Match report and highlights from the Hampshire match Sat/Sun 21st & 22nd January 2006

Ladies B

First up, Lisa Dunford's game could be compared with a bad day at the office. Unlucky Lisa, we know your better than that. 3-0

Ged Carney took the ladies 1st point convincingly. 3-0. 17.08 ave. Ged picked up Lady of the match again.  "Well played Ged."

The next 4 games went all the way making the 5th and final leg all important. Unfortunately Emma Little was the only one of the four to convert the 5th leg into a point in our favour. Best game for me was the last game, Lisa Behan v Carole Shinar. Lisa hit 6.60 tons which included a 180 against Caroles 8.31 tons. Great effort but the deciding leg was whisked away by Carole with a 25.05 dart average.

Ladies B 2 - 4 to Hampshire

Men's B  

Paul Farnes confirmed that darts can be the most frustrating game. Paul lost 3-2 playing  4 legs that contradicted his last match form. The 4th leg a 17 darter was the one leg that compared to his previous performance against Staffordshire. 5th leg slipped away in 22 darts.

Mick Norris appeared on great form hitting a 180 with the first throw of his game, however a strong reply was rewarded with a win for his opponent in 18 darts. The 2nd leg saw both players napping with Mick taking the leg.  Mick awoke in overdrive, he had two terrific legs, one 12 darter and a 14 darter to win the set. Great game, giving Mick Man of the Match with a 28.17ave.

Paul McDine lost 3-2 in a steady yet erratic match. 2nd leg won by Rick Lowther saw a 180 start followed by 60,30,40,43 and then a 148 Finish. Paul's winning legs were both 17 darters and non of the legs went more than 19 darts.

Ross Smith won convincingly 3-0 hitting a 171 in the 2nd leg to set up a finish on 16 in 16 darts.

Russ Herbert & Andy Davis lost 3-0 to a twinned Hampshire average of 25.47

Gary Ellis lost 3-2 and was another casualty of a five leg match going wrong on the 5th.

Lee Mant lost 3-2. Hitting two 180s Lee was top ton scorer, however,  Hampshire's man of the match Aaron Turner pulled a 12 darter out of the bag to take the 5th and winning leg.

Chris Willard had a convincing win 3-0.  Chris's 15 dart 2nd leg saw him polish off 365 in 9 darts including a 117 finish.

Andy Howell lost 3-2 and yet another casualty of a 5 leg match going wrong at the end. The 5th leg should have been Andy's with the dart advantage and a 180 start he had to be favourite. Alas the wicked game was to have it's frustrating way again.

Lee Guildford won 3-2. Lee had a good game turning around the misfortune of the dreaded 5th leg that had been eluding us. Ten tons to his credit and one of those was a finish.

Owen Olsinia lost 3-2 Casualty Number 9 in the 5th leg Saga.

Mens B 4 - 8 to Hampshire

Saturday closed with a  6 - 12 score line in Hampshire's favour. (Work to do tomorrow)

Ladies A

Wendy Wanstall started Kent's day in style with a 180 and followed it with a 140. I looked closely to see if Trina Gulliver had had really been that clever to disguise herself as Wendy.                Great game. Wendy winning 3-1

Jackie Holman lost 3-0 in a tough game against Wendy Reinstadtler

Sally Dowell lost 3-2 and yesterdays 5th leg nightmare had not gone away.

Tricia Wright seemed to cruise a 3-0 win although her opponent was never that far away. A good game reflected by Hampshire's Jill Field having a marginally higher average than Tricia's.    Lady of the Match Tricia had a 19.52ave just beating Wendy Wanstall (aka Trina Gulliver in disguise) by 0.26

Sally Cridland lost 3-2 Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. 5th leg again.   Unlucky Sally a 180 in that leg too.

Hayley Plume lost 3-1 but played in, what I saw as, the best of the Ladies games. 17.67 tons between them.  Hayley took the first leg which more than upset Hampshire's Laura Power who in turn took the 2nd leg in 12 darts with 125, 100, 125, and a 151 finish. Laura won the following 2 legs giving her lady of the match with a 23.87. Hayley losing with a very respectable 22.75.

Ladies A 2 - 4 to Hampshire

With the score sitting at 8 - 16 to Hants,  Kent Mens 'A' faced an up hill struggle to make the score line look half decent.

Mens A 

Captain Paul Wratten led the attack and set a pace that proved difficult to follow. Winning 3-1 with an average that was to make him man of the match, Paul's 4th and winning leg saw his opponent visit the board only 3 times and left him witnessing this display: 100, 140, 180 and 81 shot out. Paul's average 29.25. Well played Captain.

 Phil Wanstall lost 3-0 to Hampshire's Danny Ballard who became the 3rd player of the day to hit a 12 darter (100, 140, 140 and a 121 finish) game over.

Phil Blackwell lost  3-0 A case where the score didn't reflect the game the average did. Phil' average 27.10 Andy Elvin's average 26.37. Unlucky to lose 3-0.

Graham Judge won 3-1 Hmmmm. anyone remember what I wrote last month? Graham's average of 27.26 would have surely beaten any one of the other 11 players in Staffs A squad. Judgement day and Graham's average this time was 27.29, so similar and yet a convincing win this time. A good reminder of the luck of the draw syndrome. Consistently good darts Graham.

Gary Riley won 3-2 dispelling the 5th leg myth temporarily. On consistent form Gary's 3 winning legs were all 18 darts in duration and included a game shot  of 121 in the last leg.

Gavin Forsyth lost 3-2 In a game of two halves. 1st half, Gavin was firmly in the driving seat holding everyone's attention with 7 treble twenties in a row.  A round of applause marked the missed opportunity of a 9 darter. Unperturbed, Gavin sealed the fate of the 1st leg in 2 subsequent darts of the next throw. The match continued in favour of the darts advantage until  2-2.   Alas the 5th leg had similarities to Andy Howell's game. Gavin had the darts and made good use of them starting with a great 140 his opponent hit a 21 and Kent supporters thought this leg was a cert. Unfortunately, the drivers swapped places and Hampshire's Kevin Edge hit 180, 140, 100, and finished the remaining 60 in 4 subsequent darts. ("Bloody 5th leg")

Kirk Shepherd won 3 - 0  with a 28.36  Great darts, 8.49 tons in just 3 legs.

Vince Walsh lost 3-0  to Hampshire's Roy Brown. Vince had chances in the 1st leg but it slipped out of reach and his opponent grabbed it with the 18th dart. Roy Brown then deservedly demolished leg 2 in 15darts and leg 3 in 12 darts.  A rarely seen 170 finish concluded the match. Unlucky Vince luck of the draw syndrome. Roy Brown picked up Man of the Match award above World Lakeside contender Paul Hogan with a 33.40 average. Superb darts.

Phil Songhurst won 3-1 playing a Saturday's promotion player Rick Lowther (28.17ave) Phil hit 12.45 tons in 4 legs. Best leg was the 2nd scoring a 180 and closing in just 13 darts.

Clive Barden won 3-2. It was a good, tight game. After losing the 1st leg Clive took the next 3 in a row even though his opponent Jon Bramble was hot on his heels all the way. Great game under pressure.

Bob Linton lost 3-2 It was anyone's game at the end. On the day, they had the darts we had a chance and they won. Unlucky for some this was the thirteenth 5th leg defeat of the weekend.

Danny Russell lost 3-2. His opponent Paul Hogan,  the one nobody really wanted to draw. (Paul Hogan had such a good run in the Lakeside World Darts tournament earlier this month.) Danny played some great darts and each leg went with the dart throw advantage, except for the last when Paul turned the tables and took the last leg in 14 darts.

That's spooky the last leg was won in 14 darts and it was the 14th time we had lost the 5th leg this weekend.

Men's A 6 - 6

Kent  14     Hampshire 22

Match Report by Bernie Crouch