Last weekend Warwickshire County Darts Organisation played their seventh of a scheduled eleven fixtures in the Cosmo Darts Premier Division of the UKDA National League, an away game against bottom of the division Kent.
Saturday saw the ladies ‘B’ storm to a fantastic 6-0 victory with a 3-1 win from Angela Jones over Nette Ralph setting them on their way. Following Angela was lady of the match Courtney Hine whose straight 3-0 win against Lisa Dunford earned her the team’s match award for her 18.79 average. Two further 3-1 wins from Hannah Meek and Chloe McKivett against respective opponents Violet Wood and Tina Kennard put the away team in an unassailable position with the clean-sweep achieved when Melanie Jones won 3-0 against Rebecca Garrett and Nina Bolt won the final game against Sue Bird 3-2.
Pete Hughes gave the men’s ‘B’ the ideal start when he won 4-1 against Peter Allen only to see the home side win the following three games. However by the midway point it was level pegging as Mark Carter and Mark Martin added their 4-2 wins in turn over Scott Lackford and Craig Preston.
As in the first half Warwickshire won the opening game, a 4-3 success for Lee Miller over Richard Elms and although Arron Brigden won 4-3 against Karl Reynolds to level the score at 4-4 a man of the match performance from Mark Strong gave the away side the lead once more. Strong’s 4-1 win over Keith Montgomery saw him average 28.58. The game was restored to parity yet again in the tenth when David Saint beat Noah Rose 4-3 but with a 4-3 win for Sam Price over Martin Goodin and a 4-1 win for Nigel Heydon over Adrian Samson the men’s ‘B’ won 7-5.
The ladies ‘A’ won 4-2 going two up when Donna Pinch beat Kelly Westlake 3-0 and Natalie Gilbert with a similar 3-0 result accounted for Su Holt, Natalie taking the match award for a super 21.47 average. Tammy Montgomery had a 3-0 win over Ida Heravi and with a 3-2 win for Sue Gulliver against Andrea Walker in the last game the match was won 4-2.
Like the men’s ‘B’ the Men’s ‘A’ also won 7-5, and after going 1-0 down Noel Grant levelled the score in style beating Nigel Payne 4-0 with a tremendous 33.97 award winning average. At the break it was all-square at 3-3 with further wins from Jamie Atkins, 4-3 against Dean Owen and Jack Wareing who beat Carl Wilson 4-2. The second half began well with the opening three games all going to Warwickshire’s Dave Hill, Gareth Braham and Chris Wickenden to put the visitors in an unbeatable position and with a 4-2 win over David Heath by Nigel Heydon in the penultimate game the match was won.
The overall result for the weekend was 24-12 to Warwickshire which saw them move up one place in the table to fifth on 154 points just seven short of second placed Lancashire.
Full Results:Kent 12 Warwickshire 24:Kent MA 5-7 Warwickshire MA:Men’s ‘A’:- Phill Gibson 4 Ian McFarlane 2, Nigel Payne 0 Noel Grant 4, Ricki O’Brien 4 Wayne Mynard 3, Dean Owen 3 Jamie Atkins 4, Carl Wilson 2 Jack Wareing 4, Peter Mitchell 4 Matty Washbrooke 0, Pat Scurfield 1 Dave Hill 4, Mark Legg 2 Gareth Braham 4, Kevin Reid 2 Chris Wickenden 4, Paul Dawkins 4 Kevin Dowling 1, David Heath 2 Nigel Heydon 4, Terry Dunford 4 Steve Hine 1, Kent MB 5-7 Warwickshire MB:Men’s ‘B’:- Peter Allen 1 Pete Hughes 4, Steve Stacey 4 Will Naylor 3, Jack Keutenius 4 Jenson Walker 3, John Dyke 4 Ian Shaw 3, Scott Lackford 2 Mark Carter 4, Craig Preston 2 Mark Martin 4, Richard Elms 3 Lee Miller 4, Arron Brigden 4 Karl Reynolds 3, Keith Montgomery 1 Mark Strong 4, David Saint 4 Noah Rose 3, Martin Goodin 3 Sam Price 4, Adrian Samson 1 Nigel Heydon 4, Kent WA 2-4 Warwickshire WA:Women’s ‘A’:- Kelly Westlake 0 Donna Pinch 3, Su Holt 0 Natalie Gilbert 3, Emma Martin 3 Caroline Pike 1, Ida Heravi 0 Tammy Montgomery 3, Julie Handley 3 Marian Conway 0, Andrea Walker 2 Sue Gulliver 3, Kent WB 0-6 Warwickshire WB:Women’s ‘B’:- Nette Ralph 1 Angela Jones 3, Lisa Dunford 0 Courtney Hine 3, Violet Wood 1 Hannah Meek 3, Tina Kennard 1 Chloe McKivett 3, Rebecca Garrett 0 Melanie Jones 3, Sue Bird 2 Nina Bolt 3.
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