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A
fresh new season of the BDO
British Inter County Championships. Our
visiting opponents, Middlesex, have joined us via promotion from division one.
According to my research it is about six years since Kent have played against
Middlesex, and coincidentally, six years since Middlesex were last in the
Premiership. After a strong season, Middlesex will no doubt be looking to stamp
their mark of success in the Premiership. Middlesex Ladies finished top in both
A and B sections so en-guard Kent Ladies.
Game on ! !
Ladies B
Julie Scott was drawn out first. At the end of
four nip and tuck legs it was 2 - 2 and after a marathon last leg, Julie gave
Kent their first point for the weekend. All five legs went against the throw
advantage. Well done Julie.
Emma Little suffered an unlucky draw as
opponent Malika Lucas took 3 straight legs and Lady of the match with an 18.11
average.
Jakki Ellis played well against evenly matched
Lisa Brosnan. Jakki won 3-1 and was Lady of the match with an 18.49 average.
(Lisa Brosnan 18.47ave.) Well done Jakki.
Vicky Almond played well against evenly
matched Anita Daly. Unfortunately Vicky lost 3-1, in a role reversal game, to
Jakki's. Vicky's ave. 17.11.
Ged Carney lost 3-2 with an average of 15.68
to Coreen Loffler 15.84. It was all on the last leg but Coreen made good use of
the darts advantage and checked out to win the point in the exact same way as
her previous colleague Anita had done Double Top 2nd dart.
Delph Whitcombe got off to a flying on her
Kent Debut and 3 legs later was the proud owner of another point for Kent.
Bringing the Ladies B to a 3 all draw. Ave 15.34. Well done Delph.
Ladies B 3 - 3
Men's B
Lewis McGurn won 3-1 in the 1st game for the
men's B. Cracking first leg average of 27.83 and a 110 out shot. By the time he
had thrown 3 more darts in the 2nd leg his average was up to 31.14. Great start
to the men's B. Final average settled at 25.18. Well played Lewis.
Phil Wanstall started the 2nd game like a
greyhound out of trap 1. It would have been a comfortable 3-0 win had it not
been for Middlesex's Mike Seagar who produced almost identical darts. An
excellent game of darts producing 30.10 tons between them, two 180s and a 135
finish from Mike. Phil had the darts advantage and although he threw some great
darts he needed the advantage to grab the last leg to win 3-2. The entire 5 legs
was just 76 darts long for Phil. Man of the match and well earned.
After just witnessing Mike Segar's strength in
darts you could be forgiven to think he was the B sides best and probably due
for promotion to the A. Enter Scott Robertson. Vince threw his first 12 darts
and was almost shell shocked to realise he was 1 leg down and 138 behind in the
2nd leg. Vince recovered and won the 3rd leg but although Scott had slowed from
his early pace he clinically put the 4th leg to bed taking the point for
Middlesex and Man of the Match with an average of 30.44.
Steve Collins won 3-0. Achieving the 2nd leg
against the throw with a nice 17 darter.
Andy Howell lost 3-2 in a steady battle that
favoured the darts advantage. Opponent Steve Hyatt managed to go up a gear for
the last and best leg of the game finishing in just 16 darts.
Ross Smith lost 3-0 and although Ross hit a
180 in the 1st leg and had a few chances at doubles, opponent Peter Stokes
cleaned up as soon as his chances were available.
Luke Ellis won 3-1 opening his account with a
17 darter and held control of the 2nd and 4th leg to bring in another point.
Paul Farnes won 3-0 on great form with a 28.36
average. Nice 105 finish 2nd leg. Well played Paul.
Bob Fuller won 3-1. After a steady start, Bob
was half way through the 2nd leg when he found his mark and picked up a gear to
take legs 2, 3 & 4 in 3 no nonsense finishes.
Nigel Payne played George McKie and they
tested each others skills to the full. Nigel maximized his darts advantage by
nicking the 1st leg with a fantastic 130 out shot. 2nd leg went to George in 21
darts keeping the win with the darts. 3rd leg saw an attempt by George to break
the advantage with a 177, but Nigel's steady stream of tons kept him ahead
enough to make it 2-1. 4th leg saw a role reversal where Nigel started with a
180 but George piled on 3 tons and a 125 in reply giving him the opportunity to
square the game 2 all. 5th leg, no room for errors, Nigel cleaned up the point
just before George had the chance to take out his remaining 36, which, I'm sure
he would have. Well played Nigel
Graham Judge lost 3-2 as Terry Andrews put
the last leg away with a 111 finish. Of the 2 legs Graham won he left Terry on
151 and 176. That dart advantage we so often see really is an advantage at this
level of darts. Can't argue with the finish, Unlucky Graham with a 27.13 ave.
Conan Whitehead won 3-1 setting the pace with
a 93 finish in an 18 dart 1st leg. As Conan's foot came off the accelerator
opponent Gavin Harrison chalked up some good scores and in his own time grabbed
the 2nd leg. Conan lifted the 3rd Leg and was back on the pedal for the 4th leg
scoring 3 ton +s and checking out on double 10 with a dart to spare.
Mens B 8 - 4 to Kent
Saturday closed with a 11 - 7 score line in
Kent's favour
Ladies A
Wendy Wanstall lost 3-1 and could have won 3-0
but for elusive doubles. Nice 180 in the 1st leg. Lisa Norton ended the 1st leg
in 39 darts. Bad luck with most attempts for doubles right on the wire.
Tricia Wright won 3-1 won in a match where
Tricia didn't really settle into her normal game. In an almost unheard of 42
dart last leg both Tricia and Sharon must have been pleased to see the back of
it, as the infamous double one leeched the darts from each player. Even so, they
still both finished with 17 plus averages.
Marlene Badger lost 3-2 to Maggie Sutton in a
battle of giants. Marlene had seen off a 103 finish in a 15 dart leg and yet
amazingly the last leg took 39 of Maggie's darts to clinch victory. Even after
the painful last leg Marlene still walked off with a very respectable 20.23
average.
Speedy Lisa Behan won 3-0 After a drawn out
38 darts 1st leg, (and it seemed like everyone was going to have at least one),
Lisa increased the scoring pace in the 2nd leg and thumped in a 180 at a crucial
point of the leg, giving a well earned opportunity to pick off the double. Full
steam ahead for the 3rd leg checking out after 16 darts. (16 darts in Lisa's
darts throwing time, that's about 13.4 seconds) Well done Lisa 19.03 ave.
Jackie Holman won 3-1 against "just married"
Deniece Lewis. A steady game and as I mentioned it seemed like everyone was
going to have one dodgy leg and Jackie's was no exception, 48 darts into the 2nd
leg and that leeching old double one got it's comeuppance. I reckon Deniece was
thinking about her honeymoon not sure what Jackie was thinking about? Never mind
a point is a point. Well done Jackie.
Sally Dowell won 3-1 and had arguably the
toughest draw in Sonia Duffy. A quick paced 1st leg saw Sonia drawing 1st blood.
Sally came back with the next 2 legs, leaving Sonia's challenge out of reach.
The 4th leg was up for grabs by either one at the end, but Sally made the right
move on double 10 and broke today's Ladies ritual by walking off the stage
without a limp. (All the others had one long leg).
Ladies A 4 - 2
to Kent
Mens A
Paul Wratten won 3-2. 1st up for Men's A. Paul
warmed up as the game progressed and ended on a high with a 180 and a 13 dart
finish in the 5th leg.
Lee Guildford won 3-2 using the darts
advantage taking 1st, 3rd and 5th legs.
Gary Riley lost 3-0. In the 2nd leg Gary
scored 451 in 11 darts and just missed the bullseye, but opponent Alan Taylor
checked out 81 six darts later punishing Gary's subsequent near misses.
Pip Blackwell won 3-2 in a game where opponent
Mick Doabe gave him a real run for his money. Mick never threw more than 18
darts in any of the 5 legs he played in, and he won the first 2. Pip squared the
game 2 all but looked dead and buried in the last leg as Mick hit two 140s in a
row compared with Pip's two 40s in a row. Pip, having lost his advantage by
almost 200 hit a 60 followed by a 60 from Mick, It's all over, I thought, how
can you claw back this deficit over half way through a game with players of this
calibre, this is how, Pip hits two 140s in a row, Mick faltered and hit a 27 and
a 43, Pip shoots for 81 hitting treble 19 and misses double 12 and double 6.
Mick has 91 and hits treble 17 and misses double top and double 10 and Pip
checks out double 12 in one dart. Take note: It aint over till the fat lady
sings. Great game to watch.
Gary Ellis lost 3-1 in a close battle to
Middlesex Captain Mark Haggerty. At 1-1 Gary looked comfortable and started the
3rd leg with a great 180, but 9 darts later Mark returned the compliment and
bumped in a 180 for himself. Mark went on to win that leg and the next. Gary's
average 26.97.
Mick Norris won 3-0 Giving opponent Jamie
Saddler little chance to contest any of the 3 legs. 28.36 ave.
Steve Douglas met a match in Ben Stevenson
losing 3-2 in a, common occurring, win by dart advantage. Ben winning 1st, 3rd
and 5th legs.
Robbie Turner won 3-1 piling the pressure on
in the last 2 legs of the game.
Paul Dawkins won 3-1. Paul hit 12.08 tons in
the 4 legs and checked out the winning leg on 93. Well played Paul. 29.24 ave.
Lee Mant played "Just Married" Gary Lewis (the
other half) but Gary's mind was definitely on his darts. 1st leg was a 15 dart
leg and Gary went 100, 100, 140, 45, and 116 checkout, breaking Lee's dart
advantage. Unperturbed, Lee replied with a 14 darter like this 135, 100, 100,
126 and 40 checkout breaking back his advantage. Gary won the 3rd breaking back
and Lee won the 4th breaking back again. 5th Leg and Lee to throw, alas no
wedding gift from Lee as the 1st 12 darts rip 465 of the total and the remaining
36 was cleared from the home side score board after the next throw. Lee's
average 29.55. Great game Lee well played. Man of the Match.
Gavin Forsyth won 3-1 After going 1-0 down
Gavin won 3 legs in a row with a 180 in 2nd leg and a 15 darter 3rd leg. Gavin's
average 27.66.
Last but not least Clive Barden stormed into
the 1st leg with a 100, 100, 140 against Ritchie Davis and it appeared to be
uncontested by a 43, 81 and 45 response but all was not as it 1st appeared.
Ritchie made a massive recovery with a couple of tons and finished the 1st leg
as Clive tried to remember if he had run over a Robin on the way. The 2nd leg
favoured Ritchie from the start and a 123 and 140 set up the leg for another
win. Leg 3 and Ritchie was on a roll as a 180 gave him the lead. Clive clawed
back and after a missed finish by Ritchie, Clive secured the 3rd leg. The 4th
leg was close but Ritchie denied Clive a chance of an 82 shot out to equalise by
finishing himself with a 102 checkout. Fair play to Ritchie, he must have known
it was now or never.
Men's A 8 - 4
Kent 23 Middlesex 13
Well played Kent.
This first game result has given us a great
start to the season, we face a strong Essex side next month on their own ground,
beware of the easy games, there are none. Make every opportunity a positive one.
Match Report by Bernie Crouch
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