Surrey v Derbyshire
Derbyshire completed their promotion season in division one of the BDO Inter County Championships with an away fixture against Surrey both teams languishing at the foot of the table and facing relegation.
Saturday’s ladies ‘B’ game didn’t get off to the best of starts as Surrey’s Penny Lambert and Sue Shefford in turn beat Samantha Clarke and Kerri Buckley 3-0 with the Derbyshire duo both having throws to win legs.
Sarah Emsley (Surrey) won the first leg against Louise Rawson-Lee but it was not enough to stop Louise going on to win 3-1 and take the match award with her 17.39 average. The win for Derbyshire however was just a short delay in what turned out to be Surrey’s day as the home team’s Marie Barthrop and Kirsty Howitt beat their respective opponents Dawn Buckley and Sara-Jane Harrison 3-1 to give home team a winning 4-1 lead.
The final game went to the visitors when Lauren Jackson defeated Billie Auzins 3-1 after Auzins had won the opening leg giving a final score of 4-2 to Surrey.
The men’s ‘B’ without a win in their previous eight games quickly found themselves trailing 5-0 as Simon Beagle opened with a 3-1 win over John Clifford followed by a straight 3-0 win for Kurtis Atkins against Richard Rawding.
Taking the score along to 3-0 was Darren Bryant who after Paul Williams had taken leads of 1-0 and 2-1 won the final two legs for a very close 3-2 success.
Andrew Foster made it 4-0 with his 3-0 victory against Craig Freeman and making up the five was Paul Tudor who again was a player that came from behind as Mark Kirkham went 1-0 and 2-1 up before Tudor won the last two legs for a 3-2 win.
Derbyshire’s first winner came in the form of Richard Hanson who was on at number six against Darren Clark, Richard winning 3-1 in what again was a very close game. The arrears were reduced to 5-2 when Ian Allcock added his straight 3-0 win over Matt Carter to Derbyshire’s tally.
Surrey completed the first hurdle in the match when in game eight Ian Chalkley beat Colin Rich 3-0 to put his team in an unassailable 6-2 lead with a guaranteed draw.
Keeping Derbyshire in the hunt was man of the match Robert Stansbury who went 2-0 up in 20 and 16 darts against Byron Pendry. Pendry drew level in 19 and 23 darts but it was Stansbury who got the 3-2 verdict when in the deciding leg he checked out on double ten with his nineteenth dart giving him a 25.67 average.
Surrey’s winning game was put up in the tenth Daryl Reino winning 3-1 against Keith Cooper to secure the home team’s victory.
Derbyshire’s fourth and as it turned out their final winner came in the penultimate encounter Wayne Howe winning 3-0 against Andrew Webb-Jones before Neville Wright completed the 8-4 win for Surrey in the final game of the day when he won 3-2 against Scott Parkin.
The ladies ‘A’ team had lost their game before they got their one and only winner on the board as Apylee Jones beat Jane Densley 3-1 and then Kerry Killick, Tricia Wright and Laura Turner handed out 3-0 defeats to Kelly Dean, Jackie Sweet and Louise Rawson-Lee. The fifth game saw another win for Surrey as Lisa Munt beat Dee Fenn 3-1 before Rachel Bird registered Derbyshire’s sole victory as she beat Sharon Godbeer 3-2, Rachel collecting the match award with her 19.37 average.
The men’s ‘A’ game turned out to be the highlight of the weekend despite having a slow start as unlucky Tim Daniels came from one down to Tony Hammond to go 2-1 up and then 3-1 up before losing the last two legs, the deciding leg seeing him first to a finishing double but unable to find it and allowing his opponent in to finish on 40 and win the game 4-3.
Gary Fenn found himself trailing 2-0 to Dave Webb but bounced back taking the last four legs for a 4-2 win. Alan Statham added his 4-2 win over Alex Chubb before Dave Parletti levelled the tie with a 4-1 win against Ian Scobbie.
By the midway point the away team had opened up a 4-2 lead with further wins from Richard Palmer and Paul Bettney, Palmer beating Phil McDonnell 4-2 and Bettney winning by the same margin against Douglas Harwood.
Nigel Daniels was involved in a seven legs affair with Graham Hollis in which Hollis came from behind to level three times but it was to no avail as Daniels with double eight in the last leg wrapped up a 4-3 win.
The guarantee of at the worst a draw was achieved in the best possible way as Paul Mellor, like Daniels was taken to a deciding leg by his opponent Andy Bridgman but with a superb 121 game shot Mellor not only won his game 4-3 but also the match award for his 28.30 average.
Surrey reduced the deficit from 6-2 to 6-4 with a 4-2 win by Gary Trood over Peter Slater followed by a 4-1 success for Stephen Lovett against Lee Stanley but that was to be their last winner as Adrian Asprey chalked up the magical seventh win for Derbyshire as he defeated Darryl Pilgrim 4-3 and rounding off a tremendous 8-4 victory was Loz Barnes with his straight 4-0 win against Gary Creamer.
The overall result was a 21-15 win for Surrey to see them finish just above Derbyshire in the table with 150 points, Derbyshire having 134, however both teams will play next season in division two but hopefully it was a season of experience for the Derbyshire players and that they will bounce back and be all the better for their season in division one.
Full Results: Surrey v Derbyshire (21-15):(Surrey names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Tony Hammond 4 Tim Daniels 3, Dave Webb 2 Gary Fenn 4, Alex Chubb 2 Alan Statham 4, Dave Parletti 4 Ian Scobbie 1, Phil McDonnell 2 Richard Palmer 4, Douglas Harwood 2 Paul Bettney 4, Graham Hollis 3 Nigel Daniels 4, Andy Bridgman 3 Paul Mellor 4, Gary Trodd 4 Peter Slater 2, Stephen Lovett 4 Lee Stanley 1, Darryl Pilgrim 3 Adrian Asprey 4, Gary Creamer 0 Loz Barnes 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Simon Beagle 3 John Clifford 1, Kurtis Arkins 3 Richard Rawding 0, Darren Bryant 3 Paul Williams 2, Andrew Foster 3 Craig Freeman 0, Paul Tudor 3 Mark Kirkham 2, Darren Clark 1 Richard Hanson 3, Matt Carter 0 Ian Allcock 3, Ian Chalkley 3 Colin Rich 0, Byron Pendry 2 Robert Stansbury 3, Daryl Reino 3 Keith Cooper 1, Andrew Webb-Jones 0 Wayne Howe 3, Neville Wright 3 Scott Parkin 2, Women’s ‘A’:- Apylee Jones 3 Jane Densley 1, Kerry Killick 3 Kelly Dean 0, Tricia Wright 3 Jackie Sweet 0, Laura Turner 3 Louise Rawson-Lee 0, Lisa Munt 3 Dee Fenn 1, Sharon Godbeer 2 Rachel Bird 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Panny Lambert 3 Samantha Clarke 0, Sue Shefford 3 Kerri Buckley 0, Sarah Emsley 1 Louise Rawson-Lee 3, Marie Barthrop 3 Dawn Buckley 1, Kirsty Howitt 3 Sara-Jane Harrison 1, Billie Auzins 1 Lauren Jackson 3.