Alan Towe’s The Line On Darts – Derbyshire
Derbyshire v Kent
In a bid to lift themselves away from the bottom of the table Derbyshire’s home fixture against Kent in division one of the BDO Inter County Championships was one they really needed to win, alas it didn’t turn out as they would have wished.
The ladies ‘B’ played their part as they gave the county a huge lift recording their first win of the campaign and romping to a fabulous 5-1 victory.
Jackie Sweet got the ball rolling with her 3-1 win over Janice Corn after Corn had won the first leg, however the home player fought back to clinch not only a 3-1 win but also the lady of the match award with her 17.93 average.
Louise Rawson-Lee doubled the lead with a super 3-0 win over Lisa Behan and with a further 3-1 win from Sara Jukes against Sharon Charles Derbyshire were already, after only three games, assured of at the worst a share of the spoils. Nevertheless sharing was not going to be the name of the game as Alison Shilton made it a winning 4-0 with her 3-1 success against June Stacey and Dee Fenn followed that with a straight 3-0 win over Emma Martin to take the lead to 5-0.
It was as late as the final game before Kent got their one and only winner, Melissa Stacey beating Rachel Ayres 3-0 to give a final score of 5-1 to the home team.
Sadly it was not all good news in Saturday’s games even though the men’s ‘B’ opener Ashley Spencer began with promise as he won the first leg with a 116 checkout and then went 2-0 up against Ian Cunliffe. The Kent man then won the following three legs to win 3-2. Wayne Howe (Derbyshire) twice took the lead against Peter Davies but like Spencer finished up a 3-1 loser.
Kent then took the next three games without dropping a single leg, Justin Dawson, Lee Vane and Scott Lackford each winning 3-0 in turn against Ian Allcock, Adrian Asprey and John Clifford to put the visitors 5-0 up.
It was game number six before the home team chalked up their first winner and he came in the form of Peter Slater who won 3-1 against David Heath, Heath winning the second leg. The cheers were short lived by the home supporters as the second half of the match began with two further wins for Kent, Ken McCarthy coming from 1-0 and 2-1 down to beat Robert Stansbury 3-2 and Dave Salter winning 3-0 against Scott Parkin to take their team into a winning 7-1 position.
The score moved along to 8-1 with Craig Watkins 3-2 win over Ian Scobbie after Scobbie had twice drawn level. Tony Cresswell reduced the arrears slightly when he beat Chris Carroll 3-2, Cresswell going 2-0 up then being pegged back to 2-2 before sealing his win in the deciding leg.
Paul Williams lost his game 3-2 before Paul Baker came up with a man of the match performance in the final game beating Paul Wratten 3-1 and in the process winning the match award with a superb 28.11 average. The final score 9-3 to Kent.
Sunday saw both teams with everything to play for as the away side were holding a slender 10-8 lead. Sue Bird gave Kent an opening win when she accounted for Sara-Jane Harrison with a 3-0 result. Another Bird and this time it was Derbyshire’s Rachel Bird wiped out Kent’s lead when she beat Jackie Holman 3-0 and giving the hosts a 2-1 advantage was Jane Densley whose 3-1 win over Andrea Walker coupled with a tremendous 23.76 average earned Jane her third match award of the season.
At 2-1 up the match then went all pear shaped as Steff Duchesne beat Samantha Clarke 3-1 after Clarke had won the first leg, Stacey Dawkins won 3-0 against Jennifer McCormick and taking the result to 4-2 in Kent’s favour was Emma Little with her 3-2 win against Kelly Dean who had twice taken the lead.
The men’s ‘A’ team could not have wished for a better start as Lee Stanley won his tie with Martin Goodin in four straight legs. Paul Bettney took the lead to 2-0 when he beat Jordan Dadd 4-3 after Dadd had gone 2-1 up.
The third game could easily have gone either way as Vince Walsh (Kent) won the first leg Sean Lambert the second. Walsh then went 2-1 up before Lambert won the following two legs to put him 3-2 up. The last two legs both went to Walsh to give him a close 4-3 win and at the same time put Kent’s first stripe on the board.
A 4-1 win by Nigel Fisher over Alan Statham levelled the game at 2-2 but Derbyshire went ahead again in the fifth when man of the match Richard Hanson handed out a 4-1 defeat to Carl Wilson, Hanson recording a fantastic 154 game shot in the third and clocking up a 29.03 average.
At the halfway stage Derbyshire had opened up a 4-2 lead Robert Smith completing the half with a 4-1 win over Tyler Reynolds.
It turned out to be a tale of two completely different halves and sadly as it has been for most of the season a story of missed doubles that has proved to be so costly this season for all four of Derbyshire’s teams, something that was never a problem last season.
Peter Mitchell (Kent) began the second half rout when he won 4-2 against Paul Mellor, Steve Stacey followed that with a similar 4-2 win over Gary Fenn to level the match at 4-4.
For the first time in the game Kent took the lead in the ninth when Paul Dawkins beat Darren Sinfield 4-1 and although Andrew McCracken put up a spirited performance against Clive Barden to cancel out his lead on three occasions, he finally went down 4-3 putting Kent into an unassailable 6-4 lead.
The visitors win came in the penultimate encounter of the weekend Pip Blackwell adding his 4-1 win over Tim Daniels to the tally before Nigel Payne made it 8-4 when he won the last game against Steven Soar 4-2.
Full Results:Derbyshire v Kent (14-22):(Derbyshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Lee Stanley4 Martin Goodin 0, Paul Bettney 4 Jordan Dadd 3. Sean Lambert 3 Vince Walsh 4, Alan Statham 1 Nigel Fisher 4, Richard Hanson 4 Carl Wilson 1, Robert Smith 4 Tyler Reynolds 1, Paul Mellor 2 Peter Mitchell 4, Gary Fenn 2 Steve Stacey 4, Darren Sinfield 1 Paul Dawkins 4, Andrew McCracken 3 Clive Barden 4, Tim Daniels 1 Pip Blackwell 4, Steven Soar 2 Nigel Payne 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Ashley Spencer 2 Ian Cunliffe 3, Wayne Howe 2 Peter Davies 3, Ian Allcock 0 Justin Dawson 3, Adrian Asprey 0 Lee Vane 3, John Clifford 0 Scott Lackford 3, Peter Slater 3 David Heath 1, Robert Stansbury 2 Ken McCarthy 3, Scott Parkin 0 Dave Salter 3, Ian Scobbie 2 Craig Watkins 3, Tony Cresswell 3 Chris Carroll 2, Paul Williams 2 A.Nother 3, Paul Baker 3 Paul Wratton 1, Women’s ‘A’:- Sara-Jane Harrison 0 Sue Bird 3, Rachel Bird 3 Jackie Holman 0, Jane Densley 3 Andrea Walker 1, Samantha Clarke 1 Steff Duchesne 3, Jennifer McCormick 0 Stacey Dawkins 3, Kelly De4an 2 Emma Little 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Jackie Sweet 3 Janice Corn 1, Louise Rawson-Lee 3 Lisa Behan 0, Sara Jukes 3 Sharon Charles 1, Alison Shilton 3 June Stacey 1, Dee Fenn 3 Emma Martin 0, Rachel Ayres 0 Melissa Stacey 3.
Oxfordshire v Derbyshire
Derbyshire’s season in the BDO Inter County Championships just gets worse, since their promotion last season to division one they have now played seven and lost seven, but having said that if their finishing had been a little sharper they could well have been in a more comfortable mid table position.
Fresh from their first win of the season, a convincing 5-1 home win over Kent the ladies ‘B’ again got off to a fine start as Rachel Ayres put them one up with her 3-1 win over Sue Burns and with similar wins from Louise Rawson-Lee and Sara Jukes over respective opponents Karen Hill and Emma Wells Derbyshire were in a commanding 3-0 lead.
Laura Ross pulled one back for Oxfordshire in the fourth when she beat Nicola Fletcher 3-1 but the game was won in the fifth when Alison Shilton defeated Angie Godfray 3-0 and in the process won the match award with her 18.56 average.
The final game went to the home team’s Gina Freshwater, who with a 3-1 verdict beat Dawn Buckley to put the result at 4-2 in the visitors favour.
With just one draw and six defeats the men’s ‘B’ have not enjoyed the best of seasons and yet they didn’t have too bad a start as Mark Williams put them one up with his 3-2 win over Stuart White. The home team drew level with a 3-2 win by Tom Baughan against Tony Cresswell who at one stage was leading 2-1.
In game three Derbyshire’s Paul Baker was in tremendous form going one up in 19 darts against Aaron Stevens and doubling his lead with a superb eleven darts leg with scores of 81, 140,180 and a 100 checkout. To complete his 3-0 win Baker added a 15 darts leg which gave him a fabulous man of the match winning average of 33.40.
From 2-1 up the away side took the score along to 4-1 up with 3-1 wins from both John Clifford and Loz Barnes who in turn defeated Andy Thomas and Simon Key before the home team put together their best run of the match five wins in a row to turn the game around to 6-4 in their favour.
Joe Palmer began the rout with his 3-0 win over his namesake Richard Palmer, Kevin Wilkins added a 3-1 win over Adrian Asprey and John Russell levelled the game at 4-4 with his 3-2 win over Scott Parkin after Parkin had won the first leg.
Oxfordshire went into the lead for the first time in the game in the ninth when Glenn West beat Craig Freeman 3-0 and taking the home side into an unbeatable 6-4 lead was Mark Burns when he won 3-2 against Peter Slater who had twice come from behind to level the game.
Ashley Spencer kept Derbyshire’s hopes of a draw alive when he won 3-2 against Michael Kearns but the final score was 7-5 to Oxfordshire when their Adam Bowman won the last game of the day against Wayne Howe 3-2, Howe having won the first two legs.
Similar to the ladies ‘B’ game the ‘A’ went 1-0 up and again it was a Rachel that provided Derbyshire with the win this time Rachel Bird who beat Trina Blackman 3-1. Dee Fenn took the score along to 2-0 with her straight 3-0 success against Cath Birch, but from 2-0 up the lead was suddenly reversed as Kim Ledbury beat Kelly Dean 3-0, Carol Smith won 3-1 against Jennifer McCormick and Clare Bywaters added her 3-0 win over Jackie Sweet to the tally to leave the result hinging on the final game.
The home side must have felt confident of a win when their star player Deta Hedman opened up a 2-0 lead over Jane Densley, but never say die Jane who already had three lady of the match awards under her belt this season roared back to level terms with legs of 18 and 19 darts to force a decider.
The deciding leg came to life for both players in their third throw Hedman after hitting 45 and 40 then chalked up scores of 83,99,100 and 102 to leave double sixteen, Densley meanwhile had recorded scores of 26,60,140,140 and 42 to leave 93 which she calmly finished with her eighteenth dart to earn her team a share of the 3-3 result and give her, her fourth match award with a tremendous 24.65 average.
With two wins in their previous six games the men’s ‘A’ were Derbyshire’s most successful team so far this season but after an opening 4-1 win from Lee Stanley against Brendan Kearns it went a little downhill as the home side took the following three games through Sean Holley who beat Keith Cooper 4-0, Neil Russell with a 4-2 success against Ian Scobbie who had taken the lead twice, and taking the score to 3-1 was Peter Hall with his 4-0 beating of Richard Hanson.
Paul Bettney turned on a man of the match show for Derbyshire in the fifth when he won 4-0 against Preben Krabben in 15,17,21 and 16 darts giving him a 29.04 average. However Bettney’s win was only a slight halt to Oxfordshire’s charge as they chalked up another two wins from Lee Russell who won 4-2 against Robert Smith and Kevin Lowe who after taking a 3-0 lead against Gary Fenn was pegged back to 3-3 before winning the seventh leg for a very close 4-3 win to put the home team 5-2 up.
Nigel Daniels was made to fight for his 4-3 win over Keith Bedding as he went 2-0 up, 3-1 up 3-3 and then won the final leg, his 4-3 win keeping Derbyshire in the hunt.
The next three Derbyshire players all opened leads against their opponents before losing 4-2, Steven Soar after losing the first to Ade Larner went 2-1 up, Paul Mellor went 2-0 up against Jon Jukes and Alan Statham had a 2-1 lead over George Grant, Oxfordshire’s three winners putting them into a winning 8-3 lead.
The final score was 8-4 to the hosts although the home player Pete Smith went 2-0 and 3-1 up against Tim Daniels the Derbyshire man fought back in style to win the last three legs and seal a great 4-3 win.
With an overall 20-16 defeat Derbyshire now find themselves getting cut off at the foot of the table with 105 points fourteen away from safety and with only two remaining fixtures survival in division one is not looking good.
Full Results:Oxfordshire v Derbyshire (20-16):(Oxfordshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Brendan Kearns 1 Lee Stanley 4, Sean Holley 4 Keith Cooper 0, Neal Russell 4 Ian Scobbie 2, Peter Hall 4 Richard Hanson 0, Preben Krabben 0 Paul Bettney 4, Lee Russell 4 Robert Smith 2, Kevin Lowe 4 Gary Fenn 3, Keith Bedding 3 Nigel Daniels 4, Ade Larner 4 Steven Soar 2, Jon Jukes 4 Paul Mellor 2, George Grant 4 Alan Statham 2, Pete Smith 3 Tim Daniels 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Stuart White 2 Paul Williams 3, Tom Baughan 3 Tony Cresswell 2, Aaron Stevens 0 Paul Baker 3, Andy Thomas 1 John Clifford 3, Simon Key 1 Loz Barnes 3, Joe Palmer 3 Richard Palmer 0, Kevin Wilkins 3 Adrian Asprey 1, John Russell 3 Scott Parker 2, Glenn West 3 Craig Freeman 0, Mark Burns 3 Peter Slater 2, Michael Kearns 2 Ashley Spencer 3, Adam Bowman 3 Wayne Howe 2, Women’s ‘A’:- Trina Blackman 1 Rachel Bird 3, Cath Birch 0 Dee Fenn 3, Kim Ledbury 3 Kelly Dean 0, Carol Smith 3 Jennifer McCormick 1, Clare Bywaters 3 Jackie Sweet 0, Deta Hedman 2 Jane Densley 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Sue Burns 1 Rachel Ayres 3, Karen Hill 1 Louise Rawson-Lee 3, Emma Wells 1 Sara Jukes 3, Laura Ross 3 Nicola Fletcher 1, Angie Godfray 0 Alison Shilton 3, Gina Freshwater 3 Dawn Buckley 1.
In a bid to lift themselves away from the bottom of the table Derbyshire’s home fixture against Kent in division one of the BDO Inter County Championships was one they really needed to win, alas it didn’t turn out as they would have wished.
The ladies ‘B’ played their part as they gave the county a huge lift recording their first win of the campaign and romping to a fabulous 5-1 victory.
Jackie Sweet got the ball rolling with her 3-1 win over Janice Corn after Corn had won the first leg, however the home player fought back to clinch not only a 3-1 win but also the lady of the match award with her 17.93 average.
Louise Rawson-Lee doubled the lead with a super 3-0 win over Lisa Behan and with a further 3-1 win from Sara Jukes against Sharon Charles Derbyshire were already, after only three games, assured of at the worst a share of the spoils. Nevertheless sharing was not going to be the name of the game as Alison Shilton made it a winning 4-0 with her 3-1 success against June Stacey and Dee Fenn followed that with a straight 3-0 win over Emma Martin to take the lead to 5-0.
It was as late as the final game before Kent got their one and only winner, Melissa Stacey beating Rachel Ayres 3-0 to give a final score of 5-1 to the home team.
Sadly it was not all good news in Saturday’s games even though the men’s ‘B’ opener Ashley Spencer began with promise as he won the first leg with a 116 checkout and then went 2-0 up against Ian Cunliffe. The Kent man then won the following three legs to win 3-2. Wayne Howe (Derbyshire) twice took the lead against Peter Davies but like Spencer finished up a 3-1 loser.
Kent then took the next three games without dropping a single leg, Justin Dawson, Lee Vane and Scott Lackford each winning 3-0 in turn against Ian Allcock, Adrian Asprey and John Clifford to put the visitors 5-0 up.
It was game number six before the home team chalked up their first winner and he came in the form of Peter Slater who won 3-1 against David Heath, Heath winning the second leg. The cheers were short lived by the home supporters as the second half of the match began with two further wins for Kent, Ken McCarthy coming from 1-0 and 2-1 down to beat Robert Stansbury 3-2 and Dave Salter winning 3-0 against Scott Parkin to take their team into a winning 7-1 position.
The score moved along to 8-1 with Craig Watkins 3-2 win over Ian Scobbie after Scobbie had twice drawn level. Tony Cresswell reduced the arrears slightly when he beat Chris Carroll 3-2, Cresswell going 2-0 up then being pegged back to 2-2 before sealing his win in the deciding leg.
Paul Williams lost his game 3-2 before Paul Baker came up with a man of the match performance in the final game beating Paul Wratten 3-1 and in the process winning the match award with a superb 28.11 average. The final score 9-3 to Kent.
Sunday saw both teams with everything to play for as the away side were holding a slender 10-8 lead. Sue Bird gave Kent an opening win when she accounted for Sara-Jane Harrison with a 3-0 result. Another Bird and this time it was Derbyshire’s Rachel Bird wiped out Kent’s lead when she beat Jackie Holman 3-0 and giving the hosts a 2-1 advantage was Jane Densley whose 3-1 win over Andrea Walker coupled with a tremendous 23.76 average earned Jane her third match award of the season.
At 2-1 up the match then went all pear shaped as Steff Duchesne beat Samantha Clarke 3-1 after Clarke had won the first leg, Stacey Dawkins won 3-0 against Jennifer McCormick and taking the result to 4-2 in Kent’s favour was Emma Little with her 3-2 win against Kelly Dean who had twice taken the lead.
The men’s ‘A’ team could not have wished for a better start as Lee Stanley won his tie with Martin Goodin in four straight legs. Paul Bettney took the lead to 2-0 when he beat Jordan Dadd 4-3 after Dadd had gone 2-1 up.
The third game could easily have gone either way as Vince Walsh (Kent) won the first leg Sean Lambert the second. Walsh then went 2-1 up before Lambert won the following two legs to put him 3-2 up. The last two legs both went to Walsh to give him a close 4-3 win and at the same time put Kent’s first stripe on the board.
A 4-1 win by Nigel Fisher over Alan Statham levelled the game at 2-2 but Derbyshire went ahead again in the fifth when man of the match Richard Hanson handed out a 4-1 defeat to Carl Wilson, Hanson recording a fantastic 154 game shot in the third and clocking up a 29.03 average.
At the halfway stage Derbyshire had opened up a 4-2 lead Robert Smith completing the half with a 4-1 win over Tyler Reynolds.
It turned out to be a tale of two completely different halves and sadly as it has been for most of the season a story of missed doubles that has proved to be so costly this season for all four of Derbyshire’s teams, something that was never a problem last season.
Peter Mitchell (Kent) began the second half rout when he won 4-2 against Paul Mellor, Steve Stacey followed that with a similar 4-2 win over Gary Fenn to level the match at 4-4.
For the first time in the game Kent took the lead in the ninth when Paul Dawkins beat Darren Sinfield 4-1 and although Andrew McCracken put up a spirited performance against Clive Barden to cancel out his lead on three occasions, he finally went down 4-3 putting Kent into an unassailable 6-4 lead.
The visitors win came in the penultimate encounter of the weekend Pip Blackwell adding his 4-1 win over Tim Daniels to the tally before Nigel Payne made it 8-4 when he won the last game against Steven Soar 4-2.
Full Results:Derbyshire v Kent (14-22):(Derbyshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Lee Stanley4 Martin Goodin 0, Paul Bettney 4 Jordan Dadd 3. Sean Lambert 3 Vince Walsh 4, Alan Statham 1 Nigel Fisher 4, Richard Hanson 4 Carl Wilson 1, Robert Smith 4 Tyler Reynolds 1, Paul Mellor 2 Peter Mitchell 4, Gary Fenn 2 Steve Stacey 4, Darren Sinfield 1 Paul Dawkins 4, Andrew McCracken 3 Clive Barden 4, Tim Daniels 1 Pip Blackwell 4, Steven Soar 2 Nigel Payne 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Ashley Spencer 2 Ian Cunliffe 3, Wayne Howe 2 Peter Davies 3, Ian Allcock 0 Justin Dawson 3, Adrian Asprey 0 Lee Vane 3, John Clifford 0 Scott Lackford 3, Peter Slater 3 David Heath 1, Robert Stansbury 2 Ken McCarthy 3, Scott Parkin 0 Dave Salter 3, Ian Scobbie 2 Craig Watkins 3, Tony Cresswell 3 Chris Carroll 2, Paul Williams 2 A.Nother 3, Paul Baker 3 Paul Wratton 1, Women’s ‘A’:- Sara-Jane Harrison 0 Sue Bird 3, Rachel Bird 3 Jackie Holman 0, Jane Densley 3 Andrea Walker 1, Samantha Clarke 1 Steff Duchesne 3, Jennifer McCormick 0 Stacey Dawkins 3, Kelly De4an 2 Emma Little 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Jackie Sweet 3 Janice Corn 1, Louise Rawson-Lee 3 Lisa Behan 0, Sara Jukes 3 Sharon Charles 1, Alison Shilton 3 June Stacey 1, Dee Fenn 3 Emma Martin 0, Rachel Ayres 0 Melissa Stacey 3.
Oxfordshire v Derbyshire
Derbyshire’s season in the BDO Inter County Championships just gets worse, since their promotion last season to division one they have now played seven and lost seven, but having said that if their finishing had been a little sharper they could well have been in a more comfortable mid table position.
Fresh from their first win of the season, a convincing 5-1 home win over Kent the ladies ‘B’ again got off to a fine start as Rachel Ayres put them one up with her 3-1 win over Sue Burns and with similar wins from Louise Rawson-Lee and Sara Jukes over respective opponents Karen Hill and Emma Wells Derbyshire were in a commanding 3-0 lead.
Laura Ross pulled one back for Oxfordshire in the fourth when she beat Nicola Fletcher 3-1 but the game was won in the fifth when Alison Shilton defeated Angie Godfray 3-0 and in the process won the match award with her 18.56 average.
The final game went to the home team’s Gina Freshwater, who with a 3-1 verdict beat Dawn Buckley to put the result at 4-2 in the visitors favour.
With just one draw and six defeats the men’s ‘B’ have not enjoyed the best of seasons and yet they didn’t have too bad a start as Mark Williams put them one up with his 3-2 win over Stuart White. The home team drew level with a 3-2 win by Tom Baughan against Tony Cresswell who at one stage was leading 2-1.
In game three Derbyshire’s Paul Baker was in tremendous form going one up in 19 darts against Aaron Stevens and doubling his lead with a superb eleven darts leg with scores of 81, 140,180 and a 100 checkout. To complete his 3-0 win Baker added a 15 darts leg which gave him a fabulous man of the match winning average of 33.40.
From 2-1 up the away side took the score along to 4-1 up with 3-1 wins from both John Clifford and Loz Barnes who in turn defeated Andy Thomas and Simon Key before the home team put together their best run of the match five wins in a row to turn the game around to 6-4 in their favour.
Joe Palmer began the rout with his 3-0 win over his namesake Richard Palmer, Kevin Wilkins added a 3-1 win over Adrian Asprey and John Russell levelled the game at 4-4 with his 3-2 win over Scott Parkin after Parkin had won the first leg.
Oxfordshire went into the lead for the first time in the game in the ninth when Glenn West beat Craig Freeman 3-0 and taking the home side into an unbeatable 6-4 lead was Mark Burns when he won 3-2 against Peter Slater who had twice come from behind to level the game.
Ashley Spencer kept Derbyshire’s hopes of a draw alive when he won 3-2 against Michael Kearns but the final score was 7-5 to Oxfordshire when their Adam Bowman won the last game of the day against Wayne Howe 3-2, Howe having won the first two legs.
Similar to the ladies ‘B’ game the ‘A’ went 1-0 up and again it was a Rachel that provided Derbyshire with the win this time Rachel Bird who beat Trina Blackman 3-1. Dee Fenn took the score along to 2-0 with her straight 3-0 success against Cath Birch, but from 2-0 up the lead was suddenly reversed as Kim Ledbury beat Kelly Dean 3-0, Carol Smith won 3-1 against Jennifer McCormick and Clare Bywaters added her 3-0 win over Jackie Sweet to the tally to leave the result hinging on the final game.
The home side must have felt confident of a win when their star player Deta Hedman opened up a 2-0 lead over Jane Densley, but never say die Jane who already had three lady of the match awards under her belt this season roared back to level terms with legs of 18 and 19 darts to force a decider.
The deciding leg came to life for both players in their third throw Hedman after hitting 45 and 40 then chalked up scores of 83,99,100 and 102 to leave double sixteen, Densley meanwhile had recorded scores of 26,60,140,140 and 42 to leave 93 which she calmly finished with her eighteenth dart to earn her team a share of the 3-3 result and give her, her fourth match award with a tremendous 24.65 average.
With two wins in their previous six games the men’s ‘A’ were Derbyshire’s most successful team so far this season but after an opening 4-1 win from Lee Stanley against Brendan Kearns it went a little downhill as the home side took the following three games through Sean Holley who beat Keith Cooper 4-0, Neil Russell with a 4-2 success against Ian Scobbie who had taken the lead twice, and taking the score to 3-1 was Peter Hall with his 4-0 beating of Richard Hanson.
Paul Bettney turned on a man of the match show for Derbyshire in the fifth when he won 4-0 against Preben Krabben in 15,17,21 and 16 darts giving him a 29.04 average. However Bettney’s win was only a slight halt to Oxfordshire’s charge as they chalked up another two wins from Lee Russell who won 4-2 against Robert Smith and Kevin Lowe who after taking a 3-0 lead against Gary Fenn was pegged back to 3-3 before winning the seventh leg for a very close 4-3 win to put the home team 5-2 up.
Nigel Daniels was made to fight for his 4-3 win over Keith Bedding as he went 2-0 up, 3-1 up 3-3 and then won the final leg, his 4-3 win keeping Derbyshire in the hunt.
The next three Derbyshire players all opened leads against their opponents before losing 4-2, Steven Soar after losing the first to Ade Larner went 2-1 up, Paul Mellor went 2-0 up against Jon Jukes and Alan Statham had a 2-1 lead over George Grant, Oxfordshire’s three winners putting them into a winning 8-3 lead.
The final score was 8-4 to the hosts although the home player Pete Smith went 2-0 and 3-1 up against Tim Daniels the Derbyshire man fought back in style to win the last three legs and seal a great 4-3 win.
With an overall 20-16 defeat Derbyshire now find themselves getting cut off at the foot of the table with 105 points fourteen away from safety and with only two remaining fixtures survival in division one is not looking good.
Full Results:Oxfordshire v Derbyshire (20-16):(Oxfordshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Brendan Kearns 1 Lee Stanley 4, Sean Holley 4 Keith Cooper 0, Neal Russell 4 Ian Scobbie 2, Peter Hall 4 Richard Hanson 0, Preben Krabben 0 Paul Bettney 4, Lee Russell 4 Robert Smith 2, Kevin Lowe 4 Gary Fenn 3, Keith Bedding 3 Nigel Daniels 4, Ade Larner 4 Steven Soar 2, Jon Jukes 4 Paul Mellor 2, George Grant 4 Alan Statham 2, Pete Smith 3 Tim Daniels 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Stuart White 2 Paul Williams 3, Tom Baughan 3 Tony Cresswell 2, Aaron Stevens 0 Paul Baker 3, Andy Thomas 1 John Clifford 3, Simon Key 1 Loz Barnes 3, Joe Palmer 3 Richard Palmer 0, Kevin Wilkins 3 Adrian Asprey 1, John Russell 3 Scott Parker 2, Glenn West 3 Craig Freeman 0, Mark Burns 3 Peter Slater 2, Michael Kearns 2 Ashley Spencer 3, Adam Bowman 3 Wayne Howe 2, Women’s ‘A’:- Trina Blackman 1 Rachel Bird 3, Cath Birch 0 Dee Fenn 3, Kim Ledbury 3 Kelly Dean 0, Carol Smith 3 Jennifer McCormick 1, Clare Bywaters 3 Jackie Sweet 0, Deta Hedman 2 Jane Densley 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Sue Burns 1 Rachel Ayres 3, Karen Hill 1 Louise Rawson-Lee 3, Emma Wells 1 Sara Jukes 3, Laura Ross 3 Nicola Fletcher 1, Angie Godfray 0 Alison Shilton 3, Gina Freshwater 3 Dawn Buckley 1.