I've Got The Power!!

Wednesday night saw the 13 times world champion darts player come to Station Road working mens club and what a turn out! He was due to arrive at 8:30pm, so me and hubby got there for 7:45pm, just to make sure we could get a seat! Not that we need have worried. No, it wasn't that the place was empty, far from it, at the peak of the evening it was standing room only! No, because it was their local darts team, one of the guys had gone in extra early to keep "their table" and was guarding it with his life!

We'd heard talk that he was going to be in the Legion from 6:30-8:30pm, but we didn't care, that was too early and too far away. Station Road was the place to be! 8pm arrived and there was talk that Phil had arrived and was in the back room. Various people came and went, showing off pictures on their mobiles and chattering excitedly! 10 minutes later, to the sound of his manager/agent/compere, and nothing else, Phil entered the room to rapturous applause and cheering! I've heard nothing like it in such a small club and the atmosphere was simply electric!

8 people had been chosen to play Phil, mostly from raffle tickets that had been handed out every time a pint or lager or bitter had been bought, but the highlight for my family was that my dad got to play, being the player picked from the darts team to represent the club.

No-one actually managed to beat Phil though some came pretty close, including one bloke getting the highest competing score of 125, but we were all witness to a magnificent 9 dart finish. Had anyone had their mobile running at the time, it could've been on YouTube now, alas no-one caught the full 9 darts!

The evening was rounded off with the selling of merchandise, with Phil willing to sign anything you handed to him, including posters and toblerones we'd pulled off the wall and tables! At least there wasn't clearing up to do! He also sat for photos and was a fantastic sport for getting his picture taken with the Station Road darts team, which I've now had blown up and took over to Newcastle last night!

So yesterday then saw the regional final of the Worthington Masters cup at St James' Park in Newcastle. We all piled into the car at 4pm to set off over there for the event getting underway at 7pm. Too early to set off..? Not at all! We got there just after 6pm, then thought it was in the Shearer Bar which turned out to be some persons birthday party, buffet and all. Oops... sorry! My dad asked at the bar and was told to head for the main reception, where we were greeted with A4 printouts telling us it was in the Bamburgh suite on the 4th floor!

We eventually got up there and flipping heck! I didn't realise just how big the venue would be and was hoping there'd be food coz we'd had no tea! I guessed there must be a buffet because we'd walked passed tables with plates, cutlery and big silver serving plates covered up so that was ok we wouldn't be dining on nuts and crisps from the bar after all!

7:05pm and the event got underway with Phil getting the night started by playing Sam Allerdyce, James Milner and one of the goalies from Newcastle United (sorry, can't remember his name!). None of them managed to beat him, though James Milner gave him a good run for his money! All the jokes and playing around that we'd been witness to on the Wednesday night were repeated with the trio and then it was time for supper! Pies, peas and chips. Yum! I got a bit of a shock mind, along with many other people when we realised we had to pay for it, but it was reasonably priced and we really should have realised, afterall, we'd got free tickets to get in there in the first place!

So then it was time to get the main event underway. The quarter finals came first, then Phil played all the players who had got that far, including the only Cumbrian entrant from Harrington Legion, with the first player not only getting a 180 against him, but actually beating him too! Both faces were a picture! Total shock, amazement, joy and misery! After that, Phil upped his game, scoring many 180s against the other players, giving us plenty of chances to hold up our 180 boards!

Once that was done it was time for more autographs and merchandise. Now we WERE hoping to get the photographs from the previous night AND the 180 boards signed, but were informed in the queue that we'd only be able to get 2 items each signed so that was that buggered! We had 7 photos between us and only 4 bodies to get them done! My mam bought a t-shirt to get signed too so I simply made 2 trips to get my own shirt and mug too! When we got to the front of the queue and handed Phil the photo he was simply gobsmacked and amazed that we'd got them printed so fast and got over there to get them signed. Each one was signed, including one for the club which (we hope) will have pride of place behind the bar for many years to come and both me and my mam got our photos taken too.

So then it was time for the semis and the final, which culminated in the winner from last year retaining his title! Phil then ended the night with some banter and gave us a shout out, to which we cheered extremely loudly, and told the audience about his 9 dart finish!

So then it was time to make the 2 hour journey home, arriving back just after 1am, exhausted but excited. We'd been told that part of the event would be screened on Sky Sports News all day today and also on Thursday coming on Sky Sports 1 at 7pm. They didn't show much today, just the players, so we'll be watching on Thursday to see if we make it on telly again, afterall, we were sitting on one of the front tables, so there could be a very good chance!

My photos have all been framed now and will soon have pride of place on the bedroom wall.