University of Gloucestershire (UOG) darts opened their season with two wins as both the As and Bs beat University of Leicester (UOL) 8-3 and 6-5 respectively.
The UDUK Central West division got underway on Wednesday, 15 October as University of Gloucestershire hosted University of Leicester at the Dick Whittington in Gloucester.
The UOG A team started well with the trio of captain Alfie Element, Billy Maple and James Pryer picking up a 2-0 win and the first point of the day.
UOL pulled a point right back as the Gloucestershire trio of Stephen Davies, Jack Payne and Oscar Hegarty fell to a 2-0 loss tied the scores.
Doubles were next and this where the home side took the advantage with two of the three doubles games going in favour of Element’s side making the scores 3-2 UOG.
With only the singles left to be played and a forfeit from UOL due to lack of players meant the Gloucestershire side needed only three single wins to secure the victory.
Pryer started the charge with a convincing 2-0 victory with a 180 along the way this was followed with three more UOG wins from Hegarty, Maple and Payne.
With the points already being secured Element fell to a 2-1 defeat in the final game of the match making the final score 8-3.
Hegarty spoke after the game: “I’m very happy with the game, a victory for both the As and Bs is great for the league and I’m very happy with the game”.
Hegarty was also one of the UOG side to win their singles games 2-0: “The doubles hitting was good, sometimes I throw too quickly, and it works well for my opponent, but the doubles were good, and it was a nice 2-0 win”.
University of Gloucestershire As line up Alfie Element(C), Billy Maple, James Pryer, Jack Payne, Oscar Hegarty and Stephen Davies.
The B team were up next, and they did not get the start they wanted with both trios falling to 2-0 defeats.
UOG got back into the game in the doubles with Ethan Price (C) and Matt Sutcliffe picking up a 2-0 win followed by Jack Buchanan and Tyler Callender who added another point for the home team.
It was not the clean sweep of the doubles for UOG though as the away side took a 2-1 win against Carl Springer and Jack Beard giving them a 3-2 lead going into the singles.
Another forced forfeit from the Leicester based team however, tied the scores at 3-3 with five singles being left to play.
Captain Price, Springer and Sutcliffe all picked up 2-0 wins meaning the game was over as UOG win 6-5 and the away side completed the sweep with both As and Bs picking up points.
Price, the B team captain, spoke after the game: “I think we played pretty well they (UOL) had a solid team out and I’m glad we picked up the win”.
University of Gloucestershire Bs line up: Ethan Price, Carl Springer, Matt Sutcliffe, Jack Beard, Jack Buchanan and Tyler Callander
UOG will travel to Swansea on Wednesday for a cup match followed by a league match against University of Loughborough in two week’s time.
