Not since the 2002 – 2003 season when West Midlands were in Division Four of the BDO Inter County Championships have they won their opening four games but now in Division One that is exactly what they have done.
With wins against Cambridgeshire, Staffordshire and Dorset already under their belt West Midlands fourth fixture was a home tie with Humberside and first on for the ladies ‘B’ was Sophie Singh. Sophie fell 1-0 and 2-1 behind to Beckie Huntley but with 22 and 19 darts legs not only won the game 3-2 but also clinched the lady of the match award for her 22.19 average.
Stella Sims (West Midlands) went one up against Sue Bilby but Humberside’s lady of the match bounced back to seal a 3-1 win and level the game. The visitors went ahead for the first time in game three when Cheryl McCloughlin won 3-0 against Shellbie Simmons and with a similar 3-0 result for Karen Helmore against Lynne Reynolds Humberside were within an ace of victory. The victory celebrations were delayed as Heather Wright reduced the arrears for the home side when she beat Bex Waterfall 3-1 but a 3-0 success for Jessica Shakesby over Claire Hobbs in the final game confirmed the away team as 4-2 winners.
With two wins and a draw the men’s ‘B’ side are enjoying a good start to the new campaign and that was made even more enjoyable when they stormed to a 4-0 lead against their Humberside opponents. Kick starting the quartet of wins was Justin Evans with his win over Leon Bailey who actually had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before losing 4-3. Shane Price made it 2-0 with his 4-2 success against Trevor Holtby and with two further 4-3 wins from Mathew Moore and Dave Redding against respective opponents Lee Parish and Lewis McGuigan the four wins were on the board. Mathew Moore had to fight back from 1-0 and 3-1 down to Lee Parish and Dave Redding also trailed 2-0 in his tie with Lewis McGuigan.
The fifth game went to Humberside as their Robbie Smith won 4-1 against Gareth Johnston but by the midway point it was 5-1 to West Midlands as their man of the match Matthew Coleman added his straight 4-0 win over Michael York to their tally. Coleman began with an 18 darts leg and followed that with winning legs in 15 and 17 darts. He wrapped up his win in style as he chalked up scores of 100,140,180 and produced an 81 checkout for a great eleven darts leg to give him not only a fabulous average of 32.85 but the best ‘B’ team average of the weekend.
With game shots of 110 and 106 Trevor Brennon came from 1-0 down against James Janney to lead 2-1, he then went 3-2 down but in 18 and 21 darts won the encounter 4-3. Mark Rollinson put up the winning stripe when in game eight he beat Stuart Limbert 4-0. James Rollinson then made it 8-1 when he beat Andy Wheeler 4-1 and with a straight 4-0 win for Stephen Jones over Ricky Speroni West Midlands were in complete control leading 9-1.
The final score was taken to 9-3 as Humberside’s Sam Hewson beat Phil O’Brien 4-0 and Lee Smith won 4-2 against Adam Edgar.
Jacqueline Maiden set the pattern for the ladies ‘A’ team as she handed out a 3-0 whitewash to her counterpart Wendy Dearing. Doubling West Midlands lead was Sarah Roberts who came from 2-1 down against Melanie Robinson to win 3-2.
Cheryl Alcock confirmed at the worst a draw for her team mates as she chalked up a second 3-0 win as she accounted for Kim Fuller going 2-0 up in 24 and 23 darts and then rounding off her win and award winning average of 25.91 with a superb 14 darts leg hitting 100,140,60 and 135 before checking out on 66.
With the teams third 3-0 result Kath Jenkins defeated Michelle Britton to make it a game winning 4-0 lead but the West Midlands weren’t done there as Kat McLean added her 3-1 win over Valerie Skidmore and last on Gemma Barrett, with the fourth straight win of the game for the hosts beat Christine Readhead 3-0 for a clean sweep 6-0 victory.
After 8-4 wins in their first two fixtures of the new season the men’s ‘A’ side slipped to a 7-5 defeat in their last game at home to Dorset and after losing an opening lead they never regained that it again throughout their match with Humberside.
Daniel Nicholls was the man who gave them the opening lead as he beat Lee Blakey 4-1 with winning legs of 18,17,17 and 16 darts which earned him the team’s match award for his 27.99 average. Second on Neil Pointon won the first leg but then lost 4-2 to Reece Robinson. Giving Humberside the lead for the first time was Robbie Lickiss who accounted for Mark Craddock with a 4-1 scoreline. Trevor Brennon raced to 2-0 and 3-1 leads against Shaun Rutter but was unable to find another winning leg to seal his victory and with Danny Coyle losing 4-1 to Gavin Lewis the visitors were 4-1 up.
The half ended on a high as Shaun Carroll added West Midlands second win when he beat Mike Atkinson 4-2 to put the score at 4-2 to the away team.
West Midlands long serving player Ian Jones began the second half and although he fought all the way against Craig Owens coming from two down to level at 2-2, then 3-2 down and taking the game to a decider when he won the sixth, he eventually lost 4-3, left on 40 as Owens checked out on 50.
West Midlands had their best run of the match in the eighth and ninth as Paul Wells handed Trevor Carlill a 4-0 whitewash and Owen Maiden, who despite trailing 2-1 against Karl Corcoran went on to win 4-3 and reduce the deficit to a much closer 5-4.
A 4-2 win for Joshua Lowthorpe over Gavin Baker assured the visiting team of a share of the spoils before Mick Baker in the penultimate encounter kept West Midlands in with a chance of a draw when he won 4-1 against Daryn Gray. Sadly it was not to be as Humberside on the day kept their best till last as their final player David Ladley came up with a man of the match performance beating Glen McGrandle 4-0 in 17,12,18 a 18 darts to give him a 30.83 average and his team a 7-5 victory.
Despite the men’s ‘A’ losing the overall 22-14 result went to the West Midlands to consolidate their number one position in the promotion table and extending their lead to 15 points over Dorset who have moved up into the number two spot.
Full Results:Division One:West Midlands v Humberside (22-14):West Midlands names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Daniel Nicholls 4 Lee Blakey 1, Neil Pointon 2 Reece Robinson 4, Mark Craddock 1 Robbie Lickiss 4, Trevor Brennon 3 Shaun Rutter 4, Danny Coyle 1 Gavin Lewis 4, Shaun Carroll 4 Mike Atkinson 2, Ian Jones 3 Craig Owens 4, Paul Wells 4 Trevor Carlill 0, Owen Maiden 4 Karl Corcoran 3, Gavin Baker 2 Joshua Lowthorpe 4, Mick Baker 4 Daryn Gray 1, Glen McGrandle 0 David Ladley 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Justin Evans 4 Leon Bailey 3, Shane Price 4 Trevor Holtby 2, Mathew Moore 4 Lee Parish 3, Dave Redding 4 Lewis McGuigan 3, Gareth Johnston 1 Robbie Smith 4, Matthew Coleman 4 Michael York 0, Trevor Brennon 4 James Janney 3, Mark Rollinson 4 Stuart Limbert 0, Jamie Rollinson 4 Andy Wheeler 1, Stephen Jones 4 Ricky Speroni 0, Phil O’Brien 0 Sam Hewson 4, Adam Edgar 2 Lee Smith 4, Women’s ‘A’:- Jacqueline Maiden 3 Wendy Dearing 0, Sarah Roberts 3 Melanie Robinson 2, Cheryl Alcock 3 Kim Fuller 0, Kath Jenkins 3 Michelle Britton 0, Kat McLean 3 Valerie Skidmore 1, Gemma Barrett 3 Christine Readhead 0, Women’s ‘B’:- Sophie Singh 3 Beckie Huntley 2, Stella Sims 1 Sue Bilby 3, Shellbie Simmons 0 Cheryl McCloughlin 3, Lynne Reynolds 0 Karen Helmore 3, Heather Wright 3 Bex Waterfall 1, Claire Hobbs 0 Jessica Shakesby 3.
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