Castle & Falcon Bangers finish second in the ladies’ division of the Newark & District Double Board Darts League ahead of in-house rivals Falcoholics after winning 11-4 against Railway Club Artists

Castle & Falcon Bangers have secured the runners-up spot in the ladies’ division of the Newark & District Double Board Darts League after Karen Whittaker’s crucial checkout in the concluding team leg completed an 11-4 victory over Railway Club Artists which enabled them to snatch second place from their in-house rivals Falcoholics.

Two weeks ago, the Falcoholics and the Bangers were locked together on 106 points with both sides having one match remaining against the bottom of the league Artists to determine who would finish as runners-up to the Railway Youngers.

Falcoholics were first up and had built an unassailable 9-3 lead against Artists but crucially failed to win the remaining team leg which meant a 9-6 win.

That result left the Bangers, who were on a high after defeating the league champions in the knock-out cup final, needing a 10-5 win or better to rescue second spot from their rivals.

The Bangers started the match perfectly with victory in both pairs encounters before Whittaker increased their advantage to 6-0 as she overcame Marian Quant in the opening singles clash. The Artists, though, were not going down without a fight and piled the pressure back on their opponents as Julia Condliffe-Turner defeated Kathy Buttong before draws by Artists’ skipper Barbara Hood and Kate Slatter against Mandy Walker and Debbie Walker respectively reduced the deficit to 8-4.

Despite having an unassailable lead, the race for second place was still in the balance with the Bangers having to do what the Falcoholics had failed to do and win the remaining team leg. They managed to do just that as Whittaker held her nerve to land the crucial double-16 which enabled her side to claim the runners-up spot for the second season running since winning the title in 2023.

The battle to finish as runners-up in the men’s division will also go to the final match of the season but Wheatsheaf Bellies & Bullseyes will need just one leg in their match against RHP 26ers to guarantee second place after they completed a terrific 5-0 win over their rivals for the runners-up spot, Castle & Falcon BBC2s.

The two sides went into this crucial penultimate match of the campaign locked together on 80 points but the BBC2s, who had won the corresponding fixture 4-1 earlier in the season, were just ahead by virtue of having won one more match than their opponents.

The match had promised to be a tight affair but never turned out that way as the Wheatsheaf outscored their rivals and were also clinical in their finishing as they eased to a 5-0 win with checkouts from Paul Thompson and two apiece by Martin Fryer and John Esam.

The BBC2s will now need to defeat RHP Darts of Hazzard 5-0 in their final match and hope that RHP 26ers can do them a favour by inflicting an unlikely 5-0 defeat on the Wheatsheaf if they are to snatch second place for themselves.

Rose & Crown Marauders, who had already clinched a third successive league title, remain 17 points clear after they claimed a comfortable 5-0 win over Balderton Cricket Club with finishes from Shane Gallacher, Mark Neal and a hat-trick by Steven Barnett.

RHP 26ers have moved above the Taverners in to fourth place after they beat last season’s runners-up 4-1 with checkouts from Kieran Cumberland, Steve Alexander and a brace by Michael Rawle. Stuart Glover’s fourth leg checkout rescued a point for the Taverners.

RHP Darts of Hazzard have moved above Wheatsheaf Phoenix into seventh place after they defeated them 5-0 helped by finishes from Oliver Hubbard, Chris Clawson and a hat-trick by Paul Gallacher.

The individual performance of the night, though, possibly belonged to Martin Farrell who hit four checkouts as the Castle & Falcon Arrows recovered from going behind to Jack Kirk’s opening leg finish to defeat their in-house rivals, The Hedgehoggers, 4-1.

Results: Men’s Division: Wheatsheaf Phoenix 0-5 RHP Darts of Hazzard, Balderton Cricket Club 0-5 Rose & Crown Marauders, Castle & Falcon Arrows 4-1 The Hedgehoggers, RHP 26ers 4-1 The Taverners, Castle & Falcon BBC2s 0-5 Wheatsheaf Bellies & Bullseyes.

Ladies’ Division: Railway Club Artists 4-11 Castle & Falcon Bangers.