It’s hardly any secret to anybody who has visited this space for any length of time that the last two weeks of every year are endured rather than enjoyed by yours truly.

This was the case long before the boss checked out for the fireside above. But as I’m sure you’ll understand, everything is now magnified tenfold. Yet there are a few antidotes which make life’s pothole filled road even slightly more negotiable.

Though even at that there could be a caveat because a memory popped up on Facebook the other day of myself and himself watching the arrows action together nine years ago. At this point, it must be admitted that only the evening session of Sunday’s action which was observed due to the volume of other sporting activity which was ongoing at the same time. Most if not all of which will be covered in this space later on.

Indications that it was going to be a night out of the ordinary came early on when Mike De Decker lashed in eight maximum finishes in his 3-1 victory over Jeff Smith of Canada while later on the ‘card’ Danny Baggish had little difficulty in negotiating a route past another Canadian, Matt Campbell.

Also last night, the, eh, colourful Scott Williams got the better of Ryan Joyce in a shootout that would’ve sat well in the Ok Coral. Seasoned observers of tungsten throwing generally declare that averages are only a guide to how a match is going but when Williams clocked 115 in the first set, including a 162 checkout.

However, with ‘Relentless’ being Joyce’s nickname, it was a case of never a truer word said as he came barrelling back into the contest before Williams just about got over the line.

And so to the weekend’s final bit of action as Nathan Aspinall eventually managed to avoid getting mashed by the monstrous Boris Krcmar of Croatia. The 6’7 man from the Balkans caught this observer’s attention a couple of years back, a big man throwing darts is always a good watch as they generally peg their missiles with more rapidity than some of their contemporaries.

Which initially appeared to catch Aspinall off guard. However, the former UK Open Champion is also one of this corner’s favourite players, not only because of his obvious ability but also owing to the adversity the man with strangest moniker in the sport has overcome in order to become one of the biggest stars therein.

His constant contending in the flagship events on the oche suggests that his standing in the game could yet improve still further. Mind you, his performance would need to be bolstered considerably comparative to this display goimg forward.