The 2nd team played first and got off to an unlucky start losing the first five games meaning the score was 5-0 to Hull. What proceeded to happen was one of the greatest comebacks in University Darts history!
In order to be victorious Newcastle 2nds had to win all six singles matches meaning not one player could afford to slip up. The tone was set by Nathan Dixon who calmly won his game giving a slight glimmer of hope with the score at 5-1.
Excellent performances from Sam Parsons, Adam Jones and Luke Whittaker meant that the 2nd team captain Harry Willoughby stepped up to the oche with the chance to level the game at 5-5. He did so comfortably, checking out from 90 in two darts, showing why he is 2nd team captain.
This meant it all came down to the final game involving Luke Newsholme. Could he handle the pressure? In what was a tight first leg Luke clutched the first double to put himself 1-0 in a best of 3 game. He only needed one more leg to secure the match for the second team. His scoring was good getting down to a double only to leave himself double 2. One missed dart and he would land himself in the madhouse (double 1). But Newsholme showed his class, hitting the double 2 to complete a historic comeback for the 2nds, one of the greatest in UK University Darts history. The match will forever be known as ‘Hullstanbul’
Next stepped up the 1st team, spurred on by the 2nd team’s success. They quickly raced into a 5-0 lead with victories in both the trebles and doubles games, it was now time for the singles.
Captain Lewis Nicholson was eager for the team not to fall into the same trap Hull had just fallen into. Hull won the first singles game leaving the team thinking “surely not?” However, continuing the tone of the match, the 1sts stormed into a comfortable 10-1 win with Liam Davenport securing the match in the next game. Wins by from Ben Arkless, President Matthew Alcindor-Day, Paul Mainwaring and Lewis Nicholson followed.
The clean sweep prompted euphoric reactions from the teams. 2nd team captain Harry Willoughby said “Incredibly proud of this historic comeback! Always knew the lads had it in them! Hullstanbul will be talked about for many years to come, bring on the next fixture!” Whilst 1st team captain Lewis Nicholson declared “The lads played brilliantly, the freshers look promising for the rest of the season, the rest of the teams in the league should be scared. On to the next one!”
The highest praise of all came from President Matthew Alcindor-Day, who said “In all my years of uni darts I’ve never seen anything like it! Very proud of both teams, next up it’s the big one! Newcastle 1sts vs Newcastle 2nds!”
Hull 1-10 Newcastle 1sts
Hull 5-6 Newcastle 2nds
