2015-04-01

With West Midlands in the relegation zone of division two of the BDO Inter County Championships a win against Suffolk could take them above their opponents and ease their relegation fears.
Playing at home at Gilberts Bar, Willenhall the ‘B’ teams had mixed results as the ladies, after one defeat followed by three consecutive draws, registered their first win of the campaign. Samantha Maiden got the match underway with a 3-1 win over Louise Collins and with a similar result Jacqueline Maiden made it 2-0 when she beat Sarah Ceska.
At number three Sarah Roberts made short work of her opponent Wendy Harden as she romped to a 3-0 victory with an award winning average of 22.43. Putting the game beyond Suffolk’s reach was Sophie Singh, her 3-0 win against Leesa Woollard giving West Midlands a match winning 4-0 advantage.
The final two games both went to a deciding leg with the visitors winning both, Barbara Chenery and Jan Turner in turn accounting for Claire Hobbs and Wendy Waine to give a final score of 4-2 to the home team.
The men’s ‘B’ having lost their opening four games were desperate for a win but first advantage went to Suffolk when Marc Patrick beat Adam Johnson 3-1. Jamie Barrowman cancelled out the visitors lead with a neat 3-1 win against Wayne Hammond and in the third tie West Midlands took the lead for the first time when Lee Arnold beat Arron Fairweather 3-2.
The lead was short lived as Jason Elvin won 3-1 against Robert Smith before Tony Lincoln restored the away teams lead with a 3-2 win over John Mycock. However by the break the score was all level and that was thanks to a man of the match performance from Danny Coyle who with a 3-1 win over Jamie Collins chalked up a 27.21 average.
The second half of the game didn’t go well for the hosts as Suffolk swept into a 6-3 lead with a 3-2 win from Lee Newson against John Morris, a 3-1 win by Kim Buckingham over Karl Hughes and a further 3-1 win from Keith Wright in his tie with Justin Evans.
Trailing 6-3 West Midlands required the last three games if there were going to get anything out of the match and keeping their hopes alive were Mark Craddock and Avtar Singh, Mark winning 3-2 against Duane Nessling and Avtar beating John Attwater 3-1 to leave the outcome resting on the final game between Paul Price (West Midlands) and Phil Reeve.
Price won the first leg but Reeve took the next two, Price levelled in the fourth only to miss his doubles in the final leg and allow Reeve to step in with a double eleven game shot for a personal 3-2 win and a 7-5 victory for his team.
The women’s ‘A’ were hoping to add to their one draw and one win record for the four games played so far and really made a fight of it in the opening stages as Kim Fellows put them one up with her 3-1 win over Sami Watson and although Kath Jenkins (West Midlands) lost 3-2 to Nicky Doidge Gemma Barrett put the home side in front for a second time with her 3-2 win against Mandy Reeves. Reeves won the first two legs against Gemma but the home player fought back magnificently to square the game at 2-2, winning the fourth leg with a superb 109 finish. The deciding leg could have swung either way but it was the sharper finishing of Gemma Barrett that gave her the win and her 17.43 average earning her the match award.
From there on in it was all downhill as Suffolk went on to win the tie 4-2, again it was the usual story where missed doubles lose games as Joanne Locke, Rossy Scriven and Jean Prewitt all chalked up 3-1 wins against respective opponents Debbie Loon, Heather Wright and Lisa Astbury, this being Lisa’s first defeat of the season after winning four consecutive lady of the match awards.
Only a 9-3 win from the men’s ‘A’ would be good enough for an overall victory but it was not the best of starts as Christopher Mason lost 4-1 to David Ballard-Platt and Gary Watts looked as though he would suffer a similar fate when after taking the first leg off Dean Barker he then lost the next three. A 109 outshot for a fifteen darts leg kept Watts in the game and with further winning legs in 24 and 19 darts he went on to win 4-3.
Giving West Midlands the lead for the first time was the evergreen “Mr Reliable” Ian Jones, playing against Nick Bloom Ian was in tremendous form racing to a straight 4-0 victory with winning legs of 15, 18, 15 and 16 darts to give him a superb 31.31 average to earn him the man of the match award, his average also the best of the season so far for the West Midlands.
Andrew Noy (Suffolk) took the score back to level terms when he beat Neil Pointon 4-3, the hosts reply was a 4-1 success from Jonathan Platt over Richard Watson to take a 3-2 lead. However by the midway point it was all square again when Suffolk’s Daren Wood won 4-2 against Michael Baker.
As the second half began Sean Carrol gave the home team the lead again as he accounted for Dan Tatum with a 4-1 result and making it 5-3 was Mark Rollinson who after losing the first two legs to Ian Randles went on to win 4-2.
Mark Totman reduced the deficit for Suffolk when he won a close 4-3 game against Matthew Dicken but the two games buffer was restored when Keith Allman won 4-2 against Stephen Burton. Jason Mold (Suffolk) took the game to a nail biting finish when he won the penultimate encounter against Gavin Baker 4-1 but West Midlands got their 7-5 victory when anchor man Richard Platt won 4-2 against Andrew Meikle and at the same time put the overall weekend’s result at 18-18.
Full Results:(West Midland names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Christopher Mason 1 David Ballard-Flatt 4, Gary Watts 4 Dean Barker 3, Ian Jones 4 Nick Bloom 0, Neil Pointon 3 Andrew Noy 4, Jonathan Platt 4 Richard Watson 1, Michael Baker 2 Daren Wood 4, Sean Carrol 4 Dan Tatum 1, Mark Rollinson 4 Ian Randles 3, Matthew Dicken 2 Martin Totman 4, Keith Allman 4 Stephen Burton 2, Gavin Baker 1 Jason Mold 4, Richard Platt 4 Andrew Meikle 2, Men’s ‘B’:- Adam Johnson 1 Marc Patrick 3, Jamie Barrowman 3 Wayne Hammond 1, Lee Arnold 3 Arron Fairweather 2, Robert Smith 1 Jason Elvin 3, John Mycock 2 Tony Lincoln 3, Danny Coyle 3 Jamie Collins 1, John Morris 2 Lee Newson 3, Karl Hughes 1 Kim Buckingham 3, Justin Evans 1 Keith Wright 3, Mark Craddock 3 Duane Nessling 2, Avtar Singh 3 John Attwater 1, Paul Price 2 Phil Reeve 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Kim Fellows 3 Sami Watson 1, Kath Jenkins 2 Nicky Doidge 3, Gemma Barrett 3 Mandy Reeves 2, Debbie Loon 1 Joanne Locke 3, Heather Wright 1 Rossy Scriven 3, Lisa Astbury 1 Jean Prewitt 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Samantha Maiden 3 Louise Collins 1, Jacqueline Maiden 3 Sarah Ceska 1, Sarah Roberts 3 Wendy Harden 0, Sophie Singh 3 Leesa Woollard 0, Claire Hobbs 2 Barbara Chenery 3, Wendy Waine 2 Jan Turner 3.
For the second report, a rearranged home fixture against Nottinghamshire, I would personally like to thank Warwickshire County Darts Organisation Chairman Neil Pritchard for supplying me with a copy of the WEST MIDLANDS results sheets as once again the West Midlands have failed to send them to me!!! Thanks Neil.
Sad really when for so many years I have written up the West Midlands reports for Darts World and in the “Good Old Days” when results sheets had to be photocopied and then trusted to the Royal Mail to deliver them safely I got them faster than nowadays when sometimes they don’t turn up at all, strange really when today’s technology is such that at the touch of a button the sheets can be submitted to me within milliseconds.
That’s my whinge over and now on to the match report which saw, both on Saturday and Sunday wins for the men and defeats for the ladies. The women’s ‘B’ trailed 3-0 and only picked up three winning legs in the process as Margaret Bamford, Kaylea Riley and Helen Harvey in turn accounted for Wendy Waine, Samantha Maiden and Jacqueline Maiden with 3-1 results.
Nottinghamshire by the fourth game had won the tie as Julie Pitchford despite going 1-0 and 2-1 down to Claire Hobbs fought back to register a 3-2 win and put her team in an unassailable 4-0 lead. The visitors went further ahead in the fifth when Kelly Stevens with her 3-0 win against Sophie Singh took the score along to 5-0.
It was the final game before West Midlands had any success and it was Sarah Roberts who provided that final win a straight 3-0 victory over Gina Guest, Sarah making it two consecutive lady of the match awards with her 22.77 average and taking the result to 5-1 in favour of Nottinghamshire.
The first half of the men’s ‘B’ game began well as Chris Stanley and Ashe Khayat chalked up 3-1 wins over John Esam and Robert Riley, Khayat recording an award winning average of 25.58.
Stuart Hay halved the arrears for the away team with his 3-1 win over John Mycock after Mycock had won the third leg with a 111 outshot. The home side’s two game lead was restored in the fourth when Karl Hughes beat Mark Wilson 3-1, Wilson having won the first leg, but to round off the first six games Karl Askew and Richard Burrows with 3-2 wins over respective opponents Paul Price and Danny Coyle levelled the game at 3-3, Price and Coyle both having gone within an ace of victory as they each won the first two legs.
The beginning of the second half saw Nottinghamshire take the lead for the first time when Philip Henshaw won 3-1 against Mark Allen-Watkiss, thend Henshaw’s team mate Ricky Gray looked all set to increase that lead when he went 2-0 up against Chris Read but Read took the following three legs to win 3-2.
West Midlands got their noses in front again in the ninth game, Robert Smith beating Neil Birkin 3-1 to give the hosts a narrow 5-4 lead. Once again the match was tied as Andrew McCracken (Nottinghamshire) won 3-0 against Lee Arnold to put the onus on the last two players for both teams.
The experienced Martin Angell was West Midlands penultimate player and his experience came through as he bounced back twice from 1-0 and 2-1 down against Mark Cowley to win 3-2, then in the final encounter Sam Guest produced a fine display against Mark Pearson with a 3-0 win to give the home side a 7-5 victory their first win of the six games season so far.
The ladies ‘A’ like their ‘B’ side the previous day lost the opening three games Kath Jenkins the only one of the trio to win a single leg as Kirtsy Handford beat Kim Fellows 3-0, Kath Jenkins lost 3- 1to Sarah Brent and Gemma Barrett went down 3-0 to Tracey Johnson.
Lisa Astbury returned to winning ways her 3-1 win over Sara Faulkner and her 18.07 average earned her a fifth lady of the match award in six games.
Heather Wright kept hopes of a draw alive when she defeated Emma Tomlinson in three straight legs and Debbie Loon showed all the signs of making those hopes a reality when she twice took the lead against Nicola McNamara, Debbie winning the first and third legs only to see he opponent win the last two for a 3-2 win and a 4-2 win for her team.
The men’s ‘A’ were unable to win a leg in the opening two games as Nottinghamshire’s Timothy Broadhurst and Paul Harvey in turn beat Gary Watts and John Morris 4-0.
The visitors went 3-0 up with a 4-2 win from Melvyn Hopkins over Jonathan Platt before West Midlands recorded their first winner in the fourth. From one down to Peter McConville Glen Cullen then took a 2-1 lead, McConville squared the game in the fourth but with checkouts of 117 and 68 Cullen clinched a 4-3 win.
The home team could have reduced the deficit even further in the fifth game but missed doubles proved costly for Jamie Barrowman and despite twice drawing level with Craig Barratt eventually lost 4-2, and that was the difference between the two teams at the halfway point as Keith Allman (West Midlands) beat Andrew Kerr 4-1.
The hosts went even further behind as the second half got underway, Mick Pitchford’s 4-3 win against Martin Angell taking Nottinghamshire’s lead to 5-2 and looking well in control at that stage. It took a man of the match performance from Ian Jones to rekindle West Midlands game, Jones beating Darren Layden 4-0 with Layden not reaching a double in any of the four legs, the West Midlands man for the second game in a row recording a thirty plus average, this time 30.36 for his second consecutive match award.
The win from Ian Jones appeared to inspire the rest of the team as Richard Platt beat Thomas Allies 4-1 Avatr Singh came from 3-1 down to beat Neil Ward 4-3 and level the game at 5-5.
The previous day’s award winner Ashe Khayat produced the goods again and won 4-1 against Graham Cook and with a final 4-3 win by Mark Rollinson against Karl Askew it was a 7-5 win for the West Midlands men’s ‘A’ and a share of the points with an overall 18-18 draw.
The draw may not have been the desired result for the home team but nevertheless it has seen them move away from the relegation zone as they move above Merseyside and Suffolk with a total of 106 points, 21 more than bottom team Wiltshire, 15 more than Merseyside and 7 to the good on Suffolk.
West Midlands final three games will see them play two away against Northamptonshire and London in between those fixtures they will take on bottom of the table Wiltshire at home with all three teams around
them in the table they should now be able to pick enough points to ensure their status in division two for another season.
Full Results:West Midlands names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Gary Watts 0 Timothy Broadhurst 4, John Morris 0 Paul Harvey 4, Jonathan Platt 2 Melvyn Hopkins 4, Glen Cullen 4 Peter McConville 2, Jamie Barrowman 2 Craig Barratt 4, Keith Allman 4 Andrew Kerr 1, Martin Angell 3 Mick Pitchford 4, Ian Jones 4 Darren Layden 0, Richard Platt 4 Thomas Allies 1, Avtar Singh 4 Neil Ward 3, Ashe Khayat 4 Graham Cook 1, Mark Rollinson 4 Karl Askew 3, Men’s ‘B’:- Chris Stanley 3 John Esam 1, Ashe Khayat 3 Robert Riley 1, John Mycock 1 Stuart Hay 3, Karl Hughes 3 Mark Wilson 1, Paul Price 2 Karl Askew 3Danny Coyle 2 Richard Burrows 3, Mark Allen-Watkiss 1 Philip Henshaw 3, Chris Read 3 Ricky Gray 2, Robert Smith 3 Neil Birkin 1, Lee Arnold 0 Andrew McCracken 3, Martin Angell 3 Mark Cowley 2, Sam Guest 3 Mark Pearson 0, Women’s ‘A’:- Kim Fellows 0 Kirsty Handford 3, Kath Jenkins 1 Sarah Brent 3, Gemma Barrett 0 Tracey Johnson 3, Lisa Astbury 3 Sara Faulkner 1, Heather Wright 3 Emma Tomlinson 0, Debbie Loon 2 Nicola McNamara 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Wendy Waine 1 Margaret Bamford 3, Samantha Maiden 1 Kaylea Riley 3, Jacqueline Maiden 1 Helen Harvey 3, Claire Hobbs 2 Julie Pitchford 3, Sophie Singh 0 Kelly Stevens 3, Sarah Roberts 3 Gina Guest 0.