Going into their fourth fixture, an away game against Bedfordshire in division three of the UKDA National League, Shropshire were hoping to improve on their seventh place in the table and add to their previous two wins in three games and they could not have wished for a much better start as the ladies ‘B’ romped to a 5-1 victory.
Despite the big win it was the home side Bedfordshire who were first off the mark as Tammy Fenna won 3-0 against Trish Ball, however that was to be the home teams sole winner as Jo Meachin and Kelly Millington in turn won 3-2 against Jo Dilley and Sally Green. On at number four was Shropshire’s lady of the match Michele Pritchard who had a straight 3-0 win over Irene Maddy with an 18.56 average. Kirstie Millington was another straight legs winner as she beat Netty Hockley 3-0 and with a final 3-1 win from Sandra Beardsmore against Lol Tester the 5-1 win was secured.
It was not such a great start for the men’s ‘B’ as Ryan Tharby and Pete Brown put the hosts two up when they both won 3-2 against respective opponents Chris Evans and Clark Cook. Andre Knox, with his 3-2 win over Lee Jones stopped the Bedfordshire charge and with a man of the match game from Kevin Harris in his 3-1 win and 25.61 average against Paul Smith the match was level at 2-2. The last two games of the first half both went to a deciding leg with Shropshire’s Dave Lucas and Stewart Pryce winning 3-2 in turn against Troy Beavis and Oli Ellis.
Shropshire’s 4-2 lead was reduced as the second half got going, Brian Reed winning 3-1 against Brett Cooper but with 3-1 wins from both Anthony Whitehouse and Paul Harrison against Micky Reed and Keith Hill the away side were in an unbeatable 6-3 lead. Ben Hazel kept the home teams hopes alive for a draw when he won 3-1 against John Simms but a similar 3-1 win for Shropshire’s Rob Pitt over Pete Dilley chalked up the magical seventh game winning stripe on the board for the visitors. The last result went to the hosts as Joel Salerno beat Adam Thackray 3-1 to take the final score to 7-5 in Shropshire’s favour.
It turned out to be a fantastic weekend for the ladies as the ladies ‘A’ emulated their ‘B’ team’s result by also winning 5-1 and getting the ball rolling were Sophie Ward and Nicola Ball who in turn won 3-0 and 3-1 against Helen Styles and Donna Hunt. A 3-0 win for Jenny Bozier over Marie Riggs reduced the arrears only to see Sarah Williams win 3-1 against Fran Bent and Dianne Newton beat Shirley Williams 3-0 to put the away side into a winning 4-1 lead. The 5-1 result was rounded off with a lady of the match performance from Jenna-Louise Ball who had a 3-1 win over Maria Perrin with an 18.02 average.
A 10-2 defeat from the men’s ‘A’ team would now be enough for Shropshire to obtain an overall victory as they went into the game with a huge 17-7 lead. Bedfordshire won the opener as Gareth Murray won 4-3 against Sam Aitkens, Rob Pierce replying for Shropshire as he won by the same 4-3 margin against Philip Price to guarantee at the worst a share of the spoils for his team mates. The home side went 2-1 up in the third when Steve Richardson beat Steve Lynch 4-2 but the overall victory for the weekend was achieved in the fourth when Shropshire’s man of the match Andrew Jervis won 4-1 against Trevor Ellacott with a 27.84 average. For the first time in the game the visitors took the lead in the fifth when Andy Vellender beat Luke Ely 4-3 taking the score to 3-2, but it was level pegging at the break as Chris Dilley added his 4-2 win over Reece Cook-Lucas the home teams tally.
The second half was more-or-less Bedfordshire as first on Paddy Clowery won 4-2 against Phil Clarke, Dara Curran beat Jon Blakemore 4-0, Wayne Bloomfield just got the 4-3 edge on Josh Pickett and chalking up the winning seventh game for the hosts was Paul Hale with his 4-1 defeat of Brian Hickman.
Paul Bailey made it 8-3 to the hosts with his 4-2 win over Richard Parker before Shropshire got their one and only winner from the second half Chris Fox who accounted for Barry Davies with a 4-1 result to put the final score at 8-4 to Bedfordshire, but the all-important weekend result was a 21-15 win for Shropshire to move them up one place in the divisional table to sixth with seventy-two points.
—–ENDS—–
Grab a 50th Anniversary Darts World package 581 here or the current print Issue 584 here :
The Darts World 50 limited edition dart set is available to order (Here) in your choice of pack/bundle.
Darts World Extra 14: Ally Pally Special – Download or read the full version FREE
