Going into their seventh fixture in the UKDA National League’s L-Style Division One, West Midlands were lying seventh in the table and playing hosts to second from bottom of the division Cleveland, a win for the home team vital to lift them further away from the relegation zone.
On first for the ladies ‘B’ was Kat McLean who gave her team the early lead when she won 3-1 against Leanne Witten. The lead only lasted until the very next game as Cleveland’s Zoe Holland added her 3-0 win against Kelly Doleman to level the game. The home side went ahead again in the third with a lady of the match performance from Shellbie Simmons who with a 3-1 result beat Sonia Mager with an 18.17 average. The game was squared for a second time in the fourth when Sam Dixon (Cleveland) beat Sarah Maybury 3-1 and with further 3-1 results for Claire Stamper and Shirley Witten over respective opponents Hannah Davies and Julie Emery the visitors won the tie 4-2.
Although Anthony Whitehouse (West Midlands) lost the opening game of the men’s ‘B’ match to Brian Henderson 4-3, the hosts quickly recovered to open up a big lead at the halfway mark. Three 4-1 wins from Kieran O’Mahoney, Ian Stanton and Dean Simmons-Fullwood against respective opponents Graham Palmer, Cameron Nicholson and Mick Costello put the home team 3-1 up and with a 4-3 win for Ryan Locker against Ben Robinson plus a 4-2 success for Mark Curley over Colin Foxton, West Midlands men’s ‘B’ had a commanding lead of 5-1.
The run continued as the second session got underway, Martin Price beating Tony Liddell 4-1 and with a similar 4-1 result Karl Hughes accounted for Gareth Cox to put the home side into an unassailable 7-1 lead. Cleveland chalked up their second winner in the ninth when Chris Sheraton won 4-3 against Adam Teasdale but that turned out to be their final winner as Chris Slater beat Matty Busby 4-2, man of the match Will Beaden, with a straight 4-0 result and 26.72 average defeated Jake Harland and rounding off a superb 10-2 victory was Callum Parkes with his 4-1 win over Mac Chahal.
The ladies ‘A’ opened up a 2-0 lead when Gemma Barrett and Tara Simmons-Fullwood in turn defeated Vanessa Dickinson and Sonia Mager 3-1. Carla Boyes was Cleveland’s first winner when she beat Claire Hobbs, once again the result 3-1. Jodie Rowlands made sure of at the worst a share of the points when she beat Frances Elwick 3-2 before the game was taken to a decider when Amy Thomas won 3-2 against Jacqueline Maiden, however the 4-2 win was achieved in the final game for West Midlands when lady of the match Evonne Taylor beat Zoe Holland 3-2 with a 19.56 average.
Just three wins were now required from the men’s ‘A’ game to ensure an overall victory and one of those came in the very first game when Rob Thompson beat Ray Hutchinson 4-3. West Midlands lead lasted for just the one game as Rob Grundy won 4-3 against Darren Williams and Jamie Owens beat Dean Simmons-Fullwood 4-0 to put Cleveland 2-1 up. Mark Craddock restored parity with his 4-1 win over Martin Bulman and with a further 4-3 win for Ryan O’Connor against Chris Sheraton the overall win for the weekend was achieved. By the midway point of the match the score was once again level as Jamie Gardner made it 3-3 when he won 4-2 against Glen McGrandle.
The hosts moved to within an ace of victory as the second half got underway with wins from Jack Aldridge, Gavin Baker and Richard Platt who defeated respective opponents Paul Allen (4-2), Matthew Helyer (4-1) and Dave Hunter (4-1). Geoffrey Burdon delayed the win for the Midlanders when he beat Neil Pointon 4-1 but a similar 4-1 win for man of the match Dan Nicholls, who had a 28.84 average in his 4-1 win against David Coverdale put the result beyond the visitors reach. The last game of the weekend went to Cleveland when Colin Peacock won 4-3 against Daniel Hands to put the final score at 7-5 to the West Midlands men’s ‘A’.
The overall 23-13 win for the West Midlands saw them move three places up the table to fourth with 148 points just eleven short of second placed Merseyside with everything still to play for.
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