VARSITY MATCH 2 :: Monday 10/12/07
John Moores University 5 - 8 The University of Liverpool
You must have come in a taxi. We’re gonna leave in a Limo!
The team: Grae (Captain) / Chris (Vice Captain) / Owen / James / Richard / Ryan / Will / Mike / Billzy
It was time for the talking to stop. Time for the walking to begin. Facebook messages that had described LUDC as ‘scum’ certainly served as a motivational factor to the troops from the Liver Bar as they made their way to John Moores student union bar for the rematch between two rivals that had fought out a close battle last year where JMU ran out 7-5 winners.
A game of triples got the match underway and both teams fielded strong sides. Mike, James and Richard scored well before James hit the double to put Liverpool 1-0 up. Billzy and Will came from a leg down to win their doubles match 2-1 as the visitors raced into an unlikely early 2-0 lead. Grae and Chris then extended the lead to 3-0 and LUDC were dreaming of a glorious victory before Owen and Ryan lost 2-0 to move the overall score to 3-1.
Founding Father of LUDC, James, opened up the singles matches but faced arguably JMU’s best player and was unlucky to be defeated as the home side rallied. Grae stepped up to try and re-establish the two-leg lead but went 1-0 down. But some good Liverpool support helped him turn the game into a 2-1 victory and open up a 4-2 lead in the match score. Mike recorded the result of the night with a fine 2-0 victory against one of JMUs top ranked players and a victory from last year’s president Richard moved the overall score onto 6-2, leaving LU needing just one more win from the five remaining singles matches to claim a famous victory. Defeats for Ryan and Chris saw the score at 6-4 to the visitors and before Owen stepped up to the oche to play the game of his life and take his game 2-1 with an 80 checkout. At 7-4, the rest of the match was a formality and Billzy lost 2-0 as JMU sought to restore some credibility to the scoreline. Chants of ‘He’s the new Punisher’ saluted an LUDC stalwart and the new kid on the block, Will, as he demolished JMU captain and (to be fair to the lad) LUDC saviour Chris, 2-0 before the visitors lifted the trophy.
A fantastic result that we perhaps hoped for, but never realistically expected. Also a great night all round and thanks to JMU for having us down to their union. We’ve now made our mark amongst the big boys of University darts – bring on the University Darts Cup!
Man of the match: Mike – Was a part of the triples team that put us 1-0 up and claimed undoubtedly the result of the night in his singles game against one of JMU’s better players.
FOR AN ALTERNATE REPORT FROM JMU'S PEACH, CLICK HERE
The Liverpool Team
The JMU Team
Below are some videos from the night (for the first varsity match, scroll to the bottom of this page):
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VARSITY MATCH 1 :: Wednesday 14/03/07
The University of Liverpool 5 - 7 John Moores University.
Team Liverpool
Team JMU
Both teams at the end of the night:
Some Videos from the night: