After the extremely successful Bedford tour to Bergen op Zoom, a new tour was hastily arranged to Cork, Ireland, courtesy of some very cheap 1p flights from Ryanair! Although 12 flights were booked by the time of the trip only 5 members of the team were able to make it, with the others dropping out for a variety of reasons.
With no actual game arranged it was left to the team to find a fixture once they arrived in Cork and it was a touch of luck that the taxi we picked at the Airport happened to be driven by one Michael O'Neill (not the one in our team unfortunately!!). During the drive from the Airport to the hotel, Michael was asked if he knew of any pubs where we might get a game of darts and he recommended The Brown Derby pub on Barrack St.
After a night spent touring the many pubs and clubs of Cork and acclimatising to the unfamiliar surroundings, a trip was planned to seek out The Brown Derby pub. After a short walk we found ourselves outside The Brown Derby, which from the outside looked less than appealing. However, after eventually venturing inside, we were pleasantly surprised by the interior and friendly welcome. The Thursday afternoon was spent sampling a few cold beers, playing darts and chatting to the locals. It was during one of these chats that newly reinstated International skipper, Tim Street, mentioned to local character "Doc" that we were looking for a game. Doc suggested that their darts team could be available on the Friday evening for a game.
After yet another night spent acclimatising, the team were instructed by the skipper to go easy on the Friday afternoon and to avoid any bars, so that we would be in top condition for our upcoming fixture. We arrived at The Brown Derby to be greeted with the offer of the Cork delicacy that is Bodice (pork spare ribs), after tucking into a few plates of these and some beers it was time for the darts to commence.
First up it was the team game which consisted of 1 game of 801 which the Bedford won to take a 1-0 lead. Next it was the trebles where the team of T John, T Street and S Laker were comfortably beaten 2-0 to leave the scores at 1-2. The doubles followed where the two Tim's drew their game 1-1 and S Laker and M O'Neill won their game 2-0. The score was still close, but with The Bedford just edging it at 4-3.
First up to the oche in the singles was novice darts player Nick Hooper who performed admirably to earn a point with a 1-1 draw. Next playing on his native soil, was Mick O'Neill, who comfortably saw off his Brown Derby challenger 2-0, to leave the score at 7-4 which meant The Bedford could clinch the game with a 2-0 victory in the next singles. Unfortunately, S Laker could not deliver the victory and went down 2-0. T Street was next up and it was left to the International skipper to see his side home with a 2-0 victory that secured the match with the score at 9-6. This just left T John to play the final game of the match and, with nothing riding on it except personal pride, could offer nothing and went down 2-0 to leave the final score 9-8 to The Bedford.
With the match secured it was left to The Bedford to celebrate their first overseas victory by consuming a few more beers before returning home on the Saturday, victorious to the Bedford, to watch the England Rugby team emulate The Bedford by beating the French in the World Cup!!
| The Bedford
| The Brown Derby
| Match Score
|
Team Game
| 1
| 0
| 1-0
|
Trebles (T Street, T John, S Laker)
| 0
| 2
| 1-2
|
Doubles (T Street & T John)
| 1
| 1
| 2-3
|
Doubles (M O'Neill & S Laker)
| 2
| 0
| 4-3
|
Singles
|
|
|
|
Nick Hooper
| 1
| 1
| 5-4
|
Mick O'Neill
| 2
| 0
| 7-4
|
Simon Laker
| 0
| 2
| 7-6
|
Tim Street
| 2
| 0
| 9-6
|
Tim John
| 0
| 2
| 9-8
|
