Crooked Billet (home) 30.10.08

It’s been a week of shocks, an inch of snow covered the ground for less than 2 days, almost bringing the country to its knees once more, prompting the statisticians to rifle through the archives in search of yet more useless facts that can be coupled to the weatherman’s immortal line of “since records began”.
Harry Redknapp signs for Tottenham sending them on an unbeaten 3 match run prompting the statisticians once more to proclaim that it’s their longest unbeaten run since the early spring of 2008!!
Lewis Hamilton wins the F1 drivers championship by nothing more than a width of a tyre tread and the ECB pimp out the England cricket team to an American billionaire. Who like Jack the Ripper, slits the underbelly and lets the contents of English cricket spill out under the dim lights onto the half o’ dozen or so American TV sets who have tuned in thinking it’s John McCain's latest campaign ralley

Perhaps though, the most shocking of all events this week was the visit of league leaders The Crooked Billet to the darting outpost of the Rose & Crown in St. Michael’s.

The Crooked Billet had previously dropped only 4 games as they laid their title credentials on the line, sweeping aside all before them with the most consummate of ease. They must surely have fancied their chances of inflicting a heavy defeat upon one of their main title rivals after the Rose & Crown suffered the indignity of defeat against the leagues whipping boys (albeit with only 5 recognised players) the previous week.

The away side were soon into their stride, dispatching skipper Alan Turner and the “Director of Darts” in two straight legs to take an early lead but this is a situation the home side have found themselves in all of their previous contests this season. But when the pairings of Neil Crosby and Dave Noble and Tony Scott and Kevin Woods both came back empty handed without so much as a leg to show for it, the alarm bells started ringing and even the statisticians were struggling to dredge up comparable facts.

Trailing 3-0 John Goode and Paul Mullins (who themselves) are undefeated as a pairing this season) were faced with the task of at least getting the home side on the board and with it saving some face. Two legs later the Rose & Crown were back in it, Mullins and Goode coasting to victory offering a glimmer of hope in an otherwise black start to the evening going into the singles.
Special mention here must go to the refreshments; yet again Ruth has outdone all other venues with her culinary delights with not one venue getting even close in the tasting stakes. A wide range of fillings complimented by the freshest bread in the league make this one of the most eagerly awaited points of the evening.

Now, Neil “The Dude” Crosby from somewhere has acquired a different outlook on the game this season and his cool exterior most certainly is alien to not only those of the Rose & Crown, but indeed all that know him. His cool exterior though, only masks what is boiling away underneath ready to be unleashed and this was perhaps the “Dude’s” finest hour this season if not his finest game. For once Neil showed a maturity that most had thought long since extinct and whilst the BBC toiled with those overpaid egos that did their talking over the phone, Neil most certainly did his talking on the oche, the wolfram said it all for him, its own words as crude and vulgar to the visitors as those of a BBC prime time entertainer. The final shaft of tungsten unerringly made its way into the double and the home side were well and truly back in the match, one down with three to play.

For Woodsie, his debut season for the Rose & Crown has somewhat been a baptism of fire. But as each week passes the confidence grows and grows and the latest in the long line of darting progeny that have been born from the Rose & Crown’s “Youth Academy” (which in the past has produced such legends as John Goode ad the self styled “Director of Darts) sits on the edge of Rose and Crown greatness and but for one dart on Thursday would surely have achieved this status earlier than could ever have been expected as he pushed The Crooked Billets very own darting superstar Linda Searle all the way in a nail biting three leg contest that ultimately secured the visitors a point. But it was a gallant effort from the “youngster” and the contest could easily have gone his way and perhaps on another day would have done so.
Trailing 4-2 you may have thought that the Rose & Crown would have folded but there is a steely determination and a never say die attitude that has emerged in recent weeks epitomised no more so than by stalwart Tony Scott who, in is own words on Thursday night was not feeling the full schilling but apart from a request for a glass of water mid way through this no nonsense contest you would never have guessed. A picture of concentration and focus, Scotty delivered an almost faultless display that drew as many gasps from the crowd as the request for water did earlier. His hapless opponent could only look on despairingly as Scotty pulled the Rose & Crown back within striking distance, one down one to play.
The home side thus became the first team this season to take more than two games against the league leaders but they harboured much grander aspirations than this and a point from this encounter was well within their grasp.
Once again it was down to Paul Mullins, who along with everyone else (the Badger not included) was so disappointing the previous week, but Mullins was quick to put that disappointment behind him and emerged victorious in two straight legs to secure a deserved point for the home side.
So the visitors leave the picture postcard part of St. Albans their tail between their legs having dropped their first point of the season the inquests may well have started before they left but for the Rose & Crown can they keep on going upsetting the odds and mount a serious title challenge?