A Look Back In Time - 1st January 2009
With only one win in three games in division one of the BDO Inter Counties Championships, newly promoted West Midlands were looking to take anything they could out of their home tie with local rivals Staffordshire.
Ladies ‘B’ with two draws and a defeat got off to a good start when curtain raiser Claire Ford rattled off a fine 3-0 win over Karen Turner. Deborah Upton replied for the visitors with a similar result in her game with Gemma Poole to level at one each. West Midlands went ahead again when Sarah Robbins, after going 2-0 up against Rachael Oldfield, went on to win 3-2 in a game that could easily have gone either way. Taking the score along to 3-1 was Natalie Harris (16.13), a match award winning 3-1 success after her opponent Nikki Chatfield had won the first leg.
With a 3-1 advantage and two to play the hosts appeared to be in a strong position, however, Barbara Carey came back from 1-0 down to Jayne Stubbs to win 3-1 and in the final game Sharon Kingston beat Jacqui Simmons by the same margin to make it honours shared in a final 3-3 scoreline.
The men’s ‘A’ record was a creditable two wins and one defeat and so confidence was definitely on the good to high side and a further boost was when Mark Lloyd kicked the game off with what turned out to be a match award performance against Andy Pearce. Mark won the first leg in 20 darts, then he recorded a super 14 darts leg and won the game 3-0 with a further 16 darts leg to average 30.06, leaving his counterpart without a throw at a finishing double.
Staffordshire then began to turn the screw. Paul Wright twice came from behind to beat Mathew Tedstone 3-2, Kevin Jenkins won 3-1 against Ian Hartland, Trevor Carter won 3-2 in his tie with Chris Hickman after Hickman had drawn level from 2-0 down and taking the score along to 4-1 to the away team was Danny Stevenson who beat Matthew Dicken 3-1. To round off the first half of the men’s game Chris Plumpton reduced the arrears to 4-2 by winning 3-1 against Richard Platt after Platt had gone 1-0 up.
It was now going to be tough road ahead and unfortunately the going got even tougher. Danny Coyle (29.47) extended Staffordshire’s lead to 5-2 with a neat match award 3-0 win over Eddie Price, Tim Whiston beat Peter Edmunds by the same margin and putting the result beyond West Midlands reach was Karl Marvin who had a 3-2 win over Andy Forrester.
7-2 down and three to play, Paul Price (West Midlands) eased the pain with his 3-1 win over Jake Jones and making the scoreline even more respectable was Ian Stanton who had a fine straight 3-0 win against Jamie Whitmore. The final score was taken to 8-4 for Staffordshire when Darren Whittingham beat Stuart Kendrick 3-1 in the last game of the day.
The ladies ‘A’ were protecting an undefeated record of one win and two draws, Diane Tolley started the ball rolling with her 3-1 win over Sarah Cope, unfortunately the cheers were short lived as two 3-1 wins from Yvonne Whitley and Michelle Colclough at the expense of Claire Hobbs and Kin Fellows reversed the advantage giving Staffordshire a 2-1 lead.
Winner of two previous match awards Leanne Jennings levelled the scoreline when she added her straight 3-0 win over Becky Frost to the West Midlands tally, only to see the away team forge ahead again with a 3-0 win from Sue Sherratt in her encounter with Kath Jenkins to leave the result hinging on the final tussle between Lisa Astbury (West Midlands) and Andrea Colclough.
The first leg of the fifth game could have gone to either player, but it was Lisa Astbury’s double three that clinched it. Lisa then went on to win the tie 3-0 with Andrea unable to reach a checkout in either of the last two legs. Lisa’s 19.52 average earned her the match award and her win gave the team a share of the spoils.
Trailing 14-10 West Midlands men’s ‘A’ side now required a massive 9-3 victory to claim an overall win. They did not get the best of starts, Steve Mason, Alan Derrett and Geoff Whitworth recorde wins in turn against Peter Wyse, Martin Angell and Nicky Bache to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.
Game four saw the West Midlands revival, Richard Foster beginning the fight back. Foster’s 3-0 win over Peter Giorgino was followed by a 3-1 success from Jamie Hughes against Alex Ford and a further 3-2 win by Avtar Singh over Nigel Birch saw the score level at three each at the midway point.
Mark Jones put West Midlands noses in front for the first time in the match when he defeated Jason Gilbert 3-0 and took the score to 4-3. With four consecutive winners West Midlands were now on a roll and it continued when further wins were added by Tom Aldridge, 3-0 against Martin Wheawall, Mark Rollinson’s 3-2 win against Neil Pointon, a 3-1 succes by Ian Jones over Mark Bloor and a 3-2 win over Andy Beardmore by Steve Farmer to take the running tally to 8-3 in favour of the hosts after trailing 3-0. Farmer’s win saw him average a tremendous 32.34 per dart to win him the match award.
Everything now rested on the final game between Lol Frazer and Mark Frost. West Midlands were still in with a chance of an overall victory, the best Staffordshire could hope for was a draw. Against the darts Frost won the first leg in 15 darts. Frazer, again against the throw, took the second in 20 darts. The pattern continued Frost won the third in 16 and Frazer the fourth in 26 with the last leg of the fixture left to decide the weekend’s result. Frost left himself on double twenty, Frazer stepped up the oche to throw for double ten, he missed, Frost didn’t, he won the leg in 21 darts and the game 3-2 to give an 8-4 result for the West Midlands with an overall 18-18 result for the weekend.
Warwickshire county player Trevor Frost has come up with a brand new playing format for the Brook Meadow Individual League. Trevor and Ian McFarlane run the league and Trevor’s idea is that each week a knockout is staged to determine who plays in group’s ’A’ or ’B’. Then further knockouts are played for each group and points are awarded accordingly for how far each player progresses.
Trevor is so sure that the new concept will be a huge success that he and Warwickshire official Brian Johnson have started a new league with the same formula, namely the Coffin Club Individual Knockout League. After the first two week’s Frost is in pole position with a maximum 20 points from his games, winning both of the ’A’ finals. In second place with 14 points is Neil Parsonage who has finished as runner up and losing semi finalist in his ’A’ games and winners of the ’B’ knockouts so far are Paul Larden and Robbie Earl.
Round one of the Punch Bowl was on the fixture card for the Sheldon and District Winter League. Biggest winners from the round were Shard End Social and Shirley RBL who in turn recorded 8-1 wins against Bordesley Labour Club and Millhouse. Other teams to join them in the hat for round two are, Saltley Amateur Gardeners, Brook Meadow, Glebe Community Association, Shard End RBL Vikings, Sheldon Social, Old Bill and Bull, Sheldon Dukes, Kingshurst Labour Club, Mackadown Social, Shard End RBL, Golden Acres and Willclare Sports and Social who had a walkover against Saxon.
The Singles Knockout has been on the agenda for the Small Heath League. Winner of the event was Peter Yardley from the Emerald Club, Peter defeated Beau Brummie’s Terry Constable in the final.
Losing semi finalists were, Neil Parsonage (Emerald Club) and Mick O’Sullivan (Victoria 301 Club).
The first round of the Four Oaks and District League’s Brian Goodman Cup saw Old Oscott WMC pull off an outstanding and very surprising 5-4 win against division one leaders Sutton Sports. The were 180’s for Sportsmans Rest player A.Stainfield and Deer’s Leap man P.Donovan, with Sportsmans Rest getting the 6-3 verdict.
Biggest winners of the round were Boldmere Sports who beat Pint Pot 8-1. Other winners were, Hill Social, Bromford Lions, Oscott Social, Red Lion Flights and Old Oscott Arrows.
Pheasant, reigning champions of the Harborne and District Winter League are leading the way once again with three wins in the opening three games. They are top of the table, with no fewer than six team’s just two points behind them. Midland Red are the only other unbeaten team in the league, but they have only played two fixtures, a win in their game in hand would see them take over pole position.
The Pip Club League have played their Open Cup Knockout down to the last four. In the quarter finals the winners were Three Horse Shoes, Dolphin, Glascote Club and Belgrave Club, who in turn defeated Queens Head, Two Gates Club, Globe Inn and Bull (Polesworth), while the GULP League have engaged in their Mixed Doubles and Ladies Singles competitions. Winners of the mixed doubles were Jackie Francis and Terry Constable who defeated Eddie Kennedy and Katie O’Sullivan in the final.
In the ladies knockout Jackie Francis narrowly missed out on making it a fantastic double when she lost in the final to Jean Forde.
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