Alan Towe’s The Line On Darts – Inter-County Preview
County Durham v West Midlands
In division one of the BDO Inter County Championships West Midlands will be hoping to increase the gap between themselves and third in the table London so that the decision on who gets promotion will not depend on the final game of the season when the two teams play each other. Currently second on 135 points West Midlands are just four points short of leaders Hampshire and seven to the good on London, this weekend’s fixture is an away game against County Durham who are in the bottom three places in the table and some 34 points behind their visitors so a big win could see West Midlands take over pole position.
History in this fixture certainly doesn’t favour West Midlands, this will be the first time the two teams have played each other since the 2012/13 season when the result finished all square at 18-18 on the West Midlands home board, prior to that going back to the 1995/96 season the teams have played each other on six occasions and each time County Durham have won, nevertheless with the West Midlands six places and 34 points ahead of their hosts perhaps this will be the time West Mdilands get their win.
Selected to play for West Midlands are, Men’s ‘A’:- Gavin Baker, Scott Baker, Shaun Carroll, Nick Fullwell, Sam Guest, Ian Jones, Ash Khayatt, Glen McGrandle, John Morris, Danny Nicholls, Jonathan Platt, Gary Watts, Men’s ‘B’:- Michael Baker, Danny Coyle, Mark Craddock, Matthew Dicken, Mark Hampton, Dean Mills, Neil Pointon, Mark Rollason, Avtar Singh, Robert Smith, Louis Venes, Paul Wells, Reserves:- Michael Hoult, Mark Dyke, John Mycock, Richard Platt, Paul Price, Dave Redding, Dave Robbins, Jack Routledge, Mark Watkiss, Women’s ‘A’:- Lisa Astbury, Gemma Barrett, Kath Jenkins, Debbie Loon, Sarah Roberts, Sophie Singh, Women’s ‘B’:- Shannon Hall, Claire Hobbs, Jacqueline Maiden, Samantha Maiden, Shellbie Simmons, Heather Wright, Reserves:- Elizabeth Arnold, Kim Fellows, Kirsty Shaughnessy, Wendy Waine.
Essex v Warwickshire This coming weekend the Warwickshire County Darts Organisation will play their last away fixture of the season in the premier division of the BDO Inter County Championships and will be hoping to end a run of two consecutive defeats as they travel to the Chelmsford Social Club to take on Essex who are bottom of the division on 91 points, 23 fewer than Warwickshire who are fifth and still in with a good chance of finishing in the top three places as they only trail third placed Cheshire by six points. Although Warwickshire should be favourites to win the fixture their two previous encounters against Essex have not been good as last season they lost 19-17 at home and in the 2014/15 season played away and lost 22-14, nevetheless Warwickshire wil be going all out to at least equal last season’s final fourth position and hopefull finish third. Strange how fortunes quickly change Essex finished third last seasn with 33 points more than Warwickshire. Lining up for Warwickshire will be, Men’s ‘A’:- Antony Allen, Mark Westgarth, Jamie Hughes, William Naylor, Nigel Heydon, Dean Stewart, Rob Hawker, Bob Nixon, Noel Grant, Simon Power, Tom Aldridge, Richard Foster, Men’s ‘B’:- Mark Strong, Mark Carter, Anthony West, Carl Green, Mangal Singh, Graham Hall, Tom Ryan, Simon Fairbrother, Charlie Symons, Peter Hughes, James Hykin, Ian Shaw, Reserves:- Ted Evetts, Luke Kennedy, Tom Martin, Andrew Foulkes, Tom McGlone, Matt Edgar, Women’s ‘A’:- Trina Gulliver, Natalie Gilbert, Sue Gulliver, Melanie Hill, Kerry Bambridge, Caroline Pike, Women’s ‘B’:- Angela Jones, Wendy Adams, Marian Conway, Donna Pinch, Chloe McKevitt, Nina Bolt, Reserves:- Lisa Deslandes, Helen Rigg, Denise Keyte.
Isle of Wight v Shropshire This coming weekend in division four of the BDO Inter County Championships it’s a case of the bottom two teams in the division playing each other as bottom team Isle of Wight play hosts to the team just above them Shropshire. With just one win in their previous seven outings which was a 23-13 win in December at home to Pembrokeshire, the team now directly above them with the same 33 points, this would be the ideal opportunity for Shropshire to add to that with another victory which would definitely lift them out of the bottom two of the division. History is on Shropshire’s side as in the last two seasons they have won both games against Isle of Wight, in the 2014/15 season they won 20-16 away and in 2015/16 won the home tie 26-10. Lining up for this the penultimate fixture of the season will be, Men’s ‘A’:- Paul Bromley, Andi Chatter, John Cooper, Derek Coulson, Kevin Harris, Brian Hickman, Danny James, Clive Lucking, Scott Meyrick, Richard Parker, Simon Pritchard, Neville Quinton, Men’s ‘B’:- Dan Boot, Peter Eley, Tim Eley, Sean Flynn, Rob Harris, Rob Henderson, Royston Minton, Neil Powell, Martin Riggs, Trevor Smith, Nathan Storar, Matt Williams, Reserves:- Arthur Smart, Rob Trumper, Women’s ‘A’:- Sophie Fawcett, Julie Griffiths, Becky Harris, Kat Mclean, Michele Pritchard, Marie Riggs, Women’s ‘B’:- Sharon Harris, Kirsty Jenks, Cally Jones, Sue Lane, Caron Minton, Caroline Powell, Reserves:- Debbie Davies.
Derbyshire v Suffolk This coming weekend Derbyshire will play their final home game of the season in division two of the BDO Inter County Championships, a home tie against Suffolk. With just one win and one draw in their seven games so far Derbyshire are not enjoying the best of seasons and deperately need a win against Suffolk who are just two places and five points above them if they are to have any chance of retaining their division two status. Last time the two teams met was in was in September 2014 again on Derbyshire’s board and the result was a very pleasing 23-13 win for the hosts in what was the season’s curtain raiser. Another result similar to their 2014 win together with something out of their final game away to Staffordshire could well see them play in division two again next season. Selected to play for Derbyshire are, Men’s ‘A’:- Andy Baker, Pete Burgoyne, Nigel Daniels, Tim Daniels, Gary Fenn, Adam Fern, Richard Hanson, Seam Lambert, Brian Snell, Steve Soar, Lee Stanley, Rob Wood, Men’s ‘B’:- Ian Allcock, Adrian Asprey, Ian Clarke, Henry Coates, Tony Cresswell, John Elliott, Andy Gillott, Ben Holmes, Richard Hughes, Scott Parkin, Colin Rich, Darran Sinfield, Reserves:- David Allcock, Paul Baker, Loz Barnes, Alan Clegg, John Clifford, Keith Cooper, Lee Cummins, Frank Davis, David Fritchley, Wayne Howe, Peter Slater, Ash Spencer, Women’s ‘A’:- Kera Astle, Terri Bellamy, Dee Fenn, Jennifer McCormick, Louise Rawson, Jackie Sweet, Women’s ‘B’:- Rachel Ayres, Dawn Buckley, Kelly Dean, Rebecca Hoyland, Lauren Jackson, Sammi Marshall, Reserves:- Kerri Buckley, Amy Clifton, Michelle Cunningham, Zena Grand, Sara-Jane Harrison, Emily Jones, Janice Pearce, Alison Shilton.
by Alan Towe Website: www.alantowedarts.co.uk
Essex v Warwickshire This coming weekend the Warwickshire County Darts Organisation will play their last away fixture of the season in the premier division of the BDO Inter County Championships and will be hoping to end a run of two consecutive defeats as they travel to the Chelmsford Social Club to take on Essex who are bottom of the division on 91 points, 23 fewer than Warwickshire who are fifth and still in with a good chance of finishing in the top three places as they only trail third placed Cheshire by six points. Although Warwickshire should be favourites to win the fixture their two previous encounters against Essex have not been good as last season they lost 19-17 at home and in the 2014/15 season played away and lost 22-14, nevetheless Warwickshire wil be going all out to at least equal last season’s final fourth position and hopefull finish third. Strange how fortunes quickly change Essex finished third last seasn with 33 points more than Warwickshire. Lining up for Warwickshire will be, Men’s ‘A’:- Antony Allen, Mark Westgarth, Jamie Hughes, William Naylor, Nigel Heydon, Dean Stewart, Rob Hawker, Bob Nixon, Noel Grant, Simon Power, Tom Aldridge, Richard Foster, Men’s ‘B’:- Mark Strong, Mark Carter, Anthony West, Carl Green, Mangal Singh, Graham Hall, Tom Ryan, Simon Fairbrother, Charlie Symons, Peter Hughes, James Hykin, Ian Shaw, Reserves:- Ted Evetts, Luke Kennedy, Tom Martin, Andrew Foulkes, Tom McGlone, Matt Edgar, Women’s ‘A’:- Trina Gulliver, Natalie Gilbert, Sue Gulliver, Melanie Hill, Kerry Bambridge, Caroline Pike, Women’s ‘B’:- Angela Jones, Wendy Adams, Marian Conway, Donna Pinch, Chloe McKevitt, Nina Bolt, Reserves:- Lisa Deslandes, Helen Rigg, Denise Keyte.
Isle of Wight v Shropshire This coming weekend in division four of the BDO Inter County Championships it’s a case of the bottom two teams in the division playing each other as bottom team Isle of Wight play hosts to the team just above them Shropshire. With just one win in their previous seven outings which was a 23-13 win in December at home to Pembrokeshire, the team now directly above them with the same 33 points, this would be the ideal opportunity for Shropshire to add to that with another victory which would definitely lift them out of the bottom two of the division. History is on Shropshire’s side as in the last two seasons they have won both games against Isle of Wight, in the 2014/15 season they won 20-16 away and in 2015/16 won the home tie 26-10. Lining up for this the penultimate fixture of the season will be, Men’s ‘A’:- Paul Bromley, Andi Chatter, John Cooper, Derek Coulson, Kevin Harris, Brian Hickman, Danny James, Clive Lucking, Scott Meyrick, Richard Parker, Simon Pritchard, Neville Quinton, Men’s ‘B’:- Dan Boot, Peter Eley, Tim Eley, Sean Flynn, Rob Harris, Rob Henderson, Royston Minton, Neil Powell, Martin Riggs, Trevor Smith, Nathan Storar, Matt Williams, Reserves:- Arthur Smart, Rob Trumper, Women’s ‘A’:- Sophie Fawcett, Julie Griffiths, Becky Harris, Kat Mclean, Michele Pritchard, Marie Riggs, Women’s ‘B’:- Sharon Harris, Kirsty Jenks, Cally Jones, Sue Lane, Caron Minton, Caroline Powell, Reserves:- Debbie Davies.
Derbyshire v Suffolk This coming weekend Derbyshire will play their final home game of the season in division two of the BDO Inter County Championships, a home tie against Suffolk. With just one win and one draw in their seven games so far Derbyshire are not enjoying the best of seasons and deperately need a win against Suffolk who are just two places and five points above them if they are to have any chance of retaining their division two status. Last time the two teams met was in was in September 2014 again on Derbyshire’s board and the result was a very pleasing 23-13 win for the hosts in what was the season’s curtain raiser. Another result similar to their 2014 win together with something out of their final game away to Staffordshire could well see them play in division two again next season. Selected to play for Derbyshire are, Men’s ‘A’:- Andy Baker, Pete Burgoyne, Nigel Daniels, Tim Daniels, Gary Fenn, Adam Fern, Richard Hanson, Seam Lambert, Brian Snell, Steve Soar, Lee Stanley, Rob Wood, Men’s ‘B’:- Ian Allcock, Adrian Asprey, Ian Clarke, Henry Coates, Tony Cresswell, John Elliott, Andy Gillott, Ben Holmes, Richard Hughes, Scott Parkin, Colin Rich, Darran Sinfield, Reserves:- David Allcock, Paul Baker, Loz Barnes, Alan Clegg, John Clifford, Keith Cooper, Lee Cummins, Frank Davis, David Fritchley, Wayne Howe, Peter Slater, Ash Spencer, Women’s ‘A’:- Kera Astle, Terri Bellamy, Dee Fenn, Jennifer McCormick, Louise Rawson, Jackie Sweet, Women’s ‘B’:- Rachel Ayres, Dawn Buckley, Kelly Dean, Rebecca Hoyland, Lauren Jackson, Sammi Marshall, Reserves:- Kerri Buckley, Amy Clifton, Michelle Cunningham, Zena Grand, Sara-Jane Harrison, Emily Jones, Janice Pearce, Alison Shilton.
by Alan Towe Website: www.alantowedarts.co.uk