Black Country brought their home fixture with Clwyd forward by one week. It was never going to be an easy fixture as Clwyd were second in the division with 122 points from six games and Black Country fifth with 111 points from five games, but it was one that should the home side win it would lift them up the table.
The ladies ‘B’ had a somewhat turbulent time as Amy-Leigh Tolley was their sole winner as she accounted for Rachael Simpson in the fourth game with a 3-1 result and being as she was the only winner, took the match award for her 14.94 average. Clwyd went 3-0 up with wins from Alex Foulds, Neeley Street and Charlie Walker-Woods who in turn defeated Sarah-Jane Parker (3-2), Stella Sims (3-2) and Kirsty Shaughnessy (3-0). The last two games also went to Clwyd as Del Stapley won 3-2 against Lacey Hughes and rounding off their 5-1 win was Nat Davey who won 3-0 against Mckenzie Raine Thomas.
The men’s ‘B’ went one up when Mark Jones beat Terry Bagby 4-3 but then trailed 2-1 as Clwyd’s Phil Jones and Paul Gillam won 4-2 and 4-1 against Neil Steventon and Rich Bowen. Levelling the score at 2-2 was Kieron Bridgwater who handed out a 4-0 defeat to his Clwyd counterpart Chris Moore. For a second time Black Country took the lead when in the fifth game Al Smith got the 4-3 edge on Pete Watkins, but by the midway point it was level-pegging as Paul Alley added Clwyd’s third win when he won 4-2 against Mark Rollinson.
The second half was a much better half for the hosts as they won five of the six games, Dave Edwards began the string of wins when he won 4-1 against Danny Butler, man of the match Tom Bissell (28.66) had a similar 4-1 win against Nick Hailes and was followed by Ian Townsend and Rob Smith who also won 4-1 against respective opponents Adam Paxton and Gary Williams to put Black Country into a winning 7-3 lead. Sam Bissell increased that lead to 8-3 with his 4-3 win against Steven Probert and with Clwyd’s Craig Billingsley winning the last game of the day against Wayne Hobday 4-2, the result was an 8-4 victory for Black Country.
It was the visitors who got the better start to the ladies ‘A’ match as they went 2-0 up with wins from Jackie Brighton and Rachel Kingdon who in turn beat Tammy Chance 3-2 and Abbey Hunt 3-0. Doreen Hunt reduced the arrears with her 3-2 win over Nia Price, only to see Clwyd move into an unbeatable 3-2 lead when Leanne Topper won 3-0 against Maxine Prosser. A lady of the match performance from Chez Allcock kept Black Country in the game, her straight 3-0 win over Judith Williams giving her a 20.59 average and with a further 3-2 win from Heather Wright against Bethan Jones the game finished all-square at 3-3.
With the running score now standing at 12-12, the overall result depended on the outcome of the men’s ‘A’ game. Clwyd were first out of the blocks with a straight 4-0 win from Cole Davey over Michael Powell. Trev Brennan cancelled out the away tam’s early lead when he beat Luke Smith 4-2 but the remainder of the half all went to Clwyd as Adam Paxton won 4-1 against Alex Howells, Mark Leach beat Harry Williams 4-3, Jon Darlington had a 4-1 success against Martin Greenwood and taking Clwyd into a 5-1 lead at the halfway stage was David Davies who won 4-2 against Dan Homer.
Clwyd went further ahead as the second session got underway, Bradley Roberts accounting for Paul Wells with a 4-1 result. Jamie Rollinson chalked up Black Country’s second stripe when he beat Jodie Challinor 4-3 and with a 4-2 win for man of the match Steve Jones over Rob Lawrence, Jones averaging 27.07, the home side were still in with a chance of a draw. Adam Edgar enhanced that chance when he won 4-3 against Andy Hopwood but it was game over in the penultimate encounter when Derek Williams put the visitors into an unassailable 7-4 lead with his 4-3 win over Tom Bissell. The final game of the weekend also went to Clwyd as Ben Walley beat George Willetts 4-2 for an 8-4 win and an overall 20-16 victory.
The defeat saw Black Country drop one place to sixth with 127 points and Clwyd move up into pole positin with 145 points. Although placed sixth Black Country do have a game in hand on three of the five teams above them.
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