After a disappointing 22-14 home defeat to Lancashire in the Cosmo Darts Premier Division of the UKDA National League Warwickshire had another tough fixture in game nine when they travelled to take on Hampshire. Prior to the fixture both fifth placed Hampshire and sixth in the division Warwickshire were locked together on 168 points with the result vital to both teams.
It all began well for the away side as the ladies ‘B’ chalked up a 4-2 win but they didn’t have the best of starts as the home side opened up a 2-0 lead when Abi Jurd beat Melanie Jones 3-1 and Karen Webber won 3-0 against Courtney Hine. It took a lady of the match performance from Hannah Meek to stop the Hampshire charge, Hannah winning 3-1 against Joanne Senior with an 18.97 average. Adding to Hannah’s win were Nina Bolt, Angela Jones and Chloe McKivett who in turn won against Dawn Simmonds (3-1), Susan Power (3-1) and Pennie Lewis (3-1).
Completing what was the perfect day for Warwickshire were the men’s ‘B’ who won their game 7-5. Mark Carter opened up with a 4-1 win over Wes Smith only to see the home team’s Kev Woodward win 4-3 against Adam Hancock to level the score. Mark Strong put the away side in front for a second time when he beat Andy Mitchell 4-1 but again the score was levelled as Ryan Furness won 4-2 against Noah Rose after Rose had gone 2-0 up. Game number five saw Hampshire take the lead for the first time in the game as Alan Casey added his 4-0 win over Mark Martin to their tally but by the midway point it was all-square as Karl Reynolds with a maximum and twelve scores of a ton or more won 4-2 against Adrian Wright.
Giving Warwickshire the lead for a third time was Pete Hughes who not only beat Jamie Kelling 4-3 but won his team’s match award for his 27.50 average. Once again the hosts came fighting back as Darren Barnes came from two down against Lee Miller to win 4-2 to take the score to 4-4. A 4-2 win from Warwickshire’s Sam Price over John Madgwick plus a 4-1 success for Will Naylor over Will Buckman assured the away team of at least a share of the spoils. Lee Ward’s 4-0 win over Jenson Walker not only kept Hampshire in the hunt for a draw but also forced a decider in the final game between Andy Jurd (Hampshire) and Martin Tonks. Tonks in 20,17 and 15 darts stormed into a 3-0 lead only to see Jurd win the next three legs in 16,18 and 21 darts to take the game to a final seventh leg. In what was a tense decider in which the result could easily have gone either way as both players struggled with their finishing doubles but it was Martin Tonks who eventually found the all-important double eight to clinch a 4-3 win and an overall 7-5 result for his team.
For Warwickshire ladies ‘A’ Sunday’s game was one to quickly forget as they slumped to an incredible 6-0 defeat after no fewer than five of their six players won the first leg. Chalking up the big win for Hampshire were Becca Edwards, Sue Lowther, Tracy North, Jane Monaghan, Jo Rolls and Laura Turner who in turn beat their counterparts Tammy Montgomery (3-1), Donna Pinch (3-2), Wendy Adams (3-1), Sue Gulliver (3-2), Caroline Pike (3-1) and Natalie Gilbert (3-2).
With only the men’s ‘A’ result to be added for the weekend all was not lost for the visitors as Hampshire only had a narrow 13-11 lead. That lead was then extended to 15-11 when the home team’s Steve Musson and Adam Lipscombe beat respective opponents Jack Wareing 4-2 and Dave Hill 4-1. Carl Green reduced the men’s arrears to 2-1 with his 4-3 win over Luke Getty after Getty had gone 1-0 and 2-1 up. The hosts then took their lead to 4-1 with further 4-0 and 4-2 wins from Justin Bradshaw and Sam Dyke who in turn accounted for Noel Grant and Mark Carter. By the halfway stage the score was 4-2 to Hampshire as Warwickshire’s man of the match Jamie Atkins found to form to beat Aaron Turner 4-1 after Turner had won the opening leg, however after trailing 1-0 Atkins then took the following four legs in 17, 18, 15 and twelve darts with 114 and 100 game shots in the last two legs giving him a tremendous 30.91 average.
Warwickshire reduced the deficit to 4-3 as the second half got underway, Nigel Heydon winning 4-2 against Chas Barstow before Hampshire won three-in-a -row to put the score beyond Warwickshire’s reach. Taking the score to 7-3 were Graham Chalk, Sam Rooney and Richard North who accounted for Chris Wickenden (4-3), Ian Shaw (4-2) and Gareth Braham (4-2). In the penultimate encounter Matty Washbrooke (Warwickshire) kicked off his game against James Nicholson with a 110 checkout in fifteen darts. He then went 3-0 up with further wins in 17 and 25 darts and although Nicholson won the fourth in 20 darts Washbrooke wrapped up his 4-1 win with a thirteen darts leg. The final game of the weekend saw Mike Symes win 4-3 against Josh Jones to give Hampshire men’s ‘A’ an 8-4 win.
Overall Hampshire claimed a 21-15 victory for the weekend.
—–ENDS—-
Alan Towe writes with the support of Red Dragon Darts
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