RIDLEY League champions Dog & Partridge and runners-up Chelmsford City FC A will go head to head in the Darts Cup final after offering further proof that they set the standard for the rest to follow.

The semi-finals were expected to be close, as opponents City B and Cricketers have shown decent form all season, but both were overrun.

The Dog reeled off four out of five singles against Cricketers, rendering the pairs irrelevant.

Mick Cain fired a 148 start, two 140s and a 134 to win the opener, and brother Paul had a 180 in beating Ernie Holden. Del Kochan was the visitors’ only winner.

There was also an anticlimax in the all-CCFC battle at Melbourne Stadium, where Rob Tinsley and Martin Compton took the first two singles to carry City A halfway to victory.

The key result was skipper Barry Devenish’s deciding-leg win against Des Vickers, and though Jason Vickers showed good form in beating Simon Whalley (180), Harry Cove settled it, leaving both teams to go through the motions in the two “dead” pairs.

Bragging rights will be at stake in the final, on June 7. City inflicted the Dog’s only darts defeat this season (4-3) at Great Leighs last October, but the Dog avenged that in style four months later, winning 5-2 – and now have the double in their sights!

Darts Cup semi-finals: CCFC B 1, CCFC A 6; Dog & Partridge 4, Cricketers 1 (pairs not played).

Fixtures (May 31) – Men’s Singles (at Bird in Hand, Black Bull, Compasses and Dog & Partridge, 8.15).