Warwickshire v Lancashire
After suffering two consecutive defeats Warwickshire’s middle of the season fixture in the Premier Division of the BDO Inter County Championships was a home tie against second in the table Lancashire, a fixture that Warwickshire had won for the last two seasons, and once again it got off to a good start as the ladies ‘B’ side won the opening two games.
Lisa Delandes was first on for the home side and although she trailed twice to Debbie Baxter she stuck to the task and went on to win 3-2. Doubling Warwickshire’s lead with a lady of the match performance was Wendy Adams who despite being pegged back to level terms after winning the first leg went on to win 3-1 with a 20.29 average.
Lancashire pulled one back in the third when Tracey Cunningham won 3-0 against Caroline Pike but that proved to be their one and only winner as Angela Jones beat Sue Corry 3-2 then by the same scoreline Chloe McKivett won against Danni-Lea Platt and rounding off a superb 5-1 win was Melanie Jones who defeated Anne-Marie Millership, again the result was 3-2.
Simon Power got the men’s ‘B’ side off to a good start showing real fighting spirit as he came from within an ace of losing when he went 3-1 down to Gary Davey then go on to win 4-3.
From one down Lancashire strung together a run of four successive wins Alan Fitzpatrick beginning the quartet of wins when he won 4-2 against Richard Foster. Sam Cromwell put the visitor’s noses in front for the first time in game number three with a 4-1 win over Tom Ryan and with further 4-2 wins for Tony Clarke and Chris O’Connor at the expense of Robert Comben and Mark Strong the away team were 4-1 up.
By the midway point the score had been made a little more respectable as Carl Green laid on a man of the match performance against Barry Kerfoot beating him in four straight legs in 17,15,20 and 16 darts including a 136 checkout in the second leg to give him a superb 29.47 average.
The second half began as did the first with Warwickshire taking first blood thanks to a 4-2 win from Ian Shaw against Tony Baker but it also looked as though Lancashire were going to repeat their first half performance when Darren Hebb beat Mark Carter 4-1 then James Caton won by the same margin against Ashley Hykin but fortunately the tide then turned. James Hykin had tough battle with Martin Barratt as he won the first leg then lost the next two. Hykin levelled in the fourth and then went 3-2 up only to see Barratt square the game at 3-3. The deciding leg could have gone either way but it was Hykin with a 20 game shot that got the 4-3 verdict.
Keeping Warwickshire in the hunt for a draw was Karl Reynolds who like Hykin was made to fight for a result as he was taken to a seventh leg by Les Fitton. Fitton took a 2-0 lead and although Reynolds levelled at two each it was Fitton who went ahead again in the fifth. However with winning legs in 22 and 20 darts Reynolds wrapped up a 4-3 win to put the onus on the last two players of the day.
The final game turned out to be a battle of the Adam’s, Adam Paxton for Warwickshire and for Lancashire Adam Scott. Paxton had his lead cancelled out three times before he finally got the 4-3 verdict with a 17 darts leg, his opponent left stranded on 130. Paxton’s win put the final score at 6-6.
Despite being without a win since the opening day’s 4-2 success against Yorkshire the ladies ‘A’ team looked full of confidence as they stormed into a winning 4-0 lead. Team captain Sue Gulliver got the ball rolling when she opened up with a 3-1 success against Amy Eden and in the process secured her third lady of the match award in five games when she averaged 22.18. Marian Conway doubled the lead with her straight 3-0 win over Allyson Smith and securing a draw was Kat Spanswick when she accounted for Joanne Clements in a five legs affair. Chalking up the all important fourth stripe was Nina Bolt who with a 3-1 scoreline got the better of Maria Ronson.
It was game five before Lancashire recorded a win, Sue Cusick winning 3-0 against Donna Pinch and with a final 3-0 win for Natalie Gilbert over Gina Jones the ‘A’ team emulated the ‘B’ side result of 5-1.
With only one defeat so far this season for the men’s ‘A’ side it was that fine form that saw them open up an early 3-0 lead. First on for the host’s was Charlie Symons who after going 1-0 and 2-1 down to Martin Atkins went on to win 4-3. Taking the score to 2-0 was Steve Hine who won 4-1 against Sam Cromwell, Steve in top form with winning legs of 18,15,14 and 18 darts to give him an award winning average of 29.31. Nigel Heydon’s straight 4-0 win against Dave Adshead then took the score along to 3-0.
Chris O’Connot stopped the home team’s charge as he beat Carl Green 4-0 but it proved to be just a minor setback as Kevin Dowling added his 4-2 win over Darren Hebb after Hebb had taken 1-0 and 2-1 leads. Mark Westgarth then registered his 4-0 win over Andy Johnson to give Warwickshire a commanding 5-1 lead at the break.
Lancashire got their second winner in game seven when Graham Lalor beat Prakash Jiwa 4-1 but once more the home team came back taking another two in a row through Noel Grant and Anthony Allen who in turn 4-3 against Gary Jackson and Mick Oversby to put Warwickshire in an unassailable 7-2 lead.
Tom Aldridge won the first leg against Dave Airey but it was Airey who went on to win 4-1 before Antony West made it 8-3 to the home team when he won 4-2 against Carl Sneyd.
The final game of the weekend saw Dean Stewart (Warwickshire) go three up against Lee Shewan, however Shewan turned the screw and in 21,14,17 and 13 darts won the last four legs and the tie 4-3 to put the score at 8-4 to Warwickshire giving them an overall result of 24-12 to lift them two places in the table to fourth eleven points short of third placed Glamorgan who Warwickshire take on in their next fixture.
Full Results:Warwickshire v Lancashire (24-12)🙁Warwickshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Charlie Symons 4 Martin Atkins 3, Steve Hine 4 Sam Cromwell 1, Nigel Heydon 4 Dave Adshead 0, Carl Green 0 Chris O’Connor 4, Kevin Dowling 4 Darren Hebb 2, Mark Westgarth 4 Andy Johnson 0, Prakash Jiwa 1 Graham Lalor 4, Noel Grant 4 Gary Jackson 3, Anthony Allen 4 Mick Oversby 3, Tom Aldrige 1 Dave Airey 4, Antony West 4 Carl Sneyd 2, Dean Stewart 3 Lee Shewan 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Simon Power 4 Gary Davey 3, Richard Foster 2 Alan Fitzpatrick 4, Tom Ryan 1 Sam Cromwell 4, Robert Comben 2 Tony Clarke 4, Mark Strong 2 Chris O’Connor 4, Carl Green 4 Barry Kerfoot 0, Ian Shaw 4 Tony Baker 2, Mark Carter 1 Darren Hebb 4, Ashley Hykin 1 James Caton 4, James Hykin 4 Martin Barratt 3, Karl Reynolds 4 Les Fitton 3, Adam Paxton 4 Adam Scott 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Sue Gulliver 3 Amy Eden 1, Marian Conway 3 Allyson Smith 0, Kat Spanswick 3 Joanne Clements 2, Nina Bolt 3 Maria Ronson 1, Donna Pinch 0 Sue Cusick 3, Natalie Gilbert 3 Gina Jones 0, Women’s ’B’:- Lisa Deslandes 3 Debbie Baxter 2, Wendy Adams 3 Sharon Seed 1, Caroline Pike 0 Tracey Cunningham 3, Angela Jones 3 Sue Corry 2, Chloe McKivett 3 Danni-Lea Platt 2, Melanie Jones 3 Anne-Marie Millership 2.
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Congratulations to Warwickshire’s Nigel Heydon who has been selected for the forthcoming British International to be held in Merthyr Tydfil in early April.
Nigel was in line for a call up some years ago but a career in the PDC delayed that decision, however his recent form has earned him a place in the English team.
Another Warwickshire player to be selected and making a well deserved debut for his country is Kevin Dowling. The best of luck to both players
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After the Christmas break the Warwickshire Youth teams played a home game against Staffordshire and produced some top form to beat their visitors 9-6 and put them top of the league table.
The Under 18’s had wins from opener and man of the match Mackenzie Nixon, Joe Pitchford-Morris, Ben Liggins and Matthew Cain to give them a 4-3 win. The young ladies team won 2-1 with Courtney Hine taking the match award and Laura Bowley guaranteeing the win.
Rounding off the fixture was the Under 21 games where after going 1-0 down Lewis Bayliss levelled the score and award winner Charlie Symonds put the home team 2 1 up. Staffordshire levelled in the fourth only to see George Ross win the final game to give the Under 21’s a 3-2 win plus an overall 9-6 victory.
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