Salopian went into game number five in division two of the UKDA National League away to Surrey placed second in the divisional table on ninety points, just one behind leaders Worcestershire while Surrey, their hosts were placed fourth on eighty points.
The weekend did not get off to a good start for Salopian as Saturday’s games saw defeat for both the ladies and the men.
Rachael Mooney opened up for Salopian and she put them one up with a straight 3-0 win over Vicky Pilgrim and although Karen Carder (Surrey) levelled the game when she won 3-0 against Tammy Walmlsey a lady of the match showing from Hayley McGuinness in which she beat Emma Atkins 3-2 and averaged 14.42 restored Salopian’s lead. Unfortunately for the away side that was to be their last winner as Christine Skehan won 3-1 against Danni Pritchard and with 3-2 wins for Marie Barthrop and Elaine Dickson, who in turn defeated Stacey Pepperrell and Emma Tapp, Surrey finished with a 4-2 victory.
The visitor’s men’s ‘B’ went 2-0 down when Paul Secular won the first game against Andy Gilbert and Tony Hammond won 4-3 against Scott Towers, Dave Bayton pulled on back for the away side when he beat Jason Kelly 4-0 only to see the home team restore their two games lead when Darren Bell won 4-3 against Ben Bevan. The last two games of the half went in Salopian’s favour with Matt Williams winning 4-3 against Shane Edwards and Steve O’Callaghan getting the better of Gary Creamer with a 4-2 result to put the score level at the midway point at 3-3.
Salopian actually took the lead for the first time as the second session got underway when James Jenkins won 4-3 against Martin Carnell but the lead didn’t last long as the hosts won the next four games. Stephen McHale beat Matt Maxfield 4-2, James Willcox and Kevin Raynefield won 4-3 against respective opponents Ian Evans and Kevin Rogers and Harrison Firmager beat Danny Humpries 4-2 to put the hosts into an unassailable 7-4 lead. The final game of the day went to Salopian’s man of the match Kacey Jones who had a super 30.36 average in his straight 4-0 win over George Munt to take the final score to 7-5 to Surrey’s men’s ‘B’ and give Surrey an overall lead of 11-7 on the day.
As Sunday’s games got going it got a little worse for the visitors as Vikki Norman (Surrey) beat Julie Griffiths 3-0 before things changed for the better as Salopian then stormed to a winning 4-1 lead all begun by Tracey Dean who beat Ashley Smith 3-0. Sue Lane and Steph Clarke were both 3-1 winners in turn against Sarah Emsley and Tania Cox, Steph Clarke taking the match award for her 20.02 average. Kate Titley put the all-important fourth stripe on the board when she won 3-0 against Emma Chubb, the final game going to Surrey when Tricia Wright won 3-1 against Anna Peatroy to see Salopian win 4-2.
Going into the men’s ‘A’ game Surrey held a 13-11 lead but that was quickly erased as Salopian won the opening four games. First on Mark Crutchely won 4-3 against Paul Tudor, Mark Graham having a similar 4-3 win against Dave Webb. Eddie Price made it 3-0 when he beat Neville Wright 4-1 and taking the overall score to 15-13 in the away team’s favour was Jon Mansell with his 4-2 win over Steve Lovett. By the break Salopian’s lead was reduced to 4-2 as Darryl Pilgrim won 4-0 against Gary Crowther and Darren Bryant beat Dafydd Edwards 4-3.
The visitors lead was extended to 6-2 as the second half got underway, Terry Nash and Kacey Jones both winning 4-2 in their games against Nick Ellis and Kirk De Ruyter. A 4-2 win for Jimmy Fullbrook (Surrey) over Jamie Kynaston delayed the win for the away side which was achieved in game number eight when man of the match Paul Rowley defeated Matt Carter 4-1 with a 29.01 average. Charlie Green pulled one back for the home side when he won 4-1 against Steve O’Callaghan but taking the men’s ‘A’ to an 8-4 victory was anchor-man Ash Hilditch whose straight 4-0 success against Peter Noel also gave Salopian an overall 19-17 victory.
The win for Salopian sees them hold on to second place in the table with 112 points, now two points short of Worcestershire who held on to pole position with their 20-16 home win over Nottinghamshire.
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