Cambridgeshire v Warwickshire
Warwickshire’s fixture away to Cambridgeshire in the Premier Division of the BDO Inter County Championships was one of two emotions delight for the men and misery for the ladies.
Saturday’s ladies ‘B’ game saw the home side win the opening game as Fiona Coker beat Melanie Jones 3-2 after Jones had cancelled out her lead in both the second and fourth legs. Caroline Pike levelled the match in style with a lady of the match performance against Debbie Melton winning 3-0 with a 20.04 average. Then Warwickshire took the lead for the first time in the game when Donna Pinch came from one down to Hannah Rampley to win 3-1. Unfortunately from there on in it was all Cambridgeshire as Casey Hill beat Chloe McKivett 3-0, Liz Humphries won 3-1 against Lisa Deslandes and rounding off a 4-2 victory for the hosts was Amy Grant with the 3-1 defeat of Denise Keyte.
The men’s ‘B’ team also lost the first game as Gareth Braham finished on the wrong side of a 4-0 scoreline to Eddie Martin. Warwickshire were not behind for long as Richard Foster handed out a similar 4-0 defeat to Carl Dockerill to square the match and then Mark Carter, who had trailed twice to Matthew Wing went on to win 4-3. Taking the score nicely along to 3-1 was Ian Shaw who accounted for Gary Robertson with a 4-2 result in which he had winning legs of 18,18,20 and 15 darts to give him his first match award of the season for his 27.63 average. Then making it 4-1 was Mark Strong with his straight 4-0 win over Tim Fulcher.
By the halfway stage the home team had reduced the deficit to 4-2, Darren Cotterell adding his 4-2 win over Jack Wareing to the score.
The second half began with two straight 4-0 wins for Warwickshire, James Hykin defeating Aaron Baker and Karl Reynolds ensuring at least a share of the points when he took the advantage to 6-2 with his win against Connor Arberry. The win came for Warwickshire in the very next game when Ashley Hykin beat Simon Hill 4-2 and then taking the running total to 8-2 in the visitors favour was Robert Comben who won his tie with Andrew Hircock 4-2.
The last two games of the day went to the hosts as Barry-John Pagey won 4-1 against Tom McGlone and Martyn Moore beat Adam Paxton 4-2 to give a final score of 8-4 to Warwickshire, their second win in six games.
Once again it was the hosts first off the mark in the ladies ‘A’ match and it was Nadine Bentley who gave them a winning start when she beat Angela Jones 3-1. Sue Gulliver (Warwickshire) made it four lady of the match awards in six games when she won 3-1 against Barbara Greatbatch, Sue recording a 21.11 average.
The third game went the full five legs distance with Marian Conway (Warwickshire) twice taking the lead but it was her opponent Karen Stanhope who eventually got the 3-2 verdict. The last three games all finished with a 3-1 result, all three of them going to Cambridgeshire as Jane Judges, Diane Nash and Sandra Greatbatch defeated respective opponents Wendy Adams, Nina Bolt and Melanie Jones to give the home side a 4-2 win.
With three wins, one draw and only one defeat in their previous five games the men’s ‘A’ side are having a good season and began their match well as man of the match Nigel Heydon gave them the ideal start when he won 4-0 against Ashley Coleman in 15,16,18 and 16 darts for a tremendous 30.83 average. Second on for the away team was Kevin Dowling who was also in top form beating Terry Redhead 4-2 with a 28.91 average.
Noel Grant won the opener against Stuart Ward but in the end went down 4-2 and although Antony West went within an ace of winning against Chris Sands-Pearce when he won the first three legs he then lost the next four to lose 4-3 and Cambridgeshire were back on level terms.
Tom Aldridge restored Warwickshire’s advantage with a 4-2 win over John Imrie and by the midway point the away team had opened up a 4-2 lead when Ian McFarlane added his straight 4-0 win over Paul Wade to their account.
Extending Warwickshire’s lead to 5-2 was Bob Nixon when he, after going one up then 2-1 down won 4-2 against Paul Wenn before the hosts rallied to take the next two games through Ian Withers and Dennis Harbour, Withers coming from two down against Carl Green to win 4-2 and Harbour after losing the first leg to Anthony Allen went on to win, again 4-2.
Mark Westgarth was made to fight all the way for his 4-3 win by Kelly Corcoran as he won the first then lost the next two. Westgarth won the fourth and fifth legs to take the game to a decider which he won with an 86 checkout.
Victory was assured in the penultimate encounter when Dean Stewart handed out a 4-0 whitewash to Iain Styles and anchor man Charlie Symons looked all set to make the final score 8-4 when he went 3-0 up against Martin Adams but Adams bounced back to win 4-3 and put the final score at 7-5 to Warwickshire.
The overall score for the weekend was an 18-18 draw Warwickshire’s first draw since they finished all square away to Hampshire in February 2012. Nevertheless the draw has left them in good stead, fifth in the table on 117 points just six behind third placed Glamorgan their next opponents.
Full Results:Cambridgeshire v Warwickshire (18-18)🙁Cambridgeshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Ashley Coleman 0 Nigel Heydon 4, Terry Redhead 2 Kevin Dowling 4, Stuart Ward 4 Noel Grant 2, Chris Sands-Pearce 4 Antony West 3, John Imrie 2 Tom Aldridge 4, Paul Wade 0 Ian McFarlane 4, Paul Wenn 2 Bob Nixon 4, Ian Withers 4 Carl Green 2, Dennis Harbour 4 Anthony Allen 2, Kelly Corcoran 3 Mark Westgarth 4, Iain Styles 0 Dean Stewart 4, Martin Adams 4 Charlie Symons 3, Men’s ‘B’:- Eddie Martin 4 Gareth Braham 0, Carl Dockerill 0 Richard Foster 4, Matthew Wing 3 Mark Carter 4, Gary Robertson 2 Ian Shaw 4, Tim Fulcher 0 Mark Strong 4, Darren Cotterell 4 Jack Wareing 2, Aaron Baker 0 James Hykin 4, Connor Arberry 0 Karl Reynolds 4, Simon Hill 2 Ashley Hykin 4, Andrew Hircock 2 Robert Comben 4, Barry-John Paget 4 Tom McGlone 1, Martyn Moore 4 Adam Paxton 2, Women’s ‘A’:- Nadine Bentley 3 Angela Jones 1, Barbara Greatbatch 1 Sue Gulliver 3, Karen Stanhope 3 Marian Conway 2, Jane Judges 3 Wendy Adams 1, Diane Nash 3 Nina Bolt 1, Sandra Greatbatch 3 Melanie Jones 1, Women’s ‘B’:- Fiona Coker 3 Melanie Jones 2, Debbie Melton 0 Caroline Pike 3, Hannah Rampley 1 Donna Pinch 3, Casey Hill 3 Chloe McKivett 0, Liz Humphries 3 Lisa Deslandes 1, Amy Grant 3 Denise Keyte 1.
———————————