Round 1
South Australia v Queensland
Queensland had a few former South Australians in their ranks so this was always going to be a juicy tie. The opening set was a chase from 801 with Maureen Homer, Juanita Barke and Jaimie Lober competing in the first leg against the South Australian trio of Abbey and Lyn Morrison and Jules Taylor. The South Australians held throw with both Morrisons registering ton / ton plus visits (Lyn 140 and Abbey 100) along the way and Abbey checking out 67. They had led well through the leg but a 98 visit from Homer was backed up with a 122 from Barke and 100 from Loeber leaving the Queenslanders just 76 behind their opponents at the end of the set. Amanda Loch, Melina Van den Kieboom and Jackie Marks then stepped up for Queensland and won the next set to tie the match up at one set all, defeating South Australia’s Kym Mitchell, Alecia Ritchie and Hayley Davis. Loch started with 100 was bettered by a single point with Mitchell’s 101 opening. Marks opened her account with a ton whilst Van den Kieboom scored 95 at her second visit to the Oche. A 140 from Loch two visits later (matching the leg high score of Davis) was followed by another 95 from Van den Kieboom and a 140 from Marks. Queensland had powered ahead and Loch cleaned up the 24 needed to move the match to one set all. The match then reverted to best of three leg 501 sets with two players and Loch and Van den Kieboom stood up at the oche against Ritchie and Davis. Only Ritchie had a three-digit visit in this leg but it was Queensland who got to a successful check out dart first, Van den Kieboom putting her side up in the set. Against the throw Loch opened with 81 and Van den Kieboom 133 to give them a strong lead which was never headed, despite Davis’s 100 penultimate team visit. Loch checked out with a visit of 54 to take the third set. Michelle McGarry and Seini Vakanofiti then took up the battle against Lyn Morrison and Jules Taylor of South Australia and the Queenslanders easily held throw. However, the second leg did not go their way and instead it was a comfortable win for South Australia. To stay in the match South Australia had to break the Queensland throw and with Vakanofiti leaving 64 after attempting a difficult 146 check out Taylor stepped out and check out 63 to give South Australia the leg and tie things up at 2 sets all. Jaimie Loeber and Jackie Marks started the next set for Queensland against the formidable pairing of Kym Mitchell and Abbey Morrison. An opening of 80 (Loeber) and 140 (Marks) helped set them on their way and despite a few hiccups at the end they held throw to move a leg away from the match once more. The next leg went comfortably to Morrison and Mitchell with Abbey securing a ton on her last visit and Mitchell doing the same to check out the leg and tie the match up once more. The last leg saw consistent throwing from the Queensland due draw themselves to a check out first and Loeber was able to put the match away with her team’s 20th dart of the leg. The singles saw Abbey Morrison hold throw against Melina Van den Kieboom in 13 remarkable darts before breaking her opponent. Both players then spurned multiple darts at the next leg but double 7 was Van den Kieboom’s friend at the end to keep her in the set. When she failed to convert 100, she left 40, she opened the door for Morrison who came through it, landed her dart in the double twenty bed and took the set. Amanda Loch took on Kym Mitchell and both players struggled to put away the opening leg but against the throw Mitchell eventually triumphed. She was unable to hold throw to Loch in the next leg and when Loch did hold throw in the next leg Mitchell found herself behind. Loch then piled the pressure on with a maximum on her third visit and with double 16 she triumphed over Mitchell. Maureen Homer then defeated Jules Taylor 3-0 without giving her opponent a dart at a check out. Hayley Davis started to stop the momentum of the Queensland team as she took the throw from Jaimie Loeber. She then held on to win the next leg as both players missed multiple chances to take the leg. With Loeber holding throw in the third leg Davis came through in the fourth, eventually throwing double twenty for the set. In the tenth set Jackie Marks held her opening throw against Lyn Morrison before stealing the South Australian’s throw in the following leg, a leg Morrison should have won comfortably. Morrison was able to do that job in the following leg to move within a leg of her opponent but Marks broke her straight back in the following leg to take the set 3-1. Alecia Ritchie wanted to finish strong and a 130 check out in her first leg against Juanita Barke demonstrated that. She then broke the Barke throw when the Queenslander failed to take out 40, 26 and eight and she stepped up (having missed out on 40) and threw double 16 for the set win.
Queensland 6 South Australia 5 (0-1, 1-0, 2-0, 1-2, 2-1, 1-3, 3-1, 3-0, 1-3, 3-1, 0-3)
In other matches in Round One:
Western Australia v New South Wales
NSW started strongly and won their opening 801 match against Western Australia thanks to Emily Austin, Sarah Harrison and Andrea Hendley, only for Natalie Carter, Angela Clarke and Evelyn Cockie to return serve by taking out the second 801 trios tussle for WA. Sarah Harrison and Austin won their doubles two nil before Melissa Harrison and Hendley did the same to give NSW a 3-1 lead and the smell of an upset in the air. Cockie and Dot McLeod won their doubles 2-0 so it was up to the singles. Every WA singles player won their match with Gemma Spence (two), Michelle Hall and Sarah Harrison (one each) winning legs off their opponents.
Western Australia 7 NSW 4 (0-1, 1-0, 0-2, 0-2, 2-0, 3-1, 0-3, 3-2, 3-0, 3-1, 3-1)
Victoria v Tasmania
Victoria won both their 801 trios sets with Jo Hadley, Kate Gifford and Karen Richardson combining in the first whilst Kayleigh Pickett, Janine Cassar and Sheryll Beasy did the job in the second. Tasmania fought back in the third set with Courtney Slater and Lee-Anne Faulkner winning 2-1 in the doubles although Pickett and Gifford had opportunities to win all three legs. The Victorians returned to winning ways through Jo Hadley and Janine Cassar (although Tammy Wilson and Emma Watkins won the first leg), before Darlene Carver and Sandra Smith dropped the first leg only to win the next two over Richardson and Beasy to take the set for Tasmania’s second set of the match. In the singles Cassar and Faulkner produced a tight match with only one leg being a blow out, Cassar going two sets up and then conceding two before overcoming Faulkner in the fifth leg to win 3-2. Jo Hadley then dropped a leg to Courtney Slater before snatching the next out of Slater’s hands and finishing off legs three and four. Things were looking good for Victoria but they dropped the last four matches, Carver winning 3-0 over Pickett, Smith 3-1 over Beasy, Watkins 3-1 over Christina Aspalt and Tammy Wilson 3-2 over Karen Richardson, thus giving the match to Tasmania 6-5 after they were really 2-5 down in sets.
Tasmania 6 Victoria 5 (0-1, 0-1, 2-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-3, 1-3, 3-0, 3-1, 3-1, 3-2)
Round 2
New South Wales v Tasmania
Tasmania’s strong run continued in the second round of matches as they defeated NSW 9-2. NSW had the first darts at a check out but Michelle Hall and Melissa Harrison missed out on opportunities at 8 and Courtney Slater pounced with a 74 check out to win the trios first set for Tasmania. They then doubled that advantage when Sandra Smith finished off earlier good work from Darlene Carver (121 and 100) and Tammy Wilson (100) to check out 86 for a two-set lead. In the doubles Emma Watkins and Tammy Wilson held throw after Emily Austin left 10 chasing a 64 checkout. Austin and Sarah Harrison then held throw, Austin cleaning up the 25 left by Harrison when she missed the bull attempting an 81 checkout. Watkins and Wilson then kept the match on throw in the last leg, securing the set two legs to one. Gemma Spence and Michelle Hall won their first leg against the throw, highlighted by a 121 visit from Hall. Slater and Lee-Anne Faulkner then took the advantage straight back, Slater almost gaining a Shanghai before Faulkner stepped up and cleaned up the remaining twenty points. Both sides then missed opportunities for the leg but Slater and Faulkner spurned the most and would have been relieved when Faulkner finally got the double to win them the set. Melissa Harrison and Andrea Hendley then broke the Tasmanian throw at the first attempt in the next match before Sandra Smith and Darlene Carver broke straight back. They then took the final leg but the NSW ladies came to rue missed chances for the match in their last two visits. Austin then completed a 19-dart leg to break the throw of Slater only to lose it immediately, having left 30 on the board trying to check out 40. She then had a few nervous visits to the oche before she broke Slater again and this time she followed it up on her own throw with a 17-dart leg win, including opening with a maximum and securing two visits of 100 in her next three trips to the oche. Sarah Harrison then produced a 3-0 result but Emma Watkins would have been disappointed to have missed out on taking her opportunities in the first and third leg. Deanne Carver had triple digit visits in all of her legs as she defeated Andrea Hendley 3-0. Melissa Harrison held her throw in the first leg before dropping the next two legs (she had got away with her misses in leg one but in leg three it bit hard) A 140 on her sixth visit set Harrison up well in the next leg, and she gratefully accepted the break of throw opportunity presented to her but then failed to hold her own throw in the last leg and Lee-Anne Faulkner gained the set for Tasmania. Amanda Palka then held throw in a difficult first leg against Sandra Smith before Smith held her throw in 21 darts, including a visit of 171 and a 99 checkout. Another long leg on the Palka throw went Smith’s way and she then held throw to win the leg 3-1. Tammy Wilson rounded out the match with a 3-0 win over Katrina McNaught although the New South Welsh woman had opportunities in the last two legs to take them off her opponent.
Tasmania 9 New South Wales 2 (1-0, 1-0, 2-1, 2-1, 2-1, 1-3, 0-3, 3-0, 3-2, 3-1, 3-0)
In other Round Two matches:
Western Australia v South Australia
Western Australia opened their match against South Australia by taking out the first trios match after Jules Taylor left 20 on the board and Tamara Brown took full advantage with a 62 check out. Angela Ritchie then busted a dart at 20 to give Angela Clarke darts at the mad house after her two WA teammates had busted at the same target. Clarke took out the double one to give WA a two-set lead. Kim Mitchell and Abbey Morrison then threw away multiple visits at a check out that gave Jucinta Dann enough of an opportunity to take the first leg in their doubles match before her playing partner Tamara Brown checked out 58 after Dann had busted trying to check out the same on the West Australian’s previous visit. Clarke and Natalie Carter then won their double match 2-0 before Alecia Ritchie and Hayley Davis were finally able to win a leg for South Australia (albeit their opponents busted three attempts at double eight) and then broke their opponents throw to secure the set 2-0. Alecia Ritchie then won her singles match 3-1 for South Australia and they were soon on a roll as Hayley Davis saw off the threat of Jacinta Dann, winning the deciding leg comfortably. Angela Clarke swung things back WA’s way with a 3-0 win (including a 116 check out against the Mitchell throw in the second leg.) Lyn Morrison won another match for SA, taking it out 3-0 and finishing the set with a 15-dart leg including consecutive visits of 125, 100, 140 and a check out of 81. Abbey Morrison came from behind twice against Martekea Wilson to win 3-2 and Evelyn Cockie took the opportunities presented to her by Jules Taylor’s missed chances at checkouts to win her set 3-0. This final match was crucial as it handed Western Australia the match six legs to five.
Western Australia 6 South Australia 5 (1-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-0, 0-2, 1-3, 2-3, 3-0, 0-3, 2-3, 3-0)
Victoria v Queensland
Victoria opened up by winning both trios sets but both could have been taken by Queensland. Amanda Loch and Melina Van den Kieboom plus Maureen Homer and Jackie Marks won their doubles matches without conceding a leg for Queensland before Jo Hadley and Janine Cassar did the same for Victoria. Kayleigh Pickett and Karen Richardson both picked up 3-1 wins for Victoria whilst the same scoreline went the way of Amanda Loch against Janine Cassar. Other Queensland wins included whitewashes to Jackie Marks and Seini Vakanofiti. The last match would decide the tie and it fittingly went to a deciding leg between Jaime Loeber (who had led 1-0 and 2-1) and Jo Hadley. Loebre threw a 137 to leave 22 but in two visits did not take the leg out and instead Hadley checked out 57 to hand her team the match win.
Victoria 6 Queensland 5 (1-0, 1-0, 0-2, 0-2, 2-0, 3-1, 1-3, 0-3. 0-3, 3-1, 3-2)
Round 3
Victoria v Western Australia
Victoria swept the trios sets as Christina Aspalt made the most of the opportunity to check out 19 handed to her when Tamara left 20 chasing a 50 check out. The second set saw West Australia’s Evelyn Cockie spurn a chance and Janine Cassar made the most for the V, collecting 32 on her next visit to take her side to a two-set lead. Despite two-ton visits from Janine Cassar and another from Jo Hadley the Victorians failed to take the first leg of their doubles match but when Cockie missed the bull for a 121 check out they pounced to complete a 16-dart leg (both players having thrown 140s in this leg.) The Victorians then held off their opponents comfortably and could even afford a bust of throw along the way before coming away with the set win. Angela Clarke and Natalie Carter then continued their good form by winning their set 2-0 with Tamara Brown and Jucinta Dann doing the same for team WA. The singles action saw Karen Richardson steel the first leg but then return the favour by missing out on a check out of ten. Tamara Brown had the momentum and despite poor finishing in the next two legs she still came away with wins in both to take the set 3-1. Cassar then took a two-leg lead in her match before conceding the third leg. On throw she was able to take the match with a 120 check out at the end the highlight. Natalie Carter then came out and did a job on her opponent, comfortably winning each leg to take the set three nil. Clarke then failed to give her opponent a single shot at a double over the three legs they played. Jo Hadley tried to steady the ship for Victoria as both of the first two legs in her set stayed on throw. Hadley then held throw in 18 darts including a 116 check out but blew multiple chances in the next leg and let Martekea Wilson back in. Not only did Wilson take that opportunity but she went on to comfortably win the final leg and thus secured the set for Western Australia. Evelyn Cockie won the first leg in her singles match in 18 darts, highlighted by consecutive visits of 121 and 125. She then held throw before Kayleigh Pickett held her own throw (although she struggled to check it out.) Cockie held throw in the final leg to take the set 3-1.
Western Australia 7 Victoria 4 (0-1, 0-1, 1-2, 2-0, 2-0, 3-1, 1-3, 3-0, 3-0, 3-2, 3-1)
In other matches in Round 3:
Queensland v Tasmania
Queensland opened by winning both trios matches although in the second one Tasmania did get down to 32. Queensland’s Amanda Loch and Melina Van den Kieboom won their doubles set to nil, although Courtney Slater and Lee-Anne Faulkner would have been upset to lose the first leg. Tammy Wilson and Emma Watkins did win a leg for Tasmania and were also deep into the other two legs but lost out to Michelle McGarry and Seini Vakanofiti 3-1. Darlene Carver and Sandra Smith did with their doubles set to take Tasmania’s first and only multiperson set in this match. Van den Kieboom then came from 0-1 and 1-2 behind to take her singles win over Faulkner, whilst doubles partner Loch defeated Watkins 3-1. Darlene Carver (Tas) and Jackie Marks and Michelle McGarry (Qld) all won their singles matches 3-0 whilst Slater secured Tasmania’s final leg of the day by defeating Vakanofiti although she threw away a two nil leg lead only to just win the deciding leg.
Queensland 8 Tasmania 3 (1-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 0-2, 3-2, 3-1, 0-3, 2-3, 3-0, 3-0)
South Australia v New South Wales
This was a very close affair that saw New South Wales come away with the overall match. NSW won both trios matches, leaving South Australia standing behind them needing tops on both occasions. Alecia Ritchie and Hayley Davis then won their doubles match despite dropping the first leg to Melissa Harrison and Andrea Hendley. Sarah Harrison and Emily Austin then dropped a leg to Lyn Morrison and Danni Ainsworth only to do the same as in the previous match and come back and win consecutive legs to take the set for NSW. Remarkably Gemma Spence and Michelle Hall did the same in the finals double match, winning 2-1 but Kym Mitchell and Abbey Morrison had chances in both of the last two legs to take the set for South Australia. Austin then came out and was comprehensive in her 3-0 win over Mitchell. Abbey Morrison defeated Melissa Harrison 3-2 whilst Sarah Harrison lost by the same to Alecia Ritchie (Sarah Harrison having been 2-0 up.) Gemma Spence took the first leg in her singles match only to lose out on the next three to Hayley Davis whilst Andrea Hendley had more success for NSW as she won her deciding leg against Lyn Morrison. Dannie Ainsworth cleaned her match by three legs to nil but it was too little too late for South Australia
New South Wales 6 South Australia 5 (1-0, 1-0, 1-2, 2-1, 2-1, 3-0, 2-3, 2-3, 1-3, 3-2, 0-3)
At the end of the day Gaye Dejun, Queensland Ladies team manager summed up the day for her side,
“It has been a really good day – overall we have been doing pretty well. The team has been good, we are getting the results it has been a good day.
“All the games are tough and there are no easy games – you can’t rest on your laurels so it has been a good standard of competition.
“Everybody knows that this is the team event part of the week. They can focus on individual stuff later. So up until this point it has been all about the team and it has been great!”