Played two lost two that is Warwickshire’s record so far in the premier division of the BDO Inter County Championships, two defeats in the opening two games is their worst start since the 2012-2013 season when they lost the first three games, something they will not wish to emulate in this current campaign.
Playing away to Cornwall the ladies ‘B’ were quick to respond after their curtain raising 6-0 defeat by Yorkshire and earn themselves a creditable 3-3 draw. Melanie Hill was first on and won her game against Becky Curnow 3-2 after Curnow had twice pegged her back to level terms.
Sue Shepherd put Cornwall back on level terms with a 3-0 win ove Angela Jones but it was Warwickshire who forged ahead again this time through Kat Spanswick who went 2-0 up against Carla Ruberry and then had to win the decider for her 3-2 win after Ruberry had won the second and third legs, both players hit 100 and 140 in the fifth and final leg.
For a second time the home team cancelled out Warwickshire’s lead this time it was Sarah Gill’s 3-0 win against Marian Conway that took the game to 2-2 before Cornwall took the lead for the first time in the match in the penultimate game which saw their Angie Bird win 3-1 against Lisa Whitmore after Whitmore had won the first leg.
The result now hinged on the final game, Kerry Bambridge was in fine form for Warwickshire not only beating her opponent Jacqui Champion 3-0 but also winning the match award with her 20.31 average to seal a 3-3 draw.
The men’s ‘B’ had an uphill battle from the start as Shaun Burden (Cornwall) won the opener against Chris Gallagher 4-2 and doubling the score was Steve Pascoe with a 4-1 win over Ian Shaw.
Tom McGlone reduced the arrears to 2-1 when he defeated Geoff Jenkin 4-3 but restoring the hosts two games buffer was Rhys Juliam with his 4-3 win over Simon Power after Power had taken a 2-0 lead. Despite going 3-1 down, by the halfway mark Warwickshire had drawn level at three each Luke Kennedy won 4-1 against Ronnie Cook and Antony Allen levelled the match with his 4-2 win over Mike Pascoe.
The second half of the encounter was a big disappointment with Warwickshire winning just six legs in the opening five games Colin Pass restored Cornwall’s lead with a 4-1 win over Paul Deslandes, Daniel May took the running score to 5-3 when he beat Tom Martin 4-2 and Kevin Dunstan assured his team mates of at the worst a share of the spoils when he added his 4-2 win over Ted Evetts after Evetts had won the first two legs.
The win was not long awaited as in the tenth game David Copplestone recorded a straight 4-0 win over Steve Ward to put Cornwall 7-3 up with only two to play. It got worse for the away team as in the penultimate game John Dennis beat Dan Green 4-1 before Carl Green (Warwickshire) made the final score a little more respectable at 8-4 to Cornwall when he won 4-1 against Mark Palmer.
The evergreen Trina Gulliver opened up for the ladies ‘A’ and reliable as always she got them off to a winning start, a straight 3-0 win over Teresa Brookshaw, Trina’s 24.64 average the best of the mtch and giving her the lady of the match award. Claire Irons had a similar 3-0 result against Donna Pinch to cancel out Warwickshire’s early lead but only momentarilly as another Gulliver, this time Sue beat Tracey Hancock 3-0 proving Gulliver’s can travel. From there on in it was all Cornwall, Nikki Furse beat Denise Keyte 3-0, Sandra Allen won by the same scoreline against Natalie Gilbert and to round off a 4-2 home win was Katherine Gill who had yet another 3-0 win this time over Wendy Adams.
The men’s ‘A’ game began with real promise as Mark Strong twice came from behind against Matthew Knowles to win 4-2, Tom Aldridge beat Neil Meneer 4-0 and Jamie Hughes won 4-1 against Brian Jones. Jamie for the second successive fixture taking the ‘A’ teams man of the match award beating his previous 30.11 with a 31.59 average, he went 3-0 up against Jones in 14, 17 and 18 darts, lost the fourth in 12 and then completed his win in 15 hitting a total of 13 scores of a ton or more as oppoosed to his opponents 4.
Kevin Bray (Cornwall) reduced the deficit with a 4-1 win over William Naylor and taking the running score to 3-2 was Simon Knowles who defeated Colin Laffar 4-0.
Dean Stewart finished the first half of the match with a 4-1 win over his namesake Dean Taskis but by the eighth game the scoreline was level after the home side’s Gareth Griffiths won 4-1 against Mark Carter and Jez Campe beat Richard Foster 4-0..
Noel Grant (Warwickshire) won the first two legs against Mike Jones and although Jones replied by winning the next two legs it was Grant who went on to win the tie 4-2.
Taking the score nicely along to 6-4 was Ted Evetts whose straight 4-0 win over Kevin Mitchell kept Warwickshire in with a real chance of victory requiring just one more winner from the last two games.
After a maximum in his winning first leg Mark Westgarth, despite hitting a second 180 in the second leg saw his luck run out on finishing doubles and his opponent Paul Cook went on to win the game 4-1 to leave the onus upon the final two players to decide the outcome of the match.
The first leg of the final game could have gone to either Greg Hambly (Cornwall) or Jamie Atkins but it was the latter who found the all important double ten to put him one up. Atkins doubled his lead with a superb 134 game shot in the second and although he lost the third he went 3-1 up in the fourth with an 84 outshot. Sixteen darts and double twenty was all that Atkins required in the fifth leg to clinch a 4-1 win and give his team a 7-5 victory, hopefully the first of many to come.
So the overall result was a 20-16 win for Cornwall and the defeat has seen Warwickshire slide down one more place in the table to ninth with only Cambridhgeshire below them, however it’s early in the season and despite being just two points off the bottom of the table they are only nine points behind fifth placed Lincolnshire.
Full Results🙁Cornwall names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Matthew Knowles 2 Mark Strong 4, Neil Meneer 0 Tom Aldridge 4, Brian Jones 1 Jamie Hughes 4, Kevin Bray 4 William Naylor 1, Simon Knowles 4 Colin Laffar 0, Dean Taskis 1 Dean Stewart 4, Gareth Griffiths 4 Mark Carter 1, Jez Campe 4 Richard Foster 0, Mike Jones 2 Noel Grant 4, Kevin Mitchell 0 Ted Evetts 4, Paul Cook 4 Mark Westgarth 1, Greg Hambly 1 Jamie Atkins 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Shaun Burden 4 Chris Gallagher 2, Steve Pascoe 4 Ian Shaw 1, Geoff Jenkin 3 Tom McGlone 4, Rhys Julian 4 Simon Power 3, Ronnie Cook 1 Luke Kennedy 4, Mike Pascoe 2 Antony Allen 4, Colin Pass 4 Paul Deslandes 1, Daniel May 4 Tom Martin 2, Kevin Dunstan 4 Ted Evetts 2, David Copplestone 4 Steve Ward 0, John Dennis 4 Dan Green 1, Mark Palmer 1 Carl Green 4, Women’s ‘A’:- Teresa Brookshaw 0 Trina Gulliver 3, Claire Irons 3 Donna Pinch 0, Tracey Hancock 0 Sue Gulliver 3, Nikki Furse 3 Denise Keyte 0, Sandra Allen 3 Natalie Gilbert 0, Katherine Gill 3 Wendy Adams 0, Women’s ‘B’:- Becky Curnow 2 Melanie Hill 3, Sue Shepherd 3 Angela Jones 0, Carla Ruberry 2 Kat Spanswick 3, Sarah Gill 3 Marian Conway 0, Angie Bird 3 Lisa Whitmore 1, Jacqui Champion 0 Kerry Bambridge 3.