophy, and headed up to their home court, Top of the Hill's Back Bar. After a few pictures to record the arrival of a new force-to-be-reckoned-with in the TDL, the trophy was duly hoisted to a place of prominence, behind the upstairs bar. Darty Old Men, TotH's A team, have also won the trophy on 4 recent occasions and so the new TotH B team, 5 Marks's easy, brought home the trophy again, where it sits until the next time the teams of the TDL go to battle for end-of-season tournament honors, sometime late this spring.

TDL prides itself on not taking itself too seriously, and so if you are proficient darter or just want to learn, and fancy a fun night out, check out the TDL web site and get in touch with any of the TDL officers; just let them know you are interested in joining or starting a team, and/or come out to TotH Back Bar on a Tuesday evening, for the TotH Dart School, and THROW SOME DARTS.

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