Salopian went into their seventh fixture in division two of the UKDA National League lying second in the division, six points short of leaders Worcestershire and nine to the good on their visitors Nottinghamshire who were placed fifth.
The ladies ‘B’ game began badly as the first three Salopian players all lost 3-0 with Kaylea Riley, Heather Bishop and Jenny White all winning in turn against Tammy Walmsley, Paula Davies and Helen Walmsley to put Nottinghamshire into an unassailable 3-0 lead. Lady of the match Anna Peatroy stopped the rot in the fourth when she won 3-2 against Nicola Wing with a 14.18 average. Peatroy’s win however only delayinged the outcome as Ronnie Johnson added her 3-1 win over Rachael Mooney to Nottingham’s tally to confirm their win. The last game saw the home side get their second winner to make the final score a more respectable 4-2, Stacey Pepperell winning 3-0 against Julie Wilson.
Like the ladies ‘B’ the men’s ‘B’ didn’t have the best of starts as Nottinghamshire opened up with wins in the first two games, Andy Russell winning 4-0 against Paul Ashworth and Christian Shepherd getting the narrow 4-3 verdict over Carl Wear. Despite the early setback, the score was level at two each by the fourth as Jamie Kynaston beat Micky Stocks 4-1 and by the same margin Dean Stokes won against Steve Johnson. The last two games of the first half both went to Nottinghamshire, Lewis Spacey and Pete McConville in turn winning 4-1 against James Jenkins and Matt Williams to put the away side 4-2 up.
Two games into the second half and Salopian were back on level terms as Ben Bevan won 4-2 against James Hewitt and Mick Unsworth beat Richard Bloomfield 4-1. Chris Scott gave the visitors a 5-4 lead with his 4-0 win over Ian Bride only to see the game levelled once again as Danny Humphries added his 4-3 win over Wes Deane to the hosts tally. Putting the away side within an ace of victory and erasing any thoughts of a win for the home team was Martin Whatmough who had a 4-1 win against Steve O’Callaghan in the penultimate game. Nevertheless the result was a 6-6 draw as Salopian’s man of the match Jamie Chaplin won 4-1 against John Heslin with a 27.27 average.
With the running score at 10-8 to Nottinghamshire the ladies ‘A’ began with the first game going to the visitors as Sarah Brent won 3-1 against Hayley McGuinness. Kate Titley levelled the score at one each with her 3-1 win against Hayley Underwood and in the process took the match award for her 19.59 average and the fact that she turned out to be Salopian’s only winner. Julie Pitchford won 3-2 against Emma Tapp before Maggie Bamford, Louise Layhe and Jan Schofield in turn won 3-1 against Sue Lane, Julie Griffiths and Tracey Dean to give Nottinghamshire’s ladies ‘A’ a 5-1 win.
With Nottinghamshire having a 15-9 lead the home side’s men’s ‘A’ required a 9-3 win to earn just a share of the points. They began well with a man of the match showing from Jamie Chaplin who had a 4-2 win over Paul Harvey, Chaplin having a superb average of 31.26. The lead was quickly reversed as Charlie Stocks won 4-3 against Kacey Jones and Luke Almond beat Eddie Price 4-1. By the same 4-1 margin Gary Crowther levelled the score when he defeated Damion Beardsley and with a further 4-2 win for Mark Crutchley over James Parkin, Salopian were back in front with the score at 3-2. The last game of the half went to the away team, Richard Hughes winning 4-3 against Ash Hilditch to put the score level at the halfway stage at 3-3.
The hosts went ahead once again as the second half got underway, Paul Rowley beating Rob Stansbury 4-3 and with Jon Mansell winning 4-0 against James Hewitt, Salopian were 5-3 up. Marc Dewsbury (Nottinghamshire) had a 4-1 win against Andy Evans and restoring parity in the tenth was Tom Allies with his 4-3 win over Dave Bayton. A 4-3 win from Terry Nash against Jack Kerr kept the home side still on course for the win, but it was not to be as Pete McConville won the last game of the weekend against Andy Gilbert 4-2 to put the result level at 6-6.
The overall result for the weekend was 21-15 to Nottinghamshire, but despite the defeat Salopian held on to the number two spot in the division with 146, their opponents drawing level on the same number of points in third place following their victory. Both teams are twenty points behind leaders Worcestershire who won their home fixture with County Durham 26-10.
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