In division three of the UKDA National League Shropshire’s third fixture was an away game against Wirral and with the home side topping the table with fifty-four points and Shropshire fifth with thirty-seven points it was going to be a tough game for the visitors.
Shropshire ladies ‘B’ got off to a wining start when their lady of the match Gemma Smith beat Jen Taylor 3-2 with a 17.75 average but then Wirral raced into a match winning 4-1 lead thanks to wins from Tina Nolan, Jo Toye, Ann Kinsella and Toni Dillon who beat respective opponents Suzie Burton (3-0), Deana Sheldon (3-1), Kirstie Middleton (3-0) and Dianne Newton (3-2). Shropshire’s only other winner came in the final game when Tanya Dolman won 3-2 against Carla Smyth to put the result at 4-2 to Cumbria.
The away side went one down when Cumbria’s Phil Symm won 4-0 against Steve Blewitt but the lead only lasted for the one game as Lee Dolman levelled the game when he beat Carl Coulls 4-2 and then Shropshire took the lead when Paul Penfold won 4-1 against Steve Gannon. It was all-square once again in the fourth when Brian Baber added his 4-2 win over Ethan Shaw to the home team’s tally but with 4-1 wins from Mark Zambra and Neil Hansell against respective opponents Ryan Kettle and Matty Smith Shropshire were 4-2 up at the break.
The visitors extended their lead to an unassailable 6-2 as the second session got underway, Paul Harrison beating Kev Jones 4-3 and Josh Pickett winning 4-2 against Callum Roach. Ian Cullingworth reduced the arrears for the home team when he won 4-3 against Rob Pitt but the win was assured in the tenth when Kye Simmonds beat Nathan Unsworth 4-1 to put the score at 7-3. Cumbria’s Bryn Suckley had a similar 4-1 win in his game with Mitch Pickett but the result was an 8-4 victory for Shropshire’s men’s ‘B’ when their man of the match Kevin Harris won the final game of the day against Phil Hignett 4-0 with a 26.03 average.
The ladies ‘A’ went from 1-0 down to 3-1 up as after Katie Woodcock won the opener against Jenna-Louise Ball 3-2, there were 3-2 wins for Shropshire’s Sarah Williams and Michele Pritchard as in turn they accounted for Emma Evans and Steph Mellor. The away team’s lady of the match, Marie Riggs was on at number four, her 3-1 success over Pam Courts giving her a 17.26 award winning average. The last two games both went to Cumbria as Julie Baines beat Sophie Ward 3-2 and Kim Holden won 3-1 against Nicola Ball to put the final score level at 3-3.
With a narrow 13-11 overall lead Shropshire required six winners from the men’s ‘A’ match to secure an overall victory for the weekend. Adding two of those six required were opener and man of the match for Shropshire Richard Parker who averaged 29.91 in his straight 4-0 win over Karl Davies and Shane Passey who made it 2-0 with his 4-2 win against Mike Williamson. Cumbria won the third when Terry Clancy beat Chris Fox 4-0 but Shropshire’s two games buffer was restored in the fourth when Sam Aitkens won 4-0 against Robbie Ward. The score was 3-3 at the midway point as Marc Lynam won 4-3 against Brian Dolman and Lleyton Molyneux beat Andy Vellender 4-1.
Cumbria were first out of the blocks as the second half got underway, Andy Parson giving them a 4-3 lead with his 4-2 win against Rob Pierce, however the remainder of the half was all Shropshire’s as Adam Thackray and Andre Knox in turn won 4-1 against Phil Symm and Sam Bratherton and with a 4-3 win for Brett Cooper in his game with Darren Bradley, Shropshire were within an ace of victory leading 6-4 and the overall win for the fixture confirmed. Andrew Jervis put up the winning seventh game for the men’s ‘A’ when he accounted for Steve Maish with a 4-2 result and with a final 4-3 win from Ben Johnson over Andrew Cummins, Shropshire’s men’s ‘A’ had won 8-4.
With an overall encouraging 21-15 victory Shropshire moved up one place in the table to fourth with sixty-one points now sixteen points short of new leaders Norfolk as Cumbria’s defeat saw them drop to second place on sixty-nine points.
———————————