Combined November and December Reports
Shropshire v West of England
Last season in division four of the BDO Inter County Championships Shropshire played away to West of England and returned with their first win of the campaign a 23-13 victory, this season the two teams squared up to each other on Shropshire’s home board the result was exactly the same unfortunately for the hosts on this occasion it was in West of England‘s favour.
Tyler Crook (Shropshire) won the opening leg of the ladies ‘B’ game against Laura Dalziel only to see the West of England player take the next two. Crook levelled in the fourth but then lost the game 3-2 in the fifth. The second encounter began in a similar fashion to the first as the home side’s Sophie Fawcett went one up against Claire Isles traled 2-1 and then drew level in the fourth but then with 2×100 in the decider it was Fawcett who got the 3-2 verdict after Isles had missed out on her finishing doubles.
The visitors went ahead again in the third when Andrea Betts beat Kirsty Jenks in three straight legs they then opened up a 3-1 lead when Mev Kelly won 3-1 against Cal Jones. The away team looked all set to increase their lead and secure a win when Laura Humphrey went 1-0 and 2-1 up against Grace Angell but the teenager stuck to her task and with wins in the last two legs won the tie 3-2, her 18,21 average earning her the team’s match award.
Barbara Strutt (West of England) won the first leg against Lynne Watton but the Shropshire player with the sharper finishing took the next three legs for a 3-1 win and give her team a share of the spoils in a 3-3 draw.
West of England were first off the mark again in the men’s ‘B’ game as Dale Fitzgerald began with a 3-1 win over Matthew Roberts after Roberts had won the first leg in 15 darts. Peter Eley was the man to level for the home team, a 3-1 success against Gary Grimmitt before the away team’s man of the match Zach Quinn began a string of five consecutive wins for the visitors.
Quinn in 22,14 and 20 darts beat Tim Eley 3-0 and taking the score to 3-1 was Darren Rogers with his similar result against Simon Pritchard. In a full distance five legs affair Adrian Williams got the better of Royston Minton and with Dean Short’s 3-0 verdict against Brian Matthews and Steve Long’s 3-2 win over Scott Meyrick West of England were in an unbeatable 6-1 position.
It took a man of the match performance from Robert Thompson to stop the rot, Thompson going 1-0 down to Kieron Long, then 2-1 up and 2-2 before clinching his 3-2 win in the decider with an eighteen darts leg and a 23.01 average.
The outcome was decided in the ninth when Martyn Noakes beat Trevor Smith 3-1 to put the away side 7-2 up with the win assured.
Robert Trumper added a third win to Shropshire’s tally when he won 3-1 against Alan Skinner but that was to be their last win as Colin Hignell beat Dan Boot 3-0 and in the last game of the day Josh Allen, after being pegged back to 2-2 from a 2-0 lead won the fifth leg for a 3-2 win to give West of ngland a 9-3 victory.
For the ladies ‘A’, after conceding a 6-0 defeat in their previous game against Norfolk things could only get better and better they did get. Marie Riggs came from 2-0 down to Lucy Connot to put Shropshire one up as she won 3-2. That lead was doubled by Michele Pritchard when she handed out a 3-1 defeat to Gail Dent and with a lady of the match win in the third from Stephanie Clarke Shropshire were already guaranteed at the worst a draw. Clarke after going 2-0 up won the third and the tie in 17 darts giving her a 20.04 average.
Julie Griffths won the first leg against Tracey Webb but the Shropshire player was unable to consolidate her advantage and went on to lose 3-1. Sue Lane had a similar game against Jayne Fitzgerald as she won the first and lost the next three to leave the result hinging on the final game between Kat McLean (Shropshire) and Louise Ballantyne.
The opening leg could easily have gone either way but a double one from McLean gave her the lead, she doubled that lead in the second leg with her opponent still requiring 113 and wrapped up a 3-0 win in the third leg which she kicked off with scores of 100,100 and 180 and with a 40 game shot in 18 darts won 3-0 and gave her team the 4-2 result.
Shropshore’s opener in the men’s ’A’ game Brian Hickman was twice pegged back to level terms by Mike Johnson before recording his 4-2 win, but that was as good as the first half got for the hosts.
Paul Fellows twice came from behind against John Cooper to win 4-2 to level the game for the away side and then with two 4-0 wins from Robbie Long and Mark Dudbridge over respective opponents Martin Riggs and Paul Bromley West of England were 3-1 up,
The last two games of the first half both had a similar pattern as away players Gary Pinker and Mike Nott both went two legs down in turn to Clive Lucking and Nathan Storar. Pinker and Nott then won the next three legs and both lost the penultimate leg to force a decider. All four players had a throw at a finishing double in the seventh leg but it was Pinker and Nott who found the vital doubles to seal their 4-3 wins to put their team into a 5-1 lead,
It took just the first two games of the second half for West of England to secure their win, Andrew White beat Andre Knox 4-0 and Simon Lloyd won 4-2 against Matt Williams to put them into an unassailable 7-1 lead.
AndI Chatter was the man to record Shropshire’s second win, a 4-1 victory against Alan Thatcher before Danny James reduced the deficit even further when for the second consecutive fixture he was named man of the match. Playing against Wayne Allen James went 2-0 up in 21 and 22 darts, Allen responded with two 17 darts legs but with further 20 and 15 darts games James completed his 4-2 win and took the award with a 26.25 average.
Both of the last two games finished with a 4-1 result the away team’s Paul Smith and Martyn Lansdown getting the better of their respective opponents Neville Quinton and Eddie Austin to put the final score at 9-3, the second successive 9-3 reversal for the men’s ’A’ team.
The overall result for the weekend was a 23-13 win for West of England, however despite the defeat they have moved up one place in the table to seventh but their next fixture is a tough away game against table toppingg Clwyd.
Full Results (Shropshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Brian Hickman 4 Mike Johnson 2, John Cooper 2 Paul Fellows 4, Martin Rigg 0 Robbie Long 4, Paul Bromley 0 Mark Dudbridge 4, Clive Lucking 3 Gary Pinker 4, Mathan Storar 3 Mike Nott 4, Abdre Knox 0 Andrew White 4, Matt Williams 2 Simon Lloyd 4, Andi Chatter 4 Alan Thatcher 1, Danny James 4 Wayne Allen 2, Neville Quinton 1 Paul Smith 4, Eddie Austin 1 Martyn Lansdown 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Matthew Roberts 1 Dale Fitzgerald 3, Peter Eley 3 Gary Grimmitt 1, Tim Eley 0 Zach Quinn 3, Simon Pritchard 1 Darren Rogers 3, Royston Minton 2 Adrian Williams 3, Brian Matthews 0 Dean Short 3, Scott Meyrick 2 Steve Long 3, Robert Thompson 3 Kieron Grimmitt 2, Trevor Smith 1 Martyn Noakes 3, Robert Trumper 3 Alan Skinner 1, Dan Boot 0 Colin Hignell 3, Neil Powell 2 Josh Allen 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Marie Riggs 3 Lucy Connor 2, Michele Pritchard 3 Gail Dent 1, Stephanie Calrke 3 Jackie Skinner 0, Julie Griffiths 1 Tracey Webb 3, Sue Lane 1 Jayne Fitzgerald 3, Kat McLean 3 Louis Ballantyne 0, Women’s ‘B’:- Tyler Crook 2 Laura Dalziel 3, Sophie Fawcett 3 Claire Iles 2, Kirsty Jenks 0 Andrea Betts 3, Cal Jones 1 Mev Kelly 3, Grace Angell 3 Laura Humphrey 2, Lynne Watton 3 Barbara Strutt 1.
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December
Clwyd v Shropshire
Shropshire County Darts Organisation were completely depleted before a single dart was thrown in their latest fixture in division four of the BDO Inter County Championships mourning the sudden passing of their county team member Lynne Watton.
Lynne aged just 56 was a recent addition to the Shropshire’s ladies team and had proved to be both a successful and popular addition to the squad winning six of the ten games she played including the two games she had won in the current season’s opening two fixtures.
Thoughts go with Lynne’s family and friends, she will be sadly missed by all of Shropshire County team.
Lynne Watton
With the tradgedy still fresh in their minds and an away game against high riding Clwyd who are third in the table level on 73 points with second placed Wiltshire the odds were well and truly stacked against Shropshire and that was highlighted in the games and final result.
The ladies both suffered heavy defeats as the ‘B’ team lost 5-1 going 4-0 down when Katie Woodcock, Rebecca Jones, Del Stapley and Julie Maddock in turn defeated Sophie Fawcett, Tyler Crook, Carla Crook and Sharon Harris.
It was game five when Shropshire chalked up their one and only win a 3-2 success from Becky Harris who beat Linda Chadwick and took the match award with her 17.82 average.
The final game between Bethan Jones (Clwyd) and Pamela Evans saw Jones win 3-0 to complete the home team’s 5-1 victory.
The ‘A’ side after loing the opening game when Natalie Davey beat Marie Riggs 3-1 then forged a 2-1 lead Julie Griffiths recording their first win when she accounted for Sarah Roberts with a 3-2 scoreline after Roberts had won the first two legs, then lady of the match Stephanie Clarke (Shropshire) squared up to Glad Davies, Clarke won the first leg but then lost the next two, nevertheless she fought back to seal a 3-2 win and the match award for the second successive fixture with an 18.60 average. From there on in it was all Clwyd as their Claire Maddock, Paula Collins and Jane Dobson each recorded a 3-1 win over repspective opponents Sue Lane, Kat McLean and Michele Pritchard for a 4-2 win.
There was little joy for the men’s teams, Saturday’s game seeing the ‘B’ side finish on the wrong side of a 9-3 result for the second consecutive game. Andrew Hopwood was first on for Clwyd coming from 1-0 down to Trevor Smith to win 3-1 and although Scott Meyrick with a similar game whereby he trailed 1-0 to Philip Wilcock and then went on to win 3-1 to level for Shropshire it was the hosts who won the following six games.
Paul Hughes began the winning run for Clwyd when he beat Kevin Harris 3-1, then with four 3-2 wins supplied by Andrew Alker, Jason Wilcock, Bryan Moran and Paul Alley against their respective opponents Neil Powell, Matthew Roberts, Sam Hamilton and Peter Eley plus a 3-1 success by Peter Lewis against Martin Riggs the home side had won the tie in the opening eight games as they had forged a 7-1 lead.
It took a man of the match showing from Nathan Storar to stop the rot. After winning the first leg against Steve Gierke, which could esaily have gone either way, Gierke made amends by winning the seond only to see Storar with top shots of 100,139,125 and 140 win the next two legs in 18 and 17 darts for a 3-1 win and a 24.11 average.
The deficit was reduced to 7-3 in the tenth when Robert Thompson after twice trailing to Jon Darlington won 3-2, but with a 3-0 win for Neil Mayers over Rob Henderson and a final 3-1 win for John Thomas against Andy Evans Clwyd’s 9-3 win was achieved.
Shropshire’s men’s ‘A’ side actually had a promising start as Clive Lucking got the ball rolling with his opening 4-2 win over Paul Reilly. Glyn Carus was quick to reply for Clwyd levelling the score with a 4-1 win against Andre Knox, before the away side went 3-1 up, the two wins started by Danny James who for the third time in the first three fixtures of the season won the man of the mathc award. James won his first leg against Steve Gilbert in 20 darts and with a 129 checkout doubled that lead in 18 darts. Although he hit 117 and 100 in the third he struggled a little on a finishing double but went on to win the leg in 24 darts and rounded off his 4-0 success with another 18 darts leg to clinched the award with a 25.05 average.
Making it 3-1 to Shropshire was Eddie Austin who had to fight back from 2-0 down to Paul Alley to go on and win 4-2.
Momentarilly Derek Williams (Clwyd) cut the arrears to 3-2 when he beat Brian Hickman 4-2 only to see the visitors two games advantage restored when Richard Parker beat David Harrold 4-3 after Harrold had opened 1-0 and 2-1 leads and then levelled in the sixth to take the score at the midway point to 4-2 in favour of Shropshire.
The second half belonged to Clwyd Darren Hiles began a winning six games run when he turned around a 2-0 deficit in the first two legs against Derek Coulson into a winning 4-3 result. Colin Snead levelled the game at four each with a 4-1 win over Matt Williams and then for the first time in the game the home team took the lead when Dean Williams beat John Cooper 4-2 after Cooper had gone 2-0 up.
Neville Quinton (Shropshire) began in style as he took the first leg against Ricky Spender with a 132 checkout but Spender then went on to win 4-1. It was a similar situation for Andi Chatter as he won the first leg against Craig Spriggs but then lost the next four and then in the final game of the weekend with a further 4-1 win by Lester Thompson over Paul Bromley Clwyd won the game 8-4 and also claimed the overall result of 26-10
The defeat has seen Shropshire drop into the bottom two in the table their next two fixtures being vital to their cause as they play against the two teams directly above them, first a home tie with Pembrokeshire who are on the same 33 points as Shropshire and then an away fixture against Bedfordshire who are just eight points to the good and just above Pembrokeshire.
Full Results:Men’s ‘A’:- Paul Reilly 2 Clive Lucking 4, Glyn Carus 4 Andre Knox 1, Steve Gilbert 0 Danny James 4, Paul Alley 2 Eddie Austin 4, Derek Williams 4 Brian Hickman 2, David Harrold 3 Richard Parker 4, Darren Miles 4 Derek Coulson 3, Colin Snead 4 Matt Williams 1, Dean Williams 4 John Cooper 2, Ricky Spender 4 Neville Quinton 1, Craig Spriggs 4 Andi Chatter 1, Lester Thompson 4 Paul Bromley 1, Men’s ‘B’:- Andrew Hopwood 3 Trevor Smith 1, Philip Wilcock 1 Scott Meyrick 3, Paul Hughes 3 Kevin Harris 1, Andrew Alker 3 Neil Powell 2, Jason Wilcock 3 Matthew Roberts 2, Bryan Moran 3 Sam Hamilton 2, Paul Alley 3 Peter Eley 2, Peter Lewis 3 Martin Riggs 1, Steve Gierke 1 Nathan Storar 3, Jon Darlington 2 Robert Thompson 3, Neil Mayers 3 Rob Henderson 0, John Thomas 3 Andy Evans 1, Women’s ‘A’:- Natalie Davey 3 Marie Riggs 1, Sarah Roberts 2 Julie Griffiths 3, Glad Davies 2 Stephanie Clarke 3, Claire Maddock 3 Sue Lane 1, Paula Collins 3 Kat McLean 1, Jane Robson 3 Michele Pritchard 1, Women’s ‘B’:- Katie Woodcock 3 Sophie Fawcett 2, Rebecca Jones 3 Tyler Crook 1, Del Stapley 3 Carla Crook 0, Julie Maddock 3 Sharon Harris 2, Linda Chadwick 2 Becky Harris 3, Bethan Jones 3 Pamela Evans 0.
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