Staffordshire v Derbyshire
Derbyshire rounded off their season in division two of the BDO Inter County Championships with an away fixture against Staffordshire, a second successive season that has not seen Derbyshire perform the way they did two seasons ago when they won promotion to division one and their lack of form and results unfortunately continued to the bitter end.
Kerri Buckley (Derbyshire) opened up for the ladies ‘B’ losing in three legs to Anne Allsop. Michelle Colclough looked all set to double Staffordshire’s lead when she went two up against Dawn Buckley but the Derbyshire player stuck to the task and fought back to take the 3-2 result. Julie Robinson restored the home team’s lead with a close 3-2 win over Rachel Ayers who had cancelled out Robinson’s lead in the second and fourth legs.
It was all square again in the fourth game when Derbyshire’s Samantha Marshall beat Roz Harry 3-2 then in the fifth the away side took the lead for the first time when Rebecca Hoyland handed out a straight 3-0 defeat to Samran Prommetta, Hoyland taking the match award with her 19.03 average.
With the visitors leading 3-2 the result hinged on the final game between Ann Price (Staffordshire) and Kelly Dean. Dean went one up but then finishing doubles deserted her and she lost 3-1 to put the final score level at 3-3.
Paul Baker gave Derbyshire an opening win in the men’s ‘B’ match when he beat Nick Schonau 3-1 earning himself the man of the match award in the process for his 27.28 average. The home team then strung together four consecutive wins. Kevin Johnson, Richard Cummings and Stuart Livesley handing out in turn 3-0 defeats to Scott Parkin, Ian Allcock and Ashley Weaver and making up the quartet of wins Dave Richards won 3-1 against Henry Coates to put the hosts 4-1 up.
Darran Sinfield and Loz Barnes stopped the Staffordshire charge when Sinfield beat Stewart Sim 3-2 and Barnes won by the same scoreline against Paul Wright but it was only a minor delay for the home side as they romped to a 9-3 win with further successes for Lee Ratcliffe who won 3-1 against Adrian Asprey, Karl Hinks who beat Tony Cresswell 3-2, Steve Rushton with a straight 3-0 win over John Elliott, Danny Key who had a 3-1 win over Lee Cummins and rounding off the day with a 3-0 win against Andrew Gillott was Kevin Hammersley.
Susan Sherratt gave Staffordshire the ideal start to the ladies ‘A’ match as she won 3-0 against Jackie Sweet and her team mate Dawn Schonau looked as though she would produce the same result against Dee Fenn when she went 2-0 up but Fenn hung on in there and clawed her way back to 2-2 before losing the final leg and the game 3-2.
Kera Astle was Derbyshire’s first and as it turned out only winner when in the third she won 3-2 against Terry Selman with an award winning average of 18.50.
A 3-0 win from Sarah Cope over Louise Rawson took the score along to 3-1 and with 3-2 wins from Emma Pearce and Diane Tolley over respective opponents Jennifer McCormick and Terri Bellamy the home team recorded a 5-1 win.
The men’s ‘A’ match almost followed the exact same pattern as the ‘B’ game with just one single difference. Similar to the ‘B’ match Derbyshire won the first game when Gary Fenn beat Martin Wheawall 4-3, then Staffordshire once again took the following four games. Jamie Dunsdon beat Brian Snell 4-1, Carl Batchelor won by the same margin against Adam Fern, John Burgess had a 4-0 win over Lee Stanley and Andy Beardmore won 4-1 against Sean Lambert.
Then, again as in the ‘B’ encounter Derbyshire took two in a row when Richard Hughes won 4-3 against Lewis Oliver and man of the match Nigel Daniels after going 2-0 up against James Hughes then 3-2 down won the last two legs for a 4-3 victory and a 28.55 average.
Game number eight could easily have gone either way as Karl Merchant went one up against Tim Daniels in 19 darts then Daniels replied with winning legs of 21, 14 and 20 darts to go 3-1 up. Merchant levelled the game at 3-3 in 18 and 19 darts, then after Daniels had missed his 72 outshot Merchant won the deciding leg in 22 darts for a very, very close 4-3 win.
Games nine and ten both finished 4-0 with Staffordshire’s Callum Matthews and Benjamin Davies beating respective opponents Alan Statham and Ian Allcock, the match still going exactly the same as the ‘B’ game.
It was only the penultimate game that differed from the previous day, whereas Staffordshire won the next to last game in the ‘B’ encounter it was Derbyshire’s Ian Clarke who won for the ‘A’ as he stormed to a 4-0 win over Benjamin Hilditch before Trevor Carter (Staffordshire) won the final game of the weekend 4-3 against Rob Wood to give the home side an 8-4 win.
The defeat leaves Derbyshire firmly rooted to the foot of the division two table with 130 points, 20 fewer than the team directly above them Berkshire who, the only team that Derbyshire have beaten this season.
The last two seasons have seen Derbyshire freefall from division one to division two and now to division three, let’s hope their confidence and luck will change and they will get a quick return to division two.
Full Results:Division Four:Staffordshire v Derbyshire (25-11)🙁Staffordshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Martin Wheawall 3 Gary Fenn 4, Jamie Dinsdon 4 Brian Snell 1, Carl Batchelor 4 Adam Fern 1, John Burgess 4 Lee Stanley 0, Andy Beardmore 4 Sean Lambert 1, Lewis Oliver 3 Richard Hughes 4, James Hughes 3 Nigel Daniels 4, Karl Merchant 4 Tim Daniels 3, Callum Matthews 4 Alan Statham 0, Benjamin Davies 4 Ian Allcock 0, Benjamin Hilditch 0 Ian Clarke 4, Trevor Carter 4 Rob Wood 3, Men’s ‘B’:- Nick Schonau 1 Paul Baker 3, Kevin Johnson 3 Scott Parker 0, Richard Cummings 3 Ian Allcock 0, Stuart Livesley 3 Ashley Weaver 0, Dave Richards 3 Henry Coates 1, Stewart Sim 2 Darran Sinfield 3, Paul Wright 2 Loz Barnes 3, Lee Ratcliffe 3 Adrian Asprey 1, Karl Hinks 3 Tony Creswell 2, Steve Rushton3 John Elliott 0, Danny Key 3 Lee Cummins 1, Kevin Hammersley 3 Andrew Gillott 0, Women’s ‘A’:- Susan Sherratt 3 Jackie Sweet 0, Dawn Schonau 3 Dee Fenn 2, Terry Selman 2 Kera Astle 3, Sarah Cope 3 Louise Rawson 0, Emma Pearce 3 Jennifer McCormick 2, Diane Tolley 3 Terri Bellamy 2, Women’s ‘B’:- Anne Allsop 3 Kerri Buckley 0, Michelle Colclough 2 Dawn Buckley 3, Julie Robinson 3 Rachel Ayres 2, Roz Harry 2 Samantha Marshall 3, Samran Prommetta 0 Rebecca Hoyland 3, Ann Price 3 Kelly Dean 1.
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