2008-01-01

Although West Midlands were unable to round off 2007 with a win in division two of the Kaliber BDO Inter Counties Championships they did manage to maintain their unbeaten record for the season so far and at the same time keep within seven points of league leaders Nottinghamshire and only two adrift of second placed Derbyshire.
The West Midlands had to make the long trek south to take on Somerset at the Widcombe Social club in a game the league positions suggested would be a win for the visitors. However, as in any sport the odds are not always correct and the favourites do not win all the time.
The ladies ‘B’ got the weekend underway and it was the hosts who got the better start. Val Griffiths and Sue Smith in turn beat Sarah Robbins and Samantha Pugh, both in three straight legs to put Somerset 2-0 up. Lisa Astbury was the first West Midlands winner coming from 1-0 down to beat Kay Bisset 3-1. The fight back was short lived as Donna Gullick beat Julie Aston 3-2 and with a 3-1 win from Helen Faulkner over Claire Ford a Somerset win was assured. Making the scoreline a little more respectable Kim Fellows (16.34) with her 3-2 lady of the match win against Amanda Brain took the final score to 4-2.
With two wins and a draw in their previous outings the men’s ‘B’ were eager to extend that unbeaten run but they did not get off to a very good start. In double quick time Somerset stormed into a 4-0 lead. Darren Godfrey opened up with a 3-1 win over Martin Angell, he was followed by Alan Veale who beat Paul Price by a similar 3-1. Greg Parkes (West Midlands) came from 2-0 down against Dave Thyer to level terms only to see Thyer clinch a 3-2 win with a 110 outshot in the decider. Adam Ward made it four wins in a row for the hosts when he fought off the challenge of Mathew Dicken, Ward winning 3-1.
It was the penultimate game of the half before West Midlands chalked up their first win, Mark Lloyd lost the first leg to Adrian Bolitho, but from 1-0 down went 2-1 up. Bolitho leveled the game in the fourth but it Lloyd who with the advantage of first throw just got the edge in the decider to win 3-2. Robert Carr (West Midlands) also found himself 1-0 down in his tie with Kevin Dalwood and then 2-1 down. However, Carr stuck to his mission and in 21 and 20 darts won the game 3-2 with Dalwood not down to a double in either of the legs.
Beginning the second half trailing at 4-2 Avtar Singh reduced the arrears to 4-3 when he won 3-1 against Ricky Harding. Somerset regained their two games lead when Gary Witcombe after leading 2-0 against Eddie Price was taken to a fifth and final leg before wining 3-2. The Midlanders kept in the match with Viv Gould’s 3-2 win over Derek Shotter. Gould opened up a 2-0 lead only to see it wiped out by Shotter. Nevertheless, Gould hung on in and with a double top exit won the game. Next on for the home side was John Ross Costick, who squared up to Chris Jones. Jones won the opening leg in sixteen darts on double twenty. The Somerset man replied with two in a row, 18 and 20 darts. A decider was set up when Jones won the fourth leg in 19 darts. The last leg was nip and tuck all the way and as the home player left 52 Jones stepped up to the oche to throw for 14. Two darts were all he required to secure a 3-2 win and not only square the match at five all, but also earn himself the man of the match award with a 26.01 average.
Adam Reed once again restored Somerset’s advantage, a straight 3-0 win over Chris Plumpton setting up a gran finale between Dave Moreton (Somerset) and Stuart Kendrick to decide how the points would be split. In a very nervous opener Moreton took the leg in 35 darts. Kendrick then found his form and with a 101 checkout drew level in 18 darts. 140, 100 and 180 from Moreton gave him all the time he needed to win the third in 17 darts with his opponent way back on 174. From there on in Moreton did not have a look in as Kendrick took the fifth leg in 18 darts with a game shot of 133, Moreton still requiring 258 and in the final leg Kendrick‘s outshot was 80 after scores of 140, 81, 100 and 100, Moreton on this occasion still on 296. A 3-2 win for Kendrick meaning the honours were shared at 6-6.
With Saturday’s games giving the home team a 10-8 lead more was expected from the West Midlands ‘A’ teams on Sunday. Sara Jukes kicked off the ladies match with a 3-2 win over Kate Dando, Sara twice having to come from behind to earn her win. Then came a dramatic collapse as Sue Biddle beat Claire Hobbs 3-0, Kay Bissett, after trailing 2-1 to Jayne Stubbs won 3-2 and Cindy Bradfield secured another 3-0 win in her game against Chris Banks to give Somerset a 3-1 lead.
Leanne Jennings is fast becoming the West Midlands Trina Gulliver as she for the fourth time in as many fixtures took the
lady of the match award when she beat Marie Geaney 3-2. Leanne was made to fight all the way as Marie levelled in both the second and fourth legs. Nevertheless, it was all one way traffic in the final leg as Leanne with scores of 60, 140, 41, 140 and 80 finished off the game with a 40 outshot in just 17 darts for a 21.56 average.
As in the men’s ‘B’ game the result was now hinging on the final encounter, the ladies in the firing line, Karen Littler (Somerset) and Kath Jenkins. Kath found the going tough and finished up a 3-0 loser, Littler securing not only a personal win but also a 4-2 victory for her team and in the process making them favourites for an overall weekend’s win as they now had an advantage of 14-10 and only required five winners from the final men’s game for that victory.
Neil Raikes got the first of those five winners when after going 2-0 down to Mark Rollinson came fighting back to win 3-2. Dave Arnold steadied the boat and levelled the game with a 3-1 success over Simon Willmott and with a further 3-0 victory from Ian Jones against Dave Weston West Midlands gained a slender 2-1 lead. Adam Reed’ 3-0 win over Chris Jones took the running score along to 2-2 before Jamie Hughes once again restored the visitor’s advantage with another straight 3-0 win against Steve Hillier. Going into the break both teams were back on level terms as Matt Baker beat Nicky Bache 3-1 to leave West Midlands a mountain to climb to have any chance of an overall win.
From the remaining six game they now required to all of them for maximum points. A mammoth task but the second half began with more promise than the first. Steve Farmer Lol Frazer in turn had 3-0 wins against Matt Dalwood and Steve Lane, then Richard Foster although twice pegged back to level terms by Lee Horsfall went on to win 3-2 and with a lead of 6-3 an overall win now looked a distinct possibility.
Mark Jones (30.67) gave his opponent Dave Garrett very little chance to get into the game as he won the first leg in 19 and the second with scores of 140, 180, 140, 25 and double eight he had a fabulous 13 darts leg. He then went on to win the West Midlands match award when he completed his 3-0 victory with a 17 darts leg and increase the teams lead to 7-3 with two to play.
Chris Hickman (West Midlands) won the first leg against Gordon Fitzpatrick, the second went to the Somerset man and the third again to Hickman. Fitzpatrick forced the decider when he won the fourth and he then went on to win the leg and game when Hickman narrowly missed the bul for a fifteen darts leg. Fitzpatrick’s win guaranteed the hosts a share of the weekend’s points and leave them still with a chance of the win. Gary Moor’s (Somerset) game against Peter Wyse was the complete opposite of his team mate Fitzpatrick as he won the first and third legs and the second, fourth and fifth went to Wyse to give the West Midlands men’s ‘A’ an 8-4 win and put the final score for the fixture at 18-18.