Essex v Warwickshire
Going into their penultimate fixture in the premier division of the BDO Inter County Championships Warwickshire were fifth in the table on 114 points, three short of Cambridgeshire in fourth place and six behind third placed Cheshire. Their last but one game was an away fixture against bottom of the table Essex who being fifteen points short of safety already looked doomed to relegation, but a big win for Warwickshire could lift them further up the table.
The ladies ‘B’ team could not have wished for a better start than what was given them by Nina Bolt as she not only beat her counterpart Nicky Bradley 3-1 but also won her first lady of the match award for the season with her 18.54 average. Chloe MvKivett (Warwickshire) twice trailed against Pauline Donat but fought back and went on to win 3-2. Third on for Warwickshire was Donna Pinch she like her team mate McKivett also lost the first leg in her game with Dawn Kennedy and despite reversing the lead and going 2-1 up was taken to a decider by Kennedy before winning 3-2.
As early as the fourth game the match was won as Angela Jones defeated Lynn Kelly in what was the third successive 3-2 scoreline. Angela won the first two legs only to see her opponent take the following two, but a win in the fifth gave her a 3-2 win and opened up a 4-0 lead.
Steph Hewson was the first winner for Essex, winning 3-1 against Wendy Adams and with a 3-0 win for Karen Breen against Marian Conway in the last game the final score was 4-2 to Warwickshire.
Warwickshire’s Ian Shaw looked to be in trouble in the first game of the men’s ‘B’ match as he went 3-0 down to Mick McCombe but he held his nerve and went on to win the tie 4-3. The away team‘s lead was short lived as Craig Vickers beat Simon Fairbrother 4-2, Richie Howson and Matthew Garrett in turn won 4-1 against Anthony West and Thomas Ryan and taking the score to 4-1 was Lennie Holmes with his 4-1 win over Tommy McGlone. Graham Hall made the score a little more respectable by the midway point when he won 4-2 against Malcolm Clark.
As the second half got underway Carl Green reduced the deficit even further to 4-3 with his close 4-3 win against Eddie Gosling but despite winning the first leg against John Costigan with a 111 finish, James Hykin lost the tie 4-1. Mangal Singh went from 1-0 down to 2-1 up against Andy Kateley before losing 4-2 to put the home team 6-3 up.
Tommy Wilson looked all set to chalk up the all important seventh win for Essex when he opened up leads of 1-0 and 3-1 against Charlie Symons but the away player took the last three legs in 20, 23 and 18 darts for a 4-3 win.
Mark Carter was in fine form for Warwickshire taking the ‘B’ team’s match award with his 27.39 average as he beat Bryan Margerison 4-1 clinching his win in the fifth with a tremendous 160 game shot to keep hopes alive of what appeared at one stage an unattainable draw.
Anchor man for Warwickshire was Mark Strong who in 18 and 21 darts won the first two legs against Shaun Walsh, unfortunately despite throws for finishing doubles in two of the final four legs Strong was unable to consolidate his lead and eventually lost 4-2 to give the home side a 7-5 victory.
Warwickshire’s women’s ‘A’ team have not won a game since January 2016 and once again the doubts must have set in as early as the first game when their star player Trina Gulliver, after going 2-0 up against Stacey Ellis lost 3-2. However despite the early setback Melanie Hill and Sue Gulliver registered 3-1 wins over respective opponents Rebecca Farmer and Wendy Reader to go 2-1 up.
A 3-0 win over Kerry Bambridge by Sue Baker restored parity for the hosts but only for a short time as Natalie Gilbert defeated Leanne Peetoom by the same 3-0 margin to win her second successive match award with a 21.78 average.
Despite their brave efforts the ‘A’ team were yet again going to be left without a win as their final player, Nina Bolt was unable to match her result from the previous day and lost 3-0 to Donna Gleed to see the final score end at three each.
Essex took the first game of the men’s ‘A’ match as Daniel Day beat Nigel Heydon 4-1 before Mark Westgarth went one better for Warwickshire with a straight 4-0 win over Robert Turner to square the match. Simon Power (Warwickshire) trailed 3-0 to Darren Peetoom and fought back bravely to 3-3 but was unable to consolidate as Peetoom took the deciding leg in 13 darts. William Naylor, like Power also trailed 3-0 in his tie with Steve Johnson, he managed to come back to 3-2 but them lost 4-2 to see Essex open up a 3-1 lead.
Jamie Hughes who won five of Warwickshire men’s ‘A’ match awards last season had not won one in the current campaign but that was all about to change as he handed out a straight 4-0 defeat to Paul Marsh and took the award with a 29.91 average winning his four legs in 21,16,13 and 17 darts which included 3×180 and 177.
By the end of the first half the scores were level, Rob Hawker adding his 4-2 win over Phil Halls to the visitors tally but it was Essex who went ahead again for a third time in the seventh as Wayne Bloomfield gave Noel Grant no chance whatsoever. After losing the first leg Bloomfield then chalked up winning legs of 13,12,18 and 16 darts for superb 32.05 average.
From 4-3 down Warwickshire then raced to a match winning lead of 7-4 all begun by Dean Stewart who won 4-3 against Barry Lynn in what was something of a seesaw game, Lynn won the first leg then Stewart took the next three, Lynne fought back to level terms but it was Stewart who won the decider in 18 darts.
Antony Allen added a 4-1 win over Tony Osborne, then Tom Aldridge beat Paul Barham 4-0 and with a 4-1 success from Anthony West against Alan Collins it was game over.
The last game of the weekend saw Wayne Gleed (Essex) beat Richard Foster 4-0, but the result was 7-5 to Warwickshire and more importantly the overall 19-17 result was also in favour of Warwickshire which took them two places up the table to third, two points ahead of both Cambridgeshire and Cheshire with a final home tie against Devon.
Full Results:Essex v Warwickshire (17-19)🙁Essex names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Daniel Day 4 Nigel Heydon 1, Robert Turner 0 Mark Westgarth 4, Darren Peetoom 4 Simon Power 3, Steve Johnson 4 William Naylor 2, Paul Marsh 0 Jamie Hughes 4, Phil Halls 2 Rob Hawker 4, Wayne Bloomfield 4 Noel Grant 1, Barry Lynn 3 Dean Stewart 4, Tony Osborne 1 Antony Allen 4, Paul Barham 0 Tom Aldridge 4, Alan Collins 1 Anthony West 4, Wayne Gleed 4 Richard Foster 0, Men’s ‘B’:- Mick McCombe 3 Ian Shaw 4, Craig Vickers 4 Simon Fairbrother 2, Richie Howson 4 Anthony West 1, Matthew Garrett 4 Tom Ryan 1, Lennie Holmes 4 Tom McGlone 1, Malcolm Clark 2 Graham Hall 4, Eddie Gosling 3 Carl Green 4, John Costigan 4 James Hykin 1, Andy Kateley 4 Mangal Singh 2, Tommy Wilson 3 Charlie Symons 4, Bryan Margerison 1 Mark Carter 4, Shaun Walsh 4 Mark Strong 2, Women’s ‘A’:- Stacey Ellis 3 Trina Gulliver 2, Rebecca Farmer 1 Melanie Hill 3, Wendy Reader 1 Sue Gulliver 3, Sue Baker 3 Kerry Bambridge 0, Leanne Peetoom 0 Natalie Gilbert 3, Donna Gleed 3 Nina Bolt 0, Women’s ‘B’:- Nicky Bradley 1 Nina Bolt 3, Pauline Donat 2 Chloe McKivett 3, Dawn Kennedy 2 Donna Pinch 3, Lynn Kelly 2 Angela Jones 3, Steph Hewson 3 Wendy Adams 1, Karen Breen 3 Marian Conway 0.
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The Warwickshire Super League staged their Super League Mixed Pairs Knockout at the Bishopsgate Club, Foleshill Road, Coventry, CV1 4JJ which attracted eighteen pairs all doing battle for share of a fantastic total payout of £300.
The outcome resulted in Donna Pinch and Antony Allen regaining their title as Mixed Pairs Champions of Warwickshire after defeating Marian Conway and Noel Grant in the final.
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