Derbyshire v County Durham
The big question remaining for Derbyshire County Darts Organisation is will they record a win before they complete their nine fixtures in division one of the BDO Inter County Championships because as yet they are without a single win all season and their latest defeat at home to County Durham makes it eighth consecutive defeat.
The weekend could not have got off to a worse start as the ladies ‘B’ were handed their biggest defeat of the season a crushing 6-0 reversal and as per previous games the biggest reason was lack of finishing power as the majority of players had failed attempts at a finishing double.
Allison Wells got the visitors off to fine start when she beat Dawn Buckley 3-0, the following three games all went to a deciding leg but ended with 3-2 wins for County Durham, the wins being supplied by Karol Dagga, Liz Tait and Angela McDonald at the expense of Alison Shilton, Sara-Jane Harrison and Louise Rawson-Lee
With the match already won the away team did not relent as Clare Stewart beat Samantha Clarke 3-0 and rounding off the 6-0 win was Cheryl Adamson who won 3-1 against Rachel Ayres after Ayres had won the first leg.
The men’s ‘B’ with six defeats and one draw had not recorded a win all season, their first player was John Clifford who was unfortunate enough to come up against the visitors man of the match Paul Clark who won the tie 3-0 with a 26.84 average.
Scott Parkin levelled the score coming from one down to Andrew Allaker then drawing 2-2 before winning 3-2. The hosts then took the lead as Ashley Spencer, despite being pegged back to 2-2 after leading 2-0 also won 3-2.
Bradley Chapman’s 3-0 win over Loz Barnes put Durham back on level terms at two each but it was Derbyshire who went ahead again in the fifth when Alan Statham beat Chris Allum 3-2 after Allum had won the first and fourth legs.
At the mid-point of the game the scoreline was all square again as Nathan Sugden accounted for Paul Williams, Williams coming from two down to 2-2 before losing the last leg.
County Durham then opened up a 5-3 lead with 3-1 results from Ian Hambleton and Gary Miller who in turn defeated Tony Cresswell and Peter Slater and although Sean Lambert reduced the arrears when he twice came from behind against John Teal before winning 3-2 the away side guaranteed themselves of at least a share of the points when Stephen Knight beat Robert Stansbury 3-1, Stansbury having won the first leg.
In order to get anything out of the game Derbyshire now required something special and it was supplied by Richard Palmer, a straight 3-0 win against Gerry Hall in 15, 18 and 20 darts to give him an award winning average of 28.36 and at the same time give his team mate Ian Scobbie a chance to secure a draw in the final game against his namesake Ian Adamson.
Scobbie won the first leg, Adamson the second. Scobbie went ahead again in the third only to see his opponent level for a second time. Scobbie was first to a double in the final leg but missed and gave Adamson the chance to steal the game and match but he also failed and with his next visit to the oche Ian Scobbie sealed a 3-2 win with an eight outshot putting the final score at 6-6.
With four lady of the match awards already under her belt Derbyshire could not have wished for a better opener than Jane Densley and once again she supplied the goods as she beat Judith Morrison in three straight legs and a super 23.48 average for her fifth award of the campaign.
The lead didn’t last long as Linda Ithurralde beat Kelly Dean 3-1 and with 3-0 wins from Maureen Woodroffe and Kirsty Hutchinson against Jennifer McCormick and Rachel Bird County Durham had turned the game around and were leading 3-1.
The win was secured for the away team in the fourth, a 3-1 win from Margaret Stewart over Dee Fenn taking their lead to a winning 4-1. The final score was made a little more respectable when in the final game Jackie Sweet beat Dawn Winn 3-1 giving a 4-2 result to County Durham.
The first four games of the men’s ‘A’ match all went with the first throw advantage County Durham twice taking the lead through Keith Gowland and David Price who beat respective opponents Paul Bettney and Richard Hanson 4-2 their wins being cancelled out first by Steven Soar who won 4-0 against Paul Dinning and another Paul, this time Mellor who won 4-1 against John Dalton.
In game five the sequence was broken and for the first time in the match Derbyshire went ahead when Andrew McCracken sealed a 4-3 win over Stephen Annan with a final 116 game shot. The hosts lead was then doubled by the break as Robert Smith rounded off the first half with another 4-3 win against Stephen Hayers to put the home team 4-2 up.
Unfortunately the trend didn’t continue as Robert Douthwaite (County Durham) beat Darren Sinfield 4-0 and Paul Telford’s 4-3 win over Nigel Daniels put the match back to level terms at 4-4.
After two successful games in the ‘B’ side whereby Paul Baker won the man of the match awards with tremendous 28.11 and 33.40 averages he was rewarded with a promotion to the ‘A’ side and quickly repaid the trust in him with a 4-2 win over Kevin Naunton and chalked up another man of the match performance with his 26.69 average.
The 5-4 lead was not to last long as David Gill won 4-1 against Gary Fenn and with a similar result from Craig Anderson against Tim Daniels Derbyshire after twice being ahead now needed the final game for a draw.
The 6-6 draw was the final score as Lee Stanley (Derbyshire) with three single dart and one second dart finish fought off the challenge of George Davison to win 4-1.
Despite the two men’s teams having encouraging 6-6 draws against a middle of the table team the overall result of 22-14 went to the away team and left Derbyshire stranded at the foot of the table on 119 points, seven adrift of next to bottom Surrey and more importantly 20 short of safety and the team above Surrey, Kent.
Full Results: Derbyshire v County Durham (16-20):(Derbyshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Paul Bettney 2 Keith Gowland 4, Steven Soar 4 Paul Dinning 0, Richard Hanson 2 David Price 4, Paul Mellor 4 John Dalton 1, Andrew McCracken 4 Stephen Annan 3, Robert Smith 4 Stephen Hayers 3, Darren Sinfield 0 Robert Douthwaite 4, Nigel Daniels 3 Paul Telford 4, Paul Baker 4 Kevin Naunton 2, Gary Fenn 1 David Gill 4, Tim Daniels 1 Craig Anderson 4, Lee Stanley 4 George Davison 1, Men’s ‘B’:- John Clifford 0 Paul Clark 3, Scott Parkin 3 Andrew Allaker 2, Ashley Spencer 3 Martin Farmer 2, Loz Barnes 0 Bradley Chapman 3, Alan Statham 3 Chris Allum 2, Paul Williams 2 Nathan Sugden 3, Tony Cresswell 1 Ian Hambleton 3, Peter Slater 1 Gary Miller 3, Sean Lambert 3 John Teal 2, Robert Stansbury 1 Stephen Knight 3, Richard Palmer 3 Gerry Hall 0, Ian Scobbie 3 Ian Adamson 2, Women’s ‘A’:- Jane Densley 3 Judith Morrison 0, Kelly Dean 1 Linda Ithurralde 3, Jennifer McCormick 0 Maureen Woodroffe 3, Rachel Bird 0 Kirsty Hutchinson 3, Dee Fenn 1 Margaret Stewart 3, Jackie Sweet 3 Dawn Winn 1, Women’s ‘B’:- Dawn Buckley 0 Allison Wells 3, Alison Shilton 2 Karol Dagga 3, Sara-Jane Harrison 2 Liz Tait 3, Louise Rawson-Lee 2 Angela McDonald 3, Samantha Clarke 0 Clare Stewart 3, Rachel Ayres 1 Cheryl Adamson 3.