Alan Towe's The Line - A Look Back to 1st May 2016
To complete two thirds of their season in division two of the BDO Inter County Championships West Midlands had an away fixture against Suffolk and were keen to keep their promotion hopes on track with yet another win which would be their fifth in six games, their only defeat coming in their away fixture with Berkshire.
Strangely for the ladies ‘B’ game all of the results went against the first throw advantage so with Suffolk winning the opener through Laura Cooper’s 3-1 win over Kim Fellows, West Midlands were always chasing the game, but chase it they did.
A lady of the match performance from Shellbie Simmons levelled the scoreline, Shellbie beating Leesa Woolard 3-1 after Woolard had won the first leg.
Mandy Reeves was the second player to give Suffolk the lead as she won 3-2 against Claire Hobbs before Samantha Maiden squared the match for a second time when she beat Teresa Dale 3-0.
For a third time the hosts went ahead this time thanks to a 3-1 win over Jacqueline Maiden by Barbara Chenery but the final score was taken to three each when Heather Wright won 3-1 against Rebecca Edmeades.
The 3-3 draw keeps intact the ‘B’ team unbeaten record so far this season as they have won three and drawn three.
Neil Pointon (West Midlands) went 1-0 up but then lost the first game of the men’s ‘B’ to Ian Randles 3-1 before the away team won three in a row kicked off by John Morris who was pushed all the way by Stuart Greenhalgh as he won the first Greenhalgh the next two and Morris the last two for a 3-2 win. Robert Smith gave the West Midlands the lead in game three when he made short work of his opponent Keith Wright with a straight 3-0 success and Richard Platt completed the trio of wins when he accounted for Martin Totman with a 3-2 result.
Phil Reeve took the score to 3-2 with his 3-0 win over Mark Rollinson but the two games lead was quickly restored for the visitors as Scott Baker in 18,16 and 19 darts beat Jamie Collins 3-0, Baker’s 28.36 average earning him the match award.
John Attwater kept the home team in the game putting the running score at 4-3 when he beat Mick Hoult 3-0, however West Midlands moved another step nearer their goal when Danny Coyle won 3-1 against Duane Nessling.
At number nine Jason Stalker chalked up Suffolk’s fourth win when he beat Paul Price 3-1 but with a 3-1 win from John Mycock over Shane Lee-Amies and a 3-0 success for Jonathan Platt over Kim Buckingham West Midlands had won the tie with one to play as they were then 7-4 up.
The unusual feature of games going against first throw advantage was again prominent in the men’s ‘B’ encounter and in the final game of the day, as it had been in nine of the eleven previous games it happened again as Jonathan King (Suffolk) went down 3-0 to Daniel Nicholls to give West Midlands an 8-4 victory making it four wins and two draws to date.
Lisa Astbury was first on for the ladies ‘A’ side and although she was pegged back twice to level terms by Nicky Doidge she went on to win the tie 3-2. Rossy Scriven levelled for Suffolk with a 3-0 win over Sophie Singh which included a 131 game shot in the second leg.
Sarah Roberts with a 3-1 win over Chrissy Stubbings and a super 21.13 average won her fourth lady of the match award of the season and put West Midlands ahead again, then taking the score along to 3-1 was Kath Jenkins when she accounted for Sarah Ceska with her 3-1 win and although Jo Locke pulled on back for the home team with her 3-1 win over Debbie Loon, West Midlands ladies ‘A’ had a 4-2 result with a final 3-1 win from Gemma Barrett over Jean Prewitt to give West Midlands ladies ‘A’ two wins and four draws in their games so far this season.
The men’s ‘A’ who were unbeaten after the first three games of the season had lost their last two and were hoping to return to winning ways, opener Mark Craddock did his part to do that as he won 4-3 against Wayne Hammond who had come from 3-0 down to 3-3 before losing the decider.
Winner of so many West Midlands awards Ian Jones was on at number two and after going one down to Stephen Burton forged a 3-1 lead, he was then taken to a seventh and deciding leg before cinching a 4-3 win with a fantastic eleven darts leg hitting 140,140,140 and checking out on 81 in two darts to give him yet another man of the match award with a 29.02 average.
It was the third game before Suffolk registered their first win, Daren Wood beating Ash Khayat 4-0 only to see Michael Baker restore the two games lead when he beat Robert Morling 4-2.
Keith Allman (West Midlands) took a two legs lead over Andrew Meikle but it was the home player that won the following four for a 4-2 win, and levelling the game at the halfway mark was Nick Bloom who won 4-0 against Avtar Singh with outshots of 146 and 101 in the second and fourth legs.
Gareth Watts went 2-0 down and 3-2 up before losing 4-3 to Tony Lincoln who put the hosts into a 4-3 lead, the first time in the game that they had been in front, however their lead was short lived as Shaun Carroll took just four legs to defeat Lee Newson, Lewis Venes beat Arron Fairweather 4-2 and Gavin Baker’s 4-3 win against Jason Elvin put West Midlands 6-4 up.
Andrew Noy gave Suffolk a lifeline when he won the penultimate game against Sam Guest 4-0 and Noy’s team mate David Ballard-Flatt then lookeds as though he would get them a draw when he went 2-0 and then 3-2 up against Christopher Mason in the final game but it was Mason who won the last two legs for his 4-3 win and the teams 7-5 victory.
The 22-14 overall win for the West Midlands consolidated their second spot in the table putting them eight points ahead of third placed Berkshire and just six behind leaders London.
Full Results:Suffolk v West Midlands (14-22):(Suffolk names first): Men’s ‘A’:- Wayne Hammond 3 Mark Craddock 4, Stephen Burton 3 Ian Jones 4, Daren Wood 4 Ashe Khayat 0, Robert Morling 2 Michael Baker 4, Andrew Meikle 4 Keith Allman 2, Nick Bloom 4 Avtar Singh 0, Tony Lincoln 4 Gareth Watts 3, Lee Newson 0 Shaun Carroll 4, Arron Fairweather 2 Lewis Venes 4, Jason Elvin 3 Gavin Baker 4, Andrew Noy 4 Sam Guest 0, David Ballars-Flatt 3 Christopher Mason 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Ian Randles 3 Neil Pointon 1, Stuart Greenhalgh 2 John Morris 3, Keith Wright 0 Robert Smith 3, Martin Totman 2 Richard Platt 3, Phil Reeve 3 Mark Rollinson 0, Jamie Collins 0 Scott Baker 3, John Attwater 3 Mick Hoult 0, Duane Nessling 1 Danny Coyle 3, Jason Stalker 3 Paul Price 1, Shane Lee-Amies 1 John Mycock 3, Kim Buckingham 0 Jonathan Platt 3, Jonathon King 0 Daniel Nicholls 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Nicky Doidge 2 Lisa Astbury 3, Rossy Scriven 3 Sophie Singh 0, Chrissy Stubbings 1 Sarah Roberts 3, Sarah Ceska 1 Kath Jenkins 3, Jo Locke 3 Debbie Loon 1, Jean Prewitt 1 Gemma Barrett 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Laura Cooper 3 Kim Fellows 1, Leesa Woollard 1 Shellbie Simmons 3, Mandy Reeves 3 Claire Hobbs 2, Teresa Dale 0 Samantha Maiden 3, Barbara Chenery 3 Jacqueline Maiden 1, Rebecca Edmeades 1 Heather Wright 3.
West Midlands v Northamptonshire
West Midlands had a dreadful start to the home game against Northamptonshire as the ladies ‘B’ slumped to a 6-0 defeat, losing the first three games without winning a single, this being their first defeat after they had gone six games without a loss.
Putting the visitors 3-0 up were Mary Garling, Amy Chappell and Sandra Simmonds who in turn defeated Jacqueline Maiden, Shellbie Simmons and Samantha Maiden. Claire Hobbs (West Midlands) fought back to 2-2 after trailing 2-0 to Faye Mason but then lost the final leg and went down 3-2. Heather Wright had a similar game against Sharon Tompkins, also ending up on the wrong side of a 3-2 result and to end the rout Karen Sheridan won 3-0 against Kirsty Shaughnessy.
The men’s ‘B’ were also unbeaten in their six previous games and they got off to a good start when Robert Smith laid on a man of the match show against Curly Connelly, Smith wining 3-0 in 15,18 and 15 darts with outshots of 120 in the first leg and 102 in the third, his average, a tremendous 31.31.
John Mycock doubled the lead with another straight 3-0 win in his game against Lol Chadfield. Neil Pointon went 1-0 up then 2-1 down before securing a 3-2 win over Nigel Crane and taking the lead to 4-0 was Daniel Nicholls with his 3-0 success against Lee Rose.
Game five saw Northamptonshire record their first win in the shape of Jason Lovell but from 2-0 up he was pegged back to level terms by Danny Coyle before he achieved his 3-2 win.
A fourth straight 3-0 win was added to the West Midlands tally when Douglas Thompson beat Eddy Smith and despite Chuck Scott (Northamptonshire) beating Gareth Watts 3-2 a similar win for Paul Wells over Ian Bisland assured West Midlands of at the worst a share of the points as they were then 6-2 up.
Ian Evans delayed the West Midlands win when he won 3-2 against Richard Platt, Platt having squared the game at 2-2 after going 2-0 down but the all important seventh win came in the tenth game when Paul Price, with a 3-0 scoreline defeated Tom Horley.
John Morris began his tie against Luke Smith with a 117 checkout and then went on to win 3-1 before the visitors won the final game of the day a 3-0 success for Andy Tee against Scott Baker to put the result at 8-4 to West Midlands.
Like the men’s ‘B’ the ladies ‘A’ were also unbeaten in their six games so far and it was not too long before they were making that seven. Sarah Roberts is enjoying a very successful season taking her match awards to five as she opened up with a terrific 3-0 win over Gail Fullthorpe in 19,20 and 17 darts for a tremendous 26.84 average.
Debbie Loon took the score along to 2-0 with her 3-1 win over Sara Rose, then a 3-0 win from Lisa Astbury against Chrissie Moore followed by a 3-1 success over Angela Barrow by Gemma Barrett and the match was won as early as the fourth game.
Sophie Singh made it 5-0 when she accounted for Rebecca Barrow with a 3-2 scoreline after she had gone 2-0 up and was pulled back to 2-2. The final game went to the away side as Rebecca Rose beat Kath Jenkins 3-0 to give a 5-1 result to the West Midlands.
Things didn’t begin too well for the men’s ‘A’ team as Shaun Carroll and Michael Baker in turn both lost 4-1 to Liam Fox and James Thompson. A straight 4-0 win over Stuart Gilmour by Nick Fullwell reduced the arrears but by the same margin Northamptonshire’s Chris Doughty beat Danny Coyle to restore the visitors two games advantage.
From 3-1 down the score was taken along to 3-3 by the break as Keith Allman won 4-0 against Ben Goodger and Matthew Dicken beat Martin Biggs 4-3.
The first half of the second session was all West Midlands, Sam Guest put the home team in the lead for the first time in game seven when he won 4-2 against Andy Tee and a 4-3 win by Mark Craddock over Chris Shipley took the score to 5-3 in favour of the hosts.
Game number eight saw Ian Jones make it two consecutive match awards when he beat his namesake Chris Jones 4-2. Northamptonshire’s Jones won the first leg in 16 darts which was cancelled out by the West Midlands Jones in 18 darts. Chris Jones then took the lead for a second time, again in 16 darts but Ian Jones amazingly won the next three legs all in 15 darts and all with an 81 game shot for a 4-2 win and a 29.85 average.
At 6-3 to the West Midlands and three to play the odds were in their favour for fourth win of the campaign, unfortunately it was not to be as Tony Littleton and Simon Almey both won 4-1 against respective opponents John Morris and Avtar Singh to take the score to 6-5 and with a final 4-2 win from Dave Walker against Lewis Venes the result was a 6-6 draw.
Although the men’s ‘A’ narrowly missed out on a win the draw was enough to see the overall 19-17 result go in the home teams favour and maintain their number two spot in the promotion table leaving them just one point behind leaders London and four ahead of third placed Berkshire with just two more to play.
Full Results:West Midlands v Northamptonshire (19-17):(West Midlands names first): Men’s ‘A’:- Shaun Carroll 1 Liam Fox 4, Michael Baker 1 James Thompson 4, Nick Fullwell 4 Stuart Gilmour 0, Danny Coyle 0 Chris Doughty 4, Keith Allman 4 Ben Goodger 0, Matthew Dicken 4 Martin Biggs 3, Sam Guest 4 Andy Tee 2, Mark Craddock 4 Chris Shipley 3, Ian Jones 4 Chris Jones 2, John Morris 1 Tony Littleton 4, Avtar Singh 1 Simon Almey 4, Lewis Venes 2 Dave Walker 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Robert Smith 3 Curly Connelly 0, John Mycock 3 Lol Chadfield 0, Neil Pointon 3 Nigel Crane 2, Daniel Nicholls 3 Lee Rose 0, Danny Coyle 2 Jason Lovell 3, Douglas Thompson 3 Eddy Smith 0, Gareth Watts 2 Chuck Scott 3, Paul Wells 3 Ian Bisland 2, Richard Platt 2 Ian Evans 3, Paul Price 3 Tom Morley 0, John Morris 3 Luke Smith 1, Scott Baker 0 Andy Tee 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Sarah Roberts 3 Gail Fullthorpe 0, Debbie Loon 3 Sara Rose 1, Lisa Astbury 3 Chrissie Moore 0, Gemma Barrett 3 Angela Barrow 1, Sophie Singh 3 Rebecca Barrow 2, Kath Jenkins 0 Rebecca Rose 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Jacqueline Maiden 0 Mary Garling 3, Shellbie Simmons 0 Amy Chappell 3, Samantha Maiden 0 Sandra Simmonds 3, Claire Hobbs 2 Faye Mason 3, Heather Wright 2 Sharon Tompkins 3, Kirsty Shaughnessy 0 Karen Sheridan 3.
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What a fantastic turnout for the Riley’s Solihull UK Open Qualifier with top class players from far and wide chasing a place in the PDC UK Open Finals in Minehead.
The eventual winner of the event was Jason Heaver from Newbury, Berkshire who in the early rounds had convincing results beating Ross Macken 4-0 and Stuart White 4-1 before meeting Nichol Lewis in the quarter finals where he had a narrow 4-3 success. He then booked his final spot with another quality 4-1 win over Kevin Taylor.
From the other half of the draw West Midlands county player Mark Craddock won his way through to the final with a 4-3 win over John Buckingham followed by 4-1 wins over Graham Hall and Mark Carter. He then reached the final with a close 4-3 win over Warwickshire’s Rob Hawker.
The final saw Heaver turn the screw and run out the 5-2 winner.
The Riley’s Club also staged their popular Last Sunday in the Month Knockout in which West Midlands county star Nick Fullwell clinched the top prize with a final 6-1 win over a somewhat surprising opponent in the form of twelve years Matthew Cain who actually won the first leg against Fullwell.
Fullwell had beaten Dan White 5-3 in the semis while Cain had an amazing 5-1 result against another top class player Matt Padgett, Matthew Cain certainly a name to look out for in the future.
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The South Birmingham League played off their doubles knockout, from a starting line up of 33 pairs Ash Kavanagh and Dean Young just got the 2-1 edge on Paul Bryant and Chris Cooke in the final.
Both of the semi finals went to the wire with 2-1 results, Kavanagh and Young beating Neil Parsonage and Anthony Savage while Bryant and Cooke took out Robbie Earl and Jason Evans.
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The finals of the Forest of Arden Winter League doubles and Secretary’s Shield saw Luis Barberan and Charlie Kingdon win the former with a decisive 2-0 result against Julian Harris and Rhonda Edwards, while the Secretary’s Shield title went to Dave Duncan with a 2-0 verdict over Rob Jelly.
Riley’s, Wolverhampton staged the second of their Riley’s UK Open Amateur Qualifiers and the two winners going through from a very strong starting line up were Andy Brown (Aylesbury) and Glen McGrandle (Featherstone).
In the last four games Brown had a 5-3 result against Anthony Hayman while McGrandle had a more convincing 5-0 win over Tim Baker.
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With all the domestic issues sorted the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League played off their various cup games and taking the doubles title were the ECC pairing of John Mycock and Simon Meredith who beat Mark Footman and Derek Marston from Corpus in the final.
ECC not only provided the winners but also both of the losing semi finalist pairings of Simon Potts and Karl Hughes plus Sam Guest and Ash Khayat.
The 3-A-Side Knockout was won by the Wednesfield FC trio of Martin Angell, John Morris and Rob Thompson who beat their final opponents Whitmore Reans WMC side of Paul Walters, Paul Boddison and Les Marson 3-1.
The league’s 21 and Under Knockout title went to Reece Cook (Riley’s ‘A’) who had a 3-0 result in the final against Tom Fletcher (Roebuck).
The division one divisional average knockout final turned out to be an all Wednesfield FC affair with Wayne Jones beating team mate Stuart Pinches 3-0, while the division two event which also finished with a 3-0 scoreline was won by Les Marson (Whitmore Reans WMC) who accounted for John Evans from Woodfield Social in the final.
Winners of the Captain’s and Secretaries competition were Kev Jones and John McHale (Ukrainian Club) who beat Terry Jones and Mark Jones (Bradmore ‘B’) in the final. Losing semi finalists were J.J.Rowley and John Cunningham (Wednesfield Conservative Club) and Pete Summers and Jon Summers (Bull).
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Congratulations to Daz Brown who wrapped up the premier division title in the Ripley Elite Darts Singles League in style with two 3-2 wins over Andy Gillott and his nearest rival Paul Baker on the last night of the season. With two 90 plus averages, an eleven darts leg and three maximums he won the title by thirteen clear points.
Despite the defeat Paul Baker finished as runner up he was five points to the good on third placed Chris Hill who had the nights third and fourth highest averages in his two to secure his third position.
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