CLACTON returned to Essex Men's Superleague action and won 8-4 at A division basement boys Brightlingsea Regent.

They found themselves in trouble early on and went 3-1 down.

It was Clacton’s worst pairs record to date, as both teams only averaged 19+.

However, they showed character and strength to go on and win seven of the eight singles games.

The first pairs game saw Coen Wiekamp (23.19) and Jason Evans (23.52, comb 23.36) put some heavy scoring together but rue two missed darts at double as they lost against Anthony Neal (25.14) and Stuart Elmer (23.65, comb 24.41).

The impressive Keith Farthing (29.65) and Keith Wright (22.67, comb 26.34) were worthy winners as they levelled proceedings with victory against Lee Woods (25.00) and Kevin Savory (18.61, comb 22.05).

The next game was a complete Jekyll and Hyde performance from Clacton duo Curtis Hammond (19.94) and Adrian Genery (11.37, comb 15.86).

They scored well to leave 82 after 33 darts, with their opposition back on 356.

However, the pair then threw a further 30 darts at the finish as double one trouble struck and they lost against Mark Henry (14.93) and Karl Mullenger (17.67, comb 16.41).

The last set seemed to follow the ending of the previous game as neither pair got going and Wayne Bloomfield (17.53) and James Wilson (15.70, comb 16.62) lost against Gary Campbell (12.25) and Steve Cook (20.30).

Genery (26.37) was quick to turn the game around as he opened up with a maximum 180 and 86 finish in a brilliant 14-dart leg.

He was then throwing for the double for consecutive 14-dart legs in the second but had to settle for 20 darts before he wrapped up a 3-0 victory against Henry (20.72).

Wright (26.84) continued his brilliant form as he won his third consecutive game for Clacton, 3-0 against Steve Cook (22.88).

Wright won his legs in 18, 19 and 19 darts and claimed his first man-of-the-match award.

Bloomfield (24.24) also didn’t hang about in his match against Campbell (21.26) as he reeled off three straight legs for a quick 3-0 win.

Alan Currivan (24.14) was the first player to lose a singles game as he went down 3-0 to Woods, despite hitting a maximum 180.

Woods' highlight was a 116 finish in the opening leg and he claimed Brightlingsea’s man-of-the-match award.

Hammond (26.37) gave Clacton the lead again as he ran out a comfortable 3-0 winner against Elmer (18.81) with winning legs of 15, 19 and 23 darts.

Wiekamp (26.08) faced a tough opponent in Neal (26.07) and both players pushed each other to perform.

Wiekamp did just that as he also joined the Clacton 26 average tradition for the night with a 3-1 win, winning his legs in 20, 21 and 17 darts.

Evans (23.82) found himself 2-1 down against Savory (25.12) and had a real game on his hands.

However, he dug in and started the fourth leg with a maximum 180.

He also had a shot at the double for a 12-dart leg which he went on to win in 17 darts.

In the last leg, Savory hit a maximum 180 of his own as both players had shots to win the game.

However, Evans held his nerve to secure the victory for Clacton and keep his unbeaten Essex record in tack.

The last game of the night saw Farthing (21.91) wrap up a good night for Clacton as he picked up his fourth consecutive victory, beating Mullenger (19.12) 3-1.