Dartsmates with Mount

Who is the best finisher?

It would be difficult to pick out anyone other than Jason for this one. He is really sharp on his finishing and particularly clinical around the 10 or 6. He has won the most legs of anyone this season so the statistics would back this up. But on his day, Needles can be just as good, especially on double 10 – I have seen him on a number of occasions casually switch from 28 (double 14) to double 10 in two darts this season. He seems to take it out on every occasion too – he’s the type of player that just plays the board and doesn’t get too phased on doubles.

Most consistent scorer?

I think this a tricky one. Again, the statistics will point towards Jason. But really anyone in the league can pepper the treble 20 when in rhythm. A-Train hit a splendid 174 in the league and Luke became the latest player to hit a 180 during the Graduate Show last week.

Best throw?

Karl has a very relaxed fluid action that is very easy on the eye. I rarely see it tighten up in matches. What makes it doubly impressive is that he frequently finds himself using the pubs or another teammates set of darts because he has forgot to pack his own. Sometimes the darts have three different styles of flights or stems, but to Karl’s credit they always come out the hand cleanly and fly true to his action.

Who is the most natural showman?

When he’s playing well, Will lets off a lot of emotion. He gave me an absolute hammering the other week – hitting an 18 dart leg and back to back checkouts of 112 and 92. He was living every moment of it with fist pumps and shouts of come on. No-one was watching or at the least bit interested in our game, but that didn’t matter to him. Love to see him play against a professional on a stage to see how he’d play it then.

Who is the worst loser?

Probably Will again. If he loses a game that he thinks that he should have won he’ll be unapproachable for at least 20 minutes afterwards. There’s nothing terribly unsporting about it, he will say well played to his opponent and shake their hand, but he will have to leave the room to prevent himself irrupting or something. He knows that he is capable of producing some awesome darts on his day, but unfortunately for Will, he’s failed to really show his best form in the league.

Who is the best at dishing out banter?

Beers, Balls and not Bantaray! This could be anyone or no-one. Karl has some of the funniest Facebook Profile Pictures in the group and probably has the best sense of humour in the group. He’s a die-hard Gunner so he does give Tank a lot of stick when he can. Ace is very funny – but I don’t always understand what he saying because of his very thick Irish accent.

Toughest opponent to play?

I found Ace really difficult to play whether it would be on a Tuesday night at the Franklin or in the UoB Premier League. It’s because he often appears as if he is not concentrating on the darts at all. He’ll be chatting away to you whilst you’re getting ready to throw and it’s seems to relax players to the point where they lose their focus. If you happen to be plodding along slowly in a leg, Ace has the potential to pull out a heavy ton from seemingly nowhere and put you under real pressure. Even at a double, he may hit two off the board, but his third dart will either be in or just on the wire. Basically it’s not a comfortable game when you’re playing Ace. He got a draw with Tank at the start of the season and also took legs off all of the top four, so I’d say it would have to be him.

Most memorable UoB moment of the year?

Tank made the third round of the Rileys Darts Tournament back in January, knocking out one particular player who was tipped to make the semi-finals along the way. If the committee want to nominate a health and safety officer, someone responsible for rescuing paralytic individuals, carry you home half way across Brighton after a session of drinking and darts then I’d advise someone like A-Train. The Hitman will support such a proposal. An absolute hero, sent from heaven wasn’t it Will?

Biggest moaner?

Again Tank is not a fan of authority and any rule introduced to the league without his approval – or so I Will tells me? They both like to tell me that I have made a mistake here and there. I take it on the chin because they are often right. The club is in very good hands with these two next year.

Most improved player?

Needles. He finished the season really strong beating Tank and Karl in his last couple of games. Considering that he has been playing darts for less than a year he has shown the biggest improvement of all. Then again, from being stranded bottom of the table to finishing comfortably around mid-table Luke pulled some wonderful performances out of the bag to finish really strong. He destroyed me, beat Jack and Andrew too and took a valiant draw with Jason.

Best Dart Player and WAG combination?

Well the face of UoB Darts, Jack Chambers lives the lavish dart Dart Player-WAG lifestyle so well. Jetting his girlfriend around the world to watch his games. Matt and Ellie are a lovely couple, Ellie is probably the most regular darts WAG of the group.

Player to look out for next season?

Tommy ‘The Bullet’ Streets is a bit of a rough diamond. I think with a bit more time on the oche he could well outdo Needles achievements this season. To be honest though, there is only Matt, Jason and I that are graduating this year so the likes of Karl, Tank, Rob will be strong contenders for the title. I expect Will to come back stronger and push the top runners all the way, the same too for Andrew really. I also hope Luke takes his form from the end of this season into the start of next.

Who do you think will win the Play-off’s?

The man on form is Jason, I think the confidence of not being beaten so far this season will count for something. But now it is essentially a straight knock-out format to finish. It will be interesting to see how this affects the matches and players because I’m sure everyone will feel nervous at some point in the next two games. I suppose if anyone can beat Jason, Tank is the man to do so. I still fancy Jason to win it, but Tank has a little edge over him that others don’t. That game will be very interesting to watch, equally I think the game between Rob and I will be close if we both bring our A-game to the oche. He should have beaten me when we played earlier in the league, he owes me a hiding! Anyone of the four who pulls off two back-to-back victories in a longer game deserves the title in my eyes. Whoever has the best rhythm and sharpest on his doubles will prove very difficult to stop.

Who loves a woody?

The game Wood-Shot is such a wonderful game that really unites the group. It is a game where the best players can easily finish bottom and vice versa. Line up some Cactus Jack shots and see the Woodies rain down. J-Bird is partial to the odd chalky too!