Oxfordshire v Warwickshire
Warwickshire’s latest fixture in the premier division of the Riley’s BDO Inter County Championships was an away tie against Oxfordshire. After a 22-14 defeat in the curtain raiser to the season against Yorkshire the home side were looking to kick start their campaign, and a win over their hosts would be sweet revenge after going down 19-17 to them at home last season.
Saturday’s games, thanks to Donna Pinch and Melanie Hill opened up a 2-0 lead for Warwickshire at the expense of Cath Birch and Nicola Curzon and although Karen Hill’s 3-1 win over Edwina Holdsworth reduced that lead a lady of the match performance from Wendy Adams restored the two games buffer. Wendy was taken the full five legs distance by Cali Birch before confirming her win, her 19.30 average Warwickshire’s best on the day.
From 2-0 up and 3-1 up the away side finally had to settle for a share of the points as Tasha Borton’s 3-0 win against Natalie Gilbert forced the match to go to the last game to reach a result, a result that was put at 3-3 as Belinda Grant (Oxfordshire) beat Louise Graham 3-1.
The draw was the second in two games for the ladies ‘B’.
The first five games in the men’s ‘B’ match all went with the first throw advantage, meaning Warwickshire took the lead three times in those opening games. Paul Deslandes was the first winner, a 4-1 success against Neal Russell. Andy Thomas wa the man to put the home side back on level terms with a similar 4-1 win against Antony Allen.
The next player to give the visitors the lead was Graham Hall, a straight 4-0 against Dion Newman, yet again only to see Joe Palmer cancel the lead after being taken to a decider by David Sanders.
For the third time of taking the lead it was Carl Green who won 4-2 against Darren Hammond, and it was then that the sequence was broken. Simon Power had a convincing 4-0 win over John Russell, Power’s first straight legs win for the county and it could not have come at a better time giving them a 4-2 lead.
Oxforshire then won two in a row, John Newland and Michael Kearns getting the better of Peter Hughes and Steve Giddings with respective 4-1 and 4-2 results.
From there on in it was all Warwickshire, four games three 4-0 and a 4-3 win to give them an 8-4 verdict. Wins were supplied by Luke Kennedy over Stuart Robinson, man of the match Mark Archer (25.69) beat John Mulley, Mark Strong won the five legs tussle with Mark Burns and to round off the day and Jimmy Hill beat Brendan Kearns.
At the beginning of the Sunday games Warwickshire were holding an 11-7 lead and adding another three notches to that lead and putting them three steps closer to the overall win were the ladies ‘A’. Like the ‘B’ side they too had finished al square in the previous encounter and did exactly the same again against Oxforshire.
Going one down to a Sandra Cox win over Marian Conway, Sue Gulliver (21.78) put them on level terms with her 3-0 win over Shirley Castle and in the process won herself the lady of the match award. Caroline Pike added to Sue’s win when she defeated Julie Newman.
Rebecca Rose restored parity for the hosts with her close 3-2 win over Angela Jones, before Denise Keyte assured at the worst a draw when she beat Kim Ledbury 3-2. A draw was how the game ended as former Warwickshire player Clare Bywaters won the final game against Lisa Whitmore 3-0.
Five winners, that was what was required from the men’s ‘A’ team to secure the winning points. And they were achieved in the first six games. New signing and former West Midlands player Jamie Hughes began the run, a 4-0 win against Eamonn Lilly, another former West Midlands man Tom Aldridge emulated the 4-0 win of Hughes in his game with Dean Lockyer and adding his 4-1 success against Preben Krabben was Mark Westgarth.
Oxforshire’s first winner came in game four, a 4-3 win from Kevin Lowe over Tom McGlone, but the revival was short lived as Warwickshire moved up a gear adding another five wins to their tally all started by man of the match Ian McFarlane, whose 4-2 win over Stuart White saw him average 28.92. McFarlane was followed with wins from Dave Harris, Jamie Atkins and Noel Grant.
The home team made the score a little more respectable with a 4-2 win by Josh McCarthy over Richard Foster, only to see Dean Stewart and Robert Hawker wind up the proceedings with two more wins for Warwickshire to give the men a a cracking 10-2 win and an overall 24-12 victory.
Full results, Men’s ‘A’:- Eamonn Lilly 0 Jamie Hughes 4, Dean Lockyer 0 Tom Aldridge 4, Preben Krabben 1 Mark Westgarth 4, Kevin Lowe 4 Tom McGlone 3, Anthony Barrett 2 Mark Carter 4, Stuart White 2 Ian McFarlane 4, Nick Cobb 3 Dave Harris 4, Sean Holley 0 Jamie Atkins 4, Lee Russell 1 Noel Grant 4, Josh McCarthy 4 Richard Foster 2, Aaron Stevens 2 Dean Stewart 4, Andy Thomas 2 Robert Hawker 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Neal Russell 1 Paul Deslandes 4, Andy Thomas 4 Antony Allen 1, Dion Newman 0 Graham Hall 4, Joe Palmer 4 David Sanders 3, Darren Hammond 2 Carl Green 4, John Russell 0 Simon Power 4, John Newland 4 Peter Hughes 1, Michael Kearns 4 Steve Giddings 2, Stuart Robinson 0 Luke Kennedy 4, John Mulley 0 Mark Archer 4, Mark Burns 3 Mark Strong 4, Brendan Kearns 0 Jimmy Hill 4, Ladies ‘A’:- Sandra Cox 3 Marian Conway 2, Shirley Castle 0 Sue Gulliver 3, Julie Newman 1 Caroline Pike 3, Rebecca Rose 3 Angela Jones 2, Kim Ledbury 2 Denise Keyte 3, Clare Bywaters 3 Lisa Whitmore 0, Ladies ‘B’:- Cath Birch 0 Donna Pinch 3, Nicola Curzon 0 Melanie Hill 3, Karen Hill 3 Edwina Holdsworth 1, Cali Birch 2 Wendy Adams 3, Tasha Borton 3 Natalie Gilbert 0, Belinda Grant 3 Louise Graham 1.
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