THORNTON AGAIN!

WESTERN ISLES DARTS FESTIVAL

Mondays challenge night was followed on Tuesday by two new competitions for the festival, in response to the rapid rise in the number of youngsters, both men and women, taking up darts, a youth championship and a women's championship were added.

In the womens competition it was long time player Jean Macdonald who emerged as the early favourite, hitting a very impressive 107 finish (treble 19, Bull) on her way to the semi finals, where she would meet Sandra Dodson, after some brilliant throwing from both, it was Sandra who moved into the final with a comfortable 4-1 win.

Down in the bottom half of the draw, where there were many close matches and nobody seemed to stand out from the crowd, it was two of this years rookies who made it through to the final, both Anita Macleod and Agnes Macdonald showed real promise going into the semi final, where Anita won 4-0 to reach her first major final.

In the final former Womens Island Singles winner Sandra Dodson was out of the blocks quickest, opening up a handy early lead, and despite a strong challenge from Anita Macleod, Sandra greater experience pulled her through for a hard fought 4-2 victory, becoming the first ever Western Isles Womens Darts Champion.

Just as in the womens tournament the youths would also see a clear favourite emerging from the early rounds, 13 year old Jamie Reid was in cracking form piling in the big scores and a great 114 finish en route to the first semi final, where he took on Graham Macleod, both players threw some exceptional darts over four very close legs before Jamie claimed his spot in the final with a 4-1 win.

Jamies opponent in the final would be decided in the other semi between 11 year old Murdo Macleod, grandson of Western Isles darting legend Allan Dowie, and Gordon  Macdonald. Mirroring the first semi this match also went only four legs and again it was the younger player prevailing as Murdo reached the final with another 4-1 win.

The final really set the pace for the rest of the weeks competition, both youngsters played the best game of their lives over a thrilling 9 legs. Jamie was first to get a foothold in the match racing into a 2-0 lead, Murdo then pulled the score back to 2-1, Jamie replied by taking the fourth leg to reagain his 2 leg advantage at 3-1, the fifth leg would go to Murdo making it 3-2, then in the penultimate eighth leg Murdo threw his best game, wining, the leg in 17 darts and levelling the match at 3-3, the final leg would see both players under immense pressure, both missing darts at the final double, before Murdo Macleod found the mark and hoisted the trophy, at only 11 years old the first ever Western Isles Youth Darts Champion.

Both youngsters played at an exceptional standard for their age and it will not be long before they are challenging the big boys, who knows how good they could get!

Probably the most entertaining tournament of last years festival this years was just as good, however, as last years comp served to demonstrate the darting prowess of a few dominant players, this year showed the overall improvement of the wider field and just how dangerous the younger players have become.

Quite surprisingly it was the quarter finals where most of the action took place, in the bottom half of the draw there were two notable upsets, reigning League Singles and Boxing Day Champ David Stewart(Whalers) fell foul of the up and coming Calum Ruddy(Lewis), losing out 7-4.

The other q-final of this half saw the vastly improved Kenny Macleod(Shawbost) getting the better of last years Masters finalist Rory Ferguson(Sea Angling), Kenny put in some very heavy scoring to beat Rory 7-4.

Well if you thought the bottom half was surprising, the top half saw the biggest upset of the night, young David Macmillan(Rangers Club) was in brilliant form against last years Masters winner Andy Dowie(ICTS), racing into a commanding 4-1 lead, David then put in a cracking 16 dart leg to move 5-1 ahead, he then took leg seven to lead 6-1 before Andy pulled the score back to 6-3, David was soon back in control and took the next leg to win the match 7-3.

In the last q-final Calum Haggis Macleod(Sea Angling) took on Murdo Griddy Macleod(Shawbost), The early part of the match was as close as could be with nothing separating the two after eight legs, at this point it was Murdo who began to take control and was soon leading 6-4, the next leg would see Calum rally to close the gap at 6-5 before Murdo hit double 20 to win 7-5.

Both semis would see the high standard of the previous rounds continued, the first semi had David Macmillan taking on Murdo Griddy Macleod, just like in his match against Andy, David quickly established an early advantage, taking a handy 3-1 lead on the back of a 16 dart leg, Murdo fought back well and with some heavy scoring soon levelled the match at 4-4 with his own 17 darter.

Unfazed by the fight back David kept his cool and regained control of the match , going 5-4 up in 18 darts, then 6-4 before securing his position in the final with a sweet double 20 after Murdo just missed a 130 finish on the Bull.

In the other semi final Kenny Macleod had a much more straight forward match, rattled early on by Kennys quikfire throwing his opponent Calum Ruddy could not find an answer to the heavy scoring as Kenny put in a 180 and a 110 finish on his way to comfortable 7-2 win.

Any local pundit predicting this final early on Wednesday evening would probably have been laughed out of the venue, but these two were by far the best players on the night, and quite amazingly as neither player had never won a major singles title they were now on the verge of winning the biggest accolade in the Islands game.

The pace of the final was frenetic from the start, David took the first leg in 16 darts, Kenny won the next in 17 darts, leg three was Davids, great scoring of 177, 100, 100, on his way to a second 16 darter, leg four saw the match levelled as Kenny hit 140 and a 65 finish in reply to Davids 180.

With the match perfectly poised at 2-2 it was clear that any advantage gained now would be crucial, and it was here that David did what he had done all night, stepped up at the crucial time and took control of the game, David went on to win the next three legs, establishing a strong 5-2 lead on the back of another 16 dart leg.

In leg eight Kenny began to rally closing the gap to 5-3, leg nine was David 6-3, leg ten went to Kenny with a 70 finish before David took the eleventh leg to win the match 7-4 and become the 2006 Western Isles Masters Champion.

This was an astounding victory for David, he hit 13 x 100+, 4 x 140+ and 2 x 180s in the final alone, a great performance from a player who shows the changing face of the sport, a young, healthy, athletic player who is proving that the age of the "beer belly" is well and truly over.

On a personal note the writer of this report once branded David the "Jimmy White" of Lewis darts, well I am happy to concede that I like many others was wrong. He is a deserved and worthy winner of this title and I'm sure many more in the future.

Well Done Dave!

Threes tournaments are always very entertaining and unpredictable competitions, won last year by the trio of Donal Macdonald, David Macmillan and Gordon Morrison, they were unable to defend the title this year as Gordon could not make the trip.

However it was another fantastic night of darts with lots of good matches in the early rounds, so it was fairly surprising that both semi finals turned out to be white washes.

In the first semi the team of David Macmillan, fresh from his Masters triumph, last years Open Singles Champ Rob Thornton and Calum Murdo Mackenzie made very short work of their opponents, as they beat Donal Macdonald, Murdo Alex Macleod and Murdo Griddy Macleod 7-0.

Their opponents in the final would be the Whalers trio of Dol Norrie Mackay, David Stewart and Donnie Uist Stewart, who beat Alex Keiler, Benny Macleod and Gordon Craigie by the same 7-0 score line.

What was even more remarkable than the two whitewashes was how much the final would differ from the semis, right from the outset this match was a corker.

Started by Rob Thornton kicking of the first leg with a 180, his team looked dead certi for the leg until D N Mercy weighed in with a 180 of his own taking his teams score from 295 to 115, setting up David Steward with a finish that he immediately checked out, treble 20, single 15, double 20.

The second leg was equally as entertaining Thorn ton hitting 2x 140 to level, leg three went to the Whalers side, D N scoring 125 and 134 along the way before the match was squared again in leg four when David Macmillan checked out a nice 60 finish.

Legs five and six would go with the Whalers, now in a very strong position, leading 4-2, the Whalers tried to punish their opponents, but found very solid resistance in the shape of Rob Thornton, who responded to the pressure with 2 x 140s and a checkout in leg seven followed by a scintillating 138 finish(treble 20, treble 18, double 12) in leg eight, levelling the match at 4-4.

In leg nine we would see more of the same from Thornton, heavy scoring then checking out on double 5, putting his side in front for the first time at 5-4, this was ably replied to by the Whalers D N who, assisted by a 125 from David S, piled in a 106 finish(treble 20, 6, double 20) to level the match once again at 5-5.

The eleventh leg like so many was dominated by Thorntons relentless scoring followed by him checking out again, this time on double 10, leaving his team needing only one more leg for the title, this set up an electrifying twelfth leg. Approaching the end of the leg Thornton, Macmillan and Mackenzie were sitting way ahead on 155, then D N hits his second 180 bringing his team down to 150, Rob Thornton to throw for 155, hit treble 20, treble 19 and just misses the double 19 giving David Stewart the opportunity to reply, needing 150 he hits treble 20, treble 18 and just misses doubles 18, following this every player has a chance at securing the leg before the finish comes back round to Thornton who duly hits the required double 6, securing the title.

A fantastic match, probably the best threes game ever seen in Lewis, congratulations to David Macmillan, Robert Thornton and Calum Murdo Mackenzie.

The Open Doubles was preceded by a blind draw doubles in the afternoon, this was won by the team of Ivor Macleod and Robert Thornton.

The real Doubles kicked off about 7:30 that night and all eyes were on the defending champions Robert and John Thornton as they took on the Rangers Club duo of John Sleigh and Ian Bananas O'Donell, this match up saw John andBananas in determined mood and they soon ran away with the match 7-1.

Besides that game there was considerable interest in a visiting pair from Inverness, Euan Callander and Drew Ogg looked very impressive in the early rounds and did not take long to defeat the champion conquering pair of John and Bananas, beating the 7-2 to reach the top halfs semi final.

There opponents in that semi final would be none other than the now veteran pairing of D N Mackay and David Stewart, they had seen off stern challenges from the likes of David Campbell and Kenny Macleod and Ivor Macleod and Willie Reid on their way to the semis.

This semi was as good as doubles matches get, all four players in excellent form and barely giving an inch to their opponents, after twelve of the hardest fought legs you are ever likely to see there was nothing to separate the two sides, this set up a thrilling final leg, just like all the legs previous there was little to separate the two side in scoring, Drew and Euan were first to the double, with D N and David right behind them on 70 they missed four darts to finish the match, this gave D N a chance which he gladly seized, hitting single 15, single 15 then planting a smoothly delivered missile right in the heart of the double 20 bed. Quite literally booking their place in the final with the last possible throw.

D N and Davids opponents in the final was decided in a semi between the former Star Inn duo of Murdo Griddy Macleod and Murdo Alex Macleod and three time Island Doubles Champs Andy Dowie and Calum Haggis Macleod. Despite many predictions to the contrary this did not turn out to be a classic, with Andy and Haggis in less than brilliant form Griddyand Murdo Alex took their chances and soon ran away with the match as 7-2 winners.

The final would see Griddy and Murdo Alex get the first leg, Griddy hitting 140 and 91 to set up Murdo on double 20, sadly for them this was their only success for the next five legs as D N and David piled in the big scores on their way to establishing a huge 5-1 lead.

Griddy and Murdo briefly halted their opponents march towards the title by winning the seventh leg, this was quickly followed by D N and David winning the next two legs, thanks to some great scoring from David, to claim the Open Doubles title with a 7-4 victory.

After the doubles final finished around 2:30am the night before everyone was back in for 12:30pm on the Saturday afternoon for the climax to the Darts Festival, the 2006 Western Isles Singles Open.

Won last year by Embassy qualifier Robert Thornton, this has quickly become one of the most coveted trophies in the North of Scotland Darts scene, and showing just how important this title is to him personally Robert was back this year to defend it.

Obviously Robert would start the tournament as an overwhelming favourite, but with the rising standard of our local players and the visiting players from the Inverness league, it was sure he would be tested at some time.

Out of all the early matches one tie stood out, a rematch of that great upset in the Masters, when David Macmillan was drawn against Andy Dowie, again it was a terrific match and the only difference was the score line, David repeated his now famous win, but by the much closer margin of 6-5.

This win saw David through to the quarter finals where he met Paul Gilmour, another tough match ensued and both were tested before David booked his semi final spot by winning 7-5.

Davids opponent in the semi would be none other than defending champion Robert Thornton, the early rounds had seen some great throwing from Robert, hitting an 11 dart leg against Donal Macdonald then beating leading Inverness player Drew Ogg 7-2.

Robert continued this form into the semi final and proved just too strong for David, powering his way to the final with a 7-0 whitewash.

As all this was going on down in the bottom half of the draw something very strange was going on in the top half, young Jamie Reid was reproducing, even improving on, the form that had seen him reach the final of the Youth comp on Tuesday night, after beating Murdo Alex 7-2 in the last sixteen Jamie moved onto the quarter finals where he would meet David Campbell, after 11 tough legs of darts David eventually saw off the challenge of the youngster 7-4. This was a fantastic showing from Jamie, still only 13 and already challenging good senior players.

Having beaten Jamie to reach the semi David would now meet visiting Inverness player Euan Callander, on his way to the semi Euan had beaten both David Stewart and D N Mackay by scores of 7-1 and 7-2 respectively, this was the same two that had ended Euan and Drew Oggs run in the doubles the night before.

Euan was just too good for David in the semi and ran away with the match 7-2, booking a place in the final against Robert Thornton.

Although Euan had shown great ability and bottle in the earlier rounds and the previous night few gave him much of a chance in the final, how wrong they were.

Euan dominated the match in the first two legs and against all the odds established a 2-0 lead, Thornton responded to this setback right away, hitting 2 x 140s two win leg three, then 2 x 100s and a 6- finish to take leg four, now 2-2.

Thorntons run continued into leg five, scoring a 180 on his way to a 16 dart leg, he then followed that up with a twelve dart leg, which included another 180 and a 121 checkout, to lead the match 4-2.

Now many players would have wilted under the pressure of this onslaught, but Euan Callander is made of stronger stuff, digging deep he produced scores of 100, 140, 132 to take leg seven, then followed with a 60 check out to win leg eight, levelling the match at 4-4.

Leg nine was as tense a leg of darts as has ever been witnessed this side of the minch, Euan started the leg with 3 scores of 99, Thornton replied with 140, 124, 99, setting up the finish which he took first dart.

Thornton followed up with another twelve darter in leg ten which included 100, 180, 100 and a pivotal finish of 64, leaving him just one leg from the title.

And that leg would come right away, Robert sewed up the title in leg 11 in 19 darts, becoming, for the second time, the Western Isle Open Singles Champion.

After the match Robert commented "It was one of the hardest games I have played in a long time"

This was another terrific match that rounded off the week very nicely, from the burgeoning talent in our youth ranks to the senior players now challenging at county level darts in the Western Isles is more vibrant and exciting than it has ever been.

The Lewis and Harris Darts Association would like to extend our thanks to all our sponsors, the staff of the Sea Angling Club and any other people who helped out in any way to ensure this years festival was a success.

We are sure that with our continued and combined efforts this event will grow and grow over the next few years.