Alan Towe's The Line Archive
West Midlands BDO Inter County season in division two began with a journey to the West Country to take on Cornwall. It must be said that the Midlanders have had better starts to the season but nevertheless there were still positive signs for the future and with another eight fixtures to play a lot can and usually does happen.
Considering the women’s ‘B’ team was under strength they put up a brave performance. June Clarke opened up with a win in the first leg against Sally Van Evelingen. Sally won the following two legs and despite levelling at two each June lost out in the decider.
Jean Denton and Rose Sanders each won a leg against respective opponents Claire Combe and Sandra Yendle. However, it was not enough to avoid 3-1 defeats and give the hosts a 3-0 advantage. Victory for the home side was not long awaited as in the very next encounter Carol Chapman put the score beyond the Midlander’s reach when she beat Penny Hooley in three straight legs. The final two games also finished in similar fashion, Teresa Casper and Teresa Osborn defeating Val Arnold and Claire Downing to give Cornwall a convincing 6-0 victory.
Joe Biggs (West Midlands) twice went ahead against John Goves but had to concede when John took the last two legs in 15 and 18 darts for a 3-2 win. The second game between Wayne Lawrence (Cornwall) and Steve Brindley was again a five legs affair which could have swung either way. On this occasion Lawrence went in front twice with Brindley coming back each time to square the game. In the final leg the home player had a throw for a finishing double to win, he missed and in stepped Brindley with a double top finish to seal a 3-2 success.
In the third tie West Midlands got their noses in front for the first time. Jonathon Platt despite dropping the second leg to Brian Furse went on to win 3-1 opening up a 2-1overall lead. It was short lived as in the very next game Ernie Scorer won by the odd leg in his encounter with Vic Lloyd and then with a 3-1 success from Robert Timmins over Alan Bradburn the West Country side went 3-2 up. Bradburn’s winning third leg came as a result of his superb 158 checkout.
To round off the first half Mark Simmons (Cornwall) faced up to Ron Johnson. Johnson struggled on his finishing doubles and allowed his opponent to step in and steal the first leg. Both players had throws at doubles to win the second but it was Johnson who levelled the game on double five. With top scores of 140 and 100 Johnson then went ahead with a double four game shot and completed his 3-1 win in seventeen darts with a 25 finish, after scores of 135 and 180. Simmons in the meantime with scores of 95-81-100-81 and 132 had left double six after only 15 darts.
With the score at three each both teams had everything to play for. West Midlands were first off the mark in the shape of Adrian Arnold. Arnold (27.34) put on a man of the match performance in a five legs affair with Ronnie Cook. Taking a 2-0 lead in 19 and 15 darts Arnold was then pegged back to level terms as Cook checked out in 16 and 26 darts. Both players produced big scores in the last leg with the home man down to 41 after 15 darts, he was nevertheless denied a throw as Arnold clinched the game with a 75 game shot.
Alan Bradburn with a 3-0 win over Martin Fuglar helped the Midlander’s cause taking them into a 5-3 lead. Looking to reduce the arrears was Nicky Collins who appeared to be well on his way to victory when he won the opening two legs against William Hadley. Hadley, however had other ideas. He won the third leg with his counterpart back on 136 and then in a battle of doubles it was Hadley who kept his nerve to win 3-2. Martin Tibbetts was another player to come from behind. After losing the opening leg to Dave Wyatt, Tibbetts won the next three to confirm a West Midlands win. The penultimate encounter was yet again a five legs game, the sixth of the match. Steve Penwright (West Midlands) went two up, his opponent, Steve ‘Tug’ Wilson won the next two to force a fifth and final leg. It was nip and tuck all the way, with the first throw advantage giving Penwright the vital lead and chance at an outshot. That was all he needed. Throwing for 56 he wrapped up the issue in three darts for a fine win.
Last on for Cornwall was Roger Wright whose 3-0 success over Frank Johnson put the final score at 8-4 in favour of the West Midlands.
Sunday’s women’s match began similar to the previous day. Sue Collins gave the home team first blood as she beat Gill Cook 3-0. Sue was followed by team-mates Nicky Furse and Jane Cummings who in turn took on Frances Allen and Angie Perry. Both Midland ladies won the first leg and then lost the following two. They then won the fourth leg and lost the fifth to give the hosts a 3-0 lead.
With two 140’s in the opening leg, Diane Tolley gave her opponent Joyce Pugh, no chance and went 1-0 up. The second leg went to Joyce with a double sixteen finish. Diane was quick to respond hitting 90-85-100-100 and 53 to leave 73. Just three more darts were all she needed to clinch the leg in 18 darts. She struggled with her finishing in the fourth leg but nevertheless she eventually won it and the game on double four. Unfortunately this was to be the only resistance to the Cornwall charge as Sylvia Griffin beat June Clarke 3-0 and Annie Lane won 301 against Dawn Holdcroft to give home team a 5-1 verdict, another convincing win.
To avoid a overall defeat the West Midlands men’s ‘A’ now required a minimum 10-2 victory. The chances of that were reduced when in the first game Avtar Singh lost 3-1 to Kevin Pascoe. Ian Jones began his season with a man of the match show in his game with Colin Pass. Pass won the opener in 18 darts, Jones the second with a 74 finish. He then hit three tons in the third and produced a 106 game shot to record a 15 darts leg. He required just one more dart in the fourth to win the game 3-1and record a 27.57 average.
Cornwall moved into a 3-1 lead with further wins from Brian Jones and Andy Dunston who accounted for Gary Taylor and Colin Davies with 3-2 wins. Mick James reduced the arrears when he fought back from 1-0 down against Ernie Scorer to win 3-2. The home team finished the first half as they began it, Nigel Doney beating Adrian Hammersley 3-1 to give them a 4-2 advantage.
The second half got off to a better start as David Platt won 3-2 against Nigel Trace and he was quickly followed by Paul Johnson who had a straight legs 3-0 success over Terry Webber, putting the running total all square at four each. The run was halted when Ian Pugh recorded a 3-1 win over Tony Walker, only to see Tom Aldridge keep the visitors in the hunt with his 3-1verdict over Ian Knowles.
With only two more games remaining both teams were still in a position to win. Colin Sibley wiped out West Midland’s hopes when he took out David Robbins 3-1 to leave the result hinging on the final game of the day. Representing Cornwall in that final game was Steve Pascoe, for the West Midlands, making a more than welcome return to county darts the former Scottish international Steve Parkes. Despite a four years break from the top flight Parkes settled in almost immediately, winning the first two legs in 18 darts. He then won the third in 21 to secure a 3-0 win plus earn his team a share of the spoils. Steve’s average a very creditable 26.37.
So overall a 24-15 defeat but with a little more luck with finishing doubles the result could have been different.