30/1/2017: First league match in 18 months against the 'Jolly Miller'! Alot of positives to be had!

Hi Guys

It was my first night back for Al's Bar 'B' last night against the 'Jolly Miller'.

Firstly i must say my old team mates were very welcoming back which was great and there has been abit of a change in the last 18 months with some new players added who are of better standard which is good.

Before the match we had the usual warm-up games and i won both my doubles (taking out D10) and singles taking out the Captain with D4.

Then it was onto the League matches itself. I was in mixed doubles and on reflection this was a good thing to ease back.

We lost the first leg in a close affair when they took out D20, before i hit some good scores and my partner took out D2 to take the second leg. It was then the decider. I won the bull and again hit some decent scores however i wired 3 at d16 and they took out d5.

Unfortunately the team lost a close affair 5-4 in total which i'm told is the same scoreline its been the last 8.

I must admit that i felt disappointed on the way home however on reflection what did i expect?? I had only practiced darts for a couple of hours a week for the last few weeks as i try and recover from major shoulder issues and here i was jumping into competitive league play after 18 months!

There were alot of positives here:

1. I won 2 'inter-pub' matches prior to the League match.
2. I hit 2 100 + scores (100 and 123)
3. I hit some other high scores of 60,75,85 and 95
4. Despite being out of darts for 18 months i had darts at the double to win (against players playing regularly)
5. I only hit a couple of sub 45 scores.

For the standard of League 3, my performance wasn't bad at all considering doubles isn't my forte. I hit some good scores and  had darts to win the match, if this was my first match when i started i'd have been thrilled.

This is where perspective is needed. This wasn't a PDC or BDO match on television, between players in the top 16! At this level no one is hitting 9 darters, hitting 11 and 12 dart legs and averaging 105! This is pub darts and the standard should be judged in its own right, and it was a good performance by our team with score good scores!

Anyway it felt good to be back, and i am only going to improve with regular competitive play.

Take Care

Luke