2000-07-01

Another BDO Inter Counties season comes to an end and for the West Midlands what a long and arduous season it has been. Nevertheless I am always being told that every cloud has a silver lining. (Personally, after being unemployed and looking desperately for a new job for the last twelve months without success, I find this very difficult to believe). For the West Midlands this is true, as they managed to retain their division two status and that is where they will begin next seasons campaign.
In their final fixture of the season West Midlands travelled north to take on middle of the table Cumbria. It is fair to say that the ladies have had better seasons, especially the ‘B’ side who have completed their fixture card without recording a single win, not even a draw. They have had 4 x 6-0 defeats, 2 x 5-1 and 3 x 4-2. The Cumbria game saw them go down 6-0, Rachel Morrill, Laura Tweedale, Dawn Stevenson, Anita Ward, Sharon Hodgson and Judith Bell all winners for the hosts.
Mark Wellings got the men’s ‘B’ match underway, beating his counterpart Graham Sterling in three straight legs. Martin Tibbetts was unable to add to the tally when he lost 3-1 to Bill Hoskins. Restoring the West Midlands lead was man of the match Steve Penwright (26.37) who in double quick time accounted for George Moore. Adrian Hammersley and Steve Brindley increased the lead with respective wins over Keith Clark 3-2 and Graham Forrest 3-0. Alan Butler pulled one back for Cumbria with his 3-0 win against Mick Littleford to keep the home side in the hunt at 4-2 down at the halfway mark.
The second spell was a huge West Midlands success story with only one Cumbria representative managing to win more than one leg. Jonathon Platt and Frank Johnson in turn had 3-1 wins over Gary Clamp and Mike Bewes. Sean Miles (Cumbria) took Peter Hadley the full five legs distance, but it was the latter who got the all important fifth leg and in the process chalking up a match winning 7-2 margin for the away team.
Nick Walters continued the good work with his 3-1 success against Stuart Mossom and with similar wins from Ron Johnson and Vic Lloyd over Ian Muttleworth and Martyn Vaughan the final score was a resounding 10-2 victory for the West Midlands.
Sundays games opened up with the ladies. Angie Perry began the match going two legs up on Michelle Johnson. Johnson pegged Angie back to level terms but it was the Midlander who got the 3-2 result. The home team then moved up a gear and rattled off three wins in a row supplied by Barbara Lee, Ann Jenkinson and Pam Hind at the expense of Rose Mycock, Gill Cook and Sue Smith.
For the fourth time this season Diane Tolley turned on a lady of the match show. With her team trailing 3-1 a win was imperative and she came up trumps. Diane took a 2-0 lead against Chrissy Howatt only to see her opponent draw level at two each. Howatt, on her second visit to the oche notched a maximum. Undeterred Tolley stuck to her task and with scores of 140 and 100 plus a 70 checkout clinched a 3-2 win. Claire Downing was now fighting to earn a draw. She won the first leg only to see Angela Johnson storm back to win the following three legs to win 3-1 and win the match for her team mates 4-2.
The men’s ‘A’ game began with a defeat for Tony Walker. Despite a 110 game shot in the second leg Walker went down 3-1 to Peter Gale. Squaring the match was former Scottish international Steve Parkes who although pegged back to level terms after leading 2-0 won the tie when he found double eighteen with his sixteenth dart in the deciding fifth leg. Colin Davies had a similar encounter with Steve Bownett. Davies won the first two legs, Bownett the next two and Davies the decider to give the West Midlands a 2-1 lead.
Gary Simpson’s 3-1 win over Joe Biggs put the home team on level terms but their joy was short lived as Mick James recorded a 3-1 success against Peter Manley to edge West Midlands in front once more. Andy Foden took the lead twice against Adrian Arnold before eventually beating him 3-2 to level the match once more.
What better way to begin the second session than with a man of the match performance supplied by Ian Jones. Playing against Brian Stedman, the pair put on a terrific display of darts. Jones took the opening leg in 17 darts, Stedman reacted with a similar 17 darts leg and then went ahead in 11 hitting 140-180-97 and finishing on 84. He then had an opportunity to clinch the match when he threw for double nine and missed giving Jones the chance to steal which he did in 16 darts on double ten. With the first throw advantage plus a maximum in that first visit to the oche, Jones effectively got his nose in front and that is how it stayed as he secured the leg on double five in 16 darts together with game.
Avtar Singh’s 3-0 victory over Alan Sanderson put the Midlands team 5-3 up, but then the hosts turned up the heat. David Platt lost 3-1 to Steve Armstrong and Gary Taylor, was taken out in straight legs by Mark Storey to level the scoreline yet again. Cumbria looked all set to win again when in the penultimate game Richard Smith opened up a 2-0 lead over Tom Aldridge. He was well on course for the third leg after scores of 140-100-180 and 69 to leave double six. Aldridge with two tons and a 140 had got down to 76. Two darts were all he required to win the leg. Smith forged ahead again in the fourth leg and worked himself down to double sixteen. Aldridge had only managed one three figure score but more than made up for that when he produced a magnificent 161 checkout to force a fifth leg. Once again the Cumbria player kept his nose in front all the way down to a finish. Requiring 207 he scored 100, Aldridge then put the pressure on him by hitting 139 to leave 30. Smith then muffed a 107 checkout and in stepped Aldridge with double fifteen first dart to win 3-2.
With the score at 6-5 to the West Midlands, the result now hinged on the last game between Dave Hirst (Cumbria) and Paul Johnson. Hirst got the better start going two up in 13 and 18 darts. Johnson bounced back with 13 and 19 darts leg to push the match to it’s limit’s, and then secured his and his teams win with a 20 darts leg.
The man’s ‘A’ had a great season, their win over Cumbria confirming them as champions of their division with 66 points, five more than their nearest rivals Cumbria. In their nine outings they recorded seven wins, one draw and only one defeat, away to Berkshire in March.
Let’s hope that the men can keep their act going in the forthcoming season and if the ladies can string together a few wins, who knows perhaps this time next year I will be writing about their promotion to division one.