Derbyshire v Wiltshire
Derbyshire seventh of a scheduled nine fixtures in division three of the BDO Inter County Championships was a home tie against Wiltshire and they were hoping to make it five consecutive wins as their visitors were lying next to bottom of the division.
The outcome of the fixture was a resounding 28-08 win for Derbyshire, their best of the season so far and their best since their home game in November 2014 when on that occasion they also won 28-08 and their opponents then were none other than Wiltshire.
The ladies ‘B’ match was something of a seesaw game with Wiltshire taking the early through Jill Little with her 3-1 win over Nicola Fletcher, then Derbyshire going 2-1 up as Jennifer McCormick beat Donna Gray 3-0 and Emily Jones with an award winning average of 15.97 won 3-1 against Sam Skinner. Emily won the opening leg with a superb 118 game shot and then went two up with a 40 outshot. Sam Skinner won the third leg but Emily Jones sealed her win in the fourth in 25 darts.
Ella Williams opened up a 2-0 lead over Rachel Ayres and despite Rachel fighting back to level terms in the fourth the decider went to Wiltshire’s Williams after both players had thrown for a finishing double. It was then the turn of Wiltshire to go ahead again as game number five was a repeat of game four, the away player, this time Linzi Holton winning the first two legs then Derbyshire’s Carol Western winning the next two to take the result to the final game with the away side leading 3-2.
Anchor player for the hosts was Marie Leahy and for the visitors Jodie Keen. A 3-3 draw was the final score as Marie Leahy handed out a 3-0 defeat to her opponent.
With two wins and three draws the men’s ‘B’ have only lost once so far this season and that was away to Norfolk in the second game of the season.
Paul Williams gave the home team a winning start as he beat Eddie Tott 3-1. A 3-0 win for Darren May against Lee Cropper restored the game to level terms but only until Christian Bradshaw (Derbyshire) accounted for Jake Carter in the third with a straight 3-0 win in 12,27 and 13 darts to give him a man of the match wining average of 28.90.
Derbyshire’s lead was extended to 3-1 when John Elliott won 3-1 against Michael Crumpton only to see Peter Keen pull one back for the away team in the fifth when he beat Benjamin Holmes 3-2 after Holmes had squared the game in the fourth when he checked out on 113.
Going into the break Lee Stanley played a true captain’s game as he handed out a 3-0 defeat to Alex Ball to give his team a rather comfortable 4-2 lead.
With another 3-0 result from Keith Lodge over Chris Bailey Derbyshire’s lead was increased to 5-2 and although Darren Williams managed to reduce that slightly to 5-3 with his 3-0 win against Richard Hughes the remaining four games all finished with a 3-1 scoreline, all of them going to Derbyshire to give them their best win of the campaign 9-3.
At number nine for the home team was Chris Grogan who defeated Craig Griffiths, Dan Ford followed Grogan with a win over Stuart Rideout and in the last two games of the day Steven Soar and Allen Hurt in turn won against Christopher Yeates and Stuart Maundrell.
The ladies ‘A’ team were in terrific form, going one better than last time out when they won 5-1 against Cumbria as they handed out a clean sweep defeat to their counterparts.
Getting the show on the road was Joanne Oldershaw who had a straight 3-0 win over Tina Rowlands. Jackie Sweet went 2-0 up against Julie Newman and although Newman won the next two legs Jackie Sweet won the decider to double the home teams lead.
At number three was winner of four previous match awards Jane Densley. Jane unusually found herself trailing 1-0 and 2-1 to Shirley Castle but she battled on and with wins in the last two legs and a 20.85 average made it five out of seven and four consecutive lady of the match awards.
Games four and five were both 3-0 wins for Derbyshire as Rebecca Hoyland put the match winning fourth game up when she won against Erica Hartnett and Rachel Bird accounted for Joey Hooke to make it 5-0.
The last two players on were Rose Mort (Derbyshire) and Stacey Day. Rose won the first two legs Day the third a win in the fourth gave Rose Mort the 3-1 victory and took the final score to 6-0.
The men’s ‘A’ team have not been recording the sort of results everyone knows their capable of so far this season with just one win, two draws and three defeats but the first half of their tie with Wiltshire got off to a very decent start as Sean Lambert gave them a win in the opening game when he accounted for Matt Harris with a 4-2 scoreline but he was made to fight all the way for the result as after he won the first two legs Harris then forged a 3-2 lead. Undeterred Lambert went on to seal his win in 20 and 17 darts.
Andrew Houghton looked as though he would double the hosts lead when he won the first two legs against Peter Keen and although he was forced to draw level in the sixth after Keen had won three in a row he then, after both players had thrown for finishing doubles, saw Keen win the decider.
Connor Hodgkinson restored Derbyshire’s lead when in the third game he beat Josh McCarthy 4-2 before man of the match Richard Hanson took the score along to 3-1 with his straight 4-0 win over Gary Court. Hanson began his game with a 15 darts leg which included a tremendous 141 finish. Then in 16,20 and 15 darts clinched the win giving him a fabulous 30.36 average.
On at number five for the home team was James Parkin who added a 4-2 win against Ian Greenaway to Derbyshire’s tally and rounding off the first half was Michael Ryall whose clear-cut 4-0 win over Connor Hughes gave the hosts a relaxed 5-1 advantage.
Stuart Clarke (Wiltshire) took the lead three times against Henry Coates but the home player was in no mood to give in and went on to win 4-3 in 20 and 14 darts in the last two legs.
James Clifton was another away player that took the lead twice in his game against Ian Allcock but it was Allcock who won the final three legs in 17,17 and 24 darts for a 4-3 win to chalk up the magical winning seventh game. The score was taken along to 8-1 in the ninth when Gary Fenn beat Juan Hopkins 4-2, Fenn kicking his game off with a 120 game shot.
Wiltshire got the second winner on the board in the tenth when Ashley McKeever came from 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 down to Steve Thompson and go on to win 4-3 with two final 15 darts legs.
The penultimate encounter saw Dale Gadsby (Derbyshire) account for Paddy Whibley with a 4-1 result and in the final game of the weekend Paul Godding (Wiltshire) won the first leg against Nigel Daniels then lost the next three but levelled the game in the sixth. Nevertheless the final leg of the fixture went to Daniels to give him a 4-3 victory, his team a convincing 10-2 success and for the squad an incredibly impressive 28-8 win.
The result has seen Derbyshire move up from fifth to third in the promotional table and still in with a chance of promotion but they do have two difficult final games away to Clwyd followed by a home tie with current divisional leaders Cleveland.
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