Hellings on top form in victory for Octagon

LEE Hellings (28.90) nailed a trio of 180s in a 3-0 individual triumph that contained legs in 17 and 15 darts as his Octagon team were 9-2 winners at Ford Inn in the Plymouth City Super League Division A.

- By JAMES COOK

The victors started as they meant to go on, with Andy Bates, John Mann, and Alfie Ford (28.60) adding a 1001 leg in 35 darts to open up the rout, which also yielded the first maximum of nine in the contest.

Hellings teamed with Neil White and Mark Williams (26.34) to put away 1001 points in 38 darts to build a 2-0 lead. By the time White added his team’s second maximum of the contest in a 2-0 doubles reversal, his team was 4-1 up going into the singles.

Ford completed a ten-ton haul by the end of the first singles and in amongst that 3-1 win was a 114 three-dart combination outshot. The man Ford defeated was Scott Cook, who ended his night on 11 ton-plusses, whilst teammate Lee Rodmell put up his team’s first maximum of the contest in an otherwise fruitless 3-0 loss against Bates.

Hellings’ aforementioned heroics followed, and he walked away from the oche with 12 tons before an epic encounter between Mark Shears and Mann, which ended 3-2 to the latter. Mann's leg in 16 decided the match-up, but it was Shears who led the 180 scoring in this particular contest with two to Mann's one. When Mann’s ton-plus total was totted up, it left him with 14 for a good night's work, a tally that White matched at the end of his 3-0 singles success.

Tex Pearce (27.83) stormed to a 3-0 singles win for St Levans with a 16-darter, his best during a 6-5 success at Indian Inn A. Pearce ended his night on ten ton-plusses for the victors, a haul that included one of a trio of 180s that were put onto the scoreboard during the hotly contested match-up.