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Sonia stars in Neyland darts
Pop in to the popular ‘Admiral Benbow’ pub in Neyland and it is a fair bet that the lady who serves you your pint with a welcome smile is Sonia Bamborough, who is not only the landlady there but plays darts with such success that the pub’s mantle shelf is literally jam packed with trophies that she has won whilst playing for the pub.
A measure of the success enjoyed by the ‘Benbow’ can be gauged by the fact that at the last league presentation evening they pouched no fewer than ten trophies out of the 17 awarded and in the time that she has been running the pub with partner Peter Wilson they have won every piece of silverware, including the league winners on a number of occasions, the team of five, four and three, doubles and singles, Landladies’ Cup, Gallon Cup, team cup and the house champions Cup.
Silverware galore!
Sonia and her ladies say that winning the league is the top trophy because it is competed for over a season and involves the team playing five singles, two doubles and a treble each week on a home and away basis so the competition measures the best team in terms of consistency rather than on one night, as some other trophies do.
Sonia has won the landladies’ Cup an amazing six times in the last decade and another success that means a great deal to her was winning the Lynne Ship Cup, named in memory of a good friend of hers who sadly passed away at the age of 30 and who loved her darts as much as Sonia does. She was also delighted to win the ‘180’ Cup when she was the only player in the league to hit the coveted three treble 20s – and her team-mate Michelle Rees has won it the last two years.
Sonia and Michelle play at the Benbow alongside Tricia Boyce, Lucille Marsden, Connie Rees, Sue Grey and Sonia’s daughter Vickie, who is following mum as a keen darts player. Missing this year has been Donna Evans, who couldn’t play because of ill-health and a measure of the esteem in which Donna is held is that the Benbow have named an in-house tournament after her. She has been missed because of the fun she brought to the team, as well as her good play, because she is a real character who on one occasion took the stage at a presentation with the comedian hired for the night – and was much funnier than he was!
Youth club and other sports
It all seems a long way from the time she started her interest in darts at Milford Haven Youth Club under the watchful eye of Rowland Williams, who did so much good there, and Sonia took to it straight away. She helped the club win the Pembrokeshire Youth Clubs darts title and the Milford Haven team then went on to the national competition in Aberystwyth, which was a great experience at the time.
At that time Sonia was also playing at left-inner for Milford Central School alongside such useful players as Debbie Anthony, Gillian Bayne, Elaine Rackley and Julie Forrest – and used to play badminton with her brother Phil Aldred and brother-in-law Hilliard Simmonds.
Teenage friendlies and new darts
She began playing in friendly matches for the Observatory Hotel in Hakin when she was 16, playing in conjunction with Susan Cooper, Judith Gould and her sister Pat Aldred, and at 17 years of age bought her first set of darts from world champion Leighton Rees at an exhibition evening – and still plays with those same ‘arrows’ now! Sonia moved on to league darts in 1977 at the Lords Kitchener pub in Milford Haven, with Derek and Irene Picton as landlord and lady. She helped win the league there and when she won the doubles with Debbie Anthony they received their trophy from Peter Morgan, the Llanelli, Wales and British Lions rugby player. Included in that side were good players like Jackie Donovan, Julie Forrest, Gillian Bayne, Jane Underwood, Sandra Caple, Anne Power and Marie Scurlock, all of whom were competitive and skilful too.
Neyland bound
From there it was on to the Hakin Social Club with the majority of that successful team but then she moved her allegiance to darts in Neyland in unusual circumstances when old school pal Elaine Rackley asked her to look after the Oddfellows pub in Neyland while Elaine was on holiday for a fortnight – and Sonia was still involved working there over five years late, playing in the same darts team as Elaine, Tricia Longthorpe, carol Webber and Lynne Ship.
Then she took over the Admiral Benbow with Peter, who used to play darts but sadly there is now no men’s league in the town, and she has been heavily involved in the darts there ever since. She has won the league’s singles event, played over three legs of 501 down to a double finish, the pairs, twice with Lucy Marsden, and there are now over 30 trophies adorning that mantelpiece as proof of her ability, plus a host of other silverware that is a tribute to the skill of her ladies’ team.
Right philosophy
But ask Sonia about her success and she is eager to point out that taking part alongside a good crowd of girls is the real plus factor.
“We enjoy ourselves as a team and winning trophies is a bonus because we just have so much fun together. The Benbow is proud of its darts record but we will play on, win or lose.”
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