“Timoti Weir threw the winning dart. And Ryan O’Neill had the distinction of throwing the winning double in the fours, pairs and singles that he played in. That gave him a hat-trick, which is quite a feat on a normal night, let alone in a final.
“It was a real team effort throughout the season. We could have only eight playing in the final, but everyone in the squad did their bit.”
Roseland skipper Morrell said the final was a “remarkable” match.
“They went out to a 4-0 lead,” he said.
“If you get eight points, you win the match. If both teams get to seven, a teams game of 1001 is played.
“We fought our way back to get to within a point of them, 7-6. Konrad Jankowitz was our anchor, and he had shots at doubles, but it wasn’t to be.
“The finals were held at the West Inn, and it was chocka. It was one of the best finals we’ve had. Full credit to Sean’s team because they played extremely well.”
Mangapapa Garage skipper Gooch said he and a few friends had intended putting a social darts team together but “it was all talk” until one of them, Craig Wire, died.
“It was Craig who led the push for a darts team,” Gooch said.
“It was a kick in the guts when he died, and it jolted us into action.”
They took part in the Brezz’n social league for two years, improving their game. Gooch had always wanted to play in the league his father Neil played in (and still does), so Sean and his friends moved to the West Inn competition, as a Mangapapa Garage team.
“I’d filled in at times for Dad’s team,” Sean Gooch said.
“That was why we always wanted to go in that league. We knew a lot of the people. It’s more interesting when you’re mates with half the people you’re up against.
“In our team we’re just a bunch of mates who get together in the shed and throw a few darts. Most of us are around the 30 mark.
“What we’d done in the final didn’t sink in until afterwards when we realised how long Roseland had been at the top.”
On the finals day, they beat Wanderers 8-6 in the semifinals to reach the decider against Roseland Red.
“They were the team to beat,” Gooch said.
The Mangapapa Garage players in the final were Sean Gooch (captain), Kaleb Jacobs, Ryan O’Neill, Carl Carmody, Mikey Evans, Mat Le Compte, Timoti Weir and Byron Allen. Others who played during the season were Reuben Baker, Pele Arbman and Sean’s wife Michelle (nee Rykers). Of these, all but Jacobs, Carmody and Baker had been there from the start.
The dominant Roseland Red team came into being when Kevin Morrell joined them after being “pestered for a couple of years”. Although the Roseland Tavern had a team, they weren’t setting the social darts scene alight. Morrell had been a keen club player — his partner Karen Fletcher was a “darts widow” when he played for the Turanganui club in the Tuesday night competition — but he hadn’t played seriously for years. The Roseland was his local, though, so eventually he agreed to play for them.
“The first year — nine years ago — we got to the finals . . . from the bottom of the table to the finals, and we reached the semifinal,” Morrell said.
“For the next three years, we won every single match we played in the competition . . . three titles, unbeaten. In the past five years, we’ve dropped seven matches, with three of those having to go to a deciding teams game.
“You’re allowed two registered darts players in a team of eight. Matt Reedy and I were ours. All the others were purely social darts players.
“Over the past eight years, we’ve had 20 to 30 people in and out of the team, but in the past couple of years it’s been pretty much the same squad.
“One of the positives about it is that some of the purely social players go to the Tuesday night competition and really get into the game. Matt Reedy is a classic case. When he started playing in our team he wasn’t old enough to be in a bar by himself. His mum and dad brought him along. Now he’s in his early 20s and is ranked in the top few in town.”
Morrell said the nine-year veterans, who had been with him from the start, were Karen Fletcher, Dougie Gillett, Rex Watson and Tau Campbell. More recent additions to the team were Matt Reedy, John Collier, Konrad Jankowitz, Shaun Dando, Vadra Sharp and Peter “Scruff” Frew.
The West Inn social darts competition is set up as a 12-team league, although this year it ran with 11 teams. Games are held every second Wednesday. Teams have their own “home ground” and so have home and away fixtures throughout the season, which is in winter.
