Salopian began their eighth fixture in division three of the UKDA National League placed second in the promotional table with 146 points, twenty behind leaders Worcestershire while their opponents and hosts Wiltshire were next to bottom of the table with 113 points.
Wiltshire had the better start to the ladies ‘B’ match as Chaniece Witcher and Erica Hartnett in turn won 3-1 against Stacey Pepperrell and Helen Walmsley. Sue Lane got Salopian’s first win when she won a close 3-2 battle against Kerry Hale and with further 3-1 wins from Tracey Dean and Hayley McGuinness the away side had reversed the situation to lead 3-2. Tracey Dean won against April Polden while Hayley McGuinness beat Linzi Holton and in the process earned herself the match award for her 19.61 average. The last game went the full five legs distance with Wiltshire’s Cat Mackie just getting the 3-2 edge on Anna Peatroy to earn the home side a share of the 3-3 draw.
The men’s ‘B’ kicked off with a man of the match performance from Ben Bevan who had a 24.98 average in his 4-1 win over Keith Bedding. Inspired by Bevan’s win Salopian then went on to win the remainder of the first half games thanks to Steve O’Callaghan, James Jenkins, Ian Bride, Matt Williams and Mick Unsworth, who in turn defeated their counterparts Eddie Tott (4-3), Dan Sturgess (4-1), Charlie King (4-0), Johnathon Gillingham-Smithers (4-1) and Ashley Chapman (4-3).
Leading 6-0, the story continued as the second session got underway, Jamie Kynaston beating Nick Price 4-1, Eddie Price winning 4-3 against Stuart Clarke, Dean Stokes had a 4-1 success against Harry Osborn and Andy Gilbert won 4-2 against Jason Rudman, all before Wiltshire got their first winner in the shape of Lee J. Newman who had a 4-3 win against Carl Wear. The last game went once again to Salopian when Danny Humphries accounted for Darren May with a straight 4-0 result to put the final score at a resounding 11-1 to Salopian’s men’s ‘B’.
Wiltshire were first to take the lead in the ladies ‘A’ game, Dani Kearns beating Karen Weston 3-0. However the lead didn’t last long as Emma Tapp levelled the game when she won 3-1 against Joanna Hooke. For a second time the hosts went ahead, this time thanks to a second 3-0 win provided by Rebecca Barrow who won against Tammy Walmsley. Parity was restored for a second time when Kate Tiley added her 3-0 win over Jill Little to the visitors tally and with the sequence being broken in the fifth and Salopian getting the noses in front for the first time in the match when Steph Clarke not only won 3-0 against Tina Rowlands but at the same time won the match award for her 22.43 average. The game ended all-square at 3-3 as Kayce-Jayde Witcher beat Julie Griffiths 3-0 in the last game.
The first half of the men’s ‘A’ match turned out to be in itself a tale of two halves as Salopian won the first three games and Wiltshire the last three games. As in the men’s ‘B’ game, the men’s ‘A’ also began with a man of the match performance as Jamie Chaplin won 4-2 against Connor Hughes with a 29.25 average. Paul Rowley (pictured) and Jon Mansell added to Chaplin’s win when in turn they won 4-1 and 4-2 against Jack Woods and Andy Harvey. Wiltshire then began their fight back as Peter Keen won 4-1 against Mark Graham before Lee Evans and Gary Court beat respective opponents Andy Evans and Gary Court 4-3 to put the score level at the halfway stage at 3-3.
As the second half got underway the visitors took the lead once again when Kacey Jones won 4-3 against Ian Greenway. The score was taken to 4-4 when Ashley McKeever had a 4-3 win over Dave Bayton but the away side once again went ahead when Ash Hilditch beat Martin Williams 4-3 and with a further 4-2 win for Mark Crutchley against Ryan Greenway Salopian were leading 6-4. A 4-1 win for Juan Hopkins (Wiltshire) over Dafydd Edwards took the tie to the final game in which Salopian’s Ian Evans won 4-2 against Jayden Betteridge to see the away team grab the 7-5 result.
The overall result for the weekend was 24-12 to Salopian which saw them slightly reduce the arrears on leaders Worcestershire from twenty to eighteen points but at the same time widen the gap between themselves and third placed Nottinghamshire from level pegging to a lead of eight points.
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Images: PDC
