2002-04-01

With four defeats and only one win under their belts in division three of the BDO Inter Counties Championships, the West Midlands travelled north to take on Humberside in the sixth of their nine-match season, desperately needing a result. However, the match could not have got off to a worse start.
The ladies ‘B’, without a win or draw this term suffered their heaviest defeat of the campaign. Ruth Ward opened up for the hosts with a 3-1 win over Lynette Pearce. Wendy Dearing went one better when she beat Val Arnold in a straight three legs victory. Making it 3-0 to the home side was Janice Wilcock, who 3-1 after Teresa had won the third leg with a 102 outshot.
Kath Marshall took advantage of missed doubles by Jean Tibbetts in the first leg and then went on to win 3-0 to put the scoreline at 4-0 and beyond the West Midlands reach. The bad news continued when Anne Fisher, after being pegged back to 1-1 by Sue Smith, made it 5-0 for Humberside. The rout was completed when Sylvia Boynton finished the 6-0 whitewash with her 3-1 success against Teresa Johnson, Teresa having won the previous two lady of the match awards.
The men’s ‘B’ were looking to bounce back from a 10-2 reversal against Cleveland. They too had a somewhat shaky start with Martin Tibbetts going down 3-2 to Derek Rhodes after leading 2-1 and Adrian Hammersley losing 3-1 to Steve Rhodes. Jonathon Platt stopped the rot when he recorded a straight 3-0 win over Martin Crowther. Then with a similar result, Viv Gould accounted for Kev Mooney to level the match at two each. Andrew Milton, with a 96 game shot went one up against John Chappell. He then doubled that advantage with a further win in the second leg. Chappell reduced the arrears by winning the third, only to see his opponent clinch the game with a 136 finish in the fourth leg. Not only did Milton win the game, he won the man of the match award for his 25.61 average, and at the same time gave the West Midlands a 3-2 lead.
Mick Lowthorpe (Humberside) opened up a 2-0 lead over Steve Penwright, but the Midlands man came back in style to draw level at 2-2. Unfortunately, Penwright failed on his finishing double in the decider and Lowthorpe stepped in with double ten to win 3-2 and make the scoreline all square at the halfway stage.
Fred Parsons got the second half off in the best possible way as he defeated Ian Swales 3-1 to give West Midlands the early lead. However, it was short lived. The home side’s Jim Lowthorpe, despite being taken the full distance by Joe Biggs eventually won the tie 3-2. It was then all downhill for the visiting team. Paul Bunting trailed 2-0 to Paul Johnson (West Midlands) and went on to win 3-2. Bernard Turner was 2-1 down to Roger Kinsella (West Midlands) and also won 3-2. Then Humberside’s Paul Epton, after losing the first leg to Frank Johnson fought back to snatch a 3-1 win to give his team an unassailable 7-4 lead. Vic Lloyd put up a brave fight for the Midlands side in the last encounter against Mike Harrison coming from 2-0 down to 2-2 only to lose the game in the decide. Harrison’s win giving the home team a final 8-4 win.
Angie Perry made it five consecutive match awards when she beat Ivy Borrill 3-1 in the first game of the ladies ‘A’ match. Angie had an 18.68 average. Claire Downing doubled West Midlands lead when she turned around a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 win. Then with a further 3-1 win from Janet Hubbard against Janet Stocks things were looking up for the ladies and their second win of the campaign looked most definitely on the cards.
Michelle Britton reduced the arrears for Humberside when she recorded a 3-0 win over an unusually below par Rose Mycock. Christine Readhead’s 3-0 win against Ann Jones left the result hinging on the final game between Jane Nicholson (Humberside) and Claire Hobbs. Claire won the opener but was unable to improve on that and her counterpart took the initiative and went on to win 3-1 to give Humberside an unexpected share of the spoils.
With the home team holding an overall lead of 17-7 the probability of a West Midlands win was very remote, the men’s ‘A’ having to 12-0 to achieve that situation. That probability became an impossibility as early as the second game. Paddy Johnson (West Midlands) beat Dave Brooks 3-2 in the first game, but Gary Taylor was unable to follow up his 111 checkout in the opening leg and Barry Noble took the game 3-1. Tony Howard added to Humberside’s tally with his 3-1 success at Jamie Parsons expense. Nick Walters had all sorts of problems with his finishing doubles and from what could easily have been a 3-0 win turned into a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Rob Kerrison, putting Humberside 3-1 up.
It required a man of the match performance from Avtar Singh to get the visitors back on the winning track. Singh was pushed all of the way by John Ingram; he won the first in 21 darts, Ingram the next in 16. The West Midlands Man forged ahead again in 15 darts, only yet again his opponent cancelled out his advantage, this time in 16 darts to leave the result resting delicately on the fifth and final leg. Ingram hit 123,100 and 100, while Singh did not hit a single three figure score. That was until his last throw, which saw him secure the leg and the game with a 129 game shot. Taking the match into the break Tom Aldridge made it 3-3 when he Beat Paul Taylor 3-1.
Mick Lidgett and Steve Brindley were involved in a high scoring game to kick off the second half, but it was the former who got the all important 3-2 verdict for Humberside. From that point on it was all West Midlands. Mick James lost the first to Jim Grayson but won the next three. Ade Arnold went from 1-0 down to Phil Davison to 2-1 up, then 2-2 and won 3-2. Darren Williams had no such worries as he rattled off a neat 3-0 win against Pete Leake. Ensuring a victory for the away side was Ian Jones. His 3-2 success against Craig Harrison moving the scoreline along to 7-4 and with anchor man Ian Hartland beating Steve Burwell 3-1 the final score was 8-4 in favour of the Midlanders, but unfortunately the overall result was yet another defeat.
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I was upset to hear of the sudden death of former West Midlands and Staffordshire County player Lionel Smith. For many years I played alongside Lionel in a West Midlands shirt and we also teamed up in a few doubles knockouts. In addition to playing in the same teams we often found ourselves squaring up against each other in some very enjoyable and entertaining encounters. Lionel was not only an excellant player but also more importantly a very good team player, one who would always encourage and spur on his team mates. He will be sadly missed throughout the darts circuit. I’m sure all players will join me in passing on condolencies to Lionel’s family.
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Congratulations to the Black Horse, Small Heath, marathon team, who together with Eric Bristow MBE raised in excess of £809 for the Princess Diana Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Debra. Eric took on and beat no less than 41 players, helping to swell the funds in the process.
The event was the brainchild of Graham Bird and Keith Stanley, but special thanks also go to John Hunt, Val Hudson, Sally Hudson and John Young who ensured that the event ran smoothly throughout. In addition the Black Horse management and staff who made sure everyone was kept fed and watered throughout the 24 hours marathon.
The actual team consisted of Graham Bird, Keith Stanley, Rob Sheldon, Eddie Burns, John Whittick, Mark Wyatt, Colin Wyatt, Patrick O’Sullivan, Peter Hannon, Mick Kerney, William Goldby and Damion McCourt.
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