By Marcus Uhe
The mighty Mud Rats came ever so close to inflicting the second loss of the season for premiership contender Predators in round 23 of the South West Gippsland Dart League last week, but scurry away from the Nar Nar Goon Hotel with plenty of confidence after an impressive performance.
In the first of two one-point thrillers of the round, Predators prevailed 8-7 to take its current winning streak to 12 matches, and bring the momentum of Mud Rats to a halt.
Despite missing Jordan, Steve was able to lead his team as he so often does, with five tons, to keep the rodents at bay for another week.
Dart Vaders, meanwhile, made it a hat-trick of wins to draw level with Mud Rats in fourth place, sneaking home with the other one-point win of the week, over Just Social.
A combined 13 tons from Liam (seven) and Ant (six) helped Cheers to a comfortable 10-5 win over Fore, while Snipers dispatched of Just Social 13-2, with Bill from Snipers nabbing a fourth 180 of the season to make it two in as many weeks.
Gembrook, meanwhile, has won four in a row to keep the pressure on the top four, just one game back in sixth and with a higher percentage than the teams in fourth and fifth place.
Round 24 will offer a pair of top eight shaping contests, with Snipers and Predators going toe-to-toe for top spot, and Mud Rats and Dart Vaders playing off for fourth place.
Mud Rats and Dart Vaders may be the two most-evenly matched sides in the competition, as the only two sides in the top six of the ladder without a player in the top 10 of the leading ton throwers, and even tied on percentage as well as ladder points.
Their last meeting was a one-point win to Dart Vaders back in round 11, as was Snipers’ over Predators.
Meanwhile, last week’s bye round allowed for an individual competition to take place involving some of the competition’s biggest names.
In a contest befitting of a grand final, Steve from Predators pipped Dean from Snipers 3-2 in the A-Grade final, while Tony from Dart Vaders got the better of Etty from Snipers 2-0.
Results R23: Cheers 10 v Fore 5, Snipers 13 v Just Social 2, Dart Vaders 8 v 26ers 7, Predators 8 v Mud Rats 7, Generals 11 v Bullseyes 4, Gembrook 11 v Railway 4, Dart Attack 10 v Hoodies 5.
Ladder: Snipers 92, Predators 88, Cheers 80, Mud Rats 64, Dart Vaders 64, Gembrook 60, Just Social 48, 26ers 40, Fore 40, Generals 24, Railway 24, Bullseyes 16, Dart Attack 8, Hoodies 0.
Fixture R24: Fore (9) v Bullseyes (12), Railway (11) v Generals (10), Dart Attack (13) v Cheers (3), 26ers (8) v Gembrook (6), Just Social (7) v Hoodies (14), Mud Rats (4) v Dart Vaders (5), Predators (2) v Snipers (1).
