once again there was a record entry for the annual Billy Moughtin Darts Cup which was recently held at the Manor Hotel in Willaston.
Each year the competition gets bigger and better and 2012 was no different. On the day a raffle and the sale of football cards helped raise an impressive total of £1,700 for the Manx Cancer Help charity - a record amount.
Special thanks also goes to Ian Moffitt who donated a Manchester United signed football shirt which was auctioned off and raised £200.
There were more than 70 entrants in the men’s competition and over 30 in the women’s event.
It was little surprise that the two island number ones claimed the honours in both categories, with in-form Colin Tyrer clinching his fourth title and Margaret Kelly proving again why she is the top women’s player.
Last year’s men’s winner Patty Lindsay suffered a first round exit at the hands of his team-mate Paul Palmer 3-0.
Also progressing through the early stages were recent Winmau Masters qualifiers Ian Fields, Robbie Nelson and of course Tyrer.
But the man making all the headlines was Paul Fick, a non-darts player who enjoyed a great run in this year’s competition and went all the way to the latter stages.
Unfortunately, the popular and in-form Fick crashed out at the quarter-final stage, just missing out on a cash prize in front of a big crowd.
In the first of two exciting semi-finals Nelson went up against Fields, with both players hitting heavy scoring and 180s. However, several missed doubles cost Fields dearly and Nelson progressed to the final in an attempt to claim his first Billy Moughtin Darts Cup.
In the other semi, Ramsey’s Geoff Howland made a great comeback to darts by knocking out former winner Wayne Harrison on his way to setting-up a tasty last-four clash with Tyrer.
As a lot of people know, unless your hitting 15-dart legs or less then you are not going to get much against Tyrer and the island number one took the game in 12 and two 14-dart legs as well as landing plenty of 180s to book his place in the final.
Both Nelson and Tyrer threw really well in the eagerly-anticipated final in front of a 200-strong crowd. The match certainly lived up to exepectations, with both players demonstrating exactly why they earned their place in the final.
Tyrer quickly raced into a 2-0 lead before Nelson hit back to reduce the deficit to 2-1. However, with Neslon missing doubles to take the match to deadlock it was Tyrer who showed no mercy to clinch the title for the fourth time in five years, in addition to claiming the prize money and bubbly.
There were also record entries in the women’s competition where a field of 30 contested the top prizes in some very exciting games.
There were a few surprises along the way, with former winner Wendy Andrews falling at the quarter-final stage while Manor players Julie Kirk and Wendy Turton were also knocked out in the last-eight.
But it was island number one Margaret Kelly who stepped up to the plate and showed her class, making her way to the final to set up an encounter with rising star Nikki O’Connor who had been in brilliant form all day, wiping out her opponents one-by-one .
Again with a massive crowd on hand, the match threatened to be a classic. Kelly raced into an early 2-0 lead but did not have it all her own way, with her opponent missing doubles in both legs.
O’Connor eventually managed to get a leg on the board but it turned out to be a case of too little, too late as Kelly took advantage of a couple of sloppy scores and stepped up to claim her third Billy Moughtin darts title.
Credit must go to all the women who took part in the competition to support a worthy cause - it really is satisfying that this is one of the biggest darts competitions in the island.
Thanks go to all who took part and helped raise £1,700 for a local charity. Also special thanks to John Denny from Isle of Man Darts Organisation, to Steve Taylor and Geraldine from Isle of Man Breweries, B&B Furniture, Sarah, Claire, Larna, Wendy and Sharon for selling cards and raffle tickets.
Thanks also go to Ian Moffitt, all the staff at the Manor Hotel, JK from the Pit Stop and everyone who brought a raffle prize along .
Most of all, special thanks to Jussy and all of Billy Moughtin’s family and friends for making what is a fantastic and a great memory to Billy himself.