This coming weekend Warwickshire will be taking on Hampshire in the latest of their premier division fixtures in the BDO Inter County Championships. The home side will be looking to get back into winning ways after losing 20-16 to Cambridgeshire in their last outing.
Warwickshire will be taking on bottom of the table Hampshire, a big win would almost certainly see them overtake Cambridgeshire and move back into fourth place in the table as their opponents are only one point ahead of them and have a tough away game against second in the table Essex.
Lining up for Warwickshire will be Men’s ‘A’:- Noel Grant, Jamie Hughes, Tom Aldridge, Jamie Atkins, Bob Nixon, Mark Westgarth, Mark Carter, William Naylor, Dean Stewart, Richard Foster, Mark Strong, Antony Allen, Men’s ‘B’:- Simon Power, Paul Deslandes, Matt Edgar, Tom Ryan, Rob Hawker, Carl Green, Mangal Singh, Peter Hughes, James Hykin, Ted Evetts, Ian Shaw, Prakash Jiwa, Reserves:- Luke Kennedy, Tom Martin, Simon Fairbrother, Dan Green, Tom McGlone, Women’s ‘A’:- Trina Gulliver, Sue Gulliver, Melanie Hill, Wendy Adams, Natalie Gilbert, Kerry Bambridge, Women’s ‘B’:- Lisa Deslandes, Angela Jones, Marian Conway, Donna Pinch, Nina Bolt, Denise Keyte, Reserves:- Kat Spanswick, Lucy Keyte, Helen Rigg.
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In division two of the BDO Inter County Championships West Midlands will play hosts to Northamptonshire and will be hoping to add another win to their excellent record so far of five wins and only one defeat in their bid to regain their division one status.
Selected to play are Men’s ‘A’:- Keith Allman, Michael Baker, Gavin Baker, Shaun Carroll, Mark Craddock, Matthew Dicken, Nick Fullwell, Sam Guest, Ian Jones, Chris Mason, Avtar Singh, Louis Venes, Men’s ‘B’:- Scott Baker, Danny Coyle, Ash Khayat, John Morris, John Mycock, Danny Nicholls, Jonathan Platt, Richard Platt, Neil Pointon, Paul Price, Robert Smith, Gary Watts, Women’s ‘A’:- Sophie Singh, Sarah Roberts, Lisa Astbury, Debbie Loon, Kath Jenkins, Gemma Barrett, Women’s ‘B’:- Heather Wright, Shellbie Simmons, Jacqueline Maiden, Samantha Maiden, Claire Hobbs, Kirsty Shaughnessy, Reserves:- Kim Fellows, Nicci McLaughlin, Roxanne Nicholls, Lizzy Arnold.
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What a fantastic turnout for the Riley’s Solihull UK Open Qualifier with top class players from far and wide chasing a place in the PDC UK Open Finals in Minehead between 4th and 6th March.
The eventual winner of the event was Jason Heaver from Newbury, Berkshire who in the early rounds had convincing results beating Ross Macken 4-0 and Stuart White 4-1 before meeting Nichol Lewis in the quarter finals where he had a narrow 4-3 success but then booked his final spot with another quality 4-1 win over Kevin Taylor.
From the other half of the draw West Midlands county player Mark Craddock won his way through to the final with a 4-3 win over John Buckingham followed by 4-1 wins against Graham Hall and Mark Carter. He then reached the final with a close 4-3 win over Warwickshire’s Rob Hawker.
The final saw Heaver turn the screw and run out the 5-2 winner.
Left Jason Heaver (Winner) and right Jason Heaver (Winner) and Mark Craddock (Runner Up)
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It was cup semi finals week in the Forest of Arden Winter League and in the Presidents Cup division one leaders Olton Crown suffered a 6-3 defeat by division two leaders Highwood KB. The other semi went to form with Journeys End from the first division beating second division team Ivy Leaf 6-3.
There was also a shock result in the Consolation Cup as Riley’s Red Arrows from the first division lost 5-4 to division two team Highwood Arms. The other last four game saw Crown Arrows win 6-3 against Sheldon Marlborough Flights.
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The Brierley Hill Friday Night League played their doubles knockout down to the last eight and winning through were J.Batham / R.Powers, A.Floyd / G.Jackson, N.Cooper / D.Cooper (Brickmakers Arms), A.Wakeman / D.Bull, W.Page / R.Hipkiss (Miners, Wollescote), S.Hall / J.Glazzard (Netherton Cricket Club), B.Watts / A.Neale (The Bell), M.Flatman / J.Powell (Pensnett Welfare Club).
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With only four fixtures remaining in the Kings Norton League Court Oak remain unbeaten, they took their winning run to 26 games with a relatively close 4-3 win over Stirchley United who drop from second to third in the table and on the same 40 points as Hillyfields who replace them in second place after a 4-3 win against Kings Norton RBL. Both Hillyfields and Stirchley are a massive 12 points adrift of Court Oak and although Stirchley have a game in hand on them Court Oak have already won the title.
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The South Birmingham League fixtures produced a top of the table clash in division one with leaders Mackadown Social taking on second placed Erdington Members Club. The result was a very convincing 7-2 win for Mackadown which almost certainly confirms them as champions as there are only two games to play and they are four points to the good on Erdington and have a far superior average.
Banbury Flights continued their press for honours in division two an 8-1 win over The Kingfisher keeping them two points ahead of The Dog who had a 5-4 win at The C’s.
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In the Four Oaks and District League emphatic wins for both Beehive and Boldmere St Mikes means that they will meet in the final of the Coronation Shield. Boldmere St Mikes beat Brookvale Social 13-2 while The Beehive won 12-3 at Erdington Arrows.
The Norman Day Cup games were much closer Boldmere Tap took a 5-4 lead over Bishop Vesey before Vesey rallied and took five of the last six games for a 9-6 win. Making up the final with Bishop Vesey will be The Lions whose game with Boldmere Sports and Social went to the last leg of the final game before The Lions claimed an 8-7 victory.
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The Harborne and District League staged their singles knockout and winning the title was K.Bedder with P.Blades runner up.
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It’s neck and neck at the top of the Shirley Red Lion Premier League with Mick Bown and Adam Stuart locked together on 31 points Bown just ahead on average. In his latest games Bown had a 3-1 win over Mark Cater followed by a 3-0 success over Tony Daly while Stuart won both of his games against Julian Harris and Steve Sidwell 3-0. Julian Harris also lost 3-1 to Mick Gorst, his two defeats seeing him drop five places in the table to eighth.
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Week seven in the Shirley and District Monday Night League saw wins for the top two teams Highwood and Shirley Red Lion, Highwood winning 8-1 away to Solihull Sports Club and Red Lion having a 7-2 win at Blue Bell to give them 12 points two fewer than Highwood.
Shirley Legionnaires lost their third place in the table to Crown Jewels after losing 6-3 at Cider House they now trail Jewels who won 7-2 at Legion Royals on average as both teams are on ten points.
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Mick Baker has extended his lead at the top of the Winmau Centre Thursday Night Champions League to eleven points after 7-0 and 4-3 wins over respective opponents Mick O’Neill and Robert Pierce. Second in the table Kevin Harris meanwhile had 5-2 wins over Mick O’Neill and Mark Bayliss. O’Neill’s two defeats against the top two players has seen him drop from third to sixth place in the table taking over his previous third place is Simon Meredith who beat Robert Pierce 4-3 and Phil Summers 7-0.
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Brierley Hill Monday Night League leaders Dudley Sports ‘C’ took on local rivals Dudley Sports ‘A’ in the latest round of fixtures and won 7-2 to give them a perfect score of 12 points from their opening six games. Second in the table The Bridge were 6-3 winners at New Talbot to remain two points off the top.
Queens Head recorded their first win in six games, a 5-4 success at seventh placed Blue Brick, the win sees them move off the bottom of the table and up two places, they are replaced at the foot by New Talbot.
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White Horse with a 6-3 home win over Netherton Sports and Social took their unbeaten run in the Cradley Tuesday Night League to six games and keeps them two ahead of White Swan who take over the second place from Chop House after beating them 5-4, Chop House dropping to sixth place. Crown (Station Road) are on the same 10 points as White Swan and just one leg of average behind them after their 6-3 win at Roost ‘A’.
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Prince of Wales suffered their first defeat in eight games in division one of the Pip Club League when they lost 5-4 at home to their nearest rivals Bulls Head ‘A’ (Polesworth) who now go level on the same 14 points and are just one leg of average behind the leaders.
In division two there were wins for the top three teams Globe (Tamworth) staying two points to the good in pole position after their 12-6 win at Globe (Wilnecote) while second placed Globe Trotters were 11-7 winners at Royal Oak. Third in the table Progressive Club were the week’s biggest winners handing out a 15-3 defeat to their hosts Bulls Head ‘B’ (Polesworth) to keep within four points of Trotters.
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A top of the table clash in the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League has seen Brickmakers Arms ousted from the number one spot after a 5-4 home defeat by Bird ‘A’ (Stourbridge) who replace them in pole position. Ten Arches ‘A’ after their 7-2 home win over Queens are on the same 32 points as Bird ‘A’ and only trail by two points of average.
Brickmakers defeat has seen them drop to fourth place on the same 30 points as third in the table Ashwood who were 7-2 winners at Shrubbery Cottage.
The bottom two teams played each other Cat Inn (Wordsley) remaining at the foot of the table and now two points behind the rest of the field after a 5-4 reversal at The Swan who with four points are just above Cat who are on two points
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The Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League were involved with their Rickuss Cup and with 5-2 wins over respective opponents Island Inn and Jolly Collier The Vine and Ivy Bush move into the next round, joining them will be Old Hop Pole and Sportsman who in turn beat Hayes Social and Merry-Go-Round 4-3.
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In the Halesowen Monday Night Ladies League Spring Meadow made it three wins in a row with a 5-2 success against Hare and Hounds, also with a perfect total of six points is The Bell who beat their nearest rivals Round of Beef 4-3 to push them down to fourth place. White Horse with a 5-2 win over Townsend ‘A’ move up into third place, with a slightly better average than Round of Beef, both teams have four points.
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Just two teams remain undefeated in the Rowley Monday Night League, Springfield Social Club lead the way with a two points advantage over The Bell following their 7-2 home win over Fairfield, The Bell having a bye and have only played five to Springfield’s six games.
Ex Serviceman’s ‘B’ chalked up their first win of the campaign a 6-3 win at Roost to lift them off the foot of the table and be replaced by Yeltz Bar who lost their home tie with Whiteheath Tavern 5-4.
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Round one of the League Cup was the order of the day for the Camp Hill League in which New Inn, Lions, Devil’s Club and Grange Social in turn defeated Station Bar, Wagon and Horses, Holy Gulp and Cotterills Lane Club. The wins by Grange Social Club and Devil’s Club were somewhat surprising as their opponents Cotterills and Holy Gulp are both undefeated in their four game season in the league so far.
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After the opening four games in the Pensnett and Bromley Tuesday Night League Bridge and Samson and Lion are locked together on the same eight points and average at the top of the table. Bridge beat fourth placed Pensnett Welfare Club ‘A’ 4-3 while Samson and Lion had a 6-1 win over High Acres.
There was a first win of the season for Pensnett Welfare Club ‘B’ their 4-3 success against Sedgley Golf Club lifting them up one place from the bottom and taking over in the bottom spot is Saracens Head who lost 4-3 at Dudley Sports Club.
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Horse and Jockey strengthened their position at the top of the Wednesbury and Darlaston Wednesday Night League by handing out a 7-0 whitewash to their hosts Civil Defence to give them a faultless score of six points from their first three games. Also on six points is second placed T & R Bar who had a 6-3 home win over St Mary’s ‘A’ which was their first defeat and sees them drop one place to fourth.
Red Lion gained their first win a 6-3 result away to St Mary’s ‘B’.
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Winners of the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night Captain’s and Secretaries competition were Kev Jones and John McHale (Ukrainian Club) who beat Terry Jones and Mark Jones (Bradmore ‘B’) in the final. Losing semi finalists were J.J.Rowley and John Cunningham (Wednesfield Conservative Club) and Pete Summers and Jon Summers (Bull).
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The Tamworth League played off their Mile Oak Rovers Challenge Cup and winning the event with a final 4-2 over Belgrave Club were Fox and Dogs who beat Prince of Wales 4-1 in the semi’s while Belgrave took out Globe Inn 4-2.
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Crown ‘A’ have a perfect record of fourteen wins in the West Midlands Men’s Super League their latest one being 5-0 away to The Griffin. The win gives Crown an eleven points lead over second in the table Staffordshire Knot who were 4-1 winners at The Cabin. A further three points adrift is Landywood ‘A’ who had a close 3-2 win away to Greets Green who drop from fourth to fifth in the table with 64 points.
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A 5-2 home defeat at the hands of the Claregate team has seen Whitmore Reans WMC lose their unbeaten record and pole position, dropping to fifth in the Tettenhall Wednesday Night League, meanwhile their victors have taken over where Whitmore left off at the top of the table but only on average as there are five teams all on six points, Claregate, Moreton, Riley’s ‘A’, Bull and Whitmore Reans WMC, the Bull being the only remaining team not to have lost so far, they have only played three games compared to the others having played four.
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