After ending 2016 with a somewhat surprising 19-17 home defeat to Lincolnshire in the premier division of the BDO Inter County Championships, Warwickshire will be hoping to kick off the New Year this coming weekend with a win away to Lancashire but it will be no easy task as their hosts are currently riding high, second in the table behind Yorkshire and seventeen points to the good on Warwickshire, however in last season’s fixture Warwickshire were the 21-15 winners and a repeat of that result would be the ideal way to get back to winning ways.
Lining up for Warwickshire will be, Men’s ‘A’:- Tom Aldridge, Ted Evetts, Mark Westgarth, Dean Stewart, Jamie Hughes, Noel Grant, Antony Allen, Bob Nixon, Richard Foster, Mark Carter, Mark Strong, Nigel Heydon, Men’s ‘B’:- Simon Power, Graham Hall, Rob Hawker, James Hykin, Ian McFarlane, Anthony West, Carl Green, Tom Ryan, Luke Kennedy, Mangal Singh, Andrew Foulkes, Matt Edgar, Reserves:- Charlie Symons, Peter Hughes, Tom Martin, Tom McGlone, Ian Shaw, Simon Fairbrother, Women’s ‘A’:- Trina Gulliver, Natalie Gilbert, Donna Pinch, Marian Conway, Kerry Bambridge, Caroline Pike, Women’s ‘B’:- Melanie Hill, Denise Keyte, Sue Gulliver, Helen Rigg, Chloe McKevitt, Nina Bolt, Reserves:- Lisa Deslandes, Angela Jones, Wendy Adams, Kat Spanswick.
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In division one of the BDO Inter County Championships West Midlands will be looking to carry on where they left off as they rounded off the old year with three 24-12 wins to leave them just one point short of leaders Hampshire.
In what will be the middle of the season fixture West Midlands will travel to take on Dorset and must feel confident they could return with a win as their hosts are five places below them and some 25 points adrift.
Selected to play for the West Midlands will be, Men’s ‘A’:- Keith Allman, Gavin Baker, Michael Baker, Scott Baker, Mark Craddock, Matthew Dicken, Ian Jones, Chris Mason, John Morris, Jonathan Platt, Lewis Venes, Gary Watts, Men’s ‘B’:- Sam Guest, Mark Hampton, Glen McGrandle, Dean Mills, John Mycock, Danny Nicholls, Richard Platt, Paul Price, Dave Robbins, Mark Rollason, Robert Smith, Paul Wells, Reserves:- Mark Dyke, Neil Pointon, Avtar Singh, Danny Coyle, Michael Hoult, Dave Redding, Jack Routledge, Mark Watkiss, Women’s ‘A’:- Lisa Astbury, Gemma Barrett, Kath Jenkins, Debbie Loon, Sarah Roberts, Sophie Singh, Women’s ‘B’:- Shannon Hall, Claire Hobbs, Jacqueline Maiden, Samantha Maiden, Shellbie Simmons, Heather Wright, Reserves:- Wendy Arnold, Kim Fellows, Kirsty Shaughnessy, Wendy Waine.
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Crown at Olton continue to lead the premier division of the Sheldon and District Winter League their latest fixture seeing them win 5-3 at home against Saltley Amateur Gardeners to give them a two points advantage over Langley Hall Sports and Social Arrows who after recording a 5-3 win away to Mackadown Social have replaced their hosts in the number two spot with nine points one more than Mackadown.
In division one leaders Willclare Sports and Social lost for the first time in six games as they went down 5-3 away to third in the table George ‘V’ who now have eight points one short of second placed Crown Arrows who could only manage a 4-4 draw in their home tie with Yardley Ex Colts who are next to bottom of the table. Crown Arrows who missed the opportunity to go top are on nine points one behind Willclare.
Shirley RBL Misfits have opened up a two points lead at the top of division two after beating their nearest rivals Ridgemere Social Flights 5-3, this was Ridgemere’s first defeat in five games, Shirley are now the only team in the league with a 100% win record.
Teams to win through in the quarter finals of the premier division League Cup are Mackadown Social, Crown at Olton and The Lyndon, while in division one Yardley Ex Colts, Crown Arrows and Sheldon Marlborough Arrows progress to the next round. Making up the semi finals for division two will be Ridgemere Social Flights, Lyndon Old Boys, Maggies and Shirley RBL Misfits.
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The Roy Parry Cup was on the agenda for the South Birmingham League and brought together the second and third placed teams from division one Mackadown Social and Crown at Shard End. As expected it was a hard fought encounter with the 6-3 result going in favour of the home team Mackadown. Other teams to win through were Erdington Members Club and Banbury Arrows.
In the Roy Parry Consolation Cup there were wins for The Gate and Crown Arrows, The Raven went through to the next round with a walkover as a result of Toby Jug failing to turn out.
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It was round one of the Consolation Cup for the Forest of Arden Winter League and it was Chelmsley Town who are next to bottom of division two who are without a league win so far that provided the shock of the round by beating second in the division two table Crown Arrows 6-3.
Another all division two clash saw Inn on the Green win 5-4 against Highwood Arms the same margin by which Kingshurst Knights defeated Ivy Leaf.
Highwood Exiles had a bye.
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Winner of the latest Winmau Centre Knockout’s was Ilkeston’s Matt Padgett who with a very close 6-5 result in the final beat West Midlands player Sam Guest who was aiming to make it two consecutive wins.
The semi finals saw Padgett hand out a 5-0 whitewash to Chris Manoila while Guest booked his final place with a 5-1 win against fellow West Midlands player Mick Baker.
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The Boat leaders of division one of the Four Oaks and District League and second placed Boldmere St Mikes both recorded 7-2 wins in week ten Boat winning at Drakes Drum and Boldmere playing at home against Bishop Vesey, giving Boat 18 points and Boldmere 16.
Both Old Oscott teams won 5-4 with Arrows taking the final game 2-0 for the points against Plough and Arrows while WMC won by the same 5-4 scoreline at Golden Hind.
In the second division The Boot lost ground in the title race after going down 6-3 at St Thomas’s Social Club who lead the field with 14 points from nine games. Hot on the heels of the leaders are The Boot, The Fox, Red Lion and Erdington Arrows who all have 12 points
Congratulations to The Duke who managed their first league win in nine games beating Erdington Club 5-4.
All the 180’s recorded this week were by repeat offenders, P.Smith (Plough and Arrows), M.Bowles (Old Oscott WMC) and W.Naylor (Golden Hind) all hit their second of the season. J.Collins (St Thomas’s Social Club) notched his fourth and R.Hawker (Boldmere St Mikes) incredibly his seventh.
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With most of the teams having played thirteen games in the Winmau Centre Monday Night League a 37-11 win over Keep It In The Family sees What’s The Point remain in the number one position with a total of 447 points. The Untouchables, the first ever winners of the title have moved up into second place on 439 points following their huge 45-3 win over Here For The Beer.
Third placed Smash It had a bye this week and with a game in hand on the two teams above them trail the leaders by 17 points. Fourth in the table The Outcasts won their tie against Full Monty 36-12 to put them on 423 points, again with a game in hand on the top two teams.
On the individual scene this week there were 180’s for Ian Hawkins, Vic Lloyd (Oche Dokie) and Simon New (The Untouchables) while James Owen (Double Trouble), Paul Simmons (Oche Dokie) and Andy Busby (The Untouchables) all hit two. Simon Ward (What’s The Point) recorded a 146 checkout.
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Mick Gorst added two 3-0 wins over Steve Heeks and Brian Lawton plus a 2-2 draw with Mick Bown to take his points to 74 from 28 games at the top of the Shirley Red Lion Premier League and give him a three points advantage plus two games in hand on second placed Paul Higgins who had similar results to Gorst as he won two and drew one beating Andy Hoy 3-1, Dave Fisher 3-0 and finishing all square at two each with Tom Bent.
It was not a good week for Chris Thomas who lost his third place in the table after losing all three of his games against Dave Hesketh, Steve Sidwell and Mick Gorst 3-0, Chris drops down to eighth place and is replaced in the third spot by Andy Hoy who after losing to Higgins won 3-0 against Anthony Daly to put him on 66 points the same number as Adam Stuart and Anthony Daly.
Finding the three treble twenties this week were Steve Sidwell and Adam Stuart, Ken Hopton had two 118 finishes plus a 16 darts leg while Stuart had a 112 game shot in his 15 darts leg.
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Stirchley United made it five wins in five games in the Kings Norton League when they won 6-1 away to bottom of the table Coldstream, however second placed Hillyfields ‘B’ won by the same 6-1 margin at home to Billesley and although they trail Strichley by two points have a game in hand and have the slightly better average.
West Heath, Hillyfields ‘A’ and The Coppice are all on the same eight points as Hillyfields ‘B’ but they have played five games as opposed to Hillyfields ‘B’ having played four. West Heath and The Coppice were 5-2 winners in turn against Cotteridge Social and E57 while Hillyfields ‘A’ won 4-3 at Weoley Hill.
A 7-0 home win over Bear and Staff saw Grant Arms leap six places up the table to seventh on four points from four games.
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Cotterills Lane Club consolidated their top spot in the Camp Hill League with a resounding 7-0 win away to Holy Gulp who as a result drop one place in the table to fourth. Hay Mills Social Club are second in the table but are now six points adrift of Cotterills after losing their home tie with Eagle and Ball 4-3, Eagle and Ball with 24 points move to within two points of their hosts in third place, Holy Gulp are on the same 24 points.
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No Change at the top of the Brierley Hill Friday Night League as there were wins for the top four teams. Leaders Brickmakers Arms won their home game with bottom of the table Lenches Bridge 5-2, second placed Pensnett Welfare Club ‘A’ were held to a close 4-3 win at The Gate (Colley Gate) and third placed Netherton Cricket Club ‘A’ who, like Pensnett Welfare ‘A’ are two points behind Brickmakers were 6-1 winners at home to Dudley Sports to leave both Pensnett ‘A’ and Netherton ‘A’ two points behind the leaders
Pensnett Welfare Club ‘B’ are fourth and they beat their guests Fox Inn (Lye) 6-1 to remain six points off the top of the table.
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The Red Lion, Shirley are planning a 24 hours dart-a-thon in an effort to raise money for Lupus UK as two of the league player’s wives suffer from the disease including the organiser Mark Gwalchmai’s wife Sally.
The event will run from 4.00pm on Friday 26th May to 4.00pm on the following day, Saturday 27th. The league are looking for cash and prize donations for what is an incredibly worthy cause as Lupus is a debilitating disease in addition to being very painful as well I know, my wife Sheila has been a Lupus sufferer for the past twenty years.
Anyone wishing to donate either money or a raffle prize should contact Mark Gwalchmai on 07908-741661.
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East Birmingham Allotment Holders Association look as though they will go through the Small Heath League season undefeated as with an 8-1 win at Cob’s Bar they made it nine straight wins giving them a lead over their nearest rivals Mitre and Gulp Tribe of six points. Mitre were also 8-1 winners away to Emerald Club while Gulp Tribe had a much closer 5-4 verdict at home against Wagon and Horses.
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The Stourbridge and District Monday Night League has attracted 24 teams to its new season and in the curtain raiser fixtures last season’s runners up Ten Arches ‘A’ were the biggest winners as they handed out a 9-0 whitewash to league newcomers Starving Rascal. Reigning champions Ten Arches ‘B’ were not far behind their local rivals as they won their home tie with The Bird (Stourbridge) 8-1.
High Acres are third in the table with their 7-2 win against Crestwood, then comes Cat Inn (Wordsley), Kingswinford Conservative Club, Fox Inn (Lye), Garibaldi, Gate ‘B’, Hare and Hounds ‘B’ and Stourbridge RBL who all won 6-3. Brickmakers Arms won 5-4 at Church Tavern.
The game between The Cross (Oldswinford) and The Bridge (Kingswinford) is to be rearranged.
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The Netherton Thursday Night League played off the first leg of the semi finals of their Andy Bastable Trophy which saw Dudley Sports and Delph Bell ‘B’ both win 4-3 against respective opponents Bulls Head and Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club, all four teams still having everything to play for in the second leg.
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The Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League began their new campaign with round one of their Black Country Windscreens Trophy, Old Hop Pole and Wagon and Horses the biggest winners with 6-1 results against respective opponents Merry-Go-Round and Court House. New Talbot and Island Inn both won 5-2 as in turn they took out The Vine and The Wonder.
Kev Williams hit a maximum for Wagon and Horses.
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The Pip Club League staged round two of their Open Cup in which there were wins for Bulls Head ‘A’ (Polesworth), Globe Trotters, Belgrave Club and Birchmoor Club who in turn defeated Winning Post, Pip Club, Progressive Club and Old Liberal.
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As the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League fasts draws to an end their Captain and Secretaries Cup was the order of the day and taking the title with a very close 3-2 result were Reece Cook-Lucas and Justin Evans (Gilberts Bar) with Jimmy Handley and Matt Campbell (Riley’s ‘D’) runners up.
In the last four games Reece Cook-Lucas and Evans beat Kev Jones and John McHale (Ukrainian Club) while Handley and Campbell accounted for Phil Mayo and Simon Pritchard from Riley’s ‘C’.
The league will be holding their AGM at 8.00pm on Tuesday 24th January at the Emerald Club, Cross Street North, Wolverhampton, all teams both old and new are invited to attend this meeting and are reminded they should bring with them £50 towards their league fees together with a list of their players names.
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