A close 19-17 home defeat to Lancashire has seen Warwickshire lose pole position in the Premier Division of the UKDA National League and slip to fourth place with forty-five points. Taking over in the number one spot is Suffolk who moved up two places following their 23-13 home win over Cornwall giving them a total of fifty-one points. Lancashire’s win has taken their points tally to forty-nine, and as a result they hold on to second place. Essex move up one place to third with forty-seven points after adding their somewhat amazing 20-16 win at Yorkshire who are currently placed fifth with thirty-eight points.
Glamorgan’s Richie Edwards topped the men’s A’ average with 32.99 in his 4-1 win over Sussex man Paul Eves, however it was Paul Eves who had the top average in the men’s B’ games, 32.70 in his 4-1 win over Adam Serpell. The ever-green Trina Gulliver MBE chalked an outstanding 30.06 average in her straight 3-0 win over Dorset’s Macie Woodrow to earn the ladies ‘A’ award while Warwickshire’s Kacie O’Connor was the ‘B’ team’s player with the highest average of 22.77 in her 3-0 defeat of Lancashire’s Jenny Nuttall.
Cheshire followed up their 20-16 win at Northamptonshire with a 21-15 home win over Gwent to hold on to the top position on the Andy Wheeler Fisheries Championship Division with a total of forty-seven points. West Midlands are enjoying their promotion to the Championship making it two opening win when they followed up their 20-16 home win over Kent with a similar 20-16 win at Hampshire to see them move up from fourth to second place with forty-six points just one short of the leaders. Another promoted team Middlesex, added a 20-16 win at Humberside to their opening day 19-17 home win against Hampshire to put them on forty-five points and give them their placing at number three.
Middlesex player Cam Crabtree topped the averages in the men’s ‘A’ matches in the Championship, beating Humberside’s Mark Howard 4-0 with a super 33.97 average while for the ‘B’ teams it was West Midlands Will Beaden who in his narrow 4-3 win over Hampshire’s Steve Lawrence chalked up a 29.56 average. The top ladies ’A’ player was Emma Pearce (Cheshire) who had a 25.05 average in her 3-0 win over Gwent’s Amanda Rosser, the ‘B’ award going to Gwent’s Ella Trimm who beat Cheshire’s Kerry Mundy 3-0 with a 19.52 average.
After a 20-16 home win over Worcestershire and a 23-13 win at Berkshire, Leicestershire lead the way in the L-Style Division One with forty-nine points, however they are closely followed by Somerset who added a 22-14 win at Staffordshire to their opening day 21-15 home win over Devon to put them level on forty-nine points with Leicestershire. Clwyd are placed third, their 19-17 win at Derbyshire taking their points tally to forty-six, three short of the two teams above them.
Although Salopian went down 24-12 at Devon their Derek Coulson (above) topped the ‘A’ team’s average with 33.40 which he achieved in his 4-0 win over Devon’s Todd Woodberry. The ‘B’ award went to Junior Howard (Devon) who won 4-1 against Scott Dockerty (Salopian) and averaged 30.46. The ladies ‘A’ award went to Clwyd’s Leanne Topper who in her 3-0 win over Carol Western (Derbyshire) she has a superb 25.47 average. The ‘B’ award was shared by two players, Karen Matthews (Devon) and Lynne Arnold (Worcestershire) who both had a 22.43 average, Matthews winning 3-0 against Chloe Ames (Salopian) and Arnold beating Grace Angell (Black Country) by the same 3-0 margin.
Norfolk and Cumbria are both on fifty points at the top of Division Two, the former winning 23-13 at County Durham while the latter had a 28-8 win at home against Surrey. Third placed Nottinghamshire are just two points adrift of the top two teams, their 23-13 win at West of England taking them to forty-eight points.
A 30.36 average saw West of England’s Chris Hartrey take the men’s ‘A’ award which he achieved in his 4-0 win over namesake Chris Bird (Nottinghamshire). Taking the ‘B’ award was Kev Naunton (Tyne and Wear), who in his 4-1 win over Jonathon Craggs (Cleveland) he averaged 28.66, Nottinghamshire’s Marc Dewsbury narrowly missing out with his 28.63 average. The ladies ‘A’ award went to Tyne and Wear’s Angela Kirkwood who had a 3-0 win over Cleveland’s Claire Stamper, Buckinghamshire’s Kelly Rose collecting the ‘B’ award for her 20.04 average and 3-0 win against Mary Kirtley (Northumberland).
Bedfordshire have a four points lead at the top of division three, their 26-10 home win over Pembrokeshire taking their points tally to fifty-five. Second placed Wirral, who were formerly top of the table, had a much closer 19-17 home win over Gwynedd and are on fifty-one points, just one more than third placed Breconshire after their 23-13 win at Gloucestershire.
A 29.47 average was the order of the day in the men’s games as Gloucestershire’s James Hurrell beat Breconshire’s Anthony Bennett to win the ‘A’ award and the ‘B’ award went to both Adam Pinnuck (Bedfordshire) and Craig Hill (Wirral) who also had 29.47 averages in their respective wins over Pembrokeshire’s Gordon Summers (4-0) and Gwynedd’s Barry Jones (4-0). Gwynedd’s Lisa Hughes was the top ladies ‘A’ player as she beat Wirral’s Pam Courts 3-1 with a 21-87 average. The ‘B’ award going to Breconshire’s Alannah Waters-Evans for her 20.04 average in her 3-1 win over Gloucestershire’s Suzy Slatter.
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Photo: World Senior Darts / Chris Sargeant
