2015-12-01

What a start West Midlands have had to the new season in division two of the BDO Inter County Championships following up their opening two wins with a 23-13 win away to Sussex their second successive 23-13 win.
The weekend could not have got off to a better start as the ladies ‘B’ rattled off a 5-1 win making it two 5-1 wins and a draw in their opening three games. The first leg of the opening game went to the home team’s Julia Saldanha but West Midlands player Sophie Singh took the following three to win 3-1. Again in the second game it was the hosts who went 1-0 up this time it was Hayley Gatford who took the lead against Wendy Waine and although Wendy fought back to take a 2-1 lead it was the Sussex player who got the 3-2 result to level the match at 1-1.
The following three games were all won with straight 3-0 scorelines and all of them going to the West Midlands as Jacqueline Maiden beat Elaine Chapman then Heather Wright defeated Sarah Boniface, Heather rounding off her 3-0 win with an excellent 16 darts leg hitting 140, 60, 78, 135, 48 and checking out on double top first dart to give her a lady of the match average of 20.88. Completing the trio of straight wins was Kirsty Shaughnessy who accounted for Teresa Weir and at the same time chalked up the all important fourth winning game to assure the West Midlands victory.
The final ladies game saw Karen Wilson-West (Sussex) win the opening leg against Shellbie Simmons only to see Simmons take the following three for a 3-1 win and give a final score of 5-1 to West Midlands.
The first four games of the men’s ‘B’ game all results went against first throw advantage Sussex going one up when Ken Sowerby beat Mark Allen-Watkiss 3-2 after the West Midlands man had twice taken the lead. Sam Guest squared the game when he won 3-1 against Shaun Sandalls. A 3-0 win from the home side’s man of the match Dave Williams against Karl Hinks saw the hosts take the lead for a second time but yet again it was short lived as Scott Baker beat Harry Jackson 3-0 to take the score to 2-2.
It was game number five before the sequence was broken and the man to do it was Ashe Khayat but he had to work hard for his 3-2 win as his opponent Lee Jennings won the opening two legs before Khayat took control and with wining legs of 14, 17 and 15 darts he earned not only his win but also the match award for his 28.18 average.
By the halfway mark the score was level at 3-3 Andrew Sexton squaring for the home team with a 3-2 win over Simon Meredith who had won the first and fourth legs.
Paul Price (West Midlands) got the second half underaway with a 3-0 win against Jorden Langridge and the lead was doubled when Danny Coyle beat Graham Harris 3-1. Paul Robinson (Sussex) looked all set to reduce the deficit for the hosts when he went 1-0 and 2-1 up against John Morris but the West Midlands man remained focussed and won the next two legs, the fifth and winning leg seeing him checkout on 139 for a 3-2 win and guarantee at the worst a draw for his team.
With just three to play Sussex had their best run of the game two wins in a row started by Todd Rainsley when he won 3-2 against Robert Smith and finished by Danny King who won 3-0 against Jack Routledge putting the score at 6-5 in West Midlands favour with one remaining game.
The final two players of the day were Connor Levett (Sussex) and Neil Pointon and apart from the third leg which Levett won in 21 darts the Sussex man never reached a double in the other three as Pointon won 3-1 to give the away side a 7-5 victory.
Every single game in the ladies ‘A’ match went against first throw advantage and in all fairness a 3-3 draw was probably a reasonable result. Trish Kidd won the first against Gemma Barrett 3-0 to give the home team the early lead, Sarah Roberts replied for West Midlands with a lady of the match show beating Crystal Woodrow 3-0 and averaging 23.48 which really could easily have been much higher if Sarah had been able to find her finishing double sooner in the third leg, she had won the first two in 19 and 18 darts and the third in 27 after having some six darts at a finishing double, nevertheless a fine performance and superb average.
For the second time the home team took the lead this time through Karen Winter who won 3-1 against Kath Jenkins, Kath having won the first leg. Lisa Astbury was the second West Midlands player to level the score as she accounted for Denise Peake with a straight 3-0 win.
The pattern continued in the fifth game Donna Rainsley winning 3-0 against Kim Fellows to put Sussex 3-2 up but salvaging the draw for the away team in the final game was Debbie Loon, a 3-1 success against Laura Macintosh taking the final score to 3-3.
With two wins already under their belts the West Midlands men’s ‘A’ team were looking to extend that to a hat trick of wins and the first half of their game left very little doubt as to whether or not they would be able to do that. Gareth Watts opened up and stormed into a 3-0 lead over Cliff Prior and although Prior cancelled out the lead as he brought the game to 3-3 it was Watts who won the deciding leg in 16 darts with top scores of 134, 140 and 100 to seal a 4-3 win for the visitors. Doubling the lead was Avtar Singh with a comfortable 4-2 win over Tony Peters and despite Craig Stoner pulling one back for the home team in the third when he won 4-1 against Ian Jones, Stoner having to lay on a match award display to beat Jones who surprisingly was a little off key with his finishing, the remainder of the half was all West Midlands.
Michael Baker restored the two games buffer when he won 4-1 against Craig Deeley, Shaun Carroll was taken to a seventh leg by Liam Kipling before winning 4-3 and Matthew Dicken’s 4-2 win over Darren Woolgar gave West Midlands a commanding 5-1 lead at the midway point.
Dan Bradford was the second winner for Sussex his 4-1 win over Richard Platt came in the seventh game but the four games lead returned in the eighth when Mark Craddock beat Rod Hawkins 4-3. Craddock won the first two legs in 15 and 17 darts but then went 3-2 down as Hawkins replied in 24, 18 and 16 darts. Kicking off with 2×140 in the sixth leg Craddock went on to level in 16 darts and then in the final leg as he did in the first leg produced another 15 darts leg to clinch a 4-3 win and earn himself the match award for his 27.96 average.
The best the hosts could now hope for was a draw and keeping those hopes alive was Greg Upton as he defeated Jonathan Platt 4-2, however those hopes quickly faded away in game ten as Nick Fullwell in his tie with Dave Creasy went 1-0 up, 2-1 up, 3-2 down and finally won 4-3 to put the score beyond Sussex as the West Midlands went 7-3 up.
Keith Allman added his straight 4-0 win over Aegir Bjornsson to the West Midlands tally before the proceedings were concluded with a 4-1 win for Paul Eves over Mark Rollinson to give a final score of 7-5 to the West Midlands.
The win has seen West Midlands retain their number one spot at the top of the division two promotional table and extend their advantage over second placed London by one point to five, but the most gratifying thing about the West Midlands season so far is that it is a team effort, not one of the four teams have lost so far showing strength throughout the squad, something that has been sadly lacking for some years, good to see it back and long may it continue.
Full Results:Sussex v West Midlands (13-23)Sussex names first): Men’s ‘A’:- Cliff Prior 3 Gareth Watts 4, Tony Peters 2 Avtar Singh 4, Craig Stoner 4 Ian Jones 1, Craig Deeley 1 Michael Baker 4, Liam Kipling 3 Shaun Carroll 4, Darren Woolgar 2 Matthew Dicken 4, Dan Bradford 4 Richard Platt 1, Rod Hawkins 3 Mark Craddock 4, Greg Upton 4 Jonathan Platt 2, Dave Creasy 3 Nick Fullwell 4, Aegir Bjornsson 0 Keith Allman 4, Paul Eves 4 Mark Rollinson 1, Men’s ‘B’:- Ken Sowerby 3 Mark Allen-Watkiss 2, Shaun Sandalls 1 Sam Guest 3, Dave Williams 3 Karl Hinks 0, Harry Jackson 0 Scott Baker 3, Lee Jennings 2 Ashe Khayat 3, Andrew Sexton 3 Simon Meredith 2, Jorden Langridge 0 Paul Price 3, Graham Harris 1 Danny Coyle 3, Paul Robinson 2 John Morris 3, Todd Rainsley 3 Robert Smith 2, Danny King 3 Jack Routledge 0, Connor Levett 1 Neil Pointon 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Trish Kidd 3 Gemma Barrett 0, Crystal Woodrow 0 Sarah Roberts 3, Karen Winter 3 Kath Jenkins 1, Denise Peake 0 Lisa Astbury 3, Donna Rainsley 3 Kim Fellows 0, Laura Macintosh 1 Debbie Loon 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Julia Saldanha 1 Sophie Singh 3, Hayley Gatford 3 Wendy Waine 2, Elaine Chapman 0 Jacqueline Maiden 3, Sarah Boniface 0 Heather Wright 3, Teresa Weir 0 Kirsty Shaughnessy 3, Karen Wilson-West 1 Shellbie Simmons 3.
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