2001-09-26

Warwickshire travelled south to the capital last weekend to take on London in the first of the new seasons fixtures in the premier division of the BDO Inter Counties Championships. The ladies ‘B’ team got the match off to a good start when they defeated their counterparts 4-2, thanks to wins from Denise Burke, Pat Thornton, Sue Deery and Viki Franklin. A 3-0 success over Doris Stansbury gave Pat Thornton (18.11) the trophy for the ‘B’ team’s top player.
The men’s ‘B’ surrendered a 3-0 lead to go into the break all square at three each, second on Scott Mitton taking the match award with a 27.33 average. Tom Ryan and Steve White won the opening two games of the second half to give Warwickshire a 5-3 advantage. However, the hosts fought back in the shape of Tony Behan, Ian Nicholls and John Saunders to leave the result hinging on the final game. Mick Bagley kept his cool and his 3-2 win over Steve McHale gave his side a share of the spoils.
The ladies ’A’ pressed home their superiority and chalked up a great 6-0 whitewash, with wins from Lesley Newcombe, Trina Gulliver, Debbie McPherson, Caroline Pike, Cheryl Jackson and Clare Bywaters. Trina Gulliver carried on where she left off from the last two seasons by taking the match award with an impressive 28.90 average.