WILTSHIRE’S hopes of promotion took another severe blow as they were held to a surprise 18-18 home draw by Tyne & Wear in their latest British Darts Organisation Division Four inter-county championship match, writes DAVE EATON.

The hosts were 18-15 down overall at the Moonrakers with only three men’s A match games remaining before teenage prospects Tony Clark and Adam Wills (man of the match) recorded fine wins to set up a last match decider.

And an emotional Richie Jones, who recently lost his father, battled his way to a hard-fought 3-1 victory to snatch a share of the spoils.

The draw kept Wiltshire’s unbeaten record this season intact, but they have drawn four of their six matches.

They are 22 points adrift of leaders Avon (West of England), eight behind Leicestershire and one behind Cleveland with three matches to go.

Those are against Breconshire, Gloucestershire and Humberside, all in the bottom four, while the top three, Avon, Leicestershire and Cleveland have still to meet, paving a possible route for Wiltshire to gain promotion.

Wiltshire go to Llandovery, Dyfed, on March 7-8 to face Breconshire.

RESULTS

(Wilts names first)

B MATCH Ladies: Heather Lane (16.32) lost to E Casey (16.48) 2-3; Allyson Thomson (14.73, LoM) beat M Cullen (15.09) 3-0; Jill Little (18.15) lost to C Proctor (19.78, LoM) 0-3; Rachel Hutton (12.74) beat B Ryan (12.84) 3-0; Erica Hartnett (12.82) lost to P Davidson (12.15) 2-3; Cat Mackie (13.26) beat K Wilcock (12.68) 3-1.

Score: Wilts 3 Tyne & Wear 3 Men: Mark Sculley (20.59) beat A Slight (17.79) 3-0; Richard Ettwell (22.57) beat M Wood (22.61) 3-1; Robert Higginson (19.03) lost to T Chaters (20.73) 2-3; Matty Royle (25.37, MoM) beat S Hogg (24.24) 3-2; Michael Duggan (22.50) lost to N Rose (23.86) 0-3; Adi Acott (19.53) lost to C Royle (19.76) 2-3; Neville Moore (24.24) beat M Quinn (16.86) 3-0; Peter Harris (21.57) beat N Purvis (20.02) 3-1; Dave Gould (22.93) beat A King (21.31) 3-1; Matt Aubrey (23.86) beat A Harris (17.75) 3-0; Anthony Gray (20.16) beat L Rump (18.42) 3-1; Terry Paget (21.83) lost to G Dunn (26.84, MoM) 0-3.

Score: Wilts 8 Tyne & Wear 4 B Match Result: Wiltshire 11 Tyne & Wear 7 A MATCH Ladies: Jane Jenkins (20.13) lost to A Potts (21.27) 2-3; Karen Hutton (17.37) lost to J Wood (17.93) 1-3; Ann Paget (19.79, LoM) beat V Younger (18.34) 3-1; Joanne Little (16.16) beat C Allen (14.48) 3-0; Tina Rowlands (20.97) lost to S Edwards (24.55, LoM) 1-3; Carol Bowers (15.68) lost to M Purvis (16.57) 1-3.

Score: Wilts 2 Tyne & Wear 4 Men: Ron Ashton (21.00) lost to P McGowan (22.69) 1-3; Paul Boulton (22.37) lost to J Hepton (27.33) 0-3; Chris Bailey (19.79) lost to D Bullerwell (22.43) 0-3; Ian Greenaway (25.05) beat P Hodge (24.54) 3-0; Bob Phillips (19.67) lost to S McParlin (24.24) 0-3; Chris Aubrey (21.90) beat P Morrison (22.61) 3-1; Bob Bowers (22.29) lost to S Newton (22.75) 1-3; Juan Hopkins (26.57) lost to P Williams (30.67, MoM) 0-3; Mark Thomson (27.05) lost to A Chalmers (26.80) 2-3; Tony Clark (24.27) beat C Lisle (25.23) 3-2; Adam Wills (27.88) beat B Duncan (22.99) 3-1; Richie Jones (23.93) beat D Stokell (24.03) 3-1.

Score: Wilts 5 Tyne & Wear 7 A Match result: Wilts 7 Tyne & Wear 11 Overall result: Wiltshire 18 Tyne & Wear 18 (Three bonus points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw – therefore the final score is 19-19).

Other Division Four results (inc bonus points): Avon (WoE) 27 Breconshire 12; Gloucestershire 19 Shropshire 19; Humberside 24 Cleveland 15; Isle of Wight 16 Leicestershire 23.

Standings: 1 Avon (WoE) 147pts; 2 Leics 133; 3 Cleveland 126; 4 Wilts 125; 5 Tyne & Wear 122; 6 Shropshire 113; 7 Humberside 112; 8 Glos 103; 9 Brecon 100; 10 IoW 79.

Next matches - March 7/8: Brecon v Wilts; Cleveland v IoW; Glos v Humberside; Leics v Avon (WoE); Tyne & Wear v Shropshire.