The new 2015-2016 season of the BDO Inter County Championships got underway last weekend and Warwickshire in the premier division entertained reigning champions Yorkshire at the Bishopsgate Club, Coventry but it was not a happy start to the new campaign as they finished on the wrong side of a 24-12 result.
The ladies lost heavily as the ‘B’ side went down 6-0 and the ‘A’ had just one winner Wendy Adams who was last on against Dee Bateman and won 3-2 to take the match award with her 19.20 average.
The Men’s ‘A’ lost 7-5 with Jamie Hughes their top player with a 30.11 average, the only highlight of the weekend was the 6-6 draw by the men’s ‘B’ team with Ted Evetts taking their top player award with his 29.70 average.
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In division two of the BDO Inter County Championships West Midlands made the short journey north to take on local rivals Staffordshire and had a great start to the weekend’s games when the ladies ‘B’ chalked up a convincing 5-1 win thanks to Samantha Maiden, lady of the match Kirsty Shaughnessy (15.80) and Wendy Waine who put them 3-0 up then rounding off the win were Jacqueline Maiden and Sophie Singh.
The ladies ‘A’ didn’t do too badly either as they shared the points in a 3-3 draw with Sarah Roberts taking their award with a 21.70 average.
The honours were shared in both of the men’s games as they finished at 6-6, Garry Watts (31.76) the ‘B’ team award winner and for the ‘A’ it was Shaun Carroll with a 28.81 average taking the final score to 20-16 in West Midlands favour.
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The Sheldon and District Summer League have completed their league programme apart from one remaining fixture between Langley Hall Sports and Social Arrows and Highwood PH Flights in division one, but no matter what the outcome of that game the final table will remain the same. Winning division one were The Digby with Castle Vale Stadium who were six points behind them runners up. There was a similar gap between the top two teams in division two with Mackadown Social champions and Marston Green Tavern runners up.
The title race in division three was much closer with Solihull Moors winning the division with 16 points and Holy Souls with 15 losing out by the odd point. Division four was another clear cut win as Iron Horse won the title with 15 points and their nearest threat came from Willclare Sports and Social who were six points behind them.
Going into the last day of fixtures Shirley RBL Misfits were top of division five having completed all of their fixtures and on 13 points, second placed Sheldon Marlborough Arrows were one point adrift with a final game against Greville Arms which they won 5-2 to give them the title by one clear point and that was the difference between the top two teams. In division six Langley Hall Sports and Social Flights won the division with 16 points and Maggies finishing second on 15.
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Court Oak have taken their unbeaten run in the Kings Norton League to nine games their latest success being a 5-2 win at Kings Norton Ex Serviceman’s Club giving them a four points advantage over Kings Norton RBL and Stirchley United who both have a game in hand on the leaders.
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Blue Brick were the only losers in the top six teams in the Brierley Hill Monday Night League losing 6-3 away to second in the table Bridge ‘B’ and as a result drop one place in the table to seventh. Despite the win Bridge ‘B’ remain two points adrift of leaders Dudley Sports ‘C’ who had a 7-2 win at Dog and Lamppost ‘B’.
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Mackadown Social took their points tally to 25 in group one of the South Birmingham League when they handed out an 8-0 whitewash to their visitors Toby Jug, second placed Punchbowl keep the pressure on the leaders with a 7-1 win at The Trident but are still four points behind Mackadown and five ahead of third placed St John’s who won their tie at The Bell 6-2.
In group two Erdington Members Club made it ten wins in eleven games when they beat Coleshill Social 6-2 giving them a six point’s lead over second in the table St John’s Flights who were held to a 4-4 draw at home by The Raven who are fourth in the table and four points behind their hosts.
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A 6-1 win over Highwood KB in division one of the Forest of Arden Summer League has almost certainly given Journeys End the title although there is still one fixture to play. Second in the table Riley’s Red Arrows lost their home game with fourth placed Highwood ‘C’ 4-3 the result leaving them two points behind Journeys and if Journeys lost their final game 7-0 at Iron Horse and Red Arrows won 7-0 at Highwood KB they would even then only finish level on points and average.
The race for the division two title is going to be very close and could go to any one of three teams, Crown Arrows are currently top with 20 points and play at home against Chelmsley Town in the last game, second placed Sheldon Marlborough Flights have 18 points and a more superior average than Crown Arrows and will play at home against Greville Arms in their final game, third in the table Chelmsley Town are on the same 18 points as Sheldon Marlborough. Should be a very interesting final week.
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Three teams are on 15 points at the top of the Netherton Thursday Night League with Rose and Crown who were top now having to share pole position with White Swan, both teams level on points and average after Rose and Crown had a narrow 5-4 win at Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club and White Swan winning 7-2 at home against The Widders, both of the top two have played six games. Third in the table Bulls Head made it five straight wins with a 7-2 win away to White Horse and have a game in hand on the two teams above them.
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The latest results from the Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League saw leaders Dewdrop suffer a 4-3 home defeat by sixth in the table Sportsman, both teams had a player hit a maximum Tony Hawkes for Dewdrop and Matt Walker for Sportsman. The result sees Dewdrop’s lead cut to just two points as second in the table Old Hop Pole won their home tie with Tipton Sports 6-1 but although they have a game in hand on Dewdrop they trail massively on average.
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Andy Hoy added another 3-2 win over Jack Sidwell and 3-1 result against Julian Harris to his tally in the Shirley Red Lion Premier League to take his total points from six games to 17, however Hoy is closely followed by Mick Gorst and Mick Bown who are both on 15 points but have only played five games, Gorst winning 3-0 in his games against Mark Cater and Julian Harris while Bown beat Steve Heeks 3-0 and then followed up with a 3-1 success over Jack Sidwell.
Pete Silver dropped from second to sixth in the table after beating Chris Devlin 3-2 he then lost 3-1 to Noreen Harris to leave him on 14 points from five games.
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After a surprising 6-3 defeat by Chop House last week Crown ‘A’ were quick to return to winning ways in the Cradley Tuesday Night League, an 8-1 win at Gate Hangs Well giving them 48 points, second placed Brickmakers Arms are also on the same 48 points but after their close 5-4 home win over White Horse who drop from third to fourth they have now played 29 games, one more than Crown.
With the majority of teams now having just four remaining fixtures the top teams will be playing each other and there could still be a few surprise results which could see it all change as Crown ‘B’ in third place are only two points adrift of the leading pair but the title now looks as though it will go to one of these three teams.
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The Halesowen Monday Night Ladies League played their doubles knockout down to the last four pairs and winning through to the semi finals were, April Fradgley / L.Cheslin (Haden Cross), C.White / T.Summers (Spring Meadow), P.Field / D.Jenson (Black Horse) and A.Roberts / D.Doonan (White Horse).
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Two games into the second half of the season and Gornal Conservative Club took their unbeaten run in the Stourbridge and District Wednesday Night League to fifteen games. In the latest round of fixtures Gornal played at home against The Fox (Lye) and won 5-2. Gornal’s nearest rivals are Ashwood ‘A’ who despite winning by the same 5-2 margin against The Swan still have a deficit of four points on the leaders.
Ashwood ‘B’ lost ground as they finished on the wrong side of a 4-3 result at The Bell and move down the table one place to fourth, taking over in third place is Ten Arches ‘B’ who won their home game against Wombourne Cricket Club 4-3.
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Yet again the Winmau Centre in the Wolverhampton Sports Arena is setting the standards and has now come up with a revolutionary idea for promoting the sport of darts, a Corporate Darts League for companies.
This ground breaking concept is most definitely a first for the West Midlands and possibly for the country again demonstrating how ambitious arena owner Dharam Singh is with his forward thinking and always looking for new ideas to keep the sport alive, exciting and inviting for all no matter what their standard of play.
Why not enter your company into this new league and get some of your customers and suppliers to do the same, have a good night out and who knows as well as promoting your business you may also win at darts.
Anyone requiring more details or wishing to add their company name to the league listing should e-mail info@wolverhamptonsportsarena.co.uk
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With two fixtures remaining in the Safe Harbour Double Top League Tony Carroll not only leads the way but has actually won the title on 32 points from 18 games as his nearest rival James Clarke who is also on 32 points has played all 20 of his fixtures.
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Just one rearranged League Cup fixture played in the Small Heath League which saw Gulp Tribe defeat Wagon and Horses.
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After nine fixtures have been played in the Shirley and District Monday Night League Crown Jewels are the early leaders with a perfect score of 18 points from their opening nine games their latest victory saw them hand out a 9-0 whitewash to their hosts Cider House. Second in the table Highwood whose T.Constable hit two maximums and his team mate D.Wright one had a much closer 5-4 win at Baldwin Bears to leave them two points off the top.
There were also 180’s for B.Nixon and J.Sidwell from Crown Jewels and also P.Silver (Sharmans Cross).
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The Camp Hill League staged the preliminary round of their League Cup in which league leaders HMS Lions beat bottom of the table Wagon and Horses, second placed Cotterills Lane Club defeated next to bottom of the table Devil’s Club and Holy Gulp won against Lady Westminster.
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Britannia Bulldogs moved up from fifth to second in the Black Country Premier League table after their 12-1 win over Batham Bandits, however they are only second because of their superior average over Springfield Rifles and Brickmaker Big Dogs all three team on 12 points, Rifles winning 10-6 against Woodside Poachers who drop from second to sixth in the table and Big Dogs having a very close 8-7 win at Old Hill Royals who are placed fifth.
Top of the table Blackheath Beechers won 11-2 away to bottom of the table Storming Stags giving them a total of 14 points
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Village Inn were the only losers in the top six teams in division one of the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League going down 6-1 at home against ECC who are second in the table with 40 points the same number of points as leaders Wednesdfield FC who had a similar 6-1 win at home against Bradmore ‘A’.
Third and fourth placed Victoria and Riley’s ‘C’ are both on 34 points the former winning 5-2 against Dog and Partridge while the latter had a 6-1 win at home against Merry Boys.
In the second division there was no change either as the top three teams Whitmore Reans WMC, Pheasant and Roebuck all won, Whitmore beating Boat ‘B’ 6-1 while Pheasant and Roebuck in turn had 5-2 wins against Wednesfield Legion ‘C’ and Pendulum.
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Riley’s ‘A’ maintained their six points lead in the Tettenhall Wednesday Night League with a 6-1 home win over Moreton and second placed Otter and Vixen won by the same margin against Village Inn, Riley’s ‘B’ who are a further four points behind Otter and Vixen in third place had a 5-2 win away to Dog and Partridge.
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