DARTS: Oxon ace Larner beats ex-world champ (From Bicester Advertiser)

DARTS: Oxon ace Larner beats ex-world champ

10:00am Tuesday 12th February 2013 in Sport

Ade Larner claimed the scalp of former world champion John ‘Boy’ Walton as Oxfordshire gave mighty Yorkshire a run for their money in thir BDO Inter-Counties Championship Premier Division match at Castleford.

Leaders Yorkshire, who boasted BDO world champion Scott Waites in their star-studded side, triumphed 22-14 but were given a few scares by an Oxon side containing two teenagers.

There was a brilliant display from Oxon’s ladies, with the B team drawing and the A string triumphing 4-2.

In the opening match, Oxon ladies B held Yorkshire to 3-3 with wins from wins from Nicola Curzon, 18-year-old Tasha Bourton and their lady of the match, Julie Newman, who averaged 18.70.

In the men’s B match, Yorkshire put in a tremendous performance winning 9-3 with a team average of 25.69.

The Oxfordshire winners were Damien Kidd (25.48), Dion Newman (25.63) and their man-of-the-match, 16-year-old-year old Josh McCarthy (28.11) on his debut.

Team manager Graham Manning just missed out 4-3, despite hitting 16 tons in his game.

Oxon went into Sunday’s games trailing 12-6, but the ladies A team pulled it back to 14-10 with a notable 4-2 success.

Sandra Cox and Kim Ledbury won the first two games , but Oxon lost the next when England international Lorraine Farlem beat Clare Bywaters Fiona Carmichael made it 3-1 before Deta Hedman sealed the victory with an average of 25.91 in the last leg.

Oxon men’s A faced a Yorkshire side that not only included Waites and Walton, but three other international players in Gary Thompson, Martin Atkins and James Wilson.

Thompson produced a winning average of 31.81, with two 180s and a 160-check-out in beating Stuart White.

Jon Jukes pulled one back for Oxon before a battling Stuart Dutton went down only 4-2 to reigning world champion Waites.

Yorkshire won the next two games, with Wilson averaging 31.81 against Pete Hall. Dennis Smith and man-of- the-match Preben Krabben recorded wins for Oxon, whose other success memorably came from Larner, who trounced Walton 4-1.

He could not stop Yorkshire men’s A taking the match 8-4 for an overall 22-14 scoreline.

But Oxon tested them in a match which included 564 tons and 32 maximums.