Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Darts Organisation are mourning the death of former Chairman Ken Glidle. Ken was Warwickshire’s first ever Chairman way back in 1974 and also Chairman of the BDO from its inauguration in 1973.
Ken a well known character throughout the world of darts from local league to representative country teams he will be sadly missed by all who knew him.
———————————
Glamorgan v Warwickshire
Warwickshire’s seventh fixture in their scheduled nine games season in the premier division of the BDO Inter County Championships saw them travel to South Wales to take on Glamorgan, on paper a most winnable fixture but nevertheless the weekend didn’t get off to the best of starts.
The ladies ‘B’ began with a win as Nina Bolt defeated Eve Watson 3-1 but the lead was short lived as Glamorgan’s Paula Clemett won a five legs tussle with Kerry Bambridge 3-2, Iris Powell won 3-1 against Lucy Keyte and then giving the home side a 3-1 lead was Vanda Adams with her 3-0 success against Kirsty Haw.
Danielle Cabble (Glamorgan) won the first leg against Lisa Whitmore but Lisa came bouncing back to secure a 3-1 victory and keep Warwickshire hopes alive for a draw and a 3-3 draw is what they got as Donna Pinch made it two consecutive lady of the match awards with her 3-1 win over Sandra Quinn with an average of 18.70.
The men’s ‘B’ side took an early 2-0 lead with Matthew Edgar winning the first against Mark Salmon 4-1, Salmon having won the first leg, then Simon Power doubled the lead with his straight 4-0 win against Justin Davies.
Wayne (Sid) Davies was made to fight for his 4-3 win as Warwickshire’s Antony Allen won the first and came back from 3-1 down to level terms before Davies won the decider to reduce the arrears. Levelling the game at 2-2 was Chris Cahill, he trailed 2-0 to Luke Kennedy before going on to win the tie 4-2.
Prakash Jiwa put Warwickshire’s noses in front again in the fifth when he beat Michael Huntley 4-1, Prakash taking the man of the match award with a splendid 29.63 average, but by the halfway mark the scores were levelled again this time at 3-3 when the home team’s Mark Dacey beat Michael Spencer 4-2.
Once again it was the away team who went ahead Stephen Ward’s 4-2 win over Steve Durnell giving them a 4-3 advantage only to see for a third time the hosts wipe out the lead this time it was the 4-2 win by Sean Fisher against Tom McGlone that squared the game.
The ninth game was a ding dong battle between Clayton Williams (Glamorgan) and Dave Harris, a game that could easily have gone either way but it was Harris who hadn’t gone behind in the game that won the final leg for a 4-3 win and put Warwickshire in a 5-4 lead with just three to play.
Rhys Griffin put the onus on the last two players from each team when in the tenth he beat Carl Green 4-2 in a game that could have gone either way as Carl missed his doubles in two of the legs.
For the first time in the game in the penultimate encounter Glamorgan took the lead their Keirion Carter with a 114 outshot won the first against Jimmy Hill, Hill fought back to go 2-1 up and although Carter then made it two each Hill went ahead again in the fifth, but with two further winning legs it was Carter who got the 4-3 verdict to put his team within one game of victory.
The final game of the day saw Corey Evans defeat Ted Evetts 4-1 to give the home side a 7-5 win and a 10-8 lead on the day.
Sunday turned out to be a great day and began in the best possible way as the ladies ‘A’ recorded their first win since the weekend of the 23/24 March 2013 when strangely the score then was 4-2 and they were again playing away to none other than Glamorgan.
Glamorgan put the first win on the board when Donna Thomas won 3-2 against Kat Spanswick after Spanswick appeared to have the game sewn up when she took a 2-0 lead. Nevertheless Denise Keyte was quick to erase the home teams lead with the more clinical finishing than her opponent in a 3-0 win. Wendy Adams (Warwickshire) twice came from behind against Nikki O’Donovan to go on and win 3-2 and go 2-1 up.
The fourth game surprised both Warwickshire players and their supporters as they witnessed a defeat for their usually most reliable winner Trina Gulliver, Trina by her own high standards had a below par performance as she averaged 22.10 and lost 3-2 to Rhian Edwards after she had trailed 2-0 and come back to 2-2.
The final two games both ended with 3-0 scorelines and saw Melanie Hill and Angela Jones in turn defeat Claire Crocombe and Michelle Lloyd to give Warwickshire a fantastic long awaited 4-2 win. The match award went to Angela Jones her win over Michelle Lloyd giving her a 23.48 average and included top scores of 2×140, 121, 120 and 2×100.
What better way to begin the men’s ‘A’ game than with a man of the match performance and a 4-0 win and that’s what Mark Westgarth did for Warwickshire in his game against Ron Morgan, Mark recording a superb 29.91 average with wining legs of 15, 19, 19 and 14 darts. Bob Nixon doubled that lead with his 4-3 win over Clive Langford after Langford had won the first with a 118 outshot and then taken a 3-1 lead.
David Rogers pulled one back for Glamorgan in the third when he beat Mark Strong 4-1 but Tom Aldridge restored the two games buffer with a 4-1 win against Ray Johnson.
A 4-0 win by Shaun Dibbs over Richard Foster made it 3-2 but by the end of the first half Warwickshire had opened up a 4-2 lead thanks to a 4-1 win by William Naylor over Lloyd Browning.
Jamie Hughes took the score nicely along to 5-2 with his 4-3 over Chris Thomas before the home team had their best run in the game two wins in a row from Wayne Warren and Jeff Bass at the expense of Mark Carter and Robe Hawker, Hawker having checked out on 142 and 76 to go two up against Bass before losing 4-2.
From 2-0 up to 3-2 down and then winning 4-3 that was how Noel Grant’s game went as he beat Tim Jones to put the away team 6-4 up.
The penultimate game was a cracker with both players recording averages in excess of 27.00 Wayne Davies (Glamorgan) won the first leg, Dean Stewart the next two. Davies levelled in the fourth only to see Stewart forge ahead again in the fifth. The game was taken to a decider when Davies won the sixth but he was left stranded on 104 when Stewart checked out on 32 for a sweet 4-3 win to give Warwickshire an unassailable 7-4 lead.
Richie Edwards won the final game against Jamie Atkins 4-1 to give a result of 7-5 to Warwickshire plus an overall 19-17 win for the Midlands team to see them move up the table to fourth just four points behind third placed Essex who they will play in their next and penultimate fixture of the season.
Can Warwickshire emulate last season’s third place finish? That possibility is well and truly on the cards just watch this space!!
Full Results: Premier Division:Glamorgan v Warwickshire (17-19):(Glamorgan names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Ron Morgan 0 Mark Westgarth 4, Clive Langford 2 Bob Nixon 4, David Rogers 4 Mark Strong 1, Ray Johnson 1 Tom Aldridge 4, Shaun Dibbs 4 Richard Foster 0, Lloyd Browning 1 William Naylor 4, Chris Thomas 3 Jamie Hughes 4, Wayne warren 4 Mark Carter 1, Jeff Bass 4 Rob Hawker 2, Tim Jones 3 Noel Grant 4, Wayne Davies 3 Dean Stewart 4, Richie Edwards 4 Jamie Atkins 1, Men’s ‘B’:- Mark Salmon 1 Matthew Edgar 4, Justin Davies 0 Simon Power 4, Wayne (Sid) Davies 4 Antony Allen 3, Chris Cahill 4 Luke Kennedy 2, Michael Huntley 1 Prakash Jiwa 4, Mark Dacey 4 Michael Spencer 2, Steve Durnell 2 Stephen Ward 4, Sean Fisher 4 Tom McGlone 2, Clayton Williams 3 Dave Harris 4, Rhys Griffin 4 Carl Green 2, Keirion Carter 4 Jimmy Hill 3, Corey Evans 4 Ted Evetts 1, Women’s ‘A’:- Donna Thomas 3 Kat Spanswick 2, Alannah Waters 0 Denise Keyte 3, Nikki O’Donovan 2 Wendy Adams 3, Rhian Edwards 3 Trina Gulliver 2, Claire Crocombe 0 Melanie Hill 3, Michelle Lloyd 0 Angela Jones 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Eve Watson 1 Nina Bolt 3, Paula Clemett 3 Kerry Bambridge 2, Iris Powell 3 Lucy Keyte 1, Vanda Adams 3 Kirsty Haw 0, Danielle Cabble 1 Lisa Whitmore 3, Sandra Quinn 1 Donna Pinch 3.
———————————
Warwickshire’s annual mixed pair’s event was held at the Bishopsgate Club, Coventry and attracted a very disappointing fifteen pairs. The eventual winners were Coventry Bishopsgate’s Paul Deslandes and Lisa Whitmore who had a final victory over Wendy Adams and Steve Abbott. Winners for the previous two years Antony Allen and Donna Pinch went out to Lisa and Paul in the semi finals. A total of £170 was paid out on the night.
The Bishopsgate Club was also the setting for Warwickshire’s playoffs of the Winmau World Masters where two players gain the right to represent the county later on in the year. Thirty two players entered the prestigious event which is the oldest competition on the BDO Calendar. Ted Evetts and Adam Smith-Neale after defeating Ian McFarlane and Jack Wareing in their respective final will now go forward to represent Warwickshire County Darts Organisation in the regional finals in August.
———————————
Jamie Hughes was in brilliant form as he won the Warwickshire playoff for the BDO Men’s Gold Cup. Jamie won through his first three rounds with straight 3-0 victories over Charlie Symons, Steve Ward and Mark Carter. In the semi finals he had a 3-2 victory over Rob Hawker with a superb average of 34.80.
From the other half of the draw Ian McFarlane emerged as Jamie’s final opponent after battling through his games against Antony Allen, Carl Green and then in the last four Adam Smith-Neale with a 29.95 average, all went to the final leg. The final was also a great battle with all the legs going with the darts Jamie the eventual 3-2 winner.
Jamie will now go forward to play in the grand finals in July.
———————————
Congratulations also go to Warwickshire’s Trina Gulliver who won the Lincolnshire Ladies Open, she had a tough semi final encounter with Cambridgeshire’s Amanda Abbott which went to the wire, Trina starting the final leg with a 180 before finishing brilliantly on a 152, she then faced West Midlands Sarah Roberts in the final who had earlier taken out Cambridgeshire’s Claire Ball. The final despite some high scoring from Sarah went to Trina with a straight 4-0 scoreline to give Trina a winning average of 26.72.
———————————
Former Warwickshire player Graham Hall was the winner of the Bishopsgate Easter Bash with a final victory over West Midlands man Nick Fullwell a climax in what was a great day of darts even though the number of entries were a very disappointing 35 players.
———————————