Kent county player Wayne Venes won the inaugural Deal Town FC Open darts tournament on Friday.

Venes, from Dover, produced a superb fightback to defeat Andy Howell 4-3 in the best-of-seven legs final.

Howell raced into a 3-0 lead and, although Venes took the fourth leg, Howell missed his chance to clinch victory with “double top” in the fifth leg before Venes  turned on the style to claim the £150 first prize.

In the semi-finals Venes again had to go the full distance before defeating Pete Walford 4-3 while Howell overcame Chris Bent 4-1.

In the ladies’ “round robin” competition a play-off was needed to decide the winner, with victory going to Natalie Jones who beat her Magnet Inn team-mate Sim (correct) Herbert to claim the £30 top prize.

Deal Town chairman Dave Chmura said: “We were delighted with the way our first-ever open darts tournament went and would like to thank the organisers, Pete Carney and Jeanette Howell, for all their hard work.”

Pics:  Wayne Venes and Natalie Jones receiving their winners’ cheques from Deal Town chairman Dave Chmura