The local county teams Warwickshire and West Midlands go into their penultimate fixture of the season in the BDO Inter County Championships this coming weekend, Warwickshire in their premier division game play against Essex and will be hoping to make it three wins in a row, and being as their hosts are directly above them a win would almost certainly see them replace them in third place.
Team selections are Men’s ‘A’:- Bob Nixon, Dean Stewart, Richard Foster, Jamie Atkins, Jamie Hughes, Mark Carter, Mark Strong, Mark Westgarth, Noel Grant, Rob Hawker, Tom Aldridge, William Naylor, Men’s ‘B’:- Antony Allen, Carl Green, Dave Harris, Jimmy Hill, Luke Kennedy, Matt Edgar, Michael Spencer, Paul Deslandes, Prakash Jiwa, Simon Power, Steve Ward, Tom McGlone, Reserves:- Dan Green, Dane Vickers, Dave Atkins, Kevin Dowling, Mark Archer, Nigel Heydon, Steve Hine, Ted Evetts, Women’s ‘A’:- Trina Gulliver, Angela Jones, Denise Keyte, Melanie Hill, Sue Gulliver, Wendy Adams, Women’s ‘B’:- Lisa Whitmore, Donna Pinch, Kat Spanswick, Kerry Bambridge, Kirsty Haw, Nina Bolt, Reserves:- Lucy Keyte, Caroline Pike, Marian Conway, Sue Sandher.
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In division two West Midlands have a home tie with bottom of the table Wiltshire a game which if they win could finally secure their status in division two next season.
Lining up for the men’s teams will be Men’s ‘A’:- Avtar Singh, Chris Mason, Gavin Baker, Glen Cullen, Ian Jones, Jonathan Platt, Keith Allman, Mark Craddock, Mark Rollinson, Micky Baker, Richard Platt, Shaun Carroll, Men’s ‘B’:- Ashe Kyhatt, Chris Stanley, Danny Coyle, Gary Watts, John Mycock, Karl Hughes, Mark Watkiss, Neil Pointon, Paul Price, Rob Smith, Rob Thompson, Sam Guest, Reserves:- Chris Read, Martin Angell, John Morris.
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The position at week nineteen in the Sheldon and District Winter League is such that in the premier division the top two teams are both locked together on 30 points, Crown at Olton lead the way on average their latest game seeing them win 8-1 at home to Willclare Sports and Social, while second placed The Lyndon defeated reigning champions and currently placed fifth in the table Saltley Amateur Gardeners 5-4.
Division two produced the shock of the week when Shirley RBL Misfits, who are two places off the bottom of the table won 6-3 at Crown-Forget-Me-Not who top the table, this being only their second defeat in seventeen games.
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Simon Power and Steve Ward of Southam produced some great darts to progress to the National finals of the BDO Gold Cup Pairs in July at Lakeside Country Club when they won the Warwickshire play off. The pair had some tough encounters along the way with victories over Nuneaton’s Adam Paxton and Dean Sanders, the Brandon pairing of Dave Sanders and Dave Waring before beating Noel Grant and Paul Deslandes of Coventry Bishopsgate. Mark Carter and Ian McFarlane also of Coventry Bishopsgate made their route to the final defeating Antony Allen and Rob Hawker, then Mark Archer and Martin Partridge of Castle Vale before taking out another tough pairing of Mark Westgarth and Mark Strong. The Final was a tense affair with some brilliant darts mixed in with some nervous shots at finishing doubles, but finding the double was Simon Power who continues his great form and his partner Steve Ward who is on a decent run after winning his first County match earlier in the month.
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To complete their season the Four Oaks and District League played off the finals of their Brian Goodman and Ken Rust Cups. There was consolation for Sutton Sports who after losing the division one title picked up the Brian Goodman Cup beating Golden Hind 7-2, Rob Hawker recording his fourth 180 of the season for Sutton.
In the final of the Ken Rust Cup the league champions The Beehive were too strong for Old Oscott Arrows and ran out 8-1 winners. A.Mountford (Old Oscott Arrows) and J.Prince (The Beehive) both chalked up their third maximum of the season.
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The second leg of the first round of their League Cup was on the fixture card for the Brierley Hill Friday Night League and with overall wins and going into the next round are Bridge, Brickmakers Arms, Netherton Cricket Club and Miners (Wollescote). Miners game saw them win 5-4 against Pensnett Welfare Club in the first leg then lose by the same margin in the second leg. Three players were then drawn for both teams for a playoff which saw Miners win 2-0.
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The top three teams in the Brierley Hill Monday Night League all won in week 13, the top two Dudley Sports ‘C’ and Bridge ‘B’ both having 7-2 wins against respective opponents sixth placed Roebuck and Dudley Sports ‘A’ who drop one place to fifth, third in the table Rose and Crown (Brierley Hill) won 6-3 at Liberal Club
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The latest round of games in the Aston League saw leaders Sportsmans Rest have a 7-2 win away to Mitre to remain four points clear of their nearest rivals Red Lion who had a closer 5-4 win at Oscott Social, a further two points behind is third placed Kingstanding Ex Serviceman’s who were 8-1 winners in their home tie with next to bottom of the table Aston Flights.
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The South Birmingham League played off the final of their divisional cups and in the division one final league leaders Crown-Forget-Me-Not had a 5-4 win over third in the table Mackadown Social. The division two final was a middle of the table affair between Banbury Flights and The Dog with the former getting the 5-4 verdict.
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In the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League leaders Ashwood, who are four points ahead of the field had a close 5-4 win at Bird (Wordsley) while the chasing four teams all had big wins. Second and third placed Ten Arches and Britannia each had 8-1 wins in turn against Plough and Church Tavern, fourth and fifth in the table Brickmakers Arms and Bird ‘A’ (Stourbridge) were 7-2 winners against Crestwood and The Cat (Wordsley).
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After completing twelve fixtures the Bully Boys top the Winmau Monday Night Central League with 412 points, their most recent fixture seeing them have a narrow 25-23 win over John’s Klan putting them eleven points ahead of second in the table Whats The Point who won their tie with Cupid Stunts by a massive 32-16.
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The Pip Club League staged the semi finals of their Challenge Cup and in division one there were wins for Bulls Head ‘A’ (Polesworth) and Prince of Wales who in turn defeated Bull (Two Gates) and Tamworth Motor Spares.
Making the final in division two were Pip Club and J W Belgrave at the expense of Globe ‘A’ and Progressive Club.
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Dewdrop suffered their first defeat in eleven games in the Hilltop Friendly League when they lost 4-3 away to Sow and Pigs who are in the bottom half of the table. With 20 points Dewdrop hold on to pole position but second in the table Old Hop Pole, who won 4-3 at Ivy Bush are now four points off the top with two games in hand.
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Leaders of the Cradley Tuesday Night League White Horse lost for the first time in twelve games when they were beaten 5-4 at home by Brickmakers Arms who move up the table one place to third. Crown ‘A’ with a 7-2 home win over Gate Hangs Well who drop one place to fourth, now join White Horse on 22 points and narrowly trail on average.
The two top teams are both on 22 points from 12 games Brickmakers and Gate Hangs Well have both played 13 and are on 18 points.
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Just two games played in the Camp Hill League which saw the top two teams play and win, leaders Cotterills Lane Club winning 5-2 at home against Horses while second placed Scruffy Ringers went one better with a 6-1 away win at Wagon to maintain the two points difference between the two teams.
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Rileys, Solihull staged their first variety of youth knockouts last weekend and winner of the Main Overall Singles Competition was Luis Barberan who had a final victory over Lewis Cracknell. The winner of the Under 14’s competition was Coby Jones with Matt Speakman runner up, while the under 17’s title went to Owen Maiden with a final win over Reece Colley. Luke Perry won the Under 21 event, Ryan Derbyshire losing out in the final.
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The Netherton Thursday Night League have completed their domestic fixtures and Springfield Social Club finished on a high with a 5-4 win at Netherton Sports and Social Club to give them the title with a total of 60 points, for their hosts however it was a costly defeat as they dropped from second place to fourth. Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club were runners up ending the season with a 7-2 home win over White Horse.
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In the penultimate fixtures of the season an 8-1 win for Gulp at Cobs Bar in the Small Heath League almost guarantees them the title as they have 26 points two more than second placed Emerald Club who won 5-4 over local rivals Emerald Flights. However Emerald Club are being pushed all the way for the runners up spot by Mitre who were awarded a 9-0 win this week as Clock Inn failed to turn up. It’s now all down to the final games.
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After the opening three weeks fixtures Chris Packer leads the way in the Kingstanding Double Top League with 10 points from 6 games but Chris only leads on average from Barry Stephens who has the same 10 points with a slightly inferior average.
The leading duo are closely followed by Will Naylor and Pat Koyce who both have nine points and have only played five games.
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The Forest of Arden Winter League played off the final of their Pairs Cup and taking the honours were division one champions Olton Crown with a 7-2 success over division two outfit Highwood ‘C’.
The Consolation Cup title went to Journeys End (div one) with a final result of 5-2 over division two champions Iron Horse.
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Wednesfield FC strengthened their position at the top of division one of the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League by handing out a 7-0 whitewash to their hosts Chillington Club. Former leaders ECC won 5-2 against Wednesfield Conservative Club to put them level on ten points with the leaders but trail on average plus they have played one game more.
In division two Fordhouses CC lead the way a 5-2 win at Old Stags Head keeping them just one leg of average ahead of Pheasant who had a bye this week, third placed Roebuck are also on the same 12 points as the two teams above them after their 6-1 win at Wednesfield Legion ‘C’.
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As the end of season draws ever closer Brandon with 147 points from 19 games lead the way in the Warwickshire Men’s Super League, second placed and reigning champions Coventry Bishopsgate despite having a game in hand are some 19 points behind the leaders.
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Rileys ‘A’ stay two points ahead of Otter and Vixen in the Tettenhall Wednesday Night League after a close 4-3 win at home against Woodfield Social, while Otter and Vixen had a more comfortable 5-2 win at Claregate, who drop one place to fifth.
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