Game number seven for the West Midlands County Darts Organisation in division one of the BDO Inter County Championships was an away fixture against Sussex, on paper a certain win for the Midlanders as they were riding high in pole position in the promotional table with 139 points, eleven more than their nearest rivals Cheshire and thirteen to the good on third placed London while their hosts were lying at the foot of the table with 90 points, seven short of the team just above them Hertfordshire.
With six wins from their previous seven games and after the Sussex fixture just two more to play West Midlands looked odds on for a quick return to the premier division, however things very rarely go as planned and despite the weekend getting off to a good start as the ladies ‘B’ chalked up a 4-2 win with regular ‘A’ team player Sarah Roberts taking the match award for her 22.77 average, her overall fourth such award for the season, the overall result would not be the one they desired or even dreamt of.
With only one defeat in the previous six games the men’s ‘B’ have not had a bad season but this was just not going to be their weekend as they went down 8-4 with Jamie Rollinson their top man with a super 28.63 average.
Sunday’s games, as far as results go were a carbon copy of Saturday’s as the ladies ‘A’ recorded a tremendous 5-1 victory with Kat McLean the lady of the match for her 20.59 average but the men’s ‘A’ suffered their biggest defeat since losing away to Yorkshire last season in the premier division as they lost 10-2, of the two winners Shaun Carroll took the match award for his 24.74 average.
The totally unexpected 21-15 defeat has seen West Midlands drop to third place in the table with Cheshire returning to pole position with 155 points, London second on 154 and West Midlands on the same 154. However the final two games of the season will see West Midlands play at home against London and bring the curtain down with an away fixture against divisional leaders Cheshire.
So after a long spell at the top of the table this season the Sussex result could well have put promotion beyond West Midlands reach.
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