Recently, we heard from the captains of our first two league winning teams, Warwick and Lancaster. Now, with the national finals in Loughborough just days away, it is time to put our other three league champions in profile. York The North East region shaped up to be a competitive one this season. And an enthralling league season duly ensued, with York and Durham going blow for blow for the regional trophy. In the end, despite a valiant effort from Durham, it was UoY who came up trumps. On his team’s league victory, President Joe Wrieden said, “This season has been brilliant for both of the York teams, particularly for the York 1s team who have played top quality darts both in home and away matches. We had a good amount of new players join us this year, and I believe this is why we have been able to play at the standard we have.” And the hope for York is that their successes will not end there. “Coming into finals day, the York 1s team is very optimistic, having decisively beaten other strong teams in the North East such as Newcastle and Durham,” Joe explained. “Most of all though, we are looking forward to playing some of the other teams from across the UK at what will be a brilliant event.” Sheffield A little further south, Sheffield also held off strong Northern opposition to get their hands on regional silverware. The North Central competition was fiercely contested, with Hallam, Leeds and Lincoln all putting in impressive showings. Sheffield’s President Jack Quinn told us about his team’s season, “We started off poorly, losing against Hallam As and Lincoln As. After that we weren’t very hopeful, but after the emergence of some strong new players in the society who settled in the A team, we found we had a very well-rounded team with no particularly standout player, but no weak players.” He continued, “After beating Manchester away last year, we’ve been on a winning streak, which certainly stands us in good stead to carry our momentum into finals day. The last game decider against Lincoln As after being 5-2 down shows the confidence and bottle we’ve got as players which in turn means we’re just as confident to transform that onto bigger games in Loughborough.” Oxford The South West race has been one of the most interesting this season, partly because of its unpredictability. As the newest collection of teams to battle it out, there were no clear favourites, but Oxford and Bath quickly asserted themselves as the strongest contenders. Despite getting a win over Oxford early in the campaign, dropped points in both the reverse fixture and against Exeter and Cardiff proved decisive. Oxford, meanwhile, looked unstoppable after the early stumble and raced to the title. Oxford’s Adam Baker told UDUK, “The season has gone surprisingly well. It is our first year and we had no idea what the standard is like so it was a pleasant surprise to come top of our league.” “It helps having a player like Musa Ali who I believe has only dropped two singles legs all season and no doubles.” “In terms of finals day, I see we have a tough draw in the first round so it is probably a case of being happy to have qualified.” <h2>National Finals </h2> It is now just a matter of days before the national champions will be crowned. The first two quarter-finals – Oxford v. Lincoln and York v. Trent – will begin at approximately 11am, before the second set of quarters – Sheffield v. Durham and Warwick v. Bangor – begin at 1pm. The semi-finals will then be between the winners of Oxford/Lincoln and York/Trent, and the winner of Sheffield/Durham and Warwick/Bangor, with those ties taking place between 3 and 5pm. The final will then commence, with all the action complete by around 7pm. Make sure to keep an eye on UDUK socials for updates on all the action and best of luck to all the teams.

Thomas Bartley - 24/09/2023

Around the Leagues: Update 4