After finishing the old year with three consecutive wins in division one of the BDO Inter County Championships West Midlands had a disastrous start to the new year as they suffered their biggest defeat of the current campaign going down 27-9 away to Dorset, their heaviest defeat since losing by the same scoreline in March 2009 to neighbouring Warwickshire when both teams were in division one.
It could not have been a worse weekend with all four teams losing, the ladies ‘B’ had their biggest defeat of the season as Heather Wright lost the opener 3-1 to Trina Perry and second on Shellbie Simmons going down 3-0 to Cathryn Campbell. Dorset went three up when Carol Llewellyn added her 3-2 win over Jacqueline Maiden and as early as the fourth game the match was lost as Katie Mitchell took the score to 4-0 with her 3-1 win against Samantha Maiden.
With a 3-2 win by Sally Old and 3-0 success from Samantha Kirton over their respective opponents Shannon Hall and Claire Hobbs the rout was complete and Dorset had won 6-0.
The men’s ‘B’ hadn’t lost a game since the opening day when they went down 7-5 at Hampshire but they were about to double their losses at Dorset and yet it didn’t begin too badly. Robert Smith won the first two legs against Timothy Poole but then lost the next three to lose 3-2. Daniel Nicholls was swift to cancel out the defeat as in double quick time he beat Bryan Pearson 3-0 and although Dorset went ahead again in the third when Tommy Morris defeated Mark Hampton 3-1 the score was levelled again in the fourth by Sam Guest who despite being pegged back to 2-2 after leading 2-0 won the decider against Mark Porter.
The results continued to go against the darts advantage in the fifth when Terrence Prowse beat Mark Rollinson 3-1 to give the home team the lead for a third time, however the sequence was broken in the very next game when Robby Morris won 3-0 against Paul Wells to open up a 4-2 lead for the home side.
Dorset’s lead was extended to 6-2 when Daniel Perry and Daniel Walker, not only having the same Christian name but also the same winning 3-2 margin, in turn beat Dave Robbins and Paul Price.
Dean Mills kept hopes of a draw alive for the Midlanders with his 3-0 win over Matthew Read but those hopes were dashed when Phil Weeks made it 7-2 with a 3-2 win against John Mycock.
The penultimate encounter produced West Midlands man of the match in the form of Glen McGrandle. McGrandle squared up to Scott Hudson and after the first leg which he won in 23 darts Hudson was never in the picture as the Shropshire man won the second in 15 darts and the third in 17 for a superb 27.33 average.
Taking the final score to 7-5 for Dorset was Nigel Lamb who won 3-0 against Richard Platt.
Like the ladies ‘B’ the ‘A’ team hadn’t lost since the first game of the season but were soon struggling as Julie Frampton (Dorset) beat Gemma Barrett 3-0 and another Julie for Dorset this time Boggust won 3-1 against Lisa Badger.
In a bid to turn the tide Sophie Singh supplied West Midlands with their first winner when she accounted for Donna Mabbatt with a 3-1 result, Sophie with an 18.20 average also winning the teams match award. Sophie’s win however proved to be a short respite as Suzanne Trickett and Sarah Chick added their 3-1 wins over respective opponents Kath Jenkins and Sarah Roberts to put the score beyond West Midland’s reach at 4-1.
Peri-May Yarrow rounded off a 5-1 win for Dorset when in the final game she won 3-0 against Debbie Loon.
Robbie Martin chalked up Dorset’s first win in the men’s ‘A’ game when he beat Keith Allman 4-2 and although his team mate Dale Masterman twice took the lead against Glen McGrandle he eventually lost 4-2. The win saw McGrandle achieve something truly special as for the second day running he won the man of the match award this time with a fantastic 30.29 average with winning legs of 14,16,14 and 20 darts, not many players can say they have won the ‘A’ and ‘B’ awards on the same weekend.
Jonathan Platt came from 2-0 down against Kevin Smith to win 4-2 to give West Midlands a 2-1 lead which was quickly erased as Matthew Dicken lost 4-0 to Matt Yarrow. Nevertheless the away team went ahead again in the very next game when Gareth Watts beat John Clark 4-0 but by the midway point of the game it was all square at 3-3 after Lee Edwardson won 4-1 against Michael Baker.
The second half was somewhat of a disaster as Michael Bowden and Matthew Woodhouse registered 4-3 wins in turn over Scott Baker and John Morris to open up a 5-3 advantage to Dorset. With 4-0 defeats for Ian Jones and Daniel Nicholls at the hands of their respective opponents Thomas Chant and Mark Grimes Dorset now were in an unassailable 7-3 lead and with a 4-1 win for Lee Turle over Mark Craddock and a final 4-0 win for Scott Mitchell against Ashe Khayat the result was a 9-3 win for Dorset.
Despite the huge 27-9 defeat West Midlands hang on to second place in the promotional table with 106 points but now trail leaders London by eleven and are only one point to the good on third placed Oxfordshire. Dorset’s big win has seen them climb up the table from seventh to fourth.
Full Results:Division One:Dorset v West Midlands (27-9)🙁Dorset names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Robbie Martin 4 Keith Allman 2, Dale Masterman 2 Glen McGrandle 4, Kevin Smith 2 Jonathan Platt 4, Matt Yarrow 4 Matthew Dicken 0, John Clark 0 Gareth Watts 4, Lee Edwardson 4 Michael Baker 1, Michael Bowden 4 Scott Baker 3, Matthew Woodhouse 4 John Morris 3, Thomas Chant 4 Ian Jones 0, Mark Grimes 4 Daniel Nicholls 0, Lee Turle 4 Mark Craddock 1, Scott Mitchell 4 Ashe Khayat 0, Men’s ‘B’:- Timothy Poole 3 Robert Smith 2, Bryan Pearson 0 Daniel Nicholls 3, Tommy Morris 3 Mark Hampton 1, Mark Porter 2 Sam Guest 3, Terrance Prowse 1 Mark Rollinson 3, Robby Morris 3 Paul Wells 0, Daniel Perry 3 Dave Robbins 2, Daniel Walker 3 Paul Price 2, Matthew Read 0 Dean Mills 3, Phil Weeks 3 John Mycock 2, Scott Hudson 0 Glen McGrandle 3, Nigel Lamb 3 Richard Platt 0, Women’s ‘A’:- Julie Frampton 3 Gemma Barrett 0, Julie Boggust 3 Lisa Badger 1, Donna Mabbatt 1 Sophie Singh 3, Suzanne Trickett 3 Kath Jenkins 1, Sarah Chick 3 Sarah Roberts 1, Peri-May Yarrow 3 Debbie Loon 0, Women’s ‘B’:- Trina Perry 3 Heather Wright 1, Cathryn Campbell 3 Shellbie Simmons 0, Carol Llewellyn 3 Jacqueline Maiden 2, Katie Mitchell 3 Samantha Maiden 1, Sally Old 3 Shannon Hall 2, Samantha Kirton 3 Claire Hobbs 0.
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