Pembrokeshire v Shropshire
With two wins under their belt from the opening three games in Division Four of the BDO Inter County Championships Shropshire were lying sixth in the promotional table on 62 points only ten short of leaders Leicestershire. The latest and final fixture of the year was an away tie with Pembrokeshire who were two places below and 18 points short of Shropshire.
The host’s ladies ‘B’ side got the better start as Ruth Bailey-Harris opened up with a 3-0 win over Caroline Powell that lead doubled when Tina Phillips beat Cheryl Owen 3-2 in a very close game. Shropshire pulled one back in the third with a 3-1 win for lady of the match Rachael Mooney who won 3-1 against Lorraine James with a 15.29 average.
Parity was restored in the fourth as Sophie Fawcett beat namesake Sophie Davies in a game that swayed one way then the other as Sophie Fawcett went one up then Sophie Davies took a 2-1 lead. The final two legs went to Shropshire’s Sophie for her 3-2 win.
Eirwen Lewis took Pembrokeshire within an ace of victory when she beat Helen Walmsley 3-1 but the final score was a 3-3 draw when Allison Gallagher handed out a straight 3-0 defeat to Avril Evans.
The men’s ‘B’ were fresh off the back of a convincing 10-2 win over Gloucestershire but like the ladies ‘B’ didn’t have a very good start as Pembrokeshire with wins from Gareth John, Steve Castle, John Phillips and Paul Gardiner over respective opponents Paul Bromley (3-2), John Simms (3-0), Jon Blakemore (3-2) and Paul Harrison (3-0) opened up a 4-0 lead.
Mike Hampson momentarily stopped the home team’s charge as he came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against Jay Picton but by the midway point of the match Pembrokeshire had gone 5-1 up with a further 3-1 win from Cellan Jones who with a 144 game shot in the third beat Brian Hickman.
Richard Bowen with an award winning average of 25.68 gave Shropshire their second win when he kicked off the second half with a 3-1 success over Mark Allchin but it was only a brief intermission for the visitors as Ben Farr and Andrew Smith in turn won 3-1 against Andy Vellender and Phil Mayo to take the score beyond Shropshire’s reach as the home side then had a 7-2 lead. Kian Davies went 2-0 up against Simon Pritchard and although Pritchard pulled back to level terms it was Davies who won the final leg.
Now with an 8-2 advantage home player Daniel Castle looked all set to make it 9-2 when he went 2-0 up against Will Roberts but in 26,19 and 20 darts it was Roberts who got the 3-2 result and making the final score a little more respectable at 8-4 was Sam Aitkens (Shropshire) who handed Peter Wilcox a straight 3-0 defeat.
It turned out to be a bad day at the office for the ladies ‘A’ side as they suffered their biggest defeat of the season so far 6-0. Tracey Marie-Davies began the rout as she won 3-0 against Michele Pritchard. Deana Sheldon made Rhian Evans fight all the way for her victory as she cancelled out her lead twice and took her to a decider before she won 3-2. Tracey Hawkins-Green took the score along to 3-0 with her 3-1 win against Sue Lane who had won the first leg then with a similar 3-1 result Julie Gore put the score beyond Shropshire’s reach when she accounted for Marie Riggs.
The final two games both ended with 3-0 scorelines as in turn Hayley Francis-Owens and Angharad Bessant-Bert defeated Jenna Ball and Stephanie Clarke, one to just put behind you ladies and look to the next game.
The home team got the better start once again in the men’s ‘A’ match as Les Morgan won 4-2 against Martin Price and Nathan Burdett beat Richard Bowen 4-3 after Bowen had opened up a 3-1 lead. Jamie Barrowman reduced the arrears when he won 4-1 against Jeffery Maynard and with John Speed coming from 2-0 down to Rhys Jones and going on to win 4-2 the score was back to level terms at two each.
Pembrokeshire’s lead was restored in the fifth when Phil Gooch won 4-0 against Andi Chatter but a similar 4-1 win for Shropshire’s Richard Parker against Rory Jolly made it all square at the halfway point.
For the first time in the game the away side took the lead in the seventh, a 4-1 result over Wayne Evans saw Chris Williams give Shropshire a 4-3 advantage and with a 4-2 win for Martin Riggs over Jason Davies the visitors had a two games buffer.
The two games advantage disappeared as quickly as it had been chalked up as Huw Williams came from one down to Nik Bloor to win 4-1 and Stuart Davies after leading 1-0 and then trailing 2-1 to Chris Fox went on to win 4-2 to take the score to 5-5 with just two to play.
Iwan Morgan in 24 and 22 darts opened up a 2-0 lead over Andy Jervis in the penultimate encounter but with two eighteen darts legs which included a 121 game shot in the fourth Jervis drew level. The away player then went ahead in the fifth with a 21 darts leg and rounded off his 4-2 win in the sixth to leave the men’s ‘A’ result now all dependant on the final game of the weekend.
On for Pembrokeshire at number twelve was Mikey Rees and anchor man for Shropshire Dan Astbury. Rees began with a win in 17 darts and was quick to add an 18 and then a 16 darts leg to put him 3-0 up requiring just one more leg for a win and a draw for his team mates. Like Rees, Astbury’s first win was in seventeen darts, he then added a second in 23 darts before producing an excellent leg of darts in which he had scores of 100,140,140 and 81 to leave double twenty which he put to bed with aplomb with his thirteenth dart to draw level at 3-3.
The final leg of the game, day and weekend could have gone to either player as both had a throw at a double but it was Dan Astbury with a 20 outshot that won it in 24 darts giving him 4-3 win and the man of the match award for his 27.24 average.
Astbury’s win took the final score to 7-5 in favour of Shropshire’s men’s ‘A’, but the overall 22-14 result went to the hosts Pembrokeshire. Despite the defeat Shropshire can be encouraged insomuch as they actually moved up one place in the table to fifth with 76 points just one short of fourth placed Northumberland and only seven behind third in the table Breconshire.
Full Results:Division Four:Pembrokeshire v Shropshire (22-14):Pembrokeshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Les Morgan 4 Martin Price 2, Nathan Burdett 4 Richard Bowen 3, Jeffery Maynard 1 Jamie Barrowman 4, Rhys Jones 2 John Speed 4, Phil Gooch 4 Andi Chatter 0 Rory Jolly 1 Richard Parker 4, Wayne Evans 1 Chris Williams 4, Jason Davies 2 Martin Rigg 4, Huw Williams 4 Nik Bloor 1, Stuart Davies 4 Chris Fox 2, Iwan Morgan 2 Andy Jervis 4, Mikey Rees 3 Dan Astbury 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Gareth John 3 Paul Bromley 2, Steve Castle 3 John Simms 0, John Phillips 3 Jon Blakemore 2, Paul Gardiner 3 Paul Harrison 0, Jay Picton 2 Mike Hampton 3, Cellan Jones 3 Brian Hickman 1, Mark Allchin 1 Richard Bowen 3, Ben Farr 3 Andy Vellender 1, Andrew Smith 3 Phil Mayo 1, Kian Davies 3 Simon Pritchard 2, Daniel Castle 2 Will Roberts 3, Peter Wilcox 0 Sam Aitkens 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Tracey Marie-Davies 3 Michele Pritchard 0, Rhian Evans 3 Deana Sheldon 2, Tracey Hawkins-Green 3 Sue Lane 1, Julie Gore 3 Marie Riggs 1, Hayley Francis-Owens 3 Jenna Ball 0, Angharad Bessant-Bert 3 Stephanie Clarke 0, Women’s ‘B’:- Ruth Bailey-Harris 3 Caroline Powell 0, Tina Phillips 3 Cheryl Owen 2, Lorraine James 1 Rachael Mooney 3, Sophie Davies 2 Sophie Fawcett 3, Eirwen Lewis 3 Helen Walmsley 1, Avril Evans 0 Allison Gallagher 3.
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