2014-05-09

The penultimate fixture in division two of the Riley’s BDO Inter County Championships brought together Cleveland and Derbyshire in a top of the table clash which ultimately could decide who will get promotion to division one.
Saturday’s ‘B’ games produced joy and pain for both teams, for the ladies the hosts were always in command as Kate Livermore beat Dee Fenn 3-0 and Zoe Holland defeated Sara-Jane Harrison in a close 3-2 encounter.
Stephanie Allerton (Derbyshire) struggled a little in her opening leg against Molly Pywell and the leg could easily have gone to either player, but it was Stephanie who clinched it on double ten. The Derbyshire player then went on for a comfortable 3-0 win and a lady of the match average of 18.33.
Cleveland replied in the form of Vera Oliphant, who was the home side’s award winner beating Dawn Buckley 3-0 with a 19.27 average and putting he team 3-1 up.
For the third time in a row there was a 3-0 result, Rachel Bird winning against Elizabeth Knowles to keep the away team in with a chance of earning a draw. It was not to be Kelly Dean fought all the way but finishing doubles eluded her in all of the three legs she lost and Babs Evans took the 3-2 win to give Cleveland a 4-2 success.
As in the ladies ‘B’ game it was the home team who were first off the mark, Chris Swales giving them the early lead as he beat Richard Hanson 3-0. The advantage was quickly turned around as Darran Sinfield won a close 3-2 tussle with Collin Foxton and Alan Statham beat Graham Palmer by the same scoreline.
Another 3-0 result, but this time in Cleveland’s favour saw Peter Maw beat Robert Wood and with a 3-1 win from Michael Seaton against Doug Walker the home team were once again in the lead.
Robert Smith (Derbyshire) levelled the game when he won 3-0 against Mark Muckian and for a second time the visitors went ahead, this time it was a 3-1 win from Tim Rippon over David Scaum that took the score to 4-3. A 3-0 win from Jim Dunlop at the expense of Paul Jones restored parity, but Derbyshire’s never say die attitude saw them forge ahead yet again when Colin Rich beat Michael Evans 3-2 and with a man of the match performance from David Allcock) 27.56) in his 3-1 win over Anthony Lupton, the away team went within an ace of victory with a 6-4 lead.
Although David Hunter reduced the arrears for Cleveland when in the penultimate game he beat Ian Hannah 3-0, Christian Bradshaw made it 7-5 to Derbyshire with a final 3-1 success against Anthony Liddell to give an overall score on the of 9-9.
With the score all square to start Sunday’s games both teams had everything still to play for, suddenly that was about to change as the Cleveland ‘A’ team ladies set off at a terrific pace with wins from Claire Stainsby, Patricia Smith, Kate Livermore, Shirley Witten and Carla Boyes, who in turn defeated Jackie Sweet, Rachel Ayres, Kirsty Handford, Jane Densley and Louise Rawson to give them a 5-0 lead and put the game beyond Derbyshire reach.
On at number six for Derbyshire was the ever reliant Joanne Oldershaw. Joanne lost the first leg to Gail Carhart, but won the second in 20 darts. She then went ahead with an 18 darts leg including a superb 112 checkout, leaving her opponent nursing 36.
Carhart hit 3×100 in the fourth leg and left double ten after 21 darts however, Oldershaw, whose top scores were 100 and 123 found double ten with her twenty second dart for a 3-1 win and an award winning 21.69 average.
The men’s ‘A’ now required a massive 9-3 win for maximum overall points. The game followed the same pattern as all of the weekend games, whereby Cleveland won the opening game. It was Glen Durrant who got the hosts first strike on the board when he won 4-2 against Gary Fenn. Robert Needham was quick to stop the rot as he and his opponent John Quantock were involved in a high scoring seven legs thriller with Quantock recording a total of 14 scores of a ton or more and Needham going one better with 15.
Needham went 2-0 up in 15 and 16 darts and could easily have been 3-0 up but narrowly missed his double in the third and let Quantock in to check out on 58 in 20 darts.
The fourth leg was by far the best leg of the weekend, Needham kicked off with scores of 121, 83 and 140 to leave 157, which with his next visit to the oche he promptly put to bed for a fantastic twelve darts leg and a 3-1 lead.
John Quantock then began his fight back, he won the fifth in 16 darts and although he could have lost the next leg and the game when Needham had a throw for a 41 finish and failed he won it with double twenty in nineteen darts to level the game at 3-3.
Although his opponent had first throw advantage in the final leg Robert Needham stuck to his task and with a 58 finish he clinched not only a 4-3 win in eighteen darts, but also the man of the match award with his 29.30 average. Quantock was left without a throw for the same 58 as Needham had checked out on.
Taking the score along to 3-1 was Reece Spurr, a 4-2 win against Brian Henderson. Game five saw Cleveland record their second winner, Glenn Brooksbank beating Tony Cresswell 4-0, but Derbyshire’s two games buffer was restored in the very next game when John Clifford won 4-2 in his tie with Simon Craven.
The home team then produced their best run of the match, three wins in a row supplied by Dennis Coleman, Scott Chatterton and Allan Edwards, who in turn defeated Adrian Asprey, Nigel Daniels and Peter Slater to give them a 5-4 lead, the first time they had been in front since the opening game, but more importantly for both teams it meant that Cleveland had then gained an overall 19-14 unassailable lead.
David Smith-Hayes (Derbyshire) went 1-0 down and 2-1 up against Richard Corner, before being taken to a final leg for his 4-3 win. Peter Frewer (Cleveland) assured his team mates of at least a share of the spoils when he won 4-0 against David Allcock in the penultimate game, but the honours were shared at the end of the game as Derbyshire’s Paul Mellor beat Tony Eccles 4-1 to make it 6-6.
The overall result was a 20-16 win for Cleveland, which took them up one place in the promotional table to pole position with 181 points, three more than former leaders Somerset, who could only manage an 18-18 draw away to Suffolk. Derbyshire remain in third place, but on 170 points, eight adrift of a promotion spot.
The final games will see Derbyshire with a home tie against Northamptonshire, who are just three places off the bottom of the table, while Somerset, also playing at home will take on Leicestershire, who are just below Northamptonshire and Cleveland will travel to the West Midlands, who have 164 points lying in fifth place in the table.
Full results:Men’s ‘A’ (Cleveland names first):- Glen Durrant 4 Gary Fenn 2, John Quantock 3 Robert Needham 4, Peter Maw 1 Stephen Pashley 4, Brian Henderson 2 Reece Spurr 4, Glenn Brooksbank 4 Tony Cresswell 0, Simon Craven 2 John Clifford 4, Dennis Coleman 4 Adrian Asprey 1, Scott Chatterton 4 Nigel Daniels 1, Allan Edwards 4 Peter Slater 3, Richard Corner 3 David Smith-Hayes 4, Peter Frewer 4 David Allcock 0, Tony Eccles 1 Paul Mellor 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Chris Swales 3 Richard Hanson 0, Collin Foxton 2 Darran Sinfield 3, Graham Palmer 2 Alan Statham 3, Peter Maw 3 Robert Wood 2, Michael Seaton 3 Doug Walker 1, Mark Muckian 0 Robert Smith 3, David Scaum 1 Tim Rippon 3, Jim Dunlop 3 Paul Jones 0, Michael Evans 2 Colin Rich 3, Anthony Lupton 1 David Allcock 3, David Hunter 3 Ian Hannah 0, Anthony Liddell 1 Christian Bradshaw 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Claire Stainsby 3 Jackie Sweet 1, Patricia J Smith 3 Rachel Ayres 0, Kate Livermore 3 Kirsty Handford 1, Shirley Witten 3 Jane Densley 2, Carla Boyes 3 Louise Rawson 0, Gail Carhart 1 Joanne Oldershaw 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Kate Livermore 3 Dee Fenn 0, Zoe Holland 3 Sara-Jane Harrison 2, Molly Pywell 0 Stephanie Allerton 3, Vera Oliphant 3 Dawn Buckley 0, Elizabeth Knowles 0 Rachel Bird 3, Babs Evans 3 Kelly Dean 2.