Nottinghamshire got the new season underway, in a closely contested match against Devon at home in September. The Ladies ‘B' gave the county a flying start, by winning 5-1 and our vice-captain Margaret Shipley receiving the Lady of the Match award with a fantastic 18.50. Also, congratulations have to go out to our new county player Eleanor Dunn, who despite understandable nerves, hit a 12.42 and went on to win 3-0 against Moira Mortimer.

The Mens ‘B' followed with the score being 5-5 after the 10th game but were unfortunate not to keep the momentum going and lost 5-7 overall.

The top average for the Mens ‘B' was well deserved and went to John Speed who had a magnificent game, winning 3-0 and hitting a 26.84. Another new player Chris Cooper also started well for the Mens ‘B' Team, by scoring a 24.68 and winning 3-1 against Alan Perry.

With the county winning 10-8 on the Saturday, we were all willing the 'A' teams success on the Sunday, but the day didn't start well for the Ladies ‘A', losing 2-4 in some hard-fought matches. Helen Harvey came back to her previous form by hitting a 23.95 and winning 3-2 against Merryl Jarman who had a 22.82 and hit two 180's. Helen secured her Lady of the Match award with this superb average and was awarded the top divisional average for the month. Helen wouldn't be needing her toothbrush that night!

This made the score 12-12 with the Mens ‘A' still to play, and looking at the Notts line up, we were all feeling confident. Another series of close matches followed with some fantastic darts from both teams, but in the end Devon managed to hit those doubles first and sneak a 5-7 win. The Man of the Match for the Sunday went to Paul Harvey who couldn't let Helen have all the glory, and made sure he hit a higher average than her with a 29.47 winning 3-0 against Andrew Taylor. The final score for the weekend was Nottinghamshire 17 – Devon 19.

Other high scoring players who missed out on the match awards were- B Team: Barbara McColl (16.41), Sheila Sellars (15.58), Chris Cooper (24.68), Tim Broadhurst (23.12) A Team: Nicola McNamara (19.07), Derek Shipley (28.42), Mark Dewsbury (28.36)

180's : Nicola McNamara (1), Tom Allies (1), Mickey Pitchford (1), Marc Dewsbury (1), Dave King (1)

October brought our first away match, against Wiltshire and again another close match transpired. The Ladies ‘B' who started the top of their division, were unable to carry on their success and they began the weekend by losing 4-2. New signing Eleanor Dunn had a fantastic game winning 3-1 with a 16.02 average, but just lost out on the Lady of the Match award which went to Sheila Sellars for a magnificent 17.03 against Karen White.

The Mens ‘A' who were missing a number of key players also struggled, despite some fantastic averages and in the end were unfortunate in losing 8-4. The only victors for the Men were Chris Cooper (24.04), Derek Shipley (25.05), Dave McGarry (26.84) and Jay Foreman - who after his fantastic performance the previous day, secured both the ‘B' and 'A' team Man of the Match titles with a 28.55 average in his 3-1 win against Mick Cummins. The final score for the weekend was Wiltshire 18 – Nottinghamshire 18.

180's : Reg Barton (2), Jay Foreman (2), Nick Barton (1), Dave Banks (1), Dave Brown (1), Dave King (1), Phil Rawson (1), Chris Cooper (1), Pete Dallman (1)

In other news, Nottinghamshire players have been performing well in BDO competitions for the first time in a while, with a number of our County players reaching a very high standard. Firstly, well done to Jay Foreman and Chris Cooper who both made the last 16 in the UK Open in Bridlington. Jay had a tough draw but saw off Mic hael Van Gerwin in the first round, and Brian Pecker Woods from Cumbria in the second round before being knocked out in the last 16 by the eventual winner Mick Reed. Chris Cooper beat Derbyshire rival Jim Beardsmore to get into the last 16 but was knocked out by Barrie Webb.

In the Kettering Open Dave Banks performed well by getting to the board final, but was eventually denied victory by Co Stompe who beat him 3-2.

In Super League news, congratulations to Fran Sharman from Arnold Ladies, who hit a magnificent 157 finish in their 7-0 win over Calverton Ladies.

Next County match is 4 th /5 th November at home to Pembrokeshire. Remember to keep up to date with the latest in Nottinghamshire Darts by visiting www.nottsdarts.co.uk.

Barbara McColl