Darts News – Alan Towe’s The Line On Darts – Northumberland v Shropshire

After suffering relegation from division three in the BDO Inter County Championships last season it was not a good start to life in division four for Shropshire when they played away against Northumberland in the opening fixture of the season.
Both of the ladies teams finished on the wrong side of 5-1 scorelines, Katharine McLean was the only highlight of the weekend as she claimed both teams lady of the match awards. On Saturday, after going one down to Debra Waugh she fought back to clinch a 3-1 win and the match award with her 17.19 average. She was then promoted to the ‘A’ team on Sunday and followed up her previous day’s victory with a straight 3-0 win over Toni Longstaff, on this occasion her average was 14.59 but once again good enough to take the match award.
The men’s ‘B’ side were the only winners of the weekend. Mark Tirrell and man of the match John Cooper put them 2-0 up only to see Northumberland’s Callan Rydz and Ian Paul Sinclair cancel out their wins. John Cooper took just 15, 18 and 18 darts to beat Kenneth Philipson in a straight 3-0 encounter and his award winning average of 29.47 was the best average of the weekend.
Shropshire’s two games buffer was restored by John Breeze and Scott Towers to give Shropshire a 4-2 lead at the halfway stage.
The second half began with a win for the home side’s Gary Reed and although Roger Taylor (Shropshire) made it 5-3, the hosts levelled the match at 5-5 thanks to wins from Paul Bell and Liam Foster.
Two 3-1 wins in the last two games from Derek Coulson and Nathan Storar put the final score at 7-5 in Shropshire’s favour.
There was no similar story for the ‘A’ team as Sam Hamilton was the only winner in the first half and Clive Lucking the only one in the second half as they lost 10-2. Sam Hamilton took the match award, a 3-1 win over Arthur Dobey with winning legs of 15,18,15 and 21 darts giving him a 26.98 average.
An overall 25-11 defeat, but with eight fixtures remaining all is not lost and a lot can happen in those eight games to turn around the opening day demise.
Full results:Northumberland names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Andrew McClure 4 Mark Jones 0, Ian Dawson 4 John Breeze 0, Arthur Dobey 1 Sam Hamilton 4, John Brannan 4 Brian Hickman 1, Callan Rydz 4 Simon Pritchard 2, Christopher Dobie 4 Danny Humphries 2, Gordon Dobey 4 Matthew Williams 1, Christopher Bewick 4 Philip Austin 3, Jimmy Blakey 4 Danny James 3, Stephen Wanless 1 Clive Lucking 4, John Watson 4 Andrew Chatter 1, Mark Stephenson 4 Neville Quinton 3, Men’s ‘B’:- Joseph Reed 1 Mark Tirrell 3, Kenneth Philipson 0 John Cooper 3, Callan Rydz 3 Antony Stoneman 2, Ian Paul Sinclair 3 Martin Riggs 1, Kevin Edwards 2 John Breeze 3, James Martin 0 Scott Towers 3, Gary Reed 3 Glen McGrandle 1, John Stevenson 2 Roger Taylor 3, Paul Bell 3 Graham Parry 0, Liam Foster 3 Daniel Petty 1, Joseph Gaffney 1 Derek Coulson 3, Darren Shields 1 Nathan Storar 3, Women’s ‘A’:- Angela Best 3 Pamela Evans 0, Julie Thompson 3 Lorna Wheatley 2, Angela Mann 3 Mandy Morgan 2, Colleen Hunt 3 Debbie Davies 0, Toni Longstaff 0 Katharine McLean 3, Ann Marie Potts 3 Michele Pritchard 1, Women’s ‘B’:- Louise Kidd 3 Shirley Reading 0, Phonsawan Whillis 3 Suzanne Lane 0, Debra Waugh 1 Katharine McLean 3, Susan Nicholson 3 Rachel Evans 1, Jen Craney 3 Elaine Banks 1, Clair Stainsby 3 Marie Riggs 1.