Warwickshire County Darts Organisation’s ninth fixture in the Cosmo Darts Premier Division of the UKDA National League was always going to be a tough but possibly close game as they and their hosts Hampshire prior to the game were placed sixth and fifth respectively with both sides level on 168 points. However as it turned out it was not as close as expected as the home side ran out the 21-15 winners.
Saturday’s ‘B’ games saw Warwickshire ladies trail 2-0 and then fight back to win 4-2 thanks to wins from Hannah Meek, Nina Bolt, Angela Jones and Chloe McKivett with Hannah Meek the lady of the match as she beat Joanne Senior 3-1 with an 18.97 average. The men’s ‘B’ also won, a 7-5 result with their seven winners being Mark Carter, Mark Strong, Karl Reynolds, Pete Hughes, Sam Price, Will Naylor and Martin Tonks. A 4-3 win over Jamie Kelling and a 27.50 average earned Pete Hughes the match award.
It was not a good start to Sunday’s ‘A’ games as the ladies slumped to a 6-0 defeat and then the men went down 8-4, the four winners being Carl Green, Jamie Atkins, Nigel Heydon and Matty Washbrooke with Jamie Atkins their top player beating Aaron Turner 4-1 with a superb 30.91 average.
Despite the defeat Warwickshire moved up two places to fourth but with Lincolnshire and Essex to play each other they could drop down to sixth once again when that result is in.
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In the L-Style Division One of the UKDA National League West Midlands pulled off what must have been the biggest shock of the weekend as going into their home game with Merseyside they were in fourth position and their opponents fifth with 172 and 152 points respectively, West Midlands trailed leaders Derbyshire by 24 points and were 12 short of second placed Suffolk so promotion this season looked to be out of their hands.
Saturday saw the ladies win 4-2 and the men finish all square at 6-6 and as the Sunday games got underway the ladies lost 4-2, but then came the shock as the men became the first team ever in county men’s ‘A’ history to record back-to-back 12-0 wins giving West Midlands an overall 24-12 victory and take their points tally to 199. Meanwhile Suffolk, who were playing away against leaders Derbyshire lost by a massive 27-9 to put them on 193 points and see them drop to fourth in the table, Buckinghamshire held on to third place with 197 points after they won 22-14 at home against County Durham meaning West Midlands finished as runners-up, they and Derbyshire will play next season in the Championship Division.
Match awards for the West Midlands went to men’s ‘A’ Shaun Carroll (31.92), men’s ‘B’ Mark Craddock (28.91), women’s ‘A’ Shellbie Simmons (20.21) and women’s ‘B’ Sarah Maybury (18.78).
West Midlands Men’s ‘A’ Team
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Black Country rounded off their fantastic season in Division Two of the UKDA National League with a 21-15 home win over Clwyd to see them finish as champions for a second successive season with a total of 219 points, twenty-six to the good on Nottinghamshire who are currently second on 193 points with third placed Clwyd on 178 and fourth in the division Tyne and Wear, who have an away game against Cumbria to be added to their account on 168.
Taking the honours in what was their final game of the season were for the men’s ‘A’ Tom Bissell (28.36), men’s ‘B’ Mark Rollinson (28.88), women’s ‘A’ Chex Allcock (15.64) and women’s ‘B’ Doreen Hunt (19.78).
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Noel Grant proved to be the powerhouse when taking the Warwickshire title in the qualifying knockout for the UKDA National Singles . A disappointing night regarding the entry as only thirty-three players made the event. Noel defeated Adam Hancock in the final with Adam also qualifying for the finals which will take place on July 2nd at the Magna Centre Sheffield. Also through are the two semi-finalists Mark Strong and Sam Price who lost to Grant and Hancock respectively. Jamie Atkins has received an invite courtesy of his current top position in the National Averages.
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The Sheldon and District Winter League staged the preliminary round of their singles competition in which a total of ninety-seven players competed at eight venues in a bid to participate in the quarter-finals on finals night. The successful players were Rob Wilson, Andy Hutchings, Paul Wallace, Paul Nixon, Tom Cupkovic, Jamie Masefield, Daniel White and Dave Reid.
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The South West Birmingham Clubs League have had cup games on their fixture card and in the Percy Hinton Cup current league leaders West Heath CEM won 7-2 against Perfection while in the Divisional Cup it was Longbridge United who got the 6-3 verdict over Avenue Social.
There were also a couple of rearranged league fixtures played which saw second in the league Longbridge United reduce the arrears on leaders West Heath CEM to five points with a resounding 8-0 win over Northfield Conservative Club. The other game played between Stirchley Tascos and Avenue Social finished all-square at 4-4.
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It was cup semi-finals week in the Camp Hill League and in the League Cup there was a shock for league leaders Erdington Nomads as they made their exit, going down 4-3 to third in the league Clumsy Swan. Clumsy Swan’s opponents in the final are yet to be decided as the game between Cotterills Lane EBAHA Club and Peaky Blinder was postponed.
In the Consolation Cup, second in the league Tyseley WMC took on second from bottom Moseley Arms with the former handing their opponents a 7-0 whitewash. Not far behind Tyseley’s score were Sheldon Marlborough Flights who won 6-1 against Sedgemere Devils.
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Game number seventeen in the Four Oaks and District League had no effect on the division one placings whatsoever despite the top two teams squaring up to each other. Leaders Nomad Flights travelled to take on second placed Old Horns Lions and returned with the 5-4 result to open up a four point’s lead over their rivals. With twenty-two points third in the division Old Oscott Arrows lost ground in the title race as they lost 5-4 at Red Lion who after their win are still three places and six points short of their visitors.
It was a good week for bottom of division one Charley’s Flights as they chalked up only their first win in seventeen when they won 5-4 at Bishop Vesey who are fourth in the division.
The top four teams remain the same in division two with Minworth Flights remaining in pole position after a 7-2 home win over Erdington Arrows. Second placed Oscott Social kept the pressure on the leaders and stay just two points behind them after they won 6-3 at Rosey Mac’s which keeps them six points to the good on third and fourth placed Erdington Arrows and Scott Armers, Scott Armers winning 7-2 at Funky Bear.
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The second leg of the semi-finals of the Andy Bastable Trophy was this week’s agenda for the Netherton Thursday Night League which saw league leaders Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’ repeat their 6-3 win from the first leg at Hill and Cakemore by winning by the same margin at home to book their final place with a 12-6 aggregate victory. Meeting the Ex Serviceman’s ‘A’ team in the final on Thursday August 3rd will be Netherton Sports and Social Club ‘A’ who followed up their first leg 6-3 win at Townsend Social Club with a 6-0 home success to give them a 12-3 win, with the result already achieved the doubles games were not played.
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The Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League are up to week ten of their season and no fewer than three teams are on fourteen points at the top of the table. Allen’s ‘A’ had a bye this week but still lead the trio on average with Allen’s ‘B’ second after they won 4-3 at Tamebridge. Making up the top three is Horseley Tavern who with a 6-1 win at Albion were the week’s biggest winners but they have now played one game more than the two teams above them.
Ivy Bush slipped down two places to seventh following their 5-2 defeat away to Vine ‘A’ who are fifth but on the same ten points as Ivy Bush and sixth placed Waggon and Horses who had a close 4-3 win away to fourth in the league Cottage Spring.
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Cross (Oldswinford) had a very useful 7-0 home win in the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League when they hosted fourth in the league Netherton Conservative Club. The win keeps Cross two points ahead of second placed Old Liberal Club who won 6-1 in their home tie with Seven Stars which keeps them eight points clear of third in the table Ten Arches who were another team to hand out a 7-0 whitewash as they accounted for their visitors Old Cat Inn. Netherton Conservative Club have a game in hand on the three teams above them but even a 7-0 win in that game wouldn’t see them move any higher than their current fourth position.
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No change at the top of the Rowley Monday Night League in fact no change in any of the top seven teams as top of the table Gate Hangs Well won 6-3 at Huntingtree and second placed White Swan’s 7-2 win at Wonder put them on the same twenty-two points as the leaders and reduced the legs deficit to just six. The top two have a narrow two points lead on third in the table Bell who with an 8-1 win over Spring Meadow were the week’s biggest winners. Making up the top seven are Hill and Cakemore, Windmills End, Whiteheath Tavern and Plough and Harrow who in turn have 18, 16, 14 and 12 points.
Best individual performances came from Mathew Tedstone (White Swan) and Shane Price (Bell) who both had a 160 break, plus there were maximums for L.Wallace, Connor Chander (Gate Hangs Well), Paul Bishop (Bell) and Jess Archer (Spring Meadow).
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With only five more fixtures to play in the Sedgley and Gornal Tuesday Night League leaders Gornal Labour Club kept up the momentum in their quest for the title with a 7-2 home win over The Cabin keeping intact their four points lead on second placed and reigning champions Old Bulls Head who won their home game with third in the league White Horse 5-4. White Horse were the only losers in the top half of the league while Red Cow were the only winners in the bottom half as they won 7-2 at Meadow Lark.
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With three of the top four players not playing in week nine of the Black Country Thursday Night Singles League the only change at the top is that Nick Fullwell, who on the night played two games which he won 6-2 against Alex Howells and then beat Danny Bridgwood 7-1 to take over from former leader Rich Bowen and go top of the table with 141 points, four more than Bowen who has played the same seventeen games as Fullwell.
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Going into week thirteen in division one of the Gilbert’s Bar Monday Night Singles League not one of the top four players played but despite this leader Ben Johnson and second placed Scott Baker hold on to their positions with respective 85 and 82 points from eleven games. Simon Pritchard moved up four places to third after he had 4-4 draws with Rushpal Bhogal and Jamie Webb to put him on 62 points from thirteen games.
In division two a 7-1 win for Clark Cook over J J Rowley consolidates his number one spot giving him a total of 92 points from thirteen games but it was not a good week for a former leader Tony Singh who dropped one place to third after suffering a huge 7-1 defeat by Baljinder Gill who replaces him in second place with 84 points, three more than Singh, both Gill and Singh have a game in hand on Cook.
Alan Melling took his unbeaten run to thirteen games in division three when he won 7-1 against Sandra Beardsmore to put him on 112 points, giving him a lead of five over his nearest rival Jamie Aplin who had a 6-2 win against Thomas Hollowood.
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A 5-2 win at Railway was not enough for Wednesfield Legion to hold on to pole position in the Singles League in the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League as Woodfield move up from third to top with a 7-0 win at home over Three Crowns. Wednesfield Legion and ECC ‘A’ share second place with the same points and average after ECC ‘A’ won 5-2 at Ring of Bells.
At the top of the Doubles League three teams are level on points and average Corpus Christi ‘A’, ECC ‘A’ and Gilbert’s Bar ‘A’ who in turn all won 3-0 at Gilbert’s ‘B’, Ring of Bells and Corpus Christi ‘B’.
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