2015-01-01

In division two of the BDO Inter County Championships West Midlands went into their final fixture of 2014 with one win and one defeat hoping for a much need win to lift them away from the foot of the table and set them up for the remaining six games in 2015.
Playing at home at the Gilberts Bar, Willenhall West Midlands opponents were Berkshire. Kicking off the weekend for the ladies ‘B’ was Jacqueline Maiden who lost 3-0 to Lisa Webb, but for finishing doubles the result could easily have gone the other way. Wendy Waine cancelled out Berkshire’s lead when she accounted for Louise Grannell with a straight 3-0 win. Making it three 3-0 wins in a row was Debbie Connors, her success against Sophie Singh restoring Berkshire’s lead, a lead that was extended to within an ace of victory when Jackie Walford beat Claire Hobbs 3-1 giving the away team a 3-1 lead.
Christine Banks continued her fine season when she, for the third time in as many games won the lady of the match award. Christine’s 3-0 win over Kate Denton saw her average 19.78 and with a final 3-0 win from Samantha Maiden against Carole Holroyd, West Midlands sealed a 3-3 draw, when after the first four games all looked lost.
In double quick time the men’s ‘B’ found themselves 2-0 down when David Hewlett and Andy Wells each chalked up 3-0 wins over Mark Allen-Watkiss and Jamie Barrowman respectively. Reducing the arrears for the home side was Paul Price, a man of the match performance with his 25.47 average and 3-0 win over Simon Purvey. Justin Evans then squared the match at 2-2 with his 3-2 win over Callum Grealis after Grealis had taken a 2-1 lead.
Game five saw the West Midlands forge ahead for the first time in the match, Martin Angell’s 3-1 win over William Foot giving them a 3-2 advantage. Alas the lead was short lived as Berkshire claimed the next four games. Ashley Passmore twice came from behind against Adam Johnson before he went on to win 3-2, Joe Lacey trailing 2-0 to Mark Craddock also won 3-2, then with 3-0 wins from Clive Drinkwater and Kevan Merritt over Lee Arnold and John Mycock, the visitors were 6-3 up and unbeatable.
Gary Watts (West Midlands) was made to fight all the way for his 3-2 win by Luke Woodland, Woodland twice cancelling out Watts’ wins in the first and third legs. Avtar Singh had a more comfortable 3-1 success against Gary Jones to leave the result hinging on the final game of the day.
Going into the last encounter and his team trailing 6-5 was Robert Thompson, with nerves coming to the front Thompson missed his finishing doubles and saw his opponent Steve Shadwell go 2-0 up, he pulled one back in the third only to see Shadwell take the fourth with a 100 checkout and win 3-1 to put the final score at 7-5 to Berkshire.
Kath Jenkins gave the home side the early lead in the ladies ‘A’ game when she won 3-1 against Amy Smith, but the cheers didn’t last long as Ally Judge, with a similar 3-0 result beat Kim Fellows to level the game.
Debbie Shadwell put Berkshire’s noses in front for the first time in the third, despite being pegged back to level terms twice by Heather Wright she went on to win 3-2 and with 4-1 wins for Hayley Croucher and Jo Rolls against their respective opponents Elizabeth Arnold and Gemma Barrett the visiting team had taken a match winning 4-1 lead.
On at number six for West Midlands was Lisa Astbury, who squared up to Jenny Payne. Already with two match awards under her belt Lisa quickly made it three as she won 3-1 and chalked up her team’s best average of the day 19.99 to take the final score to 4-2 for Berkshire.
The men’s ‘A’ were looking to extend their unbeaten record of one win and one draw and hoping to set them on their way was Glen Cullen. Cullen won the first leg against Terry Stubbs and then levelled in the fourth but Stubbs turned out to be the 4-2 winner. Michael Baker beat Eddie Simmonds 4-2 to make it 1-1, but John Jamieson’s win over Paul Price put the away team ahead for a second time.
Kevin Morley looked all set to make it 3-1 to Berkshire when he opened a 3-1 lead against Gavin Baker, but Baker won the tie 4-3 with three eighteen darts games. For the first time since the opening game the West Midlands went ahead again in the fifth when Danny Coyle made short work of his opponents Andy McNeill-Aitken beating him in four straight legs. The score at the halfway mark was 3-3, Daniel Woodcraft winning the sixth against Jonathan Platt 4-2.
The second half began the same way as the first half finished with the Berkshire player, this time Paul Croucher winning 4-0 against Richard Platt to put his side 4-3 up.
Fortunes changed yet again, West Midlands taking the following two games through Sean Carrol and Mark Rollinson with Paul Snowsill and Richard Stride on the receiving end. Carrol with winning legs of 18, 17, 16 and 16 darts had a tremendous 30.08 average which won the team’s man of the match award.
Keith Allman looked all set to make it three wins in a row for West Midlands opening up a 2-0 lead against Paul Hogan, but former West Midlands player Hogan stepped up a gear and in 13, 17, 16 and 16 darts won the tie 4-2 to once again level the score.
Now at 5-5 and only two to play, the outcome of the last two games was imperative, the penultimate player for the West Midlands was Nick Fullwell, his opposition coming in the form of James Turner. Fullwell won the first in 15 darts, Turner the second in 20. Fullwell then won two in a row in 21 and 15 darts, but again the Berkshire man drew level, this time in 18 darts. Fullwell wrapped up the tie in the sixth leg, an 18 darts leg giving him a 4-2 win and a 28.44 average.
West Midlands could not have wished for a more reliable anchor man than Ian Jones, on many, many, many occasions Jones has pulled out the stops at a vital time in the proceedings and there would be no better time for him to replicate this than now, which would ultimately mean a team win for the men’s ‘A’.
Double twenty saw him go one up in 17 darts, Jason Heaver, his opponent took the next in 23 darts. Jones forged ahead again with another 17 darts leg, only to see Heaver reply with a 105 game shot in 15. For a third time Ian Jones took the lead, this time it was a 19 darts leg that put him within an ace of victory.
The sixth leg was a real thriller, Jones set off with scores of 123, 81, 140 and 100 to leave 57 after only a dozen darts. Heaver meanwhile had also been busy with scores of 40, 140, 41, 100 and 140 to leave himself on double twenty again after only twelve darts. Single seventeen and double twenty, just two darts were all that were needed by Jones to seal a superb encounter and give him a personal 4-2 win, but more importantly his team a 7-5 victory.
Unfortunately the overall result was a 19-17 win for Berkshire and although West Midlands have played one game less than the majority of teams in the division they are perilously close to the foot of the table having just 55 points and just above bottom team Wiltshire, who are on 44. Still West Midlands are only a third of the way through their season and with six more games to go hopefully they will turn it around in the New Year and climb up the table.
Full Results:Division Two:West Midlands v Berkshire (17-19):(West Midlands names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Glen Cullen 2 Terry Stubbs 4, Micael Baker 4 Eddie Simmonds 2, Paul Price 1 John Jamieson 4, Gavin Baker 4 Kevin Morley 3, Danny Coyle 4 Andy Mcneil-Aitken 0, Jonathan Platt 2 Daniel Woodcraft 4, Richard Platt 0 Paul Croucher 4, Sean Carrol 4 Paul Snowsill 1, Mark Rollinson 4 Richard Stride 3, Keith Allman 2 Paul Hogan 4, Nick Fullwell 4 James Turner 2, Ian Jones 4 Jason Heaver 2, Men’s ‘B’:- Mark Allen-Watkiss 0 David Hewlett 3, Jamie Barrowman 0 Andy Wells 3, Paul Price 3 Simon Purvey 0, Justin Evans 3 Callum Grealis 2, Martin Angell 3 William Foot 1, Adam Johnson 2 Ashley Passmore 3, Mark Craddock 2 Joe Lacey 3, Lee Arnold 0 Clive Drinkwater 3, John Mycock 0 Kevan Merritt 3, Gary Watts 3 Luke Woodland 2, Avtar Singh 3 Gary Jones 1, Robert Thompson 1 Steve Shadwell 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Kath Jenkins 3 Amy Smith 1, Kim Fellows 0 Ally Judge 3, Heather Wright 2 Debbie Shadwell 3, Elizabeth Arnold 1 Hayley Croucher 3, Gemma Barrett 1 Jo Rolls 3, Lisa Astbury 3 Jenny Payne 1, Women’s ‘B’:- Jacqueline Maiden 0 Lisa Webb 3, Wendy Waine 3 Louise Grannell 0, Sophie Singh 0 Debbie Connors 3, Claire Hobbs 1 Jackie Walford 3, Christine Banks 3 Kate Denton 0, Samantha Maiden 3 Carole Holroyd 0.
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Crown ‘A’ completed a very successful season in the Cradley Tuesday Night League with a 7-2 home win over the Bulls Head to make it 33 wins in 36 games, taking the title with a total of 66 points, four more than runners up Chainmakers ‘B’, who won their final game at Hawne Lane Tavern 6-3.
Roost ‘B’ took the wooden spoon, but full marks to them as they managed to field a full side throughout the season despite only winning two games. Bulls Head finished just two points ahead of Roost ‘B’, however around 80% of the fixtures they lost were by a close 5-4 scoreline, one more winner in those games would have seen them finish in the top half of the table.
Jason Lowe (Crown ‘A’) had the most wins losing just two of his 36 games, while M.Hall (Chainmakers ‘B’) recorded a tremendous 164 checkout.
The final of the singles knockout brought together two of the league’s top players, Jason Lowe (Crown’A’) and Nick Fullwell (Chainmakers ‘B’). In the first leg of the final Fullwell was unable to match the fire power of Lowe as he went 1-0 down. He scored well in the second leg hitting his fifth 180 of the night and but for a miss on double twenty could have forced a deciding leg, his miss however proving costly as Lowe checked out on double eighteen to seal a 2-0 win and the title.
In the semi finals Lowe beat Mick Roberts (Gate, Colley Gate) 2-0 and with a similar scoreline Fullwell took out Matt Tedstone (Crown ‘A’).
The Harry Siviter Memorial Cup final saw the Brickmakers Arms take on The Gate (Colley Gate). The Gate won all three of the doubles games but had finishing problems in the singles and eventually lost 6-3.
In the Wally Fellows Memorial Trophy A.Cowley (Crown ‘A’) narrowly missed a maximum 170 checkout as after scoring two treble twenties he hit the 25 for the bull and then lost his game, nevertheless his side still went on to win the title 5-4 against Jay’s Bar.
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Riley’s ‘C’ won the division one Riley’s Cup in the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League beating Victoria in the final. The division two title went to Wednesfield Legion ‘A’, with Wednesfield Conservative Club runners up. Wednesfield Conservative Club had some consolation as they won the Knockout Cup beating Dog and Partridge in the final.
Otter and Vixen won the division one Knockout Cup, their final opponents were Riley’s ‘C’.
The singles knockout was won by Kev Jones (Ukrainian Club), with Dave Shinton (Victoria) runner up, while the doubles knockout title went to Dave Lucas and Paul Bromley (Wednesfield Legion ‘A’) with a final 3-1 win over John Nixon and Dave Edwards form The Victoria.
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Winning the Camp Hill League singles title was Neil Parsonage. Representing Cotterills Lane Club Neil added to his ever increasing list of title’s with a final success over Hay Mills Social Club player Peter Yardley. Losing semi finalists were Matthew Cooper (Cotterills Lane Club) and Mick O’Sullivan (Holy Souls).
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The Brierley Hill Friday Night League played off the finals of their doubles knockout and winning the title with a final win over J.Hughes and M.Frost (Brickmakers Arms) were the Netherton Cricket Club duo D.Male and M.Cullwick. Losing semi finalists were A.Floyd and C.Panzer (Brickmakers Arms) and T.Safe and J.Gaskin (Pensnett Welfare Club).
R.Powers (Dudley Sports ‘B’) is the new holder of the singles title. Powers beat Netherton Cricket Club representative C.Davies in the final.
Losing semi finalists were S.Bloomer (Bridge ‘A’) and B.Neale (Bulls Head, Netherton).
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Congratulations to Mark Cowley, who after winning the division one title in the 2013 – 2014 winter season in the Long Eaton Singles League, followed that up by winning the division one title in the summer league. Cowley took the title by a clear three points over runner up Tony Glover.
The division two title was much closer with Jason Holmes champion on 93 points, runner up Paul Iliffe losing out by only one point having 92 and third placed Richard Turgoose finishing with 91, just two points separating the top three players, that’s close.
No such problem in division three, champion Mike Booth finishing with 122 points and runner up Colin Dunston some twelve points behind on 110.
In the Divisional Cup, George Singh won division one, Gary Pearson division two and Mike Booth division three. George Singh made it a great double when he also won the Round Robin Champion of Champions Cup between the divisional cup winners.
Another player chalking up a double win was Mark Cowley who added to his division one win the League Cup title, George Singh was runner up.
Highest finish of the season went to John Brierley, who recorded a 167 outshot, while Mark Cowley had the most 180’s, which was eleven. The least darts of 13 was achieved by five players, Richard Turgoose, Dean Andrews, Kez Barfield, Tony Glover and George Singh.
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The Ripley Elite Darts Singles League have got their winter season underway and already after only a handful of games there has been some notable achievements. In the premier division Daz Brown has the best average of 30.40, while another Daz, this time Sullivan has had a 161 game shot, the best finish so far. Twelve darts is the fastest game recorded by both Rob Woolery and Jim Beardmore and Ian Richardson has notched no fewer than eight maximums in only five games.
After completing five games Daz Brown heads the premier table with 25 points, closely followed by Ian Richardson on 24, but Richardson has played one game more than Brown.
In the Sleeping Beauty Beds division one Ady Asprey is the early leader with 42 points from eight games and has a six points lead over his nearest rival Andy Marriott. Asprey is also making his mark on the individual scene as he has the least darts of twelve and also hit the most 180’s, which is four. Mick Chapman has the best finish of 167 and Keith Cooper the highest average of 26.58.
However, for both divisions there is a long way to go and all of the above statistics could and probably will change, watch this space.
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