The saying is “All good things come to an end” and that was certainly the case for Warwickshire County Darts Organisation as their run of four consecutive victories in the Cosmo Darts Premier Division of the UKDA National League ended in their penultimate fixture of the season away to Essex.
The ladies ‘B’ match got off on the right foot when Denise Keyte beat Ann Farmer 3-0 and with a further 3-0 success for lady of the match Wendy Adams over Kerry Rudd Warwickshire were 2-0 up. Wendy Adams win saw her average 20.59 she was the away team’s award winner as it was Essex who took the remaining four games. Lynn Kelly beat Caroline Pike 3-1, Chloe Hawkins won a close 3-2 battle with her namesake Chloe McKivett-Saunders before Karen Green had a 3-1 win over Lucy Keyte and rounding off the 4-2 victory for Essex was Caz Pinfold who won 3-0 against Nina Bolt.
Similar to the ladies ‘B’ match the men’s ‘B’ also won the opening two games as Mark Faulkner beat Phil Brewster 4-0 and with the same straight 4-0 result William Naylor accounted for Brandon Western. Mark Martin looked as though he was going to make it 3-0 when he took the first leg off Danny McIntyre but it was the home player that won the next four legs for a 4-1 win. Parity was restored in the fourth when Stuart Wicks beat Samuel Price 4-1 but it was Warwickshire who went ahead again in the fifth when Dave Hill won 4-3 against Kev Cottiss. By the midway point Warwickshire had opened up a 4-2 lead after Karl Reynolds added his 4-3 win over Steve Haggerty to their account.
As the second session got underway Bryan Margerison reduced the arrears for Essex when he beat Mark Carter 4-3 only to see the visitors two games buffer restored in the eighth when man of the match Martin Tonks won 4-0 against Darren Richardson with a super 30.83 average and winning legs of 16,13,18 and 18 darts. Adam Hancock won the first leg against Scott Lawrie in 20 darts but then trailed 3-1 as Lawrie took the next three legs in 25,14 and 23 darts. Hancock pulled one back in the fifth which he won in 20 darts and with further wins in 18 and 15 darts which included outshots of 118 and 120 he won 4-3 to take the score to 6-3 to Warwickshire. Game number ten saw the home side chalk up their fourth winner in the shape of Daniel Day who won 4-2 against Leigh Dells but the win was assured for Warwickshire in the penultimate encounter when Carl green beat Lennie Holmes 4-3. The final score was 7-5 to Warwickshire after James Wright won the last game of the day against Lee Miller 4-2 after Miller had gone 2-1 up.
The ladies ‘A’ game finished with the same result as the ladies ‘B’ match and once again the opening win went to Warwickshire as Courtney Hine won 3-1 against Karen Williams, but from 1-0 up the away team then trailed 3-1 as Jade Gofford beat Donna Pinch 3-2, Leanne Halls won 3-1 against Kirsty Hinchliffe and Donna Gleed won 3-0 against Hannah Meek. Warwickshire’s second winner was their lady of the match Natalie Gilbert who beat Stacey Ellis 3-1, recording a super 23.17 average in the process. The match looked to be heading for a draw when Marian Conway opened up a 2-0 lead over Wendy Collins in the final game but with a 126 game shot in the third and doubles evading Conway in the fourth the 3-2 result went to Wendy Collins to give Essex ladies a second 4-2 win for the weekend.
The results for the opening four games of the men’s ‘A’ match all went to the first throw advantage with Warwickshire twice taking the lead thanks to Steve Hine beating Phil Halls 4-3 after Halls had gone 2-0 and 3-1 up and Kevin Dowling winning 4-1 against Jamie Peetoom. Replying for Essex and cancelling out the two leads were Keegan Brown with his 4-1 win over Noel Grant and Brad Halls who won 4-0 against Jamie Hughes. The sequence was broken in the fifth when Joe Russell won 4-1 against Nigel Heydon to see the hosts take the lead for the first time in the game, a lead that didn’t last long as Warwickshire’s man of the match Jamie Atkins levelled the score at 3-3 at the halfway point when he handed out a straight 4-0 defeat to Richie Howson, Atkins averaging 27.45 with winning legs of 19,18,18 and 18 darts.
The home team were first out of the blocks as the second half got underway, Ben Adams winning 4-2 against Wayne Mynard, and then from 4-3 up increased their lead to 6-3 when Darren Peetoom won 4-3 against Gareth Braham and Matt Good had a 4-1 success over Matty Washbrooke. Samuel Whittaker kept hopes alive of a draw when he added his 4-2 win over Darren O’Neill to Warwickshire’s tally but the game was won for Essex in the penultimate tie when their Shaun Fox accounted for Jenson Walker with a 4-2 result after Walker had opened up a 2-0 lead. The last game of the weekend went to the visitors as Jack Wareing won 4-1 against Simon Monk, Wareing including a 156 checkout in the second leg, his win taking the final score to 7-5 to the hosts.
The overall result for the weekend was a 20-16 win for Essex which puts them sixth in the division with 178 points while Warwickshire, desite the defeat hold on to third place and have 189 points.
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