Warwick defeat Birmingham to win darts Varsity

On Saturday, in the first darts Varsity between the two teams, Warwick defeated University of Birmingham 6-1.

The match is the second Varsity that Warwick Darts Society have taken part in, having faced Coventry back in 2020.

This time around, they faced much tougher opposition in Birmingham, who have become a strong force on the Midlands university darts scene under the captaincy of Woody Boon.

Warwick also faced the difficult task of doing it all on Birmingham’s home turf, in the Birmingham’s Guild’s Underground.

The action began with an opening 2-1 victory from Warwick founder Kyle Mandell over Birmingham’s Will John, who came from 1-0 down to win.

After steadying the nerves, a Warwick pairing of Adi Boier and Finn Butler kicked off match two with a 140 before getting the better of Harrish Illankovan and Matt Peck to take the lead to 2-0.

With Birmingham up against it, Aaron ‘The Rag’ Raguro put in a spirited performance to chalk up what would be Birmingham’s only recorded victory of the night, over Warwick’s James Keith.

After a brief exhibition knockout event, which included Warwick Tennis and Hungarian Society and was eventually won by Birmingham Aussie Rules, the match resumed.

Unfortunately, Warwick were unable to complete a Midlands, Varsity and national treble, as they were defeated in the last 4 of the National Finals to Sheffield

This time, it was time for Ben Nicholl and Dave Varney to extend Warwick’s lead to 3-1, with a defeat of Zoe Leydon and Ben Bampton.

With Warwick now one away from victory, the clash was nicely poised for captain Anthony Joseph, who stepped up and defeated Birmingham’s Boon to complete the win.

The subsequent games may only have been a formality by this point, but a further two victories followed for Warwick.

Dom Renouf and Will Temple defeated Harrison Mitchell and Patrick Still of Birmingham in the final doubles games of the tie.

It was then time for one of Warwick’s stars of the season Dan Heydon, who clinched the crucial victory over Trent back in March which sealed the Midlands title, to step up, with Heydon completing the match with a comprehensive win over Caleb Day.

It will hopefully be the first of a number of darts Varsities involving Warwick, with the two teams hoping to build from this year’s event.

Unfortunately, Warwick were unable to complete a Midlands, Varsity and national treble, as they were defeated in the last four of the National Finals to Sheffield.

It nonetheless caps off a very impressive league season for Warwick Darts, who were only founded four years ago.