Salopian began the day of their fifth Division Three fixture in the UKDA National League fourth in the table with 102 points, one point more and one place above their hosts Breconshire but with the added bonus of a game in hand, however, that was not how it finished.
For the ladies ‘B’ it was a bit of a disaster as they fell to a 5-1 defeat with only opener Sue Lane putting up any resistance to the Breconshire charge. Sue Lane beat Lynne Layton 3-2 and her 12.88 average plus the fact she was the solitary winner saw he collect the lady of the match award.
After Sue’s win Helen Kerry won 3-2 against Karen Weston, Sharon Hill beat Racheal Williams 3-0, Louisa Fox had a 3-0 success over Hayley McGuinness, Carol Bufton was a 3-1 winner in her tie with Paula Davies and rounding off the 5-1 win was Helen Bitten who won 3-0 against Helen Walmsley.
With the ladies going down 5-1 it was imperative that the men’s ‘B’ had a good start and this they did through Ben Bevan, Jamie Kynaston, and Eddie Price who in turn won against Geraint Goode (3-2), John Brandon (3-2) and Jordan Salmon (3-2). Owen Davies gave Breconshire their first stripe as he accounted for Adrian Logsdail with a 3-1 result, however, Gary Crowther was quick to restore Salopian’s three games buffer beating Chris Carey 3-0 and clinching the match award for his 24.64 average but by the break, the score stood at 4-2 in the visitors’ favour after Rob Price (Breconshire) won 3-2 against Nigel Neale.
Once again it was Salopian who had the better start to the half as the second spell got underway. Martin Riggs won 3-2 against Darren Evans and Robert Paine won 3-1 against Hywel James to give the away team an unbeatable 6-2 lead and requiring just one more win for victory. Salopian’s cheers were delayed as Jason Launchbury won 3-2 against Lee Evans but a 3-1 success for Darren Lane over Andrew Kerry confirmed the Salopian men’s ‘B’ team were winners.
The last two games both went to Breconshire as Chris Austin-Hill just got the better of Mark Jones with a 3-2 result and Lee Randall won 3-1 against Paul Ashworth to take the final score to 7-5 to Salopian.
Breconshire’s ladies ’A’ were first off the mark as Stacy Barnes won 3-0 against Allison Gallagher but the win was quickly cancelled out as Tracey Dean put Salopian’s first win on the board when she won 3-1 against Sue Price and following up to give the away team a 2-1 lead was lady of the match Sarah Roberts whose straight 3-0 success over Joy Toghill plus her super 22.43 average earned her the award.
Game number four saw Chris Sheen level for the home side as she won 3-1 against Claire Boyle but share of the spoils was guaranteed for the visitors in the very next game when with a 3-0 result Evonne Taylor accounted for Sian Harris. The final score was all square at three each as Kaye Hales won a five legs affair with Steph Clarke 3-2, this being Steph’s first defeat of the season.
A 4-2 win over Craig Lewis by Paul Rowley and a 4-0 victory for Mark Crutchley over Stuart Hossack gave Salopian a 2-0 lead in the men’s ‘A’ game. Zak Turner’s 4-1 win over Terry Nash reducing the arrears before Salopian’s man of the match Ben Morgan made it 3-1 with his 4-2 win and 27.74 average against Ian Evans. Breconshire took the last two games of the half when Wayne Glover Beat Ash Hilditch (4-0) and John Donaghey won against John Roberts (4-2).
Salopian got their noses in front again as they started the second half, Matt Elsey winning 4-1 against Richard Webber, but that was to be their last winner as Stuart Owens won 4-2 against Kacey Jones, Mark Layton beat Joe Higgins 4-0, Ben Watkins had a 4-3 success against Steven Ritchie and with wins from Richard Langlois and Zac Griffiths against respective opponents Jon Mansell (4-1) and Scott Dockerty (4-2) Breconshire won the game 8-4.
The weekend’s games produced an overall 21-15 win for Breconshire which sees them leap frog their opponents and move into fourth place on 124 points with Salopian dropping to fifth place with 117 points but with a game in hand on all above them apart from leaders Middlesex.
—–ENDS—–
Alan Towe writes with the support of Red Dragon Darts
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