For Warwickshire County Darts Organisation it was somewhat of a disappointing season in the premier division of the UKDA National League as they finished in a mid-table position with 188 points, some fifty-eight short of champions Lancashire.
Warwickshire’s final game of the season was a home tie with Sussex, going into the fixture, Warwickshire were placed seventh with 166 points and their opponents eighth on 153 points. The weekend began well for the away side as their ladies ‘B’ won 4-2 with Donna Pinch and Kirsty Hinchliffe the only winners for the home team, Donna Pinch taking the match award for her 3-0 win over Tracey Collins and 18.33 average.
Lee Miller opened up for the men’s ‘B’ and won his game against Harvey Eves 4-3, but from one-up the ‘B’ team then found themselves trailing 3-1 as in turn Harry Jackson, Kevin Fishwick and Alex Gurr won against Keith Deeley (4-1), Karl Reynolds (4-3) and Jason Prince (4-2). Matty Washbrooke reduced the arrears with his 4-2 win over Matt Patterson and with a 4-0 man of the match win over Steve Collins by Jamie Hughes the game was levelled at the midway stage, Hughes taking the match award for his 28.23 average.
As the second session got underway, Sussex went ahead again, this time through Paul Robinson who beat Taylor McGuckian 4-0 and with a further 4-0 win from Paul Eves against Adam Hancock, the home team were trailing 5-3. Mark Strong kept hopes alive of a win when he beat Darren Chapman 4-2 but those hopes were erased in the tenth when Dean Leaver put the visitors 6-4 up with his 4-1 win over Zac Prince. At this point Warwickshire had their best run of the match winning the final two games thanks to Mark Martin and Ian Shaw who defeated their respective opponents Graham Harris and Rod Hawkins 4-1 and 4-3 to give a final score of 6-6.
Like the men’s ‘B’ the ladies ‘A’ won their opening game when Wendy Adams beat Lisa Withers 3-0. The lead didn’t last long as Donna Rainsley won 3-1 against Kirsty Hinchliffe and Ellie Dudeney beat Marian Conway 3-2. Courtney Hine levelled the score at 2-2 with her 3-2 win over Disney Dunbar before Caroline Pike not only assured her team of a draw when she won 3-1 against Jemma Murphy but at the same time earned herself the lady of the match award for her 23.25 average. A straight 3-0 win for Natalie Gilbert in the final game against Sarah Twell gave the ladies ‘A’ a 4-2 victory.
With the running score now standing at 12-12 the men’s ‘A’ required a win for an overall victory for the weekend. Gareth Braham chalked up the first of those necessary seven wins when he won 4-2 against Dean Harrison and although Timothy Peirce (Sussex) won 4-3 against William Naylor, Warwickshire then went 4-1 up as Sam Price beat Rob Metcalfe 4-2, Steve Hine won 4-1 against Paul Eves and Kevin Dowling accounted for Jim Withers with a 4-2 result. At the break the score was 4-2 in favour of the hosts as the half closed with a 4-2 win for Tavis Dudeney (Sussex) against Jack Wareing.
As the second half began, Sussex were first out of the blocks as Brad O’Connor won 4-1 against Mark Carter, but with a similar 4-1 win for Ryan Jackson over Joe Davis, Warwickshire’s two games buffer was restored, but not for long as Cavan Phillips won 4-3 against Noel Grant and Lewis Gurney beat Dave Hill 4-1 to put the score level at 5-5. It took a man of the match performance from Nigel Heydon to restore the home team’s lead, Heydon winning 4-2 against Dave McLaren with a superb average of 31.24, everything now rested on the final game between Wayne Mynard (Warwickshire) and Ronnie Sumner. The game went the full seven legs distance with the 4-3 result going to Wayne Mynard to see the men’s ‘A’ win 7-5 and the overall score for the weekend of 19-17 going to Warwickshire.
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