Hertfordshire v West Midlands
After relegation from the premier division of the BDO Inter County Championships last season West Midlands have had a fantastic start to their campaign in division one rattling off four straight wins and the odds were that their fifth fixture would be more of the same as despite playing away their hosts were next to bottom of the table Hertfordshire.
Coming off the back of two defeats the ladies ‘B’ were hoping to return to the form they showed in the opening two games of the season when they won both. After making her return to county darts in the previous fixture Lynne Reynolds was first on for the Midlanders and gave her team mates the ideal start as she handed her opponent Grace Aken a straight 3-0 defeat. Jo Kitchen was quick to reply for the home side as she cancelled out Lynne’s win with a 3-1 success against Stella Sims.
Jodie Alligan looked well on the way to giving the home team the lead in the third when she won the first two legs against Sophie Singh but Sophie hung on in there and went on to win 3-2 to clinch her second successive match award with a 20.46 average.
Once again West Midlands lead didn’t last long as in the very next encounter Louise Pearson despite being pegged back to level terms twice by Heather Wright won the final leg for a very close 3-2 victory.
Game number five was no different to the previous four with the result once again going with the first throw advantage as Shellbie Simmons (West Midlands) after losing the first leg to Sue Jordan went on to win 3-1 to leave the result all depending on the final game.
Last on for Hertfordshire was Linda Reed and for West Midlands Debbie Davies. The first leg went to Debbie Davies with Linda Reed winning the next two. Davies made it all square in the fourth but it was the home player that won the fifth leg for a 3-2 win to take the final score to three each.
With three wins and a draw West Midlands men’s ‘B’ have been enjoying a good season so far and their games against Hertfordshire looked as though they would extend that unbeaten run as Matthew Coleman put them one up with a straight 4-0 win over Jim Daley and then Mark Rollinson after going 3-0 up against Nick Swain and being pegged back to 3-3 won the deciding leg to make it 2-0 to the away side.
Taking the score to 3-0 was West Midlands man of the match Mathew Moore who had a 4-0 win over Gary Webb in 22,21,23 and 17 darts to give him a 24,14 average. The charge continued in the fourth when Scott Hall opened up a 2-0 lead over Mark Coy then lost the third leg but won the fourth with a 115 game shot in eighteen darts and rounded off his 4-1 win with another 18 darts leg.
Hertfordshire got their first winner in the fifth when Mark Spriggs beat Justin Evans 4-1 and with a 4-3 win for Martin Kingsley over Gareth Johnson the score at the halfway point in the match was 4-2 to West Midlands.
The second half turned out to be one-way traffic and all in Hertfordshire’s favour as Lee White kicked off with a 4-0 win over Kirk Harrison, and then Ian Clarkson, Anthony Hammond, Eron Walkes and Jonatahn Creed in turn all won 4-3 against Benjamin Hollowood, Alfie Jacques, Martin Greenwood and Gareth Watts to give the host a somewhat surprising 8-4 win.
The ladies ‘A’ were on a roll as after their opening day defeat at the hands of the Cambridgeshire ladies they have since won two and drawn one. The match began with Rebecca Farmer (Hertfordshire) winning the first leg against Jacqueline Maiden but Jacqueline responded in the best possible way by winning the next three legs for a 3-1 victory.
The score moved nicely along to 2-0 when for the third time this season Sarah Roberts won the lady of the match award as she went 1-0 up against Kirsty Bond, lost the second then added wins in 21 and 18 darts for a 3-1 win with a super 24.87 average.
Danielle Fry reduced the arrears for the hosts as she went two up against Kat McLean, lost the third and then won the fourth for a 3-1 victory, however the win was put beyond Hertfordshire’s reach when Gemma Barrett made it 3-1 to the visiting team with a 3-2 win over Debbie Jones after Jones had opened 1-0 and 2-1 leads.
A win or draw for West Midlands was now all dependant on last player Kath Jenkins who faced up to Tina Neylon. Tina won the first leg Kath the second but with wins in the next two legs it was Tina Neylon who got the 3-1 result to earn her team a share of the spoils with a final 3-3 draw.
The men’s ‘A’ began their season with two consecutive 8-4 results both in the favour but then it went a little pear-shaped as they suffered two narrow 7-5 defeats. Hoping to get back onto winning ways they began with a win from Glen McGrandle who won the first leg against Paul Squirrell and then lost the second. McGrandle quickly restored his advantage when he won the third in 20 darts and followed that with a winning 22 darts leg. It was all over in the fifth when Glen McGrandle wrapped up his 4-1 win with a superb 113 outshot.
Trevor Brennon (West Midlands) went one down to Joe Croft but with wins in the next four legs in 20,21,20 and 16 darts won 4-1 to put West Midlands two up. Gavin Baker was pegged back to level terms twice by Bradley Clarke but won the tie 4-2 and with a 4-0 win for Paul Wells over Lloyd Wintle the West Midlands men’s ‘A’ team, like their ‘B’ side had opened up a 4-0 lead.
Again similar to the ‘B’ game the score at the break was 4-2 as Lee Marlow beat Neil Pointon 4-3 and John Blair won 4-2 against Ian Jones.
It certainly appeared that history was going to repeat itself as Adam Pinnuck beat Benjamin Hollowood 4-0, Ricky Howard won 4-1 against Matthew Coleman and Kieron Brignell got the 4-1 result in his tie with Mark Craddock but fortunately it changed in the tenth game when Scott Baker after having leads of 1-0 and 2-1 cancelled out by Peter Mays won the decider for a close 4-3 win to take the score to 5-5.
With just two more to play it took a man of the match display from Owen Maiden to assure West Midlands of at the worst a draw. Maiden in 13 and 19 darts plus a 14 darts leg with a 117 finish rounded off his straight 4-0 win in 17 darts to give him a tremendous 31.31 average.
The last game of the day and weekend saw Daniel Varney go 3-0 up against Gareth Johnston and although Johnston won the fourth in 17 darts a win for Varney in the fifth gave him the 4-1 result to make the final score all square at 6-6.
The overall result was a somewhat surprising 20-16 to Hertfordshire but the defeat for West Midlands was not as harmful as it could have been as divisional leaders Cheshire lost 21-15 away to London so the actual deficit for the Midlands side was halved and reduced to just one point. Meantime London’s win as seen them move up two places to third and as put them within nine points of West Midlands. West Midlands final two games of the season are at home to London and away to Cheshire should be a very interesting run-in.
Full Results:Hertfordshire v West Midlands (20-16):Hertfordshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Paul Squirrell 1 Glen McGrandle 4, Joe Croft 1 Trevor Brennon 4, Bradley Clark 2 Gavin Baker 4, Lloyd Whintle 0 Paul Wells 4, Lee Marlow 4 Neil Pointon 3, John Blair 4 Ian Jones 2, Adam Pinnuck 4 Benjamin Hollowood 0, Ricky Howard 4 Matthew Coleman 1, Kieron Brignell 4 Mark Craddock 1, Peter Mays 3 Scott Baker 4, Martin Kingsley 0 Owen Maiden 4, Daniel Varney 4 Gareth Johnston 1, Men’s ‘B’:- Jim Daley 0 Matthew Coleman 4, Nick Swain 3 Mark Rollinson 4, Gary Webb 0 Mathew Moor 4, Mark Coy 1 Scott Hall 4, Mick Spriggs 4 Justin Evans 1, Martin Kingsley 4 Gareth Johnston 3, Lee White 4 Kirk Harrison 0, Tommy Aken 4 Danny Coyle 1, Ian Clarkson 4 Benjamin Hollowood 3, Anthony Hammond 4 Alfie Jacques 3, Eron Walkes 4 Martin Greenwood 3, Jonathan Creed 4 Gareth Watts 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Rebecca Farmer 1 Jacqueline Maiden 3, Kirsty Bond 1 Sarah Roberts 3, Danielle Fry 3 Kat McLean 1, Debbie Jones 2 Gemma Barrett 3, Louise Pearson 3 Cheryl Alcock 1, Tina Neylon 3 Kath Jenkins 1, Women’s ‘B’:- Grace Aken 0 Lynne Reynolds 3, Jo Kitchen 3 Stella Sims 1, Jodie Alligan 2 Sophie Singh 3, Louise Pearson 3 Heather Wright 2, Sue Jordan 1 Shellbie Simmons 3, Linda Reed 3 Debbie Davies 2.
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West Midlands v Oxfordshire
To keep their promotion hopes on track in division one of the BDO Inter County Championships West Midlands needed to make a quick recovery after a somewhat surprising defeat away to next to bottom of the divisional table Hertfordshire and that is exactly what they did in their home tie with Oxfordshire.
The ladies ‘B’ after beginning the campaign with two wins then had two defeats and in their fixture with Oxfordshire made it two successive draws.
Heather Wright found herself trailing 2-0 to Emma Everett in the opener but she stood her ground and after drawing level in the fourth then wrapped up a 3-2 win with a super 120 game shot.
Unfortunately from one up the home side then went 2-1 down as Nicola Curzon won 3-2 against Debbie Davies and Barbara Manning beat Sophie Singh 3-1 after Sophie had gone 1-0 up.
Shellbie Simmons levelled the game with a straight 3-0 win over Allyson Thomson and with another 3-0 success for Shannon Hall over Catherine Birch West Midlands had taken the lead once again as they were then in an unbeatable 3-2 position.
The final game was all about finishing doubles as Lynne Reynolds (West Midlands) went one up against Caroline Caldicott and after both players had had throws for their doubles found herself trailing 2-1. Lynne fought back to level at 2-2 but again in the deciding leg it was all down to the final double which Caldicott got for a very close 3-2 win to give a final result of 3-3.
With three wins one draw and just the one defeat the men’s ‘B’ are having quite a decent season and that was about to get even better.
Rhys Kerry (Oxfordshire) won the first leg of the opener against Stephen Jones in 16 darts only to see Jones reply with three winning legs in a row in 15,21 and 20 darts to lead 3-1. Kerry pulled one back in the fifth in 21 darts but a win in the sixth gave Jones the 4-2 result. Mark Rollinson doubled the hosts lead when he beat Stephen Pearce 4-3 after Pearce had taken leads of 1-0 and 3-1.
Oxfordshire got their first winner in the third encounter when Graham Earwicker won 4-2 against Shane Price and then with a 4-3 win for Darren Hammond over Gareth Watts the match was levelled at two each.
Dave Redding (West Midlands) was in fine form as he handed out a 4-0 defeat to Rob Adnams, Redding checking out on 125 in 18 darts in the third leg. By the end of the first half the home team had opened up a 4-2 lead as Adam Edgar added his 4-1 win over Pete Smith to their tally.
Danny Coyle gave the home side a winning start to the second half as he beat Liam Gregor 4-3 and with a 4-0 win for Gareth Johnston against Stephen Wright plus a 4-3 win from Scott Hall over Andrew Quinn West Midlands had reached the winning post leading 7-2.
Mark Craddock after winning the first leg against Mark Laverack was unable to go on and win the tie as Laverack got the 4-2 verdict, then with a 4-3 win for Daniel Smith over Jamie Rollinson Oxfordshire had doubled their number of winners and reduced the arrears to 7-4.
The final game of the day produced the home team’s man of the match in the form of Alfie Jacques. Jacques actually lost the first leg to Adam Bowman but then romped to a 4-1 win with winning legs of 15,17,17 and 16 darts to give him an award winning average of 27.74 and in the process give West Midlands the 8-4 win.
The ladies ‘A’ began brightly as lady of the match Shannon Hall got the ball rolling with her 3-0 success over Cali Birch, Shannon taking the team award for her 15.66 average. Extending the lead to 2-0 was Jacqueline Maiden, who like Hall also recorded a straight 3-0 win in her encounter with Jaine Telling.
Gemma Barrett had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 against Deta Hedman but the experienced Hedman levelled in the fourth with a 120 game shot and then went on to win 3-2.
Kath Jenkins made sure her team would get at least a share of the points when she won 3-2 against Kim Ledbury but the match was taken to a deciding sixth game when in the penultimate encounter Denise Pape won 3-0 against Kat McLean to keep Oxfordshire in the game.
The final game saw Cheryl Alcock (West Midlands) open up a 2-0 lead against Gina Freshwater with Freshwater unable to reach a finishing double in either leg, but despite that the Oxfordshire player won the following two legs to force a decider which could have gone to either player as both struggled with their doubles, however it was Cheryl Alcock who eventually got the all-important double one to seal a very close 3-2 win and give her team a 4-2 victory.
It was a good first half for the men’s ‘A’ team as Justin Evans kicked off with a 4-3 in over Preben Krabben after Krabben had gone 2-0 and 3-2 up. A 4-1 win for long-serving West Midlands man Ian Jones and also a similar result for Paul Wells over respective opponents Steve Dennett and Lennon Craddock took the home sides lead to 3-0 and making it 4-0 with a win over Simon Key was Stephen Jones. Jones went 1-0 and 2-1 up before trailing 3-2 but a 110 finish in the sixth plus a win in the seventh gave him the 4-3 verdict.
Tom Baughan was Oxfordshire’s first winner in the fifth game as he won 4-0 against Owen Maiden but by the break and with a 4-2 win from Trevor Brennon against Jon Jukes the West Midlands had a rather comfortable 5-1 lead.
Oxfordshire had a better start to the second half as they recorded three wins in a row. Ade Larner kick starting the trio of wins with his 4-1 win over Michael Baker, he was then followed by Sean Holley who won 4-2 against Shaun Carroll and with Terry Wood beating Daniel Nicholls 4-3 the visitors were back in the game and trailing by just 5-4.
Taking the score along to 6-4 was Glen McGrandle who was in top form has he handed his counterpart Simon Tricker a straight 4-0 defeat in 16,22,10 and 21 darts. McGrandle’s third leg in TEN darts saw him chalk up scores of 140,180 and 145 before finding double eighteen with his tenth dart. Man of the match McGandle had a tremendous 29.04 average.
The win was not long awaited as Alfie Jacques added his 4-1 result over Peter Hall and with a further 4-2 success for Gavin Baker against Kevin Lowe the men’s ‘A’ team had emulated their ‘B’ side 8-4 win.
The overall score for the weekend was 23-13 to West Midlands and with Cheshire going down 22-14 away to Dorset West Midlands made a return to pole position with 139 points a lead of eleven over Cheshire who dropped to second place plus a thirteen point’s advantage over London in third place.
It should be a very interesting and testing run-in for West Midlands as in their last three fixtures they play away to bottom of the table Sussex and then have a home tie with London and round off their campaign playing away to Cheshire.
Full Results:West Midlands v Oxfordshire (23-13):West Midlands names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Justin Evans 4 Preben Krabben 3, Ian Jones 4 Steve Dennett 1, Paul Wells 4 Lennon Cradock 1, Stephen Jones 4 Simon Key 3, Owen Maiden 0 Tom Baughan 4, Trevor Brennon 4 Jon Jukes 2, Michael Baker 1 Ade Larner 4, Shaun Carroll 2 Sean Holley 4, Daniel Nicholls 3 Terry Wood 4, Glen McGrandle 4 Simon Tricker 0, Alfie Jacques 4 Peter Hall 1, Gavin Baker 4 Kevin Lowe 2, Men’s ‘B’:- Stephen Jones 4 Rhys Kerry 2, Mark Rollinson 4 Stephen Pearce 3, Shane Price 2 Graham Earwicker 4, Gareth Watts 3 Darren Hammond 4, Dave Redding 4 Rob Adnams 0, Adam Edgar 4 Pete Smith 1, Danny Coyle 4 Liam Gregor 3, Gareth Johnston 4 Stephen Wright 0, Scott Hall 4 Andrew Quinn 3, Mark Craddock 2 Mark Laverack 4, Jamie Rollinson 3 Daniel Smith 4, Alfie Jacques 4 Adam Bowman 1, Women’s ‘A’:- Shannon Hall 3 Cali Birch 0, Jacqueline Maiden 3 Jaine Telling 0, Gemma Barrett 2 Deta Hedman 3, Kath Jenkins 3 Kim Ledbury 2, Kat McLean 0 Denise Pape 3, Cheryl Alcock 3 Gina Freshwater 2, Women’s ‘B’:- Heather Wright 3 Emma Everett 2, Debbie Davies 2 Nicola Curzon 3, Sophie Singh 1 Barbara Manning 3, Shellbie Simmons 3 Allyson Thomson 0, Shannon Hall 3 Catherine Birch 0, Lynne Reynolds 2 Caroline Caldicott 3.
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