Isle of Wight v Shropshire
Shropshire’s penultmaye encounter in division four of the BDO Inter County Championships was an away fixture against bottom of the table Isle of Wight and with Shropshire just above their hosts in the table it was always going to be a must win game for the away side if they were to have any chance of moving away from the foot of the table.
Saturday’s ladies game could not have gone much better as Caron Minton got them on their way with a 3-2 win over Lorraine Barrett and was followed by Sue Lane who won her tie with Judi Angus 3-1. The score was taken along to 3-0 when Kirsty Jenks beat Val Emm 3-2 before the home team chalked up their first and only winner of the game when Cloey Alcroft defeated Cally Jones in a close 3-2 encounter.
The match winning fourth game was chalked up in the fifth when Sharon Harris won 3-1 against Angie Cotton, Sharon at the same time winning the match award for her 13.77 average.
The result was taken to 5-1 for Shropshire with a final 3-2 victory for Caroline Powell over Jackie Gardener to record the ‘B’ side best win of the season.
The men’s ‘B’ team were fresh from their 8-4 win over Breconshire and should have been full of confidence for what was a vital game but a win was never on the cards as the hosts went 2-0 up with a 3-0 success for Darren Andrews against Rob Henderson and a 3-2 win for Will Kerley over Rob Truimper. Nathan Storar momentarilly stopped the Isle of Wight charge when he accounted for Andy Kerley with a 3-1 scoreline but the home teams two games buffer was restored when Dale Grove won 3-2 against Trevor Smith.
Shropshire’s second winner came in the form of Peter Eley who was in fine form beating Eddie Mitchell 3-1 and clinching his first man of the match award for the season with a 25.27 average.
By the halfway stage the home team had a 4-2 lead, Graeme Dutton adding his straight 3-0 win over Rob Harris to the tally and then with two wins in the opening two games of the second half supplied by John Gibson and Greg Hailes who in turn won 3-2 and 3-0 against Sean Flynn and Dan Boot Isle of Wight could not lose the game as they were then 6-2 up.
It was down to another Shropshire Eley this time Tim to once again reduce the arrears, Tim winning 3-1 againt Josh Rudd only to see Mark Whates add his 3-0 win over Royston Minton to put the game beyond the visitors reach at 7-3.
The last two games both finished with 3-1 results both of them going to Isle of Wight and supplied by Gordon Penn and Brian Meszynski at the expense of Martin Riggs and Neil Powell to take the final score to 9-3 in favour of the home side.
Sunday, like the previous day got off to a good start and again it was the ladies who supplied the goods. Julie Griffiths opened up with a 3-1 win over Shirley Smith and although her lead was cancelled out by Maria Agozzino who beat Michel Pritcard by the same 3-1 scoreline and the home side taking the lead with a close 3-2 win for Brenda Dyer over Becky Harris, it was Shropshire who romped to a 4-2 win when they won the last three games.
Kat McLean began the trio of wins when she won 3-0 against Dawn Basill. Marie Riggs followed McLean and continued what is turning out to be a great personal season for her as she defeated Lorraine Woodrow 3-1, her 18.35 average giving her her fifth consecutive match award for the season.
The 4-2 win was achieved when Sophie Fawcett won the final game against Alison Baxter 3-2.
With the score at 12-12 after three of the results were in the men’s ‘A’ requied any sort of win for an overall vctory for the weekend and Neville Quinton gave them the ideal start when he opened up with a 4-2 success over Michael Wilkes, however two in a row for the home team from Liam Ridout and Sean Morrissey over John Cooper and Clive Lucking gave Isle of Wight a 2-1 lead. The match was squared when Matt Williams won for Shropshire against Gordon Crews only to see Isle of Wight take two in a row for a second time, on this occasion it was Kevin Woodward and Eddie White with respective 4-2 and 4-1 wins over Andi Chatter and Brian Hickman.
Going into the second half 4-2 down Scott Meyrick reduced Shropshire’s arrears to 4-3 with his 4-3 win over David Witts before, for a third time the hosts chalked up another two consecutive wins. Alex Hall got the better of Danny James with a 4-2 result and Kirk Bain then added his 4-1 win against Simon Pritchard to take their team’s lead to an unassailable 6-3.
Game number ten went the full seven legs distance with Kevin Harris (Shropshire) just getting the edge on Mark Edwards to keep the visitors in the game. The penultimate game saw Richard Parker beat his namesake Tony Parker to take the score to 6-5 and then in the final game Shropshire produced their player of the match in Derek Coulson who with another 4-1 scoreline accounted for Simon Smith, his average of 24.02 earning him his second man of the match award for the season.
So the final overall score for the weekend was all square at 18-18 and leaves the situation as it was prior to the fixture with Isle of Wight bottom and Shropshire next to bottom, now with just one remaining fixture that looks how the two teams are likely to finish the season as Pembrokeshire, the next team above Shropshire are some 22 points to the good.
Full Results:Isle of Wight v Shropshire (18-18)🙁Isle of Wight names First):Men’s ‘A’:- Michael Wilkes 2 Neville Quinton 4, Liam Ridout 4 John Cooper 3, Sean Morrissey 4 Clive Lucking 0, Gordon Crews 1 Matt Williams 4, Kevin Woodward 4 Andi Chatter 2, Eddie White 4 Brian Hickman 1, David Witts 3 Scott Meyrick 4, Alex Hall 4 Danny James 2, Kirk Bain 4 Simon Pritchard 1, Mark Edwards 3 Kevin Harris 4, Tony Parker 1 Richard Parker 4, Simon Smith 1 Derek Coulson 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Darren Andrews 3 Rob Henderson 0, Will Kerley 3 Rob Trumper 2, Andy Kerley 1 Nathan Storar 3, Dale Grove 3 Trevor Smith 2, Eddie Mitchell 1 Peter Eley 3, Graeme Dutton 3 Rob Harris 0, John Gibson 3 Sean Flynn 2, Greg Hailes 3 Dan Boot 0, Josh Rudd 1 Tim Eley 3, Mark Whates 3 Royston Minton 0, Gordon Penn 3 Martin Riggs 1, Brian Meszynski 3 Neil Powell 1, Women’s ‘A’:- Shirley Smith 1 Julie Griffiths 3, Maria Agozzino 3 Michele Pritchard 1, Brenda Dyer 3 Becky Harris 2, Dawn Basill 0 Kat McLean 3, Lorraine Woodrow 1 Marie Riggs 3, Alison Baxter 2 Sophie Fawcett 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Lorraine Barrett 2 Caron Minton 3, Judi Angus 1 Sue Lane 3, Val Emm 2 Kirsty Jenks 3, Cloey Alcroft 3 Cally Jones 2, Angie Cotton 1 Sharon Harris 3, Jackie Gardener 2 Caroline Powell 3.
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