Derbyshire v Merseyside
Derbyshire’s woes continue in division three of the BDO Inter County Championships. Following their relegation and seven defeats from nine games in division two last season Derbyshire kicked off the new campaign with a home tie against another team that of late has fallen from grace Merseyside.
The ladies ‘B’ game saw the advantage sway from one side to the other with Merseyside taking the early lead through Adele Mulligan who beat Kelly Dean 3-0. Rachel Ayres levelled the match when she won against Sandra Rule again the scoreline was 3-0. Despite Ann Morrison winning the first leg against Sara-Jane Harrison it was the home player that got the 3-1 result to put Derbyshire ahead for the first time in game number three.
Merseyside bounced back to square the match at 2-2 when Debbie Robinson won 3-0 against Kerri Buckley and then went within an ace of victory when Joanne Oliver, after trailing 1-0 to Dee Fenn went on to win 3-1.
With the result hinging in the final game Derbyshire produced their lady of the match in the form of Lauren Jackson. Lauren accounted for her opponent Julie Whelan in three straight legs with Whelan unable to reach a finishing double in two of the three. A 3-0 win, an award winning average of 18.79 plus earning her team a share of the points in a 3-3 draw, a great performance from Lauren Jackson.
The men’s ‘B’ team began well Andrew Gillott coming from 1-0 down to Ste Hall to go 2-1 up, he was then pegged back to 2-2 but won the final leg for a 3-2 victory. Derbyshire’s other Andrew this time Baker made it 2-0 despite having his lead cancelled out twice by David Hughes before going on to win 3-2.
Unfortunately from there on it all went a little pear shaped as Merseyside took the next six games. Michael Sexton and Robbie Ward both won 3-1 in turn against Keith Cooper and Henry Coates, then with a 3-0 win for John Power against Ian Allcock the visitors took the lead for the first time going 3-2 up.
Lee Cummins (Derbyshire) pushed Barry Bowes all the way before losing out 3-2 and taking the score to 6-2 to the away team were Clive Rule and Jason Chisnall, Rule winning 3-0 against Chris Upton and Chisnall beating Ashley Weaver 3-1.
Game nine saw the hosts chalk up their third winner when Ryan Hassell not only beat Philip Bennett 3-1 after losing the first leg but with winning legs of 16, 24 and 17 darts also won the match award for his 25.57 average.
The arrears were reduced even further in the tenth encounter when Paul Williams produced a carbon copy of Hassell’s game losing the opening leg to Kevin McGrath and then going on to win 3-1 to take the running score to 6-4.
In the penultimate tie George Bell (Merseyside) won the first leg against Ben Holmes, Holmes replied in true style levelling the game with a superb 147 checkout in 18 darts. Holmes then took the lead in 20 darts but it was Bell in 19 and 21 darts who got the 3-2 verdict to put Merseyside in an unassailable 7-4 lead.
In the final game Tim Rippon (Derbyshire) put up a brave fight coming from 2-0 down to Craig Winstanley to level at 2-2 before losing 3-2 when Winstanley won the decider in 11 darts to put the result at 8-4 in Merseyside’s favour.
The home team could not have wished for a better start to the ladies ‘A’ game as Louis Rawson not only beat Vicki Evans 3-1 but in the process won the match award for her 16.05 average. Unfortunately the lead didn’t last long as the visitors went 2-1 up through Claire New (Merseyside) who with a 3-0 result defeated Jenny McCormick and Emma Barlow who won 3-2 against Rebecca Hoyland after Hoyland had won the first and fourth legs.
Jackie Sweet (Derbyshire) twice had her lead cancelled out by Tracy Morrison and was taken to a deciding leg before achieving her 3-2 win to square the game at two each.
In the fifth game missed finishing doubles proved to be very costly for Derbyshire’s Dawn Buckley as she lost 3-0 to Sandra James and with the same scoreline Terri Bellamy went down to Sarah Kershaw to give the away team a 4-2 win.
The men’s ‘A’ team began with great promise as Paul Baker opened up with a straight 4-0 win over Steve Gow and was followed by Ian Clarke who won 4-1 against Dave Richards. On at number three for Derbyshire was Tim Daniels who was in top form making short work of his opponent Brad Fleming who he beat 4-0. Daniels won the first two legs in 21 darts but then with a great 141 game shot went 3-0 up in 15 darts and won the game in the fourth with an 18 darts leg giving him a 26.72 average.
Alas after opening up a 3-0 lead it was not until the ninth game that Derbyshire were able to add to their tally as Robert Gorst, Anthony Brown and Kev Garcia all won 4-2 against respective opponents Lee Stanley, Richard Hanson and Brian Snell to put the score at the break all square at 3-3.
The second half began where the first had finished with Merseyside adding another couple of winners to their score as Dan Nuttie won 4-3 against Adam Fern and Jamie Green beat Nigel Daniels 4-2 to open up a 5-3 lead.
Keeping Derbyshire in the hunt was Peter Burgoyne on at number nine, Burgoyne recorded a 4-1 win over Alan Magee to make it 5-4 before the away side moved into a match winning position with a 4-1 win from Kevin Lloyd over Richard Hughes and a very close 4-3 win for David Harnick against Gary Fenn.
Derbyshire’s anchor man was Sean Lambert and his opponent Andy Rodger. Lambert began well with an opening 14 darts leg. He doubled his advantage when he checked out in 18 darts in the second and moved to within one leg of victory when he made it 3-0 in 21 darts.
Rounding off a 4-0 win with a 22 darts leg Lambert took his average to 26.72 exactly the same as his fellow player in the third game Tim Daniels, the two players sharing the match award.
The result of the men’s ‘A’ game was 8-4 to Merseyside to give the away team an overall 22-14 victory and leaving Derbyshire now without a win in their last five county games.
Full Results:Derbyshire v Merseyside (14-22)🙁Derbyshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Paul Baker 4 Steve Gow 0, Ian Clarke 4 Dave Richards 1, Tim Daniels 4 Brad Fleming 0, Lee Stanley 2 Robert Gorst 4, Richard Hanson 2 Anthony Brown 4, Brian Snell 2 Kev Garcia 4, Adam Fern 3 Dan Nuttie 4, Nigel Daniels 2 Jamie Green 4, Peter Burgoyne 4 Alan Magee 1, Richard Hughes 1 Kevin Lloyd 4, Gary Fenn 3 David Harnick 4, Sean Lambert 4 Andy Rodger 0, Men’s ‘B’:- Andrew Gillott 3 Ste Hall 2, Andrew Baker 3 David Hughes 2, Keith Cooper 1 Michael Sexton 3, Henry Coates 1 Robbie Ward 3, Ian Allcock 0 John Power 3, Lee Cummins 2 Barry Bowes 3, Chris Upton 0 Clive Rule 3, Ashley Weaver 1 Jason Chisnall 3, Ryan Hassell 3 Philip Bennett 1, Paul Williams 3 Kevin McGrath 1, Ben Holmes 2 George Bell 3, Tim Rippon 2 Craig Winstanley 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Louise Rawson 3 Vicki Evans 1, Jenny McCormick 0 Claire New 3, Rebecca Hoyland 2 Emma Barlow 3, Jackie Sweet 3 Tracy Morrison 2, Dawn Buckley 0 Sandra James 3, Terri Bellamy 0 Sarah Kershaw 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Kelly Dean 0 Adele Mulligan 3, Rachel Ayres 3 Sandra Rule 0, Sara-Jane Harrison 3 Ann Morrison 1, Kerri Buckley 0 Debbie Robinson 3, Dee Fenn 1 Joanne Oliver 3, Lauren Jackson 3 Julie Whelan 0.
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