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.
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The 2019 Brandon Open as ever attracted lots of top county and super league players with quality darts thrown throughout the various rounds.
The quarter finals produced some big wins for the semi-finals line-up as Tony Randell won 6-0 against Nick Jennings, there were 6-1 wins in turn for Luke Woodhouse and Nigel Heydon over Wayne Bowes and Jimmy Hill 6-1 and Ian McFarlane took out Richard Hosey with a 6-2 scoreline.
Once again the semis produced big wins as they both finished with a 6-1 margin with wins for Luke Woodhouse and Ian McFarlane who defeated respective opponents Nigel Heydon and Tony Randell.
In 14 and 17 darts Luke Woodhouse opened up a 2-0 lead in the best of eleven legs final only to see Ian McFarlane reply with two 21 darts legs to square the game. With 15 darts and a 108 finish in the fifth Woodhouse forged ahead again but the resilient McFarlane drew level for a second time with a 20 darts leg.
For a third time Luke Woodhouse took the lead when in the seventh leg he checked out in 17 darts but never-say-die McFarlane hit back once again with scores of 140,180,100 and 49 then a 32 finish to make it 4-4 in just 14 darts.
For his fourth lead of the game Woodhouse with an 85 game shot went 5-4 up and although his opponent left double ten off 114 it was Woodhouse in 18 darts that won the tenth leg and then wrapped up a 7-4 win in the final leg which took him just sixteen darts.
Kim Cooksley (Landlady), Luke Woodhouse (Winner) and Neil Pritchard (Organiser)
As champions Luke Woodhouse received £360 with runner-up Ian McFarlane picking up £160. There was £80 each for losing semi-finalists Nigel Heydon and Tony Randell while the players going out in the quarter-finals Wayne Bowes, Jimmy Hill, Nick Jennings and Richard Hosey had £40 each plus there was a further £10 to players losing in the last sixteen Dave Crombie, Jason Melly, Willie Burksfield, Peter Wright, Martin Hancox, Noel Grant, Steve Hine and Ian Jones.
Results:Last 64:Group One:- Dave Crombie 5 Johnny Adair 3, Kevin Bambrick 3 Wayne Bowes 5, Luke Woodhouse 5 Dave Pallett 1, Matt Meddoms 0 Steve Hine 5, Nigel Heydon 5 Martin Tonks 1, Steve Rowe 3 Jason Melly 5, James Woodhouse 2 Noel Grant 5, Mark Tennant 2 Jimmy Hill 5, Group Two:- Kev Wragg 1 Tony Randell 5, Craig Russell 5 Michael Lambert 0, Hayden Porter 5 Kev Woodward 3, Kevin Smith 5 Colin Osborne 3, Peter Wright 5 Chris Berry 1, Richard Hosey 5 Alan Thompson 0, Andre Louis 3 Michael Spencer 5, Mark Carter 5 Chloe McKivett 0, Last 32:Group One:- Jason Mulligan 2 Dave Crombie 5, Wayne Bowes 5 Charlie Symons 1, Mark Craddock 4 Luke Woodhouse 5, Steve Hine 5 Matt Crowley 1, Graham Hall 2 Nigel Heydon 5, Jason Melly 5 Brian Jones 0, Martin Shaw 1 Noel Grant 5, Jimmy Hill 5 Steve Blewitt 4, Nigel Heydon 5 Jason Melly 1, Noel Grant 4 Jimmy Hill 5, Group Two:- Lee Golding 0 Tony Randell 5, Craig Russell 1 Willie Burksfield 5, Nick Jennings 5 Hayden Porter 3, Kevin Smith 3 Martin Hancox 5, Rich Franklin 4 Peter Wright 5, Richard Hosey 5 Rich Reading 0, Ian McFarlane 5 Michael Spencer 0, Mark Carter 4 Ian Jones 5, Last 16:Group One:- Dave Crombie 2 Wayne Bowes 5, Luke Woodhouse 5 Steve Hine 4, Group Two:- Tony Randell 5 Willie Burksfield 4, Nick Jennings 5 Martin Hancox 0, Peter Wright 1 Richard Hosey 5, Ian McFarlane 5 Ian Jones 4, Quarter Finals:- Wayne Bowes 1 Luke Woodhouse 6, Nigel Heydon 6 Jimmy Hill 1, Tony Randell 6 Nick Jennings 0, Richard Hosey 2 Ian McFarlane 6, Semi Finals:- Luke Woodhouse 6 Nigel Heydon 1, Tony Randell 1 Ian McFarlane 6, Final:- Luke Woodhouse 7 Ian McFarlane 4.
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On the local league scene The South Birmingham League staged the finals of their Edna Meek Memorial Cup and Rose Bowl Cup. The final of the Edna Meek Cup brought together the bottom two teams in Group One with Smithswood Social getting the 4-1 verdict over bottom placed C’s Arrows.
Edna Meek Memorial Cup Winners Smithswood Social
Edna Meek Memorial CupRunners-Up C’s Arrows
The Rose Bowl final saw Group Two champions C’s Top Guns put on a terrific display to win 4-3 against Centurion who finished the season as runners-up in Group One.
Rose Bowl Cup Winners C’s Top Guns
Rose Bowl Cup Runners-Up Centurion
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A 5-4 win over White Horse confirmed Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club champions of the Netherton Thursday Night League, the win taking the Ex Serviceman’s Club to 69 points from 25 games with two more to play.
A rearranged fixture saw Bulls Head win 6-3 against White Horse to overtake second placed Riddins Tavern and clinch the runners-up spot with still one more game to play, a tough one against league champions Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club
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The Brierley Hill Monday Night League staged their Singles Knockout with three of the last four games resulting in 2-0 scorelines, Justine Moss, Rob Rubery and John Colley in turn defeating Chris Smith, Howard Wakefield and Joe Poole. The other last four game went to a decider with Bob Weatherall beating Richard Jones 2-1.
The semi-finals saw Rubery once again win in straight legs as he took out Justine Moss while Bob Weatherall had a closer 2-1 success against John Colley.
Rob Rubery continued his fine form in the final going on to lift the winner’s silverware when he beat Bob Weatherall 3-1.
The Doubles Knockout title went to Dwayne Claridge and Reece Colley who defeated Phil Tonks and Darren Brown 3-1 in the final.
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The Rowley Monday Night League were engaged in their Singles Knockouts, first the Top Half event which saw Richie Lenton (Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’) claim the winners silverware when he defeated Mathew Tedstone (George) in the final.
The Shadow League winner was Dan Bourne (Three Diamonds) with Steve Hadley (Loyal Lodge) runner-up.
In the league title race Bell became champions going one better than last season when they were runners-up. They ended on a high with an 8-1 success over Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’ who finished fourth some sixteen points fewer than the top team. Last season’s winners George had to be satisfied with the runners-up spot this season, their final 8-1 win at Cottage leaving them six points short of Bell and taking the number two spot on average from Cradley Sports and Social who had the same 52 points after their 7-2 win at Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘B’.
The final of the league’s Bill Bishop brought together the league’s top two teams, champions The Bell and runners-up The George and that’s how the final finished with Bell the winners and George once again the bridesmaids.
The Challenge Cup title went to Three Diamonds who had a final win over Spring Meadow Club.
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The Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League played off their Singles Knockout and taking the crown with a final win over Brad Martin was Rye McCarthy in what was a somewhat one-sided final. Losing semi-finalists were Lee Sherwood, Dale Lancett with S.Norman, W.Hobday, T.Kennedy and T.Whitehouse all making their exits in the last eight.
The league also played off their Doubles Knockout and winning the title with a final win over Tipton Sports representatives Ray Messer and Mark Zambra were Mark Ashton and Scott King from league leaders The Vine.
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The winning trio for the Cradley Tuesday Night League’s 3 A-Side Knockout were Colin Bowen, Greig Billingham and Keith Morris who beat Netherton Sports and Social Club team mates Carl Davies, Steven Tipper and Jason Southall in the final.
In the league annual Christmas Knockout Steven Tipper (Netherton Sports and Social ‘A’) was the winner after beating team-mate Keith Morris in the final, losing semi-finalists were Abdul Galib (Roost) and Mitch Jeffreys also from the Roost.
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