A sign of the times

A week after upsetting the odds with a win against the Inn on The Green, it only gets tougher for the Rose and Crown who's next opponents were the London Road Club, it has to be said at this stage that the standard of the St. Albans Darts league has improved dramatically in recent years but as to what this can be attributed to is any ones guess. Could it be the untold "riches" of what the 1st division offers that has seen an influx of both players and teams from outside the area ply their trade here in St. Albans.
Teams such as "The Black Boy" who were filled with darting superstars such as Chris Mason and of course more recently Mark Walsh aka "Walshie". Then there is "The Inn on The Green" largely made up of those from the surrounding leagues of Watford and Luton. All have come here from more familiar surroundings to seek further fame and fortune amongst the throngs of local tungsten hurlers here in St. Albans.
Well whatever it is it certainly has brought the best out of some of the more local players and the Rose and Crown is no exception to this.
If you were to say at the beginning of this season that the Rose and Crown would have five points from a possible six after after games against the Inn on The Green, Bricketwood and London Road, all of whom are packed to the rafters of superleague and county payers, I'm sure this would have been met with much scepticism, especially in view of the fact that the Rose and Crown have achieved this without Tom Wilson, (who has been sorely missed, not just for his darting abilities but for his all round contribution to the team), but achieved it they have and everyone of them has stepped up to the plate when called and raised their game.
In recent years players such as John Goode has come from nowhere to be a regular member of the team and his partnership with Paul Mullins has certainly accounted for many more notable scalps than that of themselves. Then there is the "Director of Darts" who seems to strike "fear" in to the heart of the opposition with his off the oche antics but provides perfect foil for the likes of Tony Scott and Neil Crosby and the emerging talent of Kevin Woods that follow him onto the oche.
As the standard of those coming into the league from all around improves so does that of the local players and for this there is no substitute, as was demonstrated last Thursday as the Inn on The Green imploded, unable to accommodate the egotistical personalities that made for a disfunctional and disjointed outfit that could only fight amongst themselves, a team of little equilibrium unbalanced and out of tune. Compare that to their victors that night who, in stark contrast to them have no such egos to feed, each slipping into his place in the side, guided effortlessly by the skipper, standing as one and supporting each other.
Four maybe Five years ago virtually the same group of players just about avoided relegation, over the last couple of seasons John Goode has found himself beating the likes of Kim Wiffen and Gary Roache as the Rose and Crown mix it with their more illustrious counterparts.