COUNTY TEAM SHEET

AWAY TO

STAFFORDSHIRE on the 3^rd & 4^th  DEC 2005

 Please remember that players MUST BE REGISTERED for consideration for selection.

Match report and highlights from the Staffordshire match Sat/Sun 3rd & 4th.Dec.05

Ladies B Lisa Behan opened up our account with a win. Lisa pulled back from 2-1 down, hitting 4.7 tons in her last two legs to win 3-2.

Point number 2 came from Chris Austen winning 3-2.

Ged Carney took the ladies 3rd point convincingly. Straight in for the kill Ged hit 3.4 tons in her first 12 darts of the game. Having had a rest in the second leg Ged polished off the match winning 3-1 hitting 8.65 tons and scoring an average of 19.23.   Ged picked up Lady of the match again.  Well played Ged.

Ladies B 3 - 3

Mens B   Russ Herbert after a steady 1st leg fought back hard and played well but lost to Staffs man of the match Nigel Birch. 

Owen Olsinia stepped into the breech having had some R & R from the squad. Bombarded with tons from opponent Martin Wheawall, Owen kept enough pressure on to win 3-2 and had two 90+ out shots. Welcome back Owen.

Gary Ellis not on top form (as I know him) did enough to win 3-2 and showed a bit of magic with a 101 crucial shot out famously LARGED.

Paul McDine had one of two 3-0 wins for Mens B, tough game but swiftly over in 62 darts.

Lee Mant had the 2nd highest amount of tons in the Mens B but couldn't quite shake off his opponent.

Paul Farnes displayed some of the best clinical finishing I have seen in a long time. First 3 darts from Paul scored 39 and his opponent (Geoff Whitworth) replied with a 174 and I thought "we're in trouble here" . Lulled into a false sense of security, Paul turned the game into Match of the day. 3-0 to Paul, all legs were 18 darters and consistently, as each double turned up it was put away with one dart. His finale was a 151 finish (60 51 40) Well deserved man of the match. (27.83)

Mick Norris looked in trouble for a while and came back from 2-1 down to win 3-2. The 4th leg highlight was opponent Andy Williams missing double top and hitting double one instead, giving Mick a chance to check out a 103 finish (19 60 24).

Andy Howells went 3-2 down but had a great scoring game with no less than 15.00 tons. Doubles on the day were to, unfortunately, elude him. Andy's 2nd leg should have been the one to have given him a 3-0 win.   Scoring 100, 100, 100, 139 in 12 darts didn't quite do the trick. The 4th leg should have been the next one to have given him a  3-1 win.   Scoring 100, 100, 100, 45, 138 in 15 darts didn't quite do the trick either. Chalker and Caller errors, I believe, didn't help. Unlucky Andy.

Most games were evenly matched and very close, nip and tuck as we say. Staffordshire however managed to win the last 3 sets and finished Saturday 2 points in front.

Mens B 7 - 5 to Staffs

Saturday closed with a respectable 10-8 in Staffordshire's favour. (Same Saturday result as against Yorkshire last month !!)

Ladies A Tricia Wright did the Wright stuff again winning 3-0 and another award for the cabinet. (20.31) Well done Tricia.

Sally Cridland had a formidable opponent in Sarah Hall (currently 4th in Ladies A Premiership averages) however Sally cruised a 3-0 win with an 18.11 ave. Way to go Sal.

Jackie Holman had a similar game winning 3-0 with an 18.56 ave. Not many tons but the right amount of legs. Darts Jackie.

Sally Dowell & Hayley Plume both narrowly missed opportunities to sting the Staffs ladies 5-1. both games went all the way. The averages reflected how close the games were.  Sally (18.83) opponent Emma Pierce (18.84)   Hayley (20.08) opponent Sherrie Dodd (20.36)    

Ladies A 3 - 3

With the score sitting at 13 - 11 to Staffs it looked like we had got a fight on our hands to achieve a draw. Enter the artillery and a very different story to tell this month.

Mens A  Phil Wanstall won 3-2

Vince Walsh won 3-0 Vince had a cracking game and polished off his opponent in 54 darts (27.83)

Gary Riley won 3-2 on great form using all his 5 legs to demonstrate top darts including a 15 & 14 dart finish. Game shots of 104 & 97 respectively.

Clive Barden won 3-2 had a terrific game and his 3 winning legs lasted just 50 darts (27.78)

Phil Blackwell won 3-1 great 1st leg with only 13 darts.

Kirk Shepherd won 3 - 0 leaving his opponent dazed after belting in two 180s in the first 9 darts and sinking the finish in the next 3. Entertaining both sides, 9 darts later in goes another 180. Great game, landing Kirk Man of the Match. (30.67)

Halfway through the Mens A game, Staffordshire's  safety net of 2 clear points had been demolished to a 4 point deficit.

Graham Judge drew Staffs best player on the day. Graham's average of 27.26 would have surely beaten any one of the other 11 players in Staffs A squad. His opponent Martin Homer pulled off the 5th and deciding leg with a score of 340 in the first 9 darts and checked out in a total of 15 darts with a "no mercy" treble 20, single 1 and double top.

Captain Paul Wratten clinched the point that gave Kent a minimum of a draw with a 3-0 win. leaving any one of 3 players remaining to win the match point. (We didn't have to wait long)

Phil Songhurst on consistent form hit 4 tons in a row followed by 61 to leave tops in 1st leg and that was the leg he lost. Undeterred Phil battled on to win 3-2 giving Kent the 19th set point.

Danny Russell, in the 1st leg, hit 403 in 12 darts and never had another shot. Unshaken, Danny took the next 3 legs to win the last set of the day.

Mens A 3 - 9 to Kent

Staffordshire  16     Kent 20

A much welcomed win as we go 2nd in the battle at the top of the Premiership.

Match Report by Bernie Crouch