2015-05-01

West Midlands without a win in division two of the BDO Inter County Championships since their 20-16 away victory over Merseyside in the season’s curtain raiser in October and with only three fixtures remaining were desperate to get some points on the board to lift them away from the relegation zone and were hoping that their away game against Northamptonshire would provide those vital points.
In the ladies ‘B’ game Wendy Waine was first on and despite first throw advantage and that she twice levelled after falling behind to Sandra Simmonds lost the fifth leg and the game 3-2.
Sarah Roberts is enjoying a fine season having won the previous two match awards and in her game against Ann Howard she made it three as she chalked up a 3-0 win with a 19.52 average.
Once again in the third game the result went against the darts as Jacky White (Northamptonshire) accounted for Sophie Singh to give the home side the lead for a second time, the lead being taken to 3-1 when Amy Chappell beat Claire Hobbs again with a 3-0 scoreline to leave West Midlands requiring the last two games for a share of the points.
Both of the final games went the full five legs distance with West Midlands players Jacqueline Maiden and Samantha Maiden both getting the verdicts against respective opponents Mary Garling and Dawn Chappell to give the away team a hard fought 3-3 draw.
The men’s ‘B’ team also found the opening games going against the darts advantage as Tony Littleton put the home side 1-0 up with a 3-1 win over Sam Guest, then with a similar result Robert Smith levelled the game with his win over Simon Johnson. Chuck Scott put the hosts 2-1 up when he beat Chris Read 3-0 again only to see the advantage wiped out as Karl Hughes replied for the West Midlands with his 3-2 win over Nigel Crane who had twice taken the lead.
At 2-2 the pattern changed and the man to change it was West Midlands man of the match Danny Coyle. Playing against Ian Evans Coyle went 2-0 up in 14 and 17 darts, Evans replied with two winning legs in 20 and 18 darts. The final leg was nip and tuck all the way and could have gone to either player but it was Danny Coyle who got the all important double sixteen to register a 3-2 win and put his team in front for the first time with a slender 3-2 advantage.
The game was all level at the halfway stage as Northamptonshire’s Luke Smith won 3-0 against Martin Angell.
Lee Rose (Northamptonshire) came from two down to Jamie Barrowman in the seventh game to go on and win 3-2 and although his team mate Phil Coward won the first leg against Chris Stanley with a 115 game shot he lost the tie 3-1 to yet again bring the match level now at 4-4.
From this point on it was all change as the last four games all went to West Midlands, Neil Pointon won 3-1 against Graham Roberts, Mark Craddock and Matthew Dicken both won 3-2 in turn beating Eddy Smith and John Bryan and rounding off a super 8-4 victory was Gary Watts with his 3-1 win over Richard Sharp to give the ‘B’ side their second successive win.
As in the ladies ‘B’ game it was the home team that won the opener in the ‘A’ match Gail Fullthorpe winning 3-0 against Gemma Barrett. A 3-1 win by Kath Jenkins over Faye Mason cancelled out the home teams lead and then Lisa Astbury (17.11) with her sixth match award from seven games defeated Angela Barrow 3-1 to give the away team a 2-1 advantage.
Northamptonshire’s Karen Roberts took the score along to 2-2 with her 3-0 success against Heather Wright but Debbie Loon (West Midlands) guaranteed at the worst a 3-3 draw when she won 3-2 against Rebecca Barrow after Barrow had levelled the game at 2-2 from trailing 2-0.
The final tie was a close encounter which could have gone to either Kelly Walker (Northamptonshire) or Kim Fellows as Walker won the first Fellows the next two, the last two going to Walker, but in all five legs both players had throws at a finishing double. The final score 3-3.
The men’s ‘A’ with four wins and one draw had lost just one game so far and that was against divisional leaders Derbyshire and in the opening half they took the lead no fewer than three times. Keith Allman was first on with a 4-2 win over Jason Lovell and although Ben Goodger replied for Northamptonshire with a 4-2 win against Avtar Singh Chris Mason restored the West Midlands lead when he beat Liam Fox 4-1. Shane Prowse was the man who levelled the game for a second time when he won 4-3 against Gavin Baker in a very close game.
Like many, many times before Ian Jones once again came to West Midlands aid and gave them a 3-2 lead when he defeated Paul Shepherd 4-1 with a 27.51 average and taking the score to 4-2 was Shaun Carroll with his win over Stuart Gilmour, again the score was 4-1.
A man of the match display from Jonathan Platt against Martin Biggs edged West Midlands a little closer to a possible win, Jonathan winning 4-3 after coming from 2-0 down with a 29.66 average.
From 5-2 up the score moved to 5-5 when Christopher Lawrence beat Mark Rollinson 4-2, Chris Shipley won 4-1 against Ash Kyhatt and Dave Walker got the better of Richard Platt with a 4-0 result.
Lee Rose looked well on the way to putting Northamptonshire 6-5 up when he opened a 2-0 lead on Michael Baker, but Baker stuck to the task and with two fourteen and a sixteen darts leg went on to win the tie 4-3.
The last game of the weekend was a seven legs encounter with the home player Chris Jones taking the lead three times only to see Glen Cullen cancel it out on each occasion, but in the final leg Cullen missed his 77 outshot and in stepped Jones for a 48 game shot to clinch a 4-3 win and at the same time give his team a share of thee points in a 6-6 draw.
With three of the four games finishing all square the 8-4 win by the West Midlands men’s ‘B’ team proved to be a vital and deciding factor as it gave the squad a 20-16 overall victory and puts them on 129 points 22 away from the drop zone and seven above third from bottom Suffolk with two to play.
Full Results:Division Two:Northamptonshire v West Midlands (16-20):(Northamptonshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Jason Lovell 2 Keith Allman 4, Ben Goodger 4 Avtar Singh 2, Liam Fox 1 Chris Mason 4, Shane Prowse 4 Gavin Baker 3, Paul Shepherd 1 Ian Jones 4, Stuart Gilmour 1 Shawn Carroll 4, Martin Biggs 3 Jonathan Platt 4, Christopher Lawrence 4 Mark Rollinson 2, Chris Shipley 4 Ash Kyhatt 1, Dave Walker 4 Richard Platt 0, Lee Rose 2 Michael Baker 4, Chris Jones 4 Glen Cullen 3, Men’s ‘B’:- Tony Littleton 3 Sam Guest 1, Simon Johnson 1 Robert Smith 3, Chuck Scott 3 Chris Read 0, Nigel Crane 2 Karl Hughes 3, Ian Evans 2 Danny Coyle 3, Luke Smith 3 Martin Angell 0, Lee Rose 3 Jamie Barrowman 2, Phil Coward 1 Chris Stanley 3, Graham Roberts 1 Neil Pointon 3, Eddy Smith 2 Mark Craddock 3, John Bryan 2 Matthew Dicken 3, Richard Sharp 1 Gary Watts 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Gail Fullthorpe 3 Gemma Barrett 0, Faye Mason 1 Kath Jenkins 3, Angela Barrow 1 Lisa Astbury 3, Karen Roberts 3 Heather Wright 0, Rebecca Barrow 2 Debbie Loon 3, Kelly Walker 3 Kim Fellows 2, Women’s ‘B’:- Dandra Simmonds 3 Wendy Waine 2, Ann Howard 0 Sarah Roberts 3, Jacky White 3 Sophie Singh 0, Amy Chappell 3 Claire Hobbs 0, Mary Garling 2 Jacqueline Maiden 3, Dawn Chappell 2 Samantha Maiden 3.