Lancashire v Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Darts Organisation began the New Year as they ended the old one with a defeat. Following previous wins over West Midlands and Cheshire their final game of 2018 saw them narrowly lose 19-17 to Lincolnshire and the first fixture of 2019, an away game against Lancashire became their second successive defeat.
There were mixed results from Saturday’s ‘B’ team games as the ladies went one down when Anne-Marie Millership won 3-2 against Chloe McKivett after McKivett had taken the game to a decider with a 21 darts leg and a 119 outshot in the fourth. However the home teams win was quickly erased as Wendy Adams (Warwickshire) was in fine form against Marie Fitton as she brushed aside the challenge of Fitton beating her 3-0 and taking the match award for her 19.27 average.
For the first time in the game the away side took the lead in the third when Angela Jones beat Sharon Seed 3-1 after Seed had won the opening leg only to see parity restored in the fourth game with a 3-1 win for Lancashire’s Audrey Underwood at the expense of Marion Conway and with a further 3-1 win for Danni-Lea Platt over Denice Keyte Warwickshire required a win in the final game to salvage a draw. And a draw was how the match ended as Kat Spanswick beat Ged Fielding 3-1 to make honours shared at three each.
Lancashire were quickest off the mark in the men’s ‘B’ match as Dave Adshead put them one up with his 4-2 win over Jack Wareing and doubling their lead was Gary Davey who won 4-0 against Karl Reynolds.
It took a man of the match performance from Jamie Atkins to stop the rot, Jamie who was pegged back to level terms three times by James Caton went on to win the deciding leg for a close 4-3 win in 21,15,16 and 17 darts giving him a 26.92 average. Gary Jackson took the first leg off Robert Comben and then squared the game in the fourth leg but it was Comben who got the 4-2 win to level the game before Gareth Braham gave Warwickshire the lead for the first time in the fifth with his 4-2 success against Barry Kerfoot.
By the end of the first half the away side had gone from 2-0 down to lead 4-2 with David Hill closing the half with a third consecutive 4-2 win as he accounted for Tony Clarke.
The second half began and looked as though it would replicate the first as Ian Lever (Lancashire) beat James Hykin 4-0 and Michael Sexton opened up a 2-0 lead over Tom Martin, but Martin fought back and then with wins in the following four legs won the tie 4-2 and put Warwickshire in what appeared to be a comfortable 5-3 lead.
Tom McGlone looked all set to increase that lead when he went 2-0 up against Christopher O’Connor and although O’Connor won the next two legs McGlone went ahead again in the fifth only to see O’Connor win the last two legs for a 4-3 victory, and with a similar result for Terry Hey over Carl Green after Green had cancelled out his lead three times, the match was level at 5-5 with just two to play.
A 4-2 win for Sam Cromwell put the hosts within an ace of victory and with another 4-2 win for Tony Baker over Mark Carter Lancashire had pulled off a 7-5 win.
With 3-3 draws in their first three games of the season the ladies ‘A’ then lost 5-1 to Lincolnshire with Natalie Gilbert their sole winner and against Lancashire Natalie Gilbert was once again the only winner and in the process making it three consecutive lady of the match awards.
The game saw Lancashire ladies ‘A’ begin a run of four wins with Tracey Cunningham winning a close affair with Caroline Pike 3-2 and then add two straight 3-0 wins from Ally Smith and Jo Clements against respective opponents Sue Gulliver and Melanie Jones before Sue Cusick chalked up the all-important match winning fourth game when she won 4-1 against Nina Bolt after Nina had won the first leg.
Warwickshire’s one and only win came in the fifth when Natalie Gilbert came from one down against Sue Corry to go on and win 3-1 with a super 21.53 average.
The final score was taken to 5-1 to the home team when Amy Eden beat Donna Pinch 3-1, Donna having won the opening leg.
With only the men’s ‘A’ team result to be added the overall score stood at 15-9 to Lancashire and it required a huge 10-2 win from the men to bring a win back home.
The game got off to a good start with Steve Giddings (Warwickshire) involved in a nip and tuck game with Mick Oversby as Giddings went 2-0 up and then Oversby took a 3-2 lead. A thirteen darts leg from Giddings forced a deciding leg which he won in 21 darts for a 4-3 victory. Charlie Symons made it 2-0 to Warwickshire when he beat Dave Evans 4-2. Despite the promising start the lead didn’t last long as Lancashire’s Martin Atkins beat Jamie Hughes 4-2, Wez Newton won 4-1 against Tom Aldridge and Simon Preston beat Antony Allen 4-2 to give the hosts a 3-2 lead.
The first half-finished in style for the visitors as Ian McFarlane after losing the first two legs to Carl Sneyd in eighteen darts bounced back and romped to a 4-2 win with winning legs of 12,15,16 and 17 darts for a superb man of the match award winning average of 30.52.
Nigel Heydon was once again in fine form although being pegged back to level terms no fewer than three times by Dave Airey he went on to win 4-3 with a 28.72 average and winning legs of 16,14,19 and 18 darts to restore Warwickshire’s lead.
Kevin Dowling opened up leads of 2-0 and 3-1 against Matt Clark and although then taken to a final seventh leg won it in 17 darts for a 4-3 win to take the away teams advantage to 5-3. Ted Evetts made it 6-3 when he accounted for Andrew Johnson with a 4-1 scoreline and Ian Shaw looked to be on the way to chalking up the winning seventh game when he went two up against Bradley Brooks only to see Brooks move up a gear and take the game 4-2. Despite the setback the winning game was put up in the penultimate encounter when Noel Grant handed out a 4-2 defeat to Kev Garcia and with a final 4-1 win for Lancashire’s Lee Shewan over Dean Stewart the result was a 7-5 for Warwickshire.
The combined score for the weekend was a 20-16 win for Lancashire which leaves them three points behind leaders Yorkshire and leaves Warwickshire in fourth place on 100 points eight behind third placed Glamorgan and 32 short of Yorkshire.
Full Results:Premier Division:Lancashire v Warwickshire (20-16):Lancashire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Mick Oversby 3 Steve Giddings 4, Dave Evans 1 Charlie Symons 4, Martin Atkins 4 Jamie Hughes 2, Wez Newton 4 Tom Aldridge 1, Simon Preston 4 Antony Allen 2, Carl Sneyd 2 Ian McFarlane 4, Dave Airey 3 Nigel Heydon 4, Matt Clarke 3 Kevin Dowling 4, Andrew Johnson 1 Ted Evetts 4, Bradley Brooks 4 Ian Shaw 2, Kev Garcia 2 Noel Grant 4, Lee Shewan 4 Dean Stewart 1, Men’s ‘B’:- Dave Adshead 4 Jack Wareing 2, Gary Davey 4 Karl Reynolds 0, James Caton 3 Jamie Atkins 4, Gary Jackson 2 Robert Comben 4, Barry Kerfoot 2 Gareth Braham 4, Tony Clarke 2 David Hill 4, Ian Lever 4 James Hykin 0, Michael Sexton 2 Tom Martin 4, Christopher O’Connor 4 Tom McGlone 3, Terry Hey 4 Carl Green 3, Sam Cromwell 4 Mark Strong 2, Tony Baker 4 Mark Carter 2, Women’s ‘A’:- Tracey Cunningham 3 Caroline Pike 2, Ally Smith 3 Sue Gulliver 0, Jo Clements 3 Melanie Jones 0, Sue Cusick 3 Nina Bolt 1, Sue Corry 1 Natalie Gilbert 3, Amy Eden 3 Donna Pinch 1, Women’s ‘B’:- Anne-Marie Millership 3 Chloe McKivett 2, Marie Fitton 0 Wendy Adams 3, Sharon Seed 1 Angela Jones 3, Audrey Underwood 3 Marian Conway 1, Danni-Lea Platt 3 Denise Keyte 1, Ged Fielding 1 Kat Spanswick 3.
———————————
Congratulations to Warwickshire County Darts Organisation players Kevin Dowling and Nigel Heydon who have both been selected for the England team to play in the British Internationals on the 5th – 7th April 2019 at Glenrothes Scotland.
———————————