2009-06-01

What a difference one game can make!!! Going into their last fixture of the season in division one of the BDO Inter Counties Championships West Midlands were in what appeared to be a comfortable sixth place in the table and they were bringing down the curtain with an away game against bottom but one in the table Cornwall, a game which on paper they should have been able to get something out of and consolidate their position on division one. That was not to be.
Saturday’s games saw the ladies ‘B’ suffer their second successive 6-0 whitewash. Liz Arnold opened up and won the first leg of the match against Sally Van Evelingen. The second leg could have gone either way but Liz missed her doubles and Sally stepped in with a two darts 35 finish to square the game. From there on in it was the home player who took command, two double sixteen game shots and two legs of 28 darts saw her win 3-1. Jacqui Simmons (West Midlands) also won the first leg in her tie with Sandra Yendle and although Sandra levelled in the second Jacqui went ahead again in the third. Both players struggled to find a finishing double in the fourth leg until Sandra found double one to force a fifth and final leg. Nerves got the better of the West Midlands player in the decider and she still required 170 when Yendle hit double ten for a 302 win.
From 1-0 down to Cornwall’s Sarah Gill, Heather Wright fought back to lead 2-1, but then lost the following leg and even though she could have won the fifth, lost it and went down 3-2 to give the hosts a 3-0 lead. Backy Curnow chalked up the winning game in style as she defeated Gemma Poole in three straight legs. Missed doubles were again the story of the fifth game as Sarah Robbins lost by the odd leg to Tania Jenkin and then rounding off the 6-0 win was Tracey Hancock who with a 3-2 scoreline accounted for Natalie Harrison.
The men’s ‘B’ got off to a promising start as Viv Gould recorded a straight 3-0 win over Matthew Knowles, Ian Stanton beat Colin Richardson 3-1 and Mark Lloyd (26.65) finished on the right side of a 3-2 result against Paul Cook which included a great 151 game shot in the opening leg and a match award at the end of the day.
Game four saw Cornwall earn their first stripe, Lance Beckerley beating Richard Foster 3-2, but the cheers were short lived for the hosts as Matthew Dicken, in anther five legs affair got the better of Michael Smith to give West Midlands a 4-1 advantage. It was at this point that the game began to swing in favour of the home side. Simon May won 3-0 against Martin Angell, Malcolm Johns and Brian Jones each won 3-2 against respective opponents Peter Edmunds and Dean Stewart and giving Cornwall the lead for the first time in the match David Copplestone chalked up a 3-1 win over Shane Price.
From 4-1 up to 5-4 down, West Midlands now needed wins to stay in the hunt and that was what they got from Martin Tibbetts. Martin went one up against Graham Elliott and despite Elliott winning the second leg, Tibbetts went on to win 3-1 to level the match at 5-5. Cornwall’s Ian DeRosa assured his team mates of at the worst a share of the spoils when he beat Eddie Price 3-0 in the penultimate game and then with a 3-1 success from John Mann over Paul Price in the last encounter the 7-5 result went to Cornwall.
Sunday’s ladies game, similar to Saturday did not get off to a very good start as the home team stormed into an unassailable 4-0 lead. Nicola Furse started the rout with her 3-0 win over Kim Fellows. Sue Shepherd made it 2-0 when she accounted for Claire Hobbs with a 3-2 result after trailing 2-0. A draw was guaranteed as early as the third game when Teresa Brookshaw beat Sarah Robbins 3-0 and Cornwall’s win was confirmed in the next game as Angie Bird came back from 1-0 down to Kath Jenkins to win 3-1.
West Midlands first, and as it proved to be their only reply came in the penultimate game. Leanne Jennings, winner of five previous lady of the match awards this season chalked up a 3-1 win over Jane Cummings and her 21.63 average coupled with the fact that she turned out to be the ‘A’ teams only winner for the second consecutive match earned her the top lady award. The final game saw Annie Lane beat Lisa Astbury 3-0 to give Cornwall a 5-1 victory.
The men’s ’A’ with one win, four draws and three defeats were hoping to end the season on a high and Avtar Singh began on the right lines to achieve that as he beat Daniel May 3-1. Sean Johns (Cornwall) was made to fight all the way to his 3-2 win by Ian Hartland, but his team mate, Michael Jones had a much easier passage as he defeated Dean Stewart in three straight legs.
Nicky Bache was in fine form as he put West Midlands back on level terms with his neat 3-0 success over Kevin Davey, but parity lasted for a very short time as Kevin DeRosa restored the home side’s lead with a 3-0 win against Andy Forrester who had struggled on his finishing doubles.
The match was squared once more when Richard Foster beat Steve Wilson 3-2. Richard won the opening two legs only to see his opponent win the following two. The decider was touch and go but Foster kept his cool and found double twenty after Wilson had failed to find his finishing double. Game number seven saw the Midlanders take the lead for the first time since the opening game. Peter Wyse was in top form, he won the first leg against Neil Meneer in 15 darts and followed that with a great 13 darts leg hitting 81, 100, 140, 140 and checked out on double twenty. Despite further top shots of 100 and 140 in the third leg Meneer won it with a 56 outshot after Wyse had left himself on double eleven. With first throw advantage and another 100 and 140 Peter Wyse took the lead in the fourth leg and with his nineteenth dart found double sixteen to record a 3-1 and a 30.49 average to earn him the man of the match award.
At 4-3 up the West Midlands then had their best run of the match, Ian Jones twice took the lead against Steve Pascoe before he won the game 3-2. In the deciding leg Jones kicked off with a maximum and with a further 100 he left himself on double six after 15 darts. It took another two visits to the oche before Jones finally put the game to bed with his counterpart left nursing double ten. Taking the score along to 6-3 was Chris Plumpton. In double quick time Chris opened a 2-0 lead over Terry Webber and although Webber won the third leg Plumpton, with 2×140 and a 100 won the fourth for a 3-1 win.
It was now looking good for a West Midlands win, but once again fortunes changed Adrian Lamerton began the fight back for the hosts with a 3-1 success over Mark Rollinson. Next on for the home team was Simon McClary and his opponent, Martin Angell. The first leg could have gone either way, Angell having first throw at a finishing double, but it was McClary, with a 6-3 checkout that won the leg. McClary then went on to win 3-0 with Angell left on 60 and 80 in the last two legs.
Just one game to play and West Midlands still held a 6-5 lead, everything rested on the fina game of the weekend between Simon Stevenson and Lol Frazer. In 19 and 18 darts Stevenson went 2-0 up to put Cornwall within an ace of earning a draw. Frazer clawed one back in the third leg but it proved to be a sort delay to the eventual win by Stevenson who won the fourth on double eight for his 3-1 victory and a 6-6 draw for his team.
So a 24-12 win for Cornwall which saw them race up the promotion table from bottom but one to finish third. For West Midlands it was a different and sad tale that saw them go from sixth place to ninth and join Hertfordshire in being relegated to division two.