West Midlands v Warwickshire
The last time West Midlands and neighbouring local rivals Warwickshire met in the BDO Inter County Championships was more than eight years ago when on the weekend of the 28th and 29th March 2009 when both teams were in division one the two teams squared up to each other on the West Midlands board and their opponents won somewhat convincingly 27-9, but that was not going to be the case this time round.
Once again the match was played on the West Midlands board and opening up for them in the ladies ‘B’ game was Shellbie Simmons who went 2-0 up against Angela Jones but was unable to add the all important third leg and eventually went down 3-2 as Jones turned the screw and not only win the game but also the team’s match award for her 18.94 average. Second on for the home team was Kelly Dolman who like Simmons also went ahead as she won the first against Marian Conway but yet again it was the Warwickshire player who went on to win this time 3-1.
For a third time the host player took the lead this time it was Kath Jenkins who opened up a 2-0 lead over Nina Bolt and although Bolt levelled the game at two each it was Jenkins who took the deciding leg for a 3-2 win.
The running score was level at 2-2 in the fourth when Jacqueline Maiden beat Wendy Adams 3-0, her 18.11 average giving her the lady of the match award for a second consecutive fixture.
Lisa Deslandes put Warwickshire’s noses in front again in the fifth when she accounted for Lizzy Arnold with a 3-1 scoreline to put the onus on the last two players Shannon Hall and Warwickshire’s Helen Rigg.
With the pressure on both players it was a nip and tuck affair with Hall going 1-0 up and then Rigg taking a 2-1 lead. The final two legs saw both players throw for a finishing double both going in favour of Shannon Hall to give her a 3-2 win and her team a share a 3-3 result.
Carl Green (Warwickshire) opened up leads of 1-0 and 2-1 against Paul Price in the first of the men’s ‘B’ game but in 17,18 and 19 darts Price won the next three legs for a 4-2 victory. Richard Platt and Paul Wells with straight 4-0 wins against respective opponents Mark Carter and Ian McFarlane took the home sides lead to 3-0 which was made 4-0 by Adam Edgar when he beat Tom Ryan 4-2 after Ryan had gone 2- 1 up.
Charlie Symons put Warwickshire’s first stripe on the board when in the fifth game he won 4-1 against Jamie Rollinson and by the halfway point the lead was further reduced to 4-2 when Ian Shaw won 4-0 against Neil Pointon
A man of the match performance from Robert Smith got West Midlands back on track, a 4-2 success against James Hykin in which Smith recorded winning legs of 18,21,12 and 16 darts for a 28.62 average.
The score was moved along further to 6-2 for the home team when Shane Price added his 4-1 win over Luke Kennedy to the tally.
Ashley Hykin briefly halted the West Midlands charge when he beat Christopher Williams 4-1 but a similar 4-1 win for Matthew Dicken over Richard Foster put the game beyond Warwickshire’s reach as their opponents were now in an unassailable 7-3 lead.
For a second consecutive match Matt Edgar took the match award for Warwickshire’s men’s ‘B’, after he was involved in a hard fought affair with Alfie Jacques. Edgar won the first leg in 15 darts and Jacques the second in 20. Edgar then took two in a row in 18 and 16 darts only to see Jacques reply with winning legs in 17 and 20 to take the game to a deciding leg.
After fifteen darts the West Midlands man left himself on double eight, meanwhile Edgar had left double ten which he found with his first dart to clinch a tremendous 4-3 win in 16 darts and record a 28.55 average.
The last game of the day saw Sam Guest take West Midlands to an 8-4 win when he beat Tom McGlone 4-2.
Warwickshire began the ladies ‘A’ game with real promise as they stormed into a 3-0 lead Natalie Gilbert getting the ball rolling with her award winning 3-1 win over West Midlands star Sarah Roberts, Natalie recording a super 22.34 average.
Adding to Natalie’s win were Caroline Pike and Sue Gulliver who beat respective opponents Debbie Loon and Sophie Singh 3-1.
Donna Pinch looked to be on the way to completing Warwickshire’s win when she won the first leg against Heather Wright but with both players have difficulty with finishing doubles it was Heather Wright who won the next three legs for a 3-1 win.
Lisa Badger kept hopes of a draw alive for the West Midlands when she added her 3-1 win over Chloe McKivett to their running total, Lisa with a 20.04 average taking the home team’s match award.
As in the ‘B’ team’s game the result now hinged on the final game between Gemma Barrett for the West Midlands and Melanie Jones for Warwickshire. The first three legs played were all very close with Gemma Barrett winning the first two and Melanie Jones the third. The fourth leg saw Barrett open up a lead and win the leg and the game 3-1 on double ten with her twentieth dart, Jones left nursing 99, again as in the previous day the game finished all square at 3-3.
After three of the four matches had now been played and just the men’s ‘A’ to play the overall score was 14-10 to the West Midlands leaving them requiring just five winners from the men’s ‘A’ to win the fixture.
The game began with the results going in favour of the first throw advantage with former West Midlands man Jamie Hughes giving Warwickshire the lead with an opening 4-0 win over Daniel Nicholls. Replying for West Midlands was Michael Baker who won a very tight game against Anthony Allen 4-3, Baker going 1-0 down then 2-1 up, the game then saw Allen level at 2-2 and Baker go ahead again in the fifth. With double six Allen took the game to a seventh leg which saw Baker check out on 100 for his win
Kevin Dowling was the man to give Warwickshire the lead for a second time when in the third game he won 4-3 against Jonathan Platt. Dowling won the opening lef with a 130 finish, went 2-0 up and was then pegged back to 2-2. Dowling won the fifth and Platt the six then in the deciding leg Dowling produced a spectacular twelve darts leg in which he hit 140,60,140 and then won the leg and the game with a fantastic 161 outshot.
The sequence continued when in the fourth Ash Khayat (West Midlands) won 4-2 against Ted Evetts and then another former West Midlands player Tom Aldridge beat Gavin Baker 4-0.
It was all change as the half came to an end as yet another former West Midlands man Dean Stewart won 4-2 against Ian Jones after Jones had taken a 2-1 lead.
The second half was a completely different story as Prakash Jiwa took Warwickshire’s lead to 5-2 with a 4-1 win over Mark Craddock in which Jiwa with a 118 game shot went one up in 15 darts, doubled his lead in 23 darts and then went 3-0 up with a 16 darts leg.
Craddock won the fourth leg in 17 darts but with a superb eleven darts leg in which he scored 140,140 and 125 rounded off his win with a 96 checkout and at the same time earned himself the match award for his superb 31.06 average.
Taking the score along to 6-2 to Warwickshire was Nigel Heydon who lost the first leg to Liam Kelly then stormed to a 4-1 win. Following Heydon and wrapping up the men’s ‘A’ win for the away team was Anthony West who defeated Shaun Carroll 4-3 to give Warwickshire an unbeatable 7-2 lead.
Mark Westgarth made it 8-2 when he won 4-1 against Glen McGrandle before West Midlands added their third winner from man of the match for a second consecutive game Nick Fullwell.
Fullwell lost the first leg after only twelve darts to Steve Hine but recovered quickly to go 3-1 up in 15,18 and darts. Hine with a 156 outshot reduced the arrears to 3-2 burt was left on 40 when Fullwell completed his win in 17 darts with an 80 finish. Nick Fullwell took the West Midlands match award with a 30.05 average.
The final encounter of the weekend saw Noel Grant beat Dean Mills 4-1 to seal a 9-3 win for Warwickshire’s men’s ‘A’ team and complete an incredible comeback from 14-10 down to win the fixture 19-17, but also full marks to the premier division newcomers West Midlands who gave the established Warwickshire team a little bit of a scare.
Full Results: West Midlands v Warwickshire (17-19)🙁West Midlands names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Daniel Nicholls 0 Jamie Hughes 4, Michael Baker 4 Anthony Allen 3, Jonathan Platt 3 Kevin Dowling 4, Ash Khayat 4 Ted Evetts 2, Gavin Baker 0 Tom Aldridge 4, Ian Jones 2 Dean Stewart 4, Mark Craddock 1 Prakash Jiwa 4, Liam Kelly 1 Nigel Heydon 4, Shaun Carroll 3 Antony West 4, Glen McGrandle 1 Mark Westgarth 4, Nick Fullwell 4 Steve Hune 2, Dean Mills 1 Noel Grant 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Paul Price 4 Carl Green 2, Richard Platt 4 Mark Carter 0, Paul Wells 4 Ian McFarlane 0, Adam Edgar 4 Tom Ryan 2, Jamie Rollinson 1 Charlie Symons 4, Neil Pointon 0 Ian Shaw 4, Robert Smith 4 James Hykin 2, Shane Price 4 Luke Kennedy 1, Christopher Williams 1 Ashley Hykin 4, Matthew Dicken 4 Richard Foster 1, Alfie Jacques 3 Matt Edgar 4, Sam Guest 4 Tom McGlone 2, Women’s ‘A’:- Sarah Roberts 1 Natalie Gilbert 3, Debbie Loon 1 Caroline Pike 3, Sophie Singh 1 Sue Gulliver 3, Heather Wright 3 Donna Pinch 1, Lisa Badger 3 Chloe McKivett 1, Gemma Barrett 3 Melanie Jones 1, Women’s ‘B’:- Shellbie Simmons 2 Angela Jones 3, Kelly Dolman 1 Marian Conway 3, Kath Jenkins 3 Nina Bolt 2, Jacqueline Maiden 3 Wendy Jones 0, Elizabeth Arnold 1 Lisa Deslandes 3, Shannon Hall 3 Helen Rigg 2.
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Warwickshire v Cheshire
Warwickshire began their weekend’s fixture at home to Cheshire in sixth place in the premier division table of the BDO Inter County Championships and their opponent’s seventh three points behind them.
It was Cheshire who got the better start in the ladies ‘B’ game as Nicola Roebuck beat Angela Jones 3-1 and with a similar scoreline Loll Abley won against Helen Rigg, but then the hosts got their act together and produced four consecutive wins all started by a lady of the match performance from Nina Bolt who won in three straight legs against Charlotte Kelly and averaged 19.03.
Marian Conway levelled the game at two each with another 3-0 scoreline against Chrissie Halliday and with two further 3-1 wins from Wendy Adams and Lisa Deslandes over respective opponents Sarah Goodwin and Lynn Marsden Warwickshire won the match 4-2.
As in the ladies ‘B’ encounter the men’s ‘B’ game also started with Cheshire taking the lead, a 3-0 lead as Paul Blythe and Jeff Fisher in turn both won 4-3 against Tom Ryan and Mark Strong and Danny Ayres had a 4-1 success against Luke Kennedy.
James Hykin was Warwickshire’s first winner, a 4-1 result over Joe Howland which earned him the team’s match award for his 27.41 average and with a 4-2 win from Carl Green against Andrew Rose the home team were back in the game although trailing 3-2.
The next three games all went to Cheshire, Matthew Hunt and Carl Dennel both winning by the odd leg against Matt Edgar and Mark Carter and with a 4-0 win from Shaun Walshe over Charlie Symons the away side had opened up a 6-2 lead.
Ian McFarlane won convincingly against Bert Paine in just four legs and with Tom McGlone beating John Speed 4-3 hopes were rising for a draw. However it was not to be, James Beeton’s 4-0 win against Ian Shaw gave Cheshire the all important seventh game and with a further 4-1 win for Perry Harley over Ashley Hykin the visitors had chalked up an 8-4 victory.
Going into Sunday’s games Warwickshire were 10-8 down with everything still to play for, that quickly changed. Humberside’s Jane Stubbs won 3-2 against Donna Pinch although the Warwickshire player twice cancelled out her lead. Andrea Hunt made it 2-0 with a 3-0 win over Chloe McKivett and with Emma Pearce beating Natalie Gilbert 3-2 the visitors then confirmed their win in the fourth when Anastasia Dobromyslava won 3-1 against Melanie Jones.
Team captain Sue Gulliver made it two match awards in three games when in the fifth she defeated Ros Davies 3-1 and recorded a 22.68 average. That unfortunately was to be the one and only success for Warwickshire as in the final game Mandy Smith beat Caroline Pike 3-1 to give the away side a 5-1 win.
A 10-2 win was now required from the men’s ‘A’ team if they were to get an overall victory and the game got off to a very good start as Nigel Heydon beat David Smith-Hayes 4-3 after Smith- Hayes had gone 1-0 and then 3-1 up. Dean Stewart recaptured some of his earlier form when he also won 4-3 against Andy Cope, Stewart like Heydon coming from behind as he trailed 1-0 and then 3-2 before clinching his win with a 17 darts leg and a very respectable 29.31 average.
Warwickshire reached a 3-0 lead thanks to an in form Kevin Dowling who took out Simon Preston 4-1 with winning legs of 16,14,16 and 14 darts giving him a superb 32.84 average.
Game number four was a battle of the Steve’s as Steve Hine fought back from 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 down to Steve Lomas to win 4-3 and give the home team a 4-0 lead.
By the halfway stage Cheshire had pulled two back as David Bird beat Noel Grant 4-3 after Grant had come within a leg of winning when he won the opening three legs, and then Michael Haynes won 4-0 against Anthony West.
The second half began as did the first with the home team getting first blood as Simon Power took out Peter Boughey in four straight legs. The following four games followed the same pattern, all ending 4-0, Tony Richardson (Cheshire) beating Anthony Allen, Ian McFarlane (Warwickshire) winning against Tony Martin and with Prakash Jiwa beating Chris Ware, Warwickshire were now in an invincible 7-3 position.
Patrick Lynskey (Cheshire) completed the run of four straight wins when he accounted for Tom Aldridge but the final score was 8-4 to Warwickshire when anchor man Mark Westgarth added his 4-1 win over Mal Barrow to their tally.
The overall score was 19-17 to Cheshire, Warwickshire third 19-17 result in the three games played so far, regrettably two of them have gone in the opponents favour.
This latest defeat has seen Warwickshire remain in their sixth position on 56 points and Cheshire move above them into fifth place just one point to the good.
Full Results: Warwickshire v Cheshire (17-19)🙁Warwickshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Nigel Heydon 4 David Smith-Hayes 3, Dean Stewart 4 Andy Cope 3, Kevin Dowling 4 Simon Preston 1, Steve Hine 4 Steve Lomas 3, Noel Grant 3 David Bird 4, Anthony West 0 Michael Haynes 4, Simon Power 4 Peter Boughey 0, Anthony Allen 0 Tony Richardson 4, Ian McFarlane 4 Tony Martin 0, Prakash Jiwa 4 Chris Ware 0, Tom Aldridge 0 Patrick Lynskey 4, Mark Westgarth 4 Mal Barrow 1, Men’s ‘B’:- Tom Ryan 3 Paul Blythe 4, Mark Strong 3 Jeff Fisher 4, Luke Kennedy 1 Danny Ayres 4, James Hykin 4 Joe Rowland 1, Carl Green 4 Andrew Rose 2, Matt Edgar 3 Matthew Hunt 4, Mark Carter 3 Carl Dennel 4, Charlie Symons 0 Shaun Walshe 4, Ian McFarlane 4 Bert Paine 0, Tom McGlone 4 John Speed 3, Ian Shaw 0 James Beeton 4, Ashley Hykin 1 Perry Harley 4, Women’s ‘A’:- Donna Pinch 2 Jane Stubbs 3, Chloe McKivett 0 Andrea Hunt 3, Natalie Gilbert 2 Emma Pearce 3, Melanie Jones 1 Anastasia Dobromyslova 3, Sue Gulliver 3 Ros Davies 1, Caroline Pike 1 Mandy Smith 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Angela Jones 1 Nicola Roebuck 3, Helen Rigg 1 Loll Abley 3, Nina Bolt 3 Charlotte Kelly 0, Marian Conway 3 Chrissie Jalliday 0, Wendy Adams 3 Sarah Goodwin 1, Lisa Deslandes 3 Lynn Marsden 1.
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