West Midlands finished their first season in the Premier Division of the BDO Inter County Championships just above the relegation zone with 149 points, nine more than Cambridgeshire who finished bottom and just four to the good on Devon who were relegated with Cambridgeshire as they were next to bottom of the league table, they will begin their second season in the Premier Division with a home tie against newly promoted Northamptonshire.
Northamptonshire with 197 points gained promotion from division one last season with divisional champions Essex who ended their campaign with 210 points, thirteen more than Cambridgeshire who were closely followed by third placed Oxfordshire who narrowly missed out on promotion as they had 193 points four short of Cambridgeshire.
After their first season in the top flight West Midlands will be hoping the experience will lead them to better things this season although they began their last campaign with some good results as in the opening four games they won two, drew one and only lost one and that was to neighbouring Warwickshire, however from there on in it was to say the least a little disappointing as they lost all of their final five fixtures.
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The Crown at Olton hosts the Dunky’s Double Top League and the 22 strong league has completed its season with Bob Nixon donning the winners crown after amassing a total of 74 points five more than runner up Andy Hutchings who in turn was two to the good on John Sidwell who finished third.
The league’s doubles knockout was made up of a player from the top half being paired with a player from the bottom half and once again it was Bob Nixon who collected the winners prize and yet again Andy Hutchings runner up as Nixon and his partner Darren Wilson won the final 3-1 against Hutchings and Phil Henderson.
Sue Kingdon Organiser, Darren Wilson and Bob Nixon Winners plus Andy Hutchings
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The West Midlands Men’s Super League have got their new season underway and after the opening seven fixtures only three of the starting line-up of eighteen teams remain undefeated and they are Allen’s Sports Bar ‘A’, Yeltz Bar and Woodside Inn.
Allen’s Sports Bar ‘A’ top the table with 46 points and have a slender lead of just two points over second placed Yeltz Bar while Woodside Inn are placed fourth in the table with 35 points from six games and have a game in hand on the to two teams.
At the other end of the table there are three teams still seeking their first win Victoria, Allens Sports Bar ‘B’ and Horse and Jockey.
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The Netherton Thursday Night League staged the finals of their doubles knockout which was well supported and produced some first class darts. Winning the title were R.Carr and D.Brown (Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club) who in the final had a straight 3-0 victory over A.Cowley and C.Hadlington (White Horse). In the last four games Carr and Brown beat A.Dubberley and D.Ferney (Riddins Tavern) 2-0 while Cowley and Hadlington also won 2-0 against M.Ferney and A.Ghaley again from Riddins Tavern.
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Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club staged a Bank Holiday Monday Knockout which attracted an encouraging 40 entries. The quarter finals saw 3-0 wins for Lee Stevens and Josh Pickett who in turn defeated Alex Nicholls and Andy Bennett. The other two last eight games had very close 3-2 results with Martin Rowley beating Tom Bissell and Neil Steventon winning against Rob Powers.
Both semi-finals went to a deciding leg with Martin Rowley and Lee Stevens just getting the 4-3 edge against respective opponents Neil Steventon and Josh Pickett.
The final also went to the wire with Lee Stevens getting the 5-4 verdict against Martin Rowley to take the top prize of £165 with Rowley picking up £80.
Losing semi-finalists Steventon and Pickett received £35 each and there was £10 for Tom Bissell, Rob Powers, Alex Nicholls and Andy Bennett for reaching the quarter finals.
Winner Lee Stevens and Robert Carr Organiser
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As the new C’s Club Double Top League nears the halfway point of its inaugural season Neil Parsonage with 29 wins from 30 games leads the field with a total of 81 points. After missing a few games through work commitments Luis Barberan has now caught up with his outstanding fixtures, however a 3-0 defeat to fourth placed Tom White in week fifteen, Barberan’s third loss in 30 games, could prove to be very costly as he now trails Parsonage by some seven points.
Jake Webster is third in the table and although he is just one point behind Barberan he has played one game more than him and Parsonage. Tom White is placed fourth with 70 points, he has a game in hand on the top two and two in hand on Webster.
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The top two players in the Shirley Premier League are Steve Sidwell and Phil Thomas, both have played 28 games with Sidwell on 88 points and Thomas 86. Week fourteen saw Sidwel have his lead cut to just two points when he kicked off the evening with a 2-2 draw with Ken Hopton followed by a 3-1 win over Chris Thomas while second in the table Phil Thomas added a 4-0 win over Chris Thomas snr and a 3-1 win against Ken Hopton to his account to reduce the arrears.
Mark Henderson held on to third place with a 4-0 win over Ryan Brogan plus a 2-2 draw with Mark Gwalchmai to take his points tally to 83 from 29 games and give him a six points buffer between him and fourth in the table Tom Bent who has played 28 games.
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I end this month’s column on a sad note as I report the passing of Alan Wale as he finally lost his battle with cancer. Alan played for many years in the Small Heath, Sheldon and Camp Hill leagues representing the Devil’s Club, Sheldon Marlborough Club and Small Heath Amateur Gardeners.
One of Alan’s darts colleagues Paul Brown summed Alan up saying “An absolute legend of a man, always full of life and laughing he will be missed by everyone who knew him”. Condolences go to Alan’s family and friends
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