Derbyshire v Cornwall
In the latest round of Riley’s BDO Inter County Championship games in division one Derbyshire entertained table topping Cornwall, after the abandonment of the away game against Gwent due to the severe weather conditions the home side requiring a positive result to lift them away from the foot of the table.
Saturday saw the ladies ‘B’ get off to a flyer going 3-0 up with wins from Rachel Ayres, Louise Rawson, who was playing her first game after becoming a mother, and Kelly Dean (21.47), who claimed her second successive lady of the match award with a 3-0 win over Gina Jeffrey. Unfortunately Cornwall then stepped up a gear and wins from Claire Irons, Carla Ruberry and Tracey Hancock saw the game finish all square at 3-3.
Dougie Walker mad a successful debut for the men’s ‘B’ beating Neil Dudbridge 3-1 with a 20.89 average. The visitors bounced back with three in a row thanks to Danny May, Robert Ruberry and Simon Stevenson.
Young Aden Kirk had a solid game winning 3-1 with a 25.77 average in his tie with Shaun Burden and with a further 3-2 win from Danny Thomas (24.01) over Darryl Baker the match was once again at level terms, 3-3.
John Clifford was another Derbyshire debutant and despite his fine performance which gave him a 25.94 average he went down 3-0 to Cornwall’s man of the match Malcolm Johns (26.84). The away side then went 5-3 up with another 3-0 success from Steven Thomas over Paul Jones. Ilkeston’s Matt Padgett beat Richard Craddock 3-1 with a great 26.16 average and a fantastic 167 outshot to reduce the arrears to 5-4, only to see the visitors seal victory with two in a row from Andrew Durston and Mathew Knowles.
The last game saw the ‘B’ team’s most consistent player, Rob Wood take on Chris Gill. Rob, with the help of a maximum made it four wins in a row beating Gill 3-1 and averaging 27.40 to take the match award and make the final score a little more respectable, 7-5 in Cornwall’s favour.
The ladies ‘A’ got off to a fine start, Buxton’s Steph Allerton opening up with a 3-1 win over Sue Shepherd and followed by Rachel Bird, who beat Pauline Mead 3-0. However, the game then suddenly turned on it’s heels and Cornwall raced into a 3-2 lead with wins from Sandra Allen, Teresa Brookshaw and Nicola Furse to leave the result hinging on the final game.
The outcome was in safe hands as Jane Densley, with tons galore recorded a 3-0 win over Anna Johnson, her 23.48 average winning her the lady of the match award and her win earning her team a share of the spoils.
With a couple of players unable to attend for the ‘A’ team Aden Kirk, after his fine performance the previous day was promoted to the ‘A’. He was drawn out at number one and although he had a 25.25 average, hit a 180 and had a 101 checkout he was unable to avoid a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Cornwall’s man of the match Simon McClary (28.25).
Reece Spurr battled all the way in his game with Paul Cook but eventually lost 4-3 despite having a better average than his opponent, Reece averaged 26.79 to Cook’s 25.84. Adie Asprey reduced the deficit with a 4-2 win against Michael Jones before Derbyshire’s man of the match Phil Henshaw stepped up to the oche, where he beat Adrian Lamenton in four straight legs to claim the £100 award with his 28.63 average.
With the match all level at 2-2 Cornwall went ahead again, this time it was Kevin Bray who won 4-1 and in the process handed out Daz Brown’s first defeat of the season. The hosts drew level once more, this time it was the 4-1 win from Pete Slater over John Mann that erased the away teams lead, but for the third time in the match it was the Cornish men who took the lead, Brian Jones beating Gary Fenn 4-2 to leave Derbyshire requiring four of the remaining games to snatch a win.
Dave Smith-Hayes began the fight back with a sweet 4-0 win over Simon May, Paul Bettney, in a seven legs thriller with Simon Knowles, won the decider to see the home team get their noses in front for the first time in the game at 5-4.
Two further 4-2 wins from Nigel Daniels and Alan Evans at the expense of Neil Meneer and Kevin Mitchell guaranteed a home win as the score reached 7-4 with one to play. The final game was between Mel Hopkins and David Copplestone (Cornwall), the latter getting the better of the 4-2 result.
So with a 7-5 win for the men’s ‘A’ the overall result was a very satisfactory 18-18 draw. Nevertheless, despite a very good result against top of the table opposition, Derbyshire are still left languishing too close to the foot of the table on 70 points, the same points as next to bottom County Durham, who Derbyshire will play next match, a real relegation battle.
Full results:
Men’s ‘A’:-
Aden Kirk 2 v 4 Simon McClary
Reece Spurr 3 v 4 Paul Cook
Adie Asprey 4 v 2 Michael Jones
Phil Henshaw 4 v 0 Adrian Lamenton
Daz Brown 1 v 4 Kevin Bray
Pete Slater 4 v 1 John Mann
Gary Fenn 2 v 4 Brian Jones
Dave Smith-Hayes 4 v 0 Simon May
Paul Bettney 4 v 3 Simon Knowles
Nigel Daniels 4 v 2 Neil Meneer
Alan Evans 4 v 2 Kevin Mitchell
Mel Hopkins 2 v 4 David Copplestone
Men’s ‘B:-
Dougie Walker 3 v 1 Neil Dudbridge
Alan Statham 0 v 3 Danny May
Ant Parry 2 v 3 Robert Ruberry
Daz Sullivan 1 v 3 Simon Stevenson
Aden Kirk 3 v 1 Shaun Burden
Danny Thomas 3 v 2 Darryl Baker
John Clifford 0 v 3 Malcom Johns
Paul Jones 0 v 3 Steven Thomas
Matt Padgett 3 v 1 Richard Craddock
Frank Davis 1 v 3 Andrew Durston
Andy Houghton 1 v 3 Mathew Knowles
Rob Wood 3 v 1 Chris Gill
Ladies ‘A’:-
Steph Allerton 3 v 1 Sue Shepherd
Rachel Bird 3 v 0 Pauline Mead
Jackie Sweet 2 v 3 Sandra Allen
Tracey Johnson 2 v 3 Teresa Brookshaw
Jo Oldershaw 1 v 3 Nicola Furse
Jane Densley 3 v 0 Anna Johnson
Ladies ‘B’:-
Rachel Ayres 3 v 2 Tyrian Jesse
Louise Rawson 3 v 1 Sarah Gill
Kelly Dean 3 v 0 Gina Jeffrey
Sarah Quinn 0 v 3 Claire Irons
Dawn Buckley 1 v 3 Carla Ruberry
Nicky Fletcher 0 v 3 Tracey Hancock