The trip to Montgomery and Radnor was a very rewarding one for Shropshire in what was their fifth fixture of the season in division three of the UKDA National League. Prior to the fixture Shropshire were lying fifth in the table with 103 points and their opponents seventh with 82 points.
Getting the weekend’s game underway were the ladies ‘B’, Montgomery and Radnor first out of the blocks with a 3-2 win from Susie Lewis over Tanya Dolman and with a 3-1 success for Becky Page over Deana Sheldon, Shropshire were trailing 2-0. It took an award winning performance from Gemma Smith to stop the hosts charge as she chalked up a 3-1 win over Jean Sides with a 14.88 average, and then from 2-1 down the visitors opened up a 3-2 lead as Dianne Newton won 3-1 against Paula Carwadine and Lauren Kempson beat Sheilagh Williams 3-0. The final game went to Jane Jones as she accounted for Kirstie Millington with a 3-1 scoreline to put the result all-square at three each.
What a start the men’s ‘B’ had, storming into a 6-0 lead with a clean-sweep of the first half. There were 4-1 wins in the first four games with Paul Penfold, Paul Harrison, Mitch Pickett and Kye Simmonds in turn defeating Paul Ballantyne, Stanley Lloyd, Will Cardwell and Jerry Moynihan and with a 4-2 success for Josh Pickett over Ben Davies followed by a 4-3 win for Paul Bromley against Sean Baldwin, Shropshire men’s ‘B’ were with an ace of victory after only six games played.
Montgomery and Radnor got their first winner in the seventh when Ryan Griffiths won 4-2 against Neil Hansell but with a man of the match performance from Jack Darby against Jason Griffiths in which he won 4-1 and averaged 23.39, the game was won as Shropshire were now 7-1 up. Connor Whitehouse extended the lead to 8-1 with his 4-0 win over Josh Ball, Dave Boyle reducing the arrears when he won 4-2 against Ethan Shaw. Increasing the away team’s advantage to 9-2 was Shaun Passey who had a 4-0 success against Rory Hacket before the last game of the day went to Montgomery and Radnor when Luke Oldham beat Steve Lynch 4-3 to put the result at 9-3 to Shropshire.
Shropshire went 1-0 up in the ladies ‘A’ game when Michele Pritchard beat Shelly Mulliner 3-1 and with 3-0 wins for Sarah Williams and Sophie Ward, who defeated in turn Elisa Richardson-Morris and Rebecca Hartley, the visitors were already within an ace of victory, Sarah Williams win earning her the match award for her 17.08 average. Katie Bellerby (Montgomery and Radnor) reduced the deficit when she won 3-1 against Marie Riggs but that was just a short delay until Shropshire got their winning fourth game in the fifth when Jenna-Louise Ball beat Emma Martin 3-0. The last game went to the home team as their Liz Jones won 3-2 against Nicola Ball to give a 4-2 result to Shropshire.
It was not the start the men’s ‘A’ were hoping for when Montgomery and Radnor won the first two games 4-2 as their Wayne Meredith and John Williams-Jones in turn accounted for Kevin Harris and Ben Johnson, but by the end of the first half the away side had opened up a 4-2 lead as Mark Zambra, Andre Knox, Sam Aitkens and Andy Vellender in turn won against Rhys Butler (4-2), Lee Burton (4-3), Karl Lewis (4-2) and Cam Williams (4-3).
The game was quickly restored to parity as the second half began, Roger Williams winning 4-2 against Chris Fox and Steve Price having a 4-3 win over Brett Cooper. Shropshire’s man of the match Andrew Jervis put his team 5-4 up when he defeated Tony Burton 4-0 and recorded a 27.45 average. The game was levelled again in the tenth when the home team’s Neil Astley beat Adam Thackray 4-1 before the away team moved to within one more win of victory, Rob Pierce taking the score to 6-5 with his 4-1 win over Luke Bowen. Once again the score was all-square and the game ending at 6-6 as the hosts Mark Bellerby won the last game of the weekend against Richard Parker 4-2.
Despite the overall 22-14 win, Shropshire actually dropped one place in the table to sixth with 103 points however they are only three points behind second in the division Breconshire with everything still to play for.
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