In the L-Style Division One the majority of teams have played three fixtures but being as the West Midlands had their opening day game against Black Country postponed they have only played two, the first of which was an away game against Clwyd which they lost 22-14 to put them bottom of the table. Game number two for the West Midlands was a home tie with Somerset who prior to the game were in a somewhat comfortable fifth position in the table.
Saturday saw Somerset ladies ‘B’ get the better start as Samantha Werrett beat Tara Simmons-Fullwood 3-2 and Zoe Liddle won 3-1 against Julie Emery. West Midlands lady of the match Kelly Doleman stopped the visitors charge when she won 3-2 against Sue Lane with an 18.17 average. The away side had their two games lead restored in the fourth when Laura Phillips got the better of Jacqueline Simmons with her 3-0 win. Trailing 3-1 the hosts then strung together two consecutive wins from Shellbie Simmons and Gemma Barrett who in turn won 3-1 and 3-0 against Lea Ford and Kay Bissett to put the final score at three each.
The men’s ‘B’ had a great start to their game as in double-quick time they were 4-0 up, Kieran O’Mahoney got the ball rolling when he won 4-0 against Dean Baker, Callum Parkes doubled the lead with his 4-1 success against Ryan Palmer and making it 3-0 was man of the match Mark Craddock who averaged 26.20 in his 4-1 win over Peter Messer. Ash Khayat made it 4-0 when he won 4-1 against Lee Gregory, all before Somerset got their first stripe on the board when Jason Woodyard beat Will Beaden 4-3. At the midway point of the match the home side were leading 5-1 after Martin Price added his 4-1 win over Carl Galeitzke to their tally.
Assuring West Midlands of at least a share of the points was Adam Teasdale when he won the second half opener against Mervyn Adams 4-1. Somerset got their second winner in game eight when Adrian Beale won 4-2 against Glen McGrandle but the game was won for the home team in the ninth when Dean Simmons-Fullwood beat Steve Foster 4-2. With the hosts leading 7-2 the visitors then got their best run of the match, two wins in a row as Kevin Hardy won 4-3 against Paul Price and Michael Fenton beat Luke Griffiths 4-1 but with a final 4-3 win for Ian Stanton over Liam Ward, West Midlands men’s ‘B’ won the game 8-4.
For the ladies ‘A’ it was a weekend to forget as their opponents opened up a 2-0 lead when Shelley Blackman beat Sarah Maybury 3-1 and with a similar result Kate Hulme won against Claire Hobbs. Gemma Barrett (West Midlands) halved the deficit in game three when she won 3-2 against Tracey Stiling and as it turned out Gemma’s win and 15.89 average was enough to take the match award as the home team’s last three players Hannah Davies, Evonne Taylor and Jacqueline Trott in turn lost to Karen Littler (3-1), Becky Taylor (3-2) and Sally Smith (3-1) to give Somerset ladies ‘A’ a 5-1 win.
With the running score standing at 12-12 both men’s ‘A’ teams had everything to play for and it was the home side that were quickest off the mark as Shaun Carroll began the match in the very best possible way earning himself the match award for his straight 4-0 win over Mike Harper with a terrific 32.32 average. Taking the score to 2-0 was Martin Price who got the better of Leigh Taylor in a seven legs encounter. Lee Smith pulled one back for Somerset in the third when he won 4-0 against Ian Jones, but with a similar 4-0 result for Michael Baker over Steve Wright, West Midlands were 3-1 up. Neil Raikes was the visitor’s second winner, when he defeated Mark Craddock 4-2 but at the midway point the hosts were leading 4-2 after Ryan O’Connor close the half with a 4-1 win against Dave Williams.
For the home side the second half was even better than the first as they won five of the six games, two of them coming in the first two games as Kevin Bambrick beat Darren Herbert 4-2 and making sure of at least a draw was Gavin Baker with his 4-3 success against Adrian Wood. The away team got their third and what turned out to be their last winner in game nine when Kieran Spurdle won 4-3 against Jack Aldridge before the final three games all went to West Midlands with wins from Rob Thompson, Richard Platt and Karl Hughes who had respective wins over Sam Hoddinott (4-3), Chris Turner (4-1) and Tony Snook (4-0) to give West Midlands men’s ‘A’ a 9-3 win.
The overall score for the weekend was 21-15 to West Midlands which saw them move off the foot of the table, up two places to ninth.
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