STRICTLY COME DARTING!

Easy…..have Stuart Pyke set up the imaginative leap, and off we jolly well go! We were doing a match between young James Wade and Northern Ireland lad Paul Watton and Stuart noticed that Paul was doing a complex jig as he stepped up to throw at the oche.

He described it as “Strictly Come Darting” and off we went.

Talking about Terpsichore (for the uneducated that is a Latin word for dancing!) the finest steppers here in the land of the bodhran (that’s a drum by the way!) and the stepping pump, for me, the two best jiggers on the oche so far have been Wayne Mardle and Adrian Lewis.

Wayne showed no ‘double-to-start’ nerves in taking out Denis Ovens and he pranced the oche, as though he was back home in Essex……But the real star so far for me, has been young Adrian. Despite being taken to the cleaners by Dennis Priestley on Sunday in the UK Open Irish Regional – it was 5-0 with four ton plus finishes from Dennis – Lewis completely dominated Barrie Bates, with perfectly weighted throwing. He is going to take some beating.

Talking about the weight of throw, it was sad to see Mark Walsh in his match against Anto McCracken. I am sure that the lad has vestiges of the dreaded dartitis. Just like Bristow in 1986, Mark is fiddling with the throw and the wrist adjustment in between throws.

THE GEORDIE BOOKWORM!

I am not Dave Lanning’s favourite lad at the moment. We have had to abandon our regular visits to the Tallaght Pool Hall, because I am working on my latest book about darts.

At the moment, I am vividly recalling the 1980-1984 era…..and the prime of a lad who would make Miss Jean Brodie tear her hair out, the one and only John Thomas Wilson.

After too much sauce at an exhibition, Jocky Jeckyll turned into Jocky Hyde! In Essex one night, he was playing a lady, whose 12-year-old son was on stage impersonating the Geordie Lip.

“Jocky on the oche looking cocky!” the kid was brilliant and the crowd loved it. But after a couple of bad shots, Jocky got the hump and chucked the kid off the stage!

Then there was the night the famous £2,000 worth of false teeth flew out of the famous Wilson gob and landed in the front row of the stalls! I could go on but you’ll have to wait for the book, due out in July.

BARNEY OR TAYLOR?

Both the stars, who will meet on Thursday night here in Dublin, looked nervy of that ‘double-to-start’ format. Barney deserted his favourite double 18 very early doors in his match against Warriner. But the thing that will have the Taylor fans licking their chops, is his tangible problems with his new darts and his new Taylor-type angled throw.

The old Barney style was to force the dart in off the stacker but now that the dart lands at an angle below the horizontal, Barney seems unsure of the weight of the next dart.

Taylor himself, was less than 100 per cent accurate against Wes Newton, so there will be extra fascination with the encounter.

Barney has beaten Taylor the last two times in Bolton and Vegas……Sid’s prediction is a narrow victory to Taylor, because of his far greater experience of the format and the venue. Why do you think he’s wearing a Kelly green shirt?! The Power never misses a trick….and watch out the new shamrock shirt on Thursday!