Alan Towe’s The Line – County Durham v Derbyshire Darts Review

In their latest division one fixture in the Riley’s BDO Inter County Championships, Derbyshire travelled north to take on County Durham. With both teams struggling for points this season and only one leg separating them at the wrong end of the table the outcome was vital to both teams.

Saturday was not a good day for the ladies despite lady of the match Nicky Fletcher (16.71) restoring parity with a 3-2 victory against Angela McDonald after her team mate Louise Rawson had lost the opener 3-1 to Sandra Cairns, the hosts then romped to a 5-1 result, further wins being added by Linda Ithuralde, Liz Tait, Karol Dagga and Kathleen Renwick.

Rick Gray kicked off for the men’s ‘B’ and sailed into a 2-0 lead, but although he was within an ace of victory he then lost his way on doubles and Paul Tennant put County Durham one up. Danny Thomas cancelled out the home teams lead with his 3-0 win over Darren Meldine only to see the home side go 3-1 up with wins from Paul Telford and Lee Wright.

With a 117 finish Frank Davis reduced the arrears when he beat Ian Adamson 3-2, but once again the home side opened up a two games lead when Stephen Hayers defeated Ian Hannah. Matt Padgett (Derbyshire) continued his recent fine form with a 3-2 win against Craig Anderson, the Ilkeston man fresh from a fantastic weekend at the UK Open claimed Derbyshire’s man of the match award with a great 29.33 average and in the process reduced the arrears to 4-3 to keep his team in the game.

The following two games both went the five legs distance, but unfortunately for the visitors it was Durham’s Raymond Foreman and Gerry Hall that got the verdict in turn against Andy Houghton and Tony Cresswell. Now at 6-3 down the away side required something of a minor miracle to get anything whatsoever out of the game, and that’s exactly what they got.

Brian Snell got the ball rolling with his 3-1 win over Chris Kitch, Rob Wood took his total to five straight

wins when he added his 3-0 win over Chris Allen to the tally, leaving the result hinging on the final game between Gerald Grieve (County Durham) and John Clifford. The game once again went the full five legs but it was the away team’s John Clifford who won 3-2 to earn his team mates a hard fought 6-6 draw.

As per the previous day the ladies didn’t get the best of starts, Rachel Bird going down 3-0 to Kirsty Hutchinson. However, Joanne Oldershaw (21.47) quickly put last month’s rare defeat behind her and romped to a straight 3-0 win over Margaret Stewart, Joanne hitting the only ladies maximum of the weekend.

Dawn Buckley was making her 100th appearance for Derbyshire and following her 3-1 defeat to Sharon Haywood announced her retirement from the playing side of the game to allow her more time to concentrate on the official / paperwork side for the county.

Steph Allerton (Derbyshire) found herself up against a very talented Jennifer Summerson who won 3-0 with a 23.48 average, the highest ladies average of the weekend. With the score at 3-1 to the home side Derbyshire needed to quickly pull something out of the hat to salvage anything at all from the game. That was exactly what they did as Jackie Sweet beat Allison Wells in a very close 3-2 game and to round off procedures Derbyshire, who appeared to have kept their best till last in the form of Jane Densley earned a share of the spoils when Jane beat Cheryl Adamson 3-1 to claim her second consecutive match award with a very creditable 21.88 average. The final score 3-3.

The men’s ‘A’ with three wins and only one defeat in the previous four outings this season had been in fine

Farmer, Fenn won 4-1 the other three won 4-2 to finish the game with a more respective 7-5 defeat, and after

trailing 7-0 that was a remarkable comeback.

The final overall result of the weekend was a 21-15 win for County Durham which now leaves Derbyshire in a very precarious position, next to bottom with 85 points, only four more than bottom team Staffordshire and more importantly nine behind County Durham the team directly above them. Nevertheless with four more fixtures to play there are still plenty of points up for grabs and there is still time for Derbyshire to pull away from the relegation zone.

Full Results:

Men’s ‘A’:-

James Forster 4 v 1 Alan Evans Rob Douthwaite 4 v 3 Reece Spurr David Gill 4 v 1 Adie Asprey Stephen Annan 4 v 2 Daz Brown Keith Gowland 4 v 1 Paul Bettney Stephen Knight 4 v 3 Pete Slater John Dowd 4 v 3 Nigel Daniels Paul Clark 1 v 4 Dave Smith-Hayes David Brown 1 v 4 Gary Fenn

David Dodds 2 v 4 Aden Kirk Kevin Naughton 2 v 4 Phil Henshaw Martin Farmer 2 v 4 Mel Hopkins

Men’s ‘B’:-

Paul Tennant 3 v 2 Rick Gray Darren Meldine 0 v 3 Danny Thomas Paul Telford 3 v 1 Doug Walker Lee Wright 3 v 2 Daz Sullivan Ian Adamson 2 v 3 Frank Davis Stephen Hayers 3 v 1 Ian Hannah Craig Anderson 2 v 3 Matt Padgett Raymond Foreman 3 v 2 Andy Houghton Gerry Hall 3 v 2 Tony Cresswell Chris Kitch 1 v 3 Brian Snell Chris Allan 0 v 3 Rob Wood Gerald Grieve 2 v 3 John Clifford

Ladies ‘A’:-

Kirsty Hutchinson 3 v 0 Rachel Bird Margaret Stewart 0 v 3 Jo Oldershaw Sharon Haywood 3 v 1 Dawn Buckley Jennifer Summerson 3 v 0 Steph Allerton Allison Wells 2 v 3 Jackie Sweet Cheryl Adamson 1 v 3 Jane Densley

Ladies ‘B’:-

Kirsty Hutchinson 3 v 0 Rachel Bird Margaret Stewart 0 v 3 Jo Oldershaw Sharon Haywood 3 v 1 Dawn Buckley Jennifer Summerson 3 v 0 Steph Allerton Allison Wells 2 v 3 Jackie Sweet Cheryl Adamson 1 v 3 Jane Densley