Shropshire v Pembrokeshire
In division four of the BDO Inter County Championships Shropshire rounded off the old year with a rearranged fixture against Pembrokeshire, a must win game for both teams as they both languished at the foot of the table. This was always going to be a game where Shropshire really had to make home advantage count.
With one draw and two defeats in their previous outings the women’s ‘B’ side were still seeking their first win of the campaign and opener Sophie Fawcett got them off on the right footing when she accounted for Anne Maris Pearce with a 3-1 result. With a similar 3-1 scoreline Rhian Evans beat namesake Pam Evans to level the game but it was the hosts who took the lead again in the third when Kirsty Jenks came from one down to Avril Evans to go on and win 3-1.
Assuring Shropshire of a share of the points was Grace Angell who handed out a straight 3-0 defeat to Mair Carpenter and in the process won her second lady of the match award for the season with a 15.49 average.
The long awaited win came in the fifth game, Sue Lane adding another straight 3-0 win to the home teams tally when she won against Tracy Davies.
The final game went to Pembrokeshire as their Sue Phillips after going one up and 2-1 down to Carla Crook went on to win the tie 3-2, but it was the overall 4-2 result that was so precious for Shropshire.
The men’s ‘B’ like the ladies ‘B’ were also without a win in their opening three games, in fact they had actually lost all three and they didn’t get the best of starts as Robert Trumper after winning the first leg against Paul Hood lost 3-1. Although Nevillle Quinton with a 3-2 win over Ben Farr squared the game at one each it was the visitiors who went ahead again as Harvey Boswell beat Sam Hamilton 3-0 and Declan Coles won 3-2 against Andy Evans.
At 3-1 down Shropshire then began to fight back the charge being led by Robert Thompson who after losing the first leg to Adrian Davies then went 2-1 up. Davies won the fourth but it was Thompson who claimed the 3-2 win when he won the final deciding leg.
Levelling the score at 3-3 was Rob Henderson (Shropshire) who won 3-0 against Darren Owens and it was Shropshire who got their nose in front for the first time in game number seven when John Cooper added a further 3-0 win to the account this time at the expense of Pembrokeshire’s Mark Ludlow.
The game was all square for a third time in the eighth when the away team’s Jonathan Farmer won 3-1 against Matt Williams but the hosts fought back once more and a 3-1 win from Peter Eley over Gareth Budding followed by a 3-0 success for Martin Angell against Gordon Summers put Shropshire within an ace of victory.
After coming from 2-0 down to 2-2 against Roger James (Pembrokeshire), Neil Powell was unable to carry on his comeback and James took the fifth for a 3-2 win and keep the away team’s hopes of a draw alive.
Any hopes of a draw were quickly erased as Shropshire’s man of the match Martin Riggs proved to be the ideal anchor man beating his opponent Stephen Castle in three straight legs with a 22.10 average to put the fnal score at 7-5 to Shropshire, thier first win in four games.
The ladies ‘A’ side fell behind in the opener when Rhian Griffiths beat Stephanie Clarke 3-1 but they rallied and with a 3-2 win from Michele Pritchard who came from 2-1 down to Lesley Phillips and a lady of the match performance from Marie Riggs (20.20 average) who won 3-1 against Tracey Hawkins-Green the match was turned around and Shropshire had a 2-1 lead.
Unfortunately the lead didn’t last long as Hayley Francis-Owens (Pembrokeshire) won 3-1 against Julie Griffiths and with a 3-0 success for Julie Gore (Pembrokeshire) against Kat McLean once again the lead had changed hands and it was the away team who were 3-2 up.
Thankfully for the home side the final game was in the capable hands of an in form Becky Harris who swept away the challenge of Helen Jones beating her 3-0 and taking the final score to 3-3.
It was a bright start for the men’s ‘A’ side as Scott Meyrick handed them a 1-0 lead with his 4-1 win against Ben Cloake. Andre Knox doubled the lead with a 4-3 success over Chris Henderson after Henderson had won the first and levelled in the fourth and six legs.
Roberet Coverdale was Pembrokeshire’s first winner although he had to come from 2-0 down to Nathan Storar before getting his 4-2 win.
The hosts two games buffer was restored in the fourth when Eddie Austin made short work of his opponent Daniel Castle with a 4-0 result. Andie Chatter took the lead to 4-1 with a 4-1 win over Kelvin Hughes, Chatter rounding off his win with a 101 game shot and by the halfway mark the lead was extended to 5-1 when Derek Coulson beat Nathan Burdett 4-3 after Burdett on three occasions had wiped out Coulson’s lead.
A draw was guranteed as early as the seventh game when Clive Lucking added his straight 4-0 win over Mikey Rees to Shropshire’s account and with a further win by Paul Bromley over Jason Davies the winning seventh game was put up in the eighth, Bromley going 1-0 up, 1-1, 3-1 up and 3-3 before sealing his 4-3 win.
Steve Alker reduced the arrears for Pembrokeshire when in the ninth game he beat Brian Hickman 4-1 to record the away team’s second winner. However the hosts pushed home their superiority even further when Richard Parker beat Iwan Morgan 4-1 and although the visitors claimed their third winner in the penultimate game, a 4-1 win by James Williams over Danny James the final score was taken to 9-3 in Shropshire’s favout when man of the match David Pallett beat Phil Gooch 4-1. Pallett kicked off with a 21 darts leg which was cancelled out by an 18 darts reply from Gooch, but in 17 darts Pallett took the lead again before registering the weekend’s best leg an eleven darts affair in which he scored 109,180 and 140 before checking out on 72, then with a 16 darts leg in the fifth wrapped up a tremendous 4-1 win with a fantastic 31.06 average.
So with an overall 23-13 win which saw them leap frog over their opponents in the table, could this be the start of Shropshire’s season?
After moving up one place in the league Shropshire’s next fixture is an away tie with Bedfordshire who are just above them and only six points to the good, another win in that game would put them hot on the heels of the next team in the table West of England, a couple of wins in these games would see them quickly move up the table.
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