In what has proved to be one of the most controversial weeks in recent times for St. Albans Darts, The Rose & Crown found themselves playing host to the Inn On The Green in what many were predicting would be a feisty encounter.
Responding to comments made about them The Inn On The Green had plenty of scores to settle, and settle them they did. But rather than rising to these comments the Inn On The Green did their talking on the oche as they run away with this top of the table encounter humbling the home side by a resounding 7-1 in what at times seemed to be exhibition darts.
The depleted Rose & Crown had no answer to the awesome power of the Inn On The Green and only Tony Scott could offer any resistance in what proved to be a fruitless night for the home side.
If this was an attempt at mind games from the home side then the Inn On The Green took it all in their stride and showed their class.
Saturday 26 January 2008
Monday 21 January 2008
Redbourne Cricket Club January 17th 2007
The lights were off in the car park, a last ditch attempt possibly to stop any visitors in thier tracks, to disable them over the carp park boundary perhaps, or maybe the committe have yet to vote on who puts the light bulbs in. The answers to these questions we may never know.
A small clubhouse nestled in the centre of Redbourne Common, home to Redbourne Cricket Club and the sound of leather on willow echoing round the walls in the summer months. The winter however is very different, it stands alone and almost empty shrouded in darkness that seems to surround it all day long barley noticeable almost conspicuous by its almost apparent absence. This was the venue for the latest instalment of Rose & Crown Darts, a venue that has proved to be a stumbling block in the past.
It proved tonight that the only stumbling block would be the unlit car park as the Rose & Crown ran away with victory 6-2.
It was hardly a vintage performance by the visitors as they played well within themselves but with enough in hand to ease to a comfortable victory and extend a recent run of impressive performances going into next weeks encounter against the highly rated Inn On The Green.
After suffering defeat in the first match of the evening it was up to Neil "The Dude" Crosby and Carl Bolding to redress the balance and pave the way for the ever reliable pairing of stalwart Tony Scott and Tom Wilson to put put the visitors ahead. They duly obliged and were quickly followed by the impressive John Goode and Paul Mullins who swept the visitors into a 3-1 lead going into the singles.
Plagued by the cold whistling in through the doors the visitors seemed in a hurry to end this encounter as quickly as possible and when Tom Wilson stepped up to take on the first single in place of Neil Crosby it certainly looked like being an early night.
Tom strolled to the oche and almost nonchalantly and with such unerring accuracy powered the visitors into an unassailable 4-1 lead.
Neil Crosby sealed victory shortly afterwards before the Rose & Crown eventually run out 6-2 victors and putting behind them previous slip ups in the parishes.
A small clubhouse nestled in the centre of Redbourne Common, home to Redbourne Cricket Club and the sound of leather on willow echoing round the walls in the summer months. The winter however is very different, it stands alone and almost empty shrouded in darkness that seems to surround it all day long barley noticeable almost conspicuous by its almost apparent absence. This was the venue for the latest instalment of Rose & Crown Darts, a venue that has proved to be a stumbling block in the past.
It proved tonight that the only stumbling block would be the unlit car park as the Rose & Crown ran away with victory 6-2.
It was hardly a vintage performance by the visitors as they played well within themselves but with enough in hand to ease to a comfortable victory and extend a recent run of impressive performances going into next weeks encounter against the highly rated Inn On The Green.
After suffering defeat in the first match of the evening it was up to Neil "The Dude" Crosby and Carl Bolding to redress the balance and pave the way for the ever reliable pairing of stalwart Tony Scott and Tom Wilson to put put the visitors ahead. They duly obliged and were quickly followed by the impressive John Goode and Paul Mullins who swept the visitors into a 3-1 lead going into the singles.
Plagued by the cold whistling in through the doors the visitors seemed in a hurry to end this encounter as quickly as possible and when Tom Wilson stepped up to take on the first single in place of Neil Crosby it certainly looked like being an early night.
Tom strolled to the oche and almost nonchalantly and with such unerring accuracy powered the visitors into an unassailable 4-1 lead.
Neil Crosby sealed victory shortly afterwards before the Rose & Crown eventually run out 6-2 victors and putting behind them previous slip ups in the parishes.
The Feeding of Dave and John
10] When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, [11] but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
[12] Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here."
[13] He replied, "You give them something to eat."
They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish--unless we go and buy food for all this crowd." [14] (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each." [15] The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. [16] Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. [17] They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
And lo, David went out and in the valley of St.Michael's and he did gather himself two fishes, his Disciple John did applaud him and the two of them ate the two fishes heartily. In fact so good were the fishes that disciple John did say unto David that he had never tasted salmon like it before. David did say unto John that it was in fact Trout, a row broke out as the two glutenous "apostles" full to the gunnel's on freshly caught fish argued as to the fishes identity, Meanwhile the poor, the, unemployed and the hungry could only look on as a fully qualified chef with every means of cookery known to man at his disposal could only feed himself and John whilst over two thousand years ago a humble carpenter with no knowledge of the catering trade whatsoever managed to feed an entire five thousand seater open air restaurant with not so much as a frying pan or a court bouillon sauce.
[12] Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here."
[13] He replied, "You give them something to eat."
They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish--unless we go and buy food for all this crowd." [14] (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each." [15] The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. [16] Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. [17] They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
And lo, David went out and in the valley of St.Michael's and he did gather himself two fishes, his Disciple John did applaud him and the two of them ate the two fishes heartily. In fact so good were the fishes that disciple John did say unto David that he had never tasted salmon like it before. David did say unto John that it was in fact Trout, a row broke out as the two glutenous "apostles" full to the gunnel's on freshly caught fish argued as to the fishes identity, Meanwhile the poor, the, unemployed and the hungry could only look on as a fully qualified chef with every means of cookery known to man at his disposal could only feed himself and John whilst over two thousand years ago a humble carpenter with no knowledge of the catering trade whatsoever managed to feed an entire five thousand seater open air restaurant with not so much as a frying pan or a court bouillon sauce.
Friday 11 January 2008
Evergreens January 10th 2008
As the smoking ban continues to descend the game of tactics into absolute chaos, albeit ably assisted by the "Director of Darts" with his penchant for disruption ,the Rose & Crown continue to go from strength to strength when it really matters.
Last nights visitors to St. Mitchael's darting Mecca were the Evergreens, who on their day were capable of beating the best in league, a fact proven by a recent victory over the Inn On The Green. The Rose & Crown how ever are anything but The Inn On The Green and are most certainly not a bunch of silver pot chasing, egotistical spear throwing megalomaniacs, au contraire quite the reverse in fact. The Rose & Crown embody the very spirit of darts, a team built over the years in the best traditions of the game (the director of darts a part) with a strong cohesion and togetherness that sets them apart from the "gypsies" that have wandered across the boundary to the north of the district. The Evergreens found this out to their cost on Thursday night as the home side turned in a performance worthy of a higher placing in the league table.
After a shaky start to the evening with what was perhaps the longest doubles game in Rose & Crown memory Skipper Alan Turner and Dave Noble finally came out on top as an out of sorts Tim Banks and below par Geoff Greene just couldn't find any rhythm and left the door wide open for the Rose & Crown duo. This early advantage was soon to be overturned, Carl Bolding and Neil Crosby surrendering to Jimmy Meyrick and Paul Stevens followed by the first defeat of the season of John Goode and Paul Mullins who despite dominating the match and throwing a maximum with his first three darts were unable to put away the wily campaigners of Mick Norris and John Thiel and thus find themselves trailing 2-1. Enter Tony Scott and Tom Wilson who set the standard for the rest of the evening with a comprehensive 2-0 win to put the home side back level.
The sandwiches brought some light relief to proceedings and it has to be said that Ruth does the team proud. Wonderful freshly made sandwiches with a variety of exciting fillings served on a platter and garnished exquisitely always go down well after a few pints of the cask conditioned ale on offer to which the delicious Gemma is only to happy serve up.
So with refreshments taken and the last remnants of fresh bread woofed down by Tia it was back onto the Oche. Neil Crosby usually takes first single, not by the skippers choice it has to be said, while others are gorging themselves on the fresh fare Neil hones in to the vacant oche and refuses to move until he plays. This was a season defining game for the enigmatic Mr Crosby as well as a defining game in the evenings events. At two each the pressure was on both players to get a result and it was Evergreens Paul Stevens who looked the more likely victor as he out played "The Dude" for all three legs. and looked sure to wrap things up before Neil hit him with a bolt from the blue. Limping like a lame duck it was all Neil could do to stay in touch with his opponent at times, but staring down the Barrel Neil pulled of an incredible 112 finish that stunned not only his opponent but all inside the public bar at the time and so put the Rose & Crown back in pole position and with the likes of Tom Wilson and Tony Scott to follow not to mention the in form Paul Mulins there only looked like one team in it and so it proved. Tom Wilson came out on top despite a momentary lapse of concentration in the second leg against John Thiel before Tony Scott turned in yet another masterclass to seal the victory. Paul Mullins then put the icing on the cake as the home side reeled off all four single matches to complete a wonderful 6-2 victory
Last nights visitors to St. Mitchael's darting Mecca were the Evergreens, who on their day were capable of beating the best in league, a fact proven by a recent victory over the Inn On The Green. The Rose & Crown how ever are anything but The Inn On The Green and are most certainly not a bunch of silver pot chasing, egotistical spear throwing megalomaniacs, au contraire quite the reverse in fact. The Rose & Crown embody the very spirit of darts, a team built over the years in the best traditions of the game (the director of darts a part) with a strong cohesion and togetherness that sets them apart from the "gypsies" that have wandered across the boundary to the north of the district. The Evergreens found this out to their cost on Thursday night as the home side turned in a performance worthy of a higher placing in the league table.
After a shaky start to the evening with what was perhaps the longest doubles game in Rose & Crown memory Skipper Alan Turner and Dave Noble finally came out on top as an out of sorts Tim Banks and below par Geoff Greene just couldn't find any rhythm and left the door wide open for the Rose & Crown duo. This early advantage was soon to be overturned, Carl Bolding and Neil Crosby surrendering to Jimmy Meyrick and Paul Stevens followed by the first defeat of the season of John Goode and Paul Mullins who despite dominating the match and throwing a maximum with his first three darts were unable to put away the wily campaigners of Mick Norris and John Thiel and thus find themselves trailing 2-1. Enter Tony Scott and Tom Wilson who set the standard for the rest of the evening with a comprehensive 2-0 win to put the home side back level.
The sandwiches brought some light relief to proceedings and it has to be said that Ruth does the team proud. Wonderful freshly made sandwiches with a variety of exciting fillings served on a platter and garnished exquisitely always go down well after a few pints of the cask conditioned ale on offer to which the delicious Gemma is only to happy serve up.
So with refreshments taken and the last remnants of fresh bread woofed down by Tia it was back onto the Oche. Neil Crosby usually takes first single, not by the skippers choice it has to be said, while others are gorging themselves on the fresh fare Neil hones in to the vacant oche and refuses to move until he plays. This was a season defining game for the enigmatic Mr Crosby as well as a defining game in the evenings events. At two each the pressure was on both players to get a result and it was Evergreens Paul Stevens who looked the more likely victor as he out played "The Dude" for all three legs. and looked sure to wrap things up before Neil hit him with a bolt from the blue. Limping like a lame duck it was all Neil could do to stay in touch with his opponent at times, but staring down the Barrel Neil pulled of an incredible 112 finish that stunned not only his opponent but all inside the public bar at the time and so put the Rose & Crown back in pole position and with the likes of Tom Wilson and Tony Scott to follow not to mention the in form Paul Mulins there only looked like one team in it and so it proved. Tom Wilson came out on top despite a momentary lapse of concentration in the second leg against John Thiel before Tony Scott turned in yet another masterclass to seal the victory. Paul Mullins then put the icing on the cake as the home side reeled off all four single matches to complete a wonderful 6-2 victory
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