Derbyshire v Dorset
Derbyshire went into their middle of the season fixture in division one of the BDO Inter County Championships without a win, not even a draw in their previous four games but knowing that all they needed was one good result to get their season underway, unfortunately the home tie with Dorset did not get off to the start they would have wished for as the ladies ‘B’ slumped to a 5-1 defeat.
Rachel Bird gave the ‘B’ side a great boost when after trailing 1-0 to Cathryn Campbell in the opening game she fought back to seal a tremendous 3-1 win and at the end of the day the lady of the match award with her very creditable 19.56 average.
Game number two saw Dee Fenn go one up against Katie Mitchell but then lose the next two, she levelled in the fourth but was unable to find the winning doubles in the fifth and went down 3-2.
The away team then took control chalking up three consecutive 3-0 wins Julie Boggust began the run with her win over Louise Rawson-Lee and was followed by Donna Mabbatt who defeated Jackie Sweet. Completing the trio of straight wins and also registering the match winning fourth game for Dorset was Joan Calvert, but to be fair her opponent Alison Shilton did everything but win the game as she had throws for finishing doubles in all three legs.
Rounding off the 5-1 win for Dorset was Sally Old who with a 3-1 result accounted for Kelly Dean.
The men’s ‘B’ like the ladies ‘B’ had lost three and drawn one, their opener was Ian Scobbie who went down 3-1 to James Lane. Tony Cresswell with an award winning average of 28.36 won 3-0 against Richard Hutley to level the score, Cresswell winning in 17, 19 and 17 darts. Adrian Daniels looked set to add to Derbyshjre’s tally when he went 1-0 up against Matthew Woodhouse but after missing his double in the second leg Woodhouse stepped in with games in 19,20 and 13 darts for a 3-1 win.
The visitors then went 3-1 up when Richard Gomm beat David Allcock 3-2, Allcock making him fight all the way for his win as he twice cancelled out Gomm’s lead.
It was at 3-1 down that the hosts stepped up a gear Sean Lambert beat Robbie Martin 3-2, Robert Stansbury won 3-2 against Graham Inniss after Inniss had taken a 2-0 lead, and putting the home team in front for the first time in the game was Robert Smith who won 3-0 against John Clark.
The lead was short lived as Sean McMurray made it 4-4 with his 3-0 win over Craig Freeman and from there on in it was all Dorset although it could easily have been a different result if it had not been for those all elusive doubles. Alan Ayres won 3-1 against Richard Rawding, Daniel Walker had a 3-0 win against Peter Slater but Slater was down to a double in all three legs, Bobby Morris had a 3-1 win against Adrian Asprey and again in his losing three legs Asprey was on a double and taking the final score to 8-4 to Dorset was Daniel Perry with a 3-1 win over Ashley Spencer after Spencer had won the first leg.
The ladies ‘A’ results on Sunday were a little better than the previous day but not enough to record what would have been their second win of the campaign.
The opener went to Dorset’s Suzanne Trickett, a 3-0 result against Sara Jukes. On a number two was regular county winner Jane Densley who won the first against Sarah Chick then went 2-1 down but never say die Jane fought back and won the next two legs for a 3-2 victory. Jennifer McCormick made short work of her opponent Julie Frampton winning 3-0, her superb 21.17 average earning her second match award of the season.
At 2-1 up once again it all went pear shaped and the final three games all went to the visitors. Claire Rogers won 3-1 against Lauren Jackson and by the same margin Trina Perry beat Samantha Clarke. Rounding off a 5-1 win for Dorset was Peri-May Yarrow with a 3-0 result over Sara-Jane Harrison.
The men’s ‘A with one 7-5 win and three defeats could easily have had four wins out of those four games as all three of their defeats have been close 7-5 reversals, results that could have gone either way.
The game with Dorset was a hard fought affair with not one of Derbyshire’s dozen player’s averages dropping below 23.65.
The game began really well as Steven Soar (27.40) won 4-2 against Ryan Gowans, Gary Fenn doubled the lead when he came back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to Lee Edwardson to clinch a 4-3 win. After losing the first two Fenn bounced back in 15 and 14 darts to level, then after losing the fifth he went on to secure his win in 15 and 22 darts for a man of the match winning average of 29.36. The score moved nicely along to 3-0 when Darron Brown (26.81) added his 4-2 win over Nigel Lamb to the tally and Alan Statham (25.23) looked a though he would make it 4-0 when he twice took the lead against Matt Yarrow but lost the last three legs and finished on the wrong side of a 4-2 scoreline.
Lee Stanley (25.80) did make it a fourth win for Derbyshire when he beat his namesake Lee Turle 4-2 and by the halfway mark the running score was also 4-2 as Scott Mitchell won a close tussle with Paul Mellor (26.13) 4-3 after Mellor had drawn level three times.
The second half saw the home team really go all out for the win Andrew McCracken (24.38) won 4-2 against Kevin Smith, Nigel Daniels (27.44) guaranteed at the worst a draw with his similar 4-2 win over Dale Masterman and confirming the win was Richard Hanson (26.76) who with a 4-1 result defeated Mark Porter to take the score to 7-2 to Derbyshire.
It just got better as Tim Daniels (26.48) added his 4-1 success against Matthew Read to the score making it 8-2 with two to play.
Darren Sinfield (23.65) won the first against Thomas Chant, lost the next two, drew level in the fourth but then lost the next two to go down 4-2 and in the final game of the weekend Mark Grimes (Dorset) won 4-1 against Paul Bettney (24.86) to put the final score at 8-4 to Derbyshire, unfortunately the overall result 21-15 went in favour of Dorset.
Full Results:(Derbyshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:-Steven Soar 4 Ryan Gowans 2, Gary Fenn 4 Lee Edwardson 3, Darron brown 4 Nigel Lamb 2, Alan Statham 2 Matt Yarrow 4, Lee Stanley 4 Lee Turle 2, Paul Mellor 3 Scott Mitchell 4, Andrew McCracken 4 Kevin Smith 2, Nigel Daniels 4 Dale Masterman 2, Richard Hanson 4 Mark Porter 1, Tim Daniels 4 Matthew Read 1, Darren Sinfield 2 Thomas Chant 4, Paul Bettney 1 Mark Grimes 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Ian Scobbie 1 James Lane 3, Tony Creswell 3 Richard Hutley 0, Adrian Daniels 1 Matthew Woodhouse 3, David Allcock 2 Richard Gomm 3, Sean Lambert 3 Robbie martin 1, Robert Stansbury 3 Graham Inniss 2, Robert Smith 3 John Clark 0, Craig Freeman 0 Dean McMurray 3, Richard Rawding 1 Alan Ayres 3, Peter Slater 0 Daniel Walker 3, Adrian Asprey 1 Robert Morris 3, Ashley Spencer 1 Daniel Perry 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Sara Jukes 0 Suzanne Trickett 3, Jane Densley 3 Sarah Chick 2, Jennifer McCormick 3 Julie Frampton 0, Lauren Jackson 1 Claire Rogers 3, Samantha Clarke 1 Trina Perry 3, Sara-Jane Harrison 0 Peri-May Yarrow 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Rachel Bird 3 Cathryn Campbell 1, Dee Fenn 2 Katie Mitchell 3, Louise Rawson-Lee 0 Julie Boggust 3, Jackie Sweet 0 Donna Mabbatt 3, Alison Shilton 0 Joan Calvert 3, Kelly Dean 1 Sally Old 3.