INGATESTONE & DISTRICT DART LEAGUE vs BELGIUM

2011 Result: D.C. Voltreffers 2 Ingatestone 2

We arrived in Hasselt on Thursday evening, only for the trailer to break as we entered the ring road, however we got to the hotel & parked it in the car park too await repair? We all went to the Drugstore for dinner and then onto the Irish bar. In the early hours of the morning, Ben went to the loo only to go out into the corridor and the door to close behind him. Yes you guessed it, he was stark naked on the second floor and had to go to reception for another key card, if only the hotel had CCTV... Friday we visited Koln in Germany for the day, took a little longer than anticipated but was a great day-out in the 32°C heat...
Friday night we arrived at the venue, the usual suspects were there, plus a few new faces since our last visit...The Voltreffers captain, Steven Steenaerts, had broken his arm and was out of action for the 'A' team, but the 'A' team was much stronger than in past encounters and gave us a great match...  In the first section of Single games, Martin Compton came back from 2-0 down to beat Peter Doggen, scoring two 180's; Peter's son Pasquino didn't miss a thing beating Olly Nye 3-0; a new player Paul Smekens took an early 2-0 lead against John Wastenage, but John dug deep, scored a 180 and won 3-2; another new face, Hubert Apers miscounted in the first leg to allow Chris Boret to nick the leg, but this just spurred him on to scored two 180's and checkout on 114 & 120 to beat Chris 3-1; Paul Sedge lost out to Johan Eykens 3-0, missed doubles; and Kevin Stammers also missed doubles and lost to another new face Eddy Kenes 3-0... The pairs was the same, a story of missed doubles, Olly & Chris lost out to Eddy & Hubert who had to rush off to catch a plane to the Catalina Open in Spain the next day, Martin & Kevin were in control against Peter & Pasquino, but again missed vital doubles and lost out 3-2; Paul & Wozza remain unbeaten as they won 3-0 against Johan and Michel Nolmans... The second set of singles was shared, with Martin scoring another 180 and beat Pasquino 2-0; Olly lost to Michel 2-0; Wozza beat Peter 2-0; Chris lost 2-0 to Johan; Paul scored a 180 but lost out to Pasquino and finally, Kevin beat Steven Steenaerts 1-0 in a left-handed challenge game, finishing on double 1 after around 70+ darts, but was fun; match result though was a 9-6 defeat... Meanwhile in the 'B' match a similar story in the first section of singles... Our new face, Ben Armstrong, lost out 3-2 to Kris Bervoets; Alan Carrington beat Dirk Gevers 3-1; Ray Wood lost out 3-1 to Danny Beckx; our other new face, Sharon Chaplin, scored well but couldn't finish and lost out 3-0 to Francis Lemmons; Steve Boret won 3-0 against Jacky Vanderheyden; and Lynne Wood lost out 3-2 to Danny Beets... The pairs started with a great 3-0 win for Alan & Ray, Alan scoring a 180, against Danny Beckx & Jochen Toelen; Steve & Lynne beat Jacky & Dirk 3-1; Ben & Sharon lost out 3-0 to Danny Beets & Francis to make the score line 5-4 to the Voltreffers... Ben lost the opening single 2-0; the IDDL 'B' then rattled of four straight 2-0 wins; Steve beat Dirk, Lynne beat Jacky, Ray beat Francis and winning the match of us was Alan who beat Danny Beets. Danny Beckx won the final single against Sharon 2-0 for a well deserved 8-7 victory...
Steve followed Michel to a farm in Zelem to get the Trailer welded while the rest of us had a day in Hasselt shopping, drinking, eating & sleeping before Saturday's encounter. Before we started the match, the Voltreffers provided us with a Chicken & Salad meal which was enjoyed by all... With the IDDL 'A' taking on the Voltreffers 'B' and the IDDL 'B' playing a Voltreffers 'A' that were short of players, the IDDL were hopeful of a repeat of the 2008 score line of 3-1...
The IDDL 'A' with a point to prove after their first ever defeat on Friday stormed the singles 6-0 with wins from Wozza 3-0 against Jacky, included a 106 finish; Chris beat Kris Nollet 3-0; Martin scored another 180 in his 3-0 win against Francis; Danny Beets scored a 180 but lost out to Kevin 3-1; Olly had a hard fought 3-2 win against Danny Beckx and Paul beat Dirk 3-1... We won all three pairs to ensure of victory as Olly & Martin won 3-1 against Kris Nollet & Danny Beets; Wozza & Paul beat Francis & Jacky 3-0; and Chris & Kevin beat Tom Reyman & Danny Beckx in a superb game... In the final section of singles Paul beat Tom 2-1; Olly beat Kris Nollet 2-0; Wozza beat Danny Beckx 2-0; then Chris lost out 2-0 to Jacky; Martin lost 2-0 to Francis and Kevin lost out 2-0 to Danny Beets. The match result being 12-3 victory to IDDL 'A'... The 'B' team didn't fair as well as the night before as they lost the opening six singles... Lynne lost 3-0 against Michel; Steve lost 3-2 against Pasquino after being 2-0 up; Ray was also 2-0 & scored a 180, then knocked a glass of beer of the table, lost concentration and lost 3-2 to Peter; Alan lost out 3-2 to Pieter Fransen; then Ben also lost to Pieter 3-0; Sharon lost the final single 3-0 to Peter... The pairs were all lost, Steve & Ray 3-1 to Peter & Pasquino; Lynne & Alan 3-1 to Michel & Pieter; and Ben & Sharon 3-0 against Peter & Michel... Alan won the opening single 2-1 against Pieter; Ray lost to Michel 2-0; Steve beat Pasquino 2-0; Lynne lost 2-1 against Peter; Ben lost 2-0 against Pasquino; and in the final single Sharon threw the darts, but Michel had to encounter the entire IDDL 'A' & 'B' in barracking and allsorts of contact which gave Sharon victory, Michel being such a good sport didn't question how the doubles were achieved. The match finished in a 12-3 victory to the D.C. Voltreffers 'A'... Therefore a honourable 2-2 draw for the weekend!
Sunday was our annual Ten-pin Bowling challenge and with all past winners, Ray, Martin & Kevin all vying for some high scores, it was Chris who took the first match with a 151 and Ben the second match with 147... After lunch at the Drugstore and a nap!, it was back to Zelem for the traditional farewell mixed pairs team event with Michel & Kevin's team winning 5-1 against Jacky & Lynne's team... then followed a beer race with 12 Belgium's vs 12 Brit's 1001 with Chris Boret hitting the winning double for the UK!  Following photo's and a sing-song of the usual tune's, it was back to the hotel and sleep, ready for the journey home... Monday got off early to Bruges for lunch and some last minute shopping; then to the ferry, with a very choppy crossing in prospect as the waves crashed onto the beach at Calais; and choppy it was, the toilets became full and very smelly, and a 45 minute hold-up before docking at Dover!   Oh well, that's it... or is it!!! The Voltreffers have promised to try and come over to Brentwood in 2013, and I've said if that happens then we will return in 2015! Let's wait and see shall we!