West Midlands ninth fixture, a home tie against Merseyside in the L-Style Division One of the UKDA National League was brought forward by one week, a vital fixture and a must win game for both teams as the home side were lying fourth in the promotional table with 175 points and their opponents just above them in third place with 176 points.
The weekend didn’t get the start the home side were hoping for as the ladies ‘B’ slumped to a 5-1 defeat. Janet Sorrell, Molly Brash and Debbie Robinson giving Merseyside a 3-0 lead when in turn they accounted for Sarah Maybury (3-2), Shellbie Simmons (3-0) and Julie Emery (3-2). Fourth on for the home team was Hannah Meek who won 3-1 against Julie Whelan and the fact that she was West Midlands sole winner, her 18.02 average was enough to clinch the lady of the match award. The last two games went to Merseyside’s Sandra Rule and Claire new who in turn defeated Tara Simmons-Fullwood and Kelly Doleman 3-0 and 3-2.
The men’s ‘B’ had a much brighter start as their man of the match Martin Price got them off to a winning start when he accounted for Peter Robins with a 4-2 scoreline and 27.61 average. A 4-0 win from Dean Simmons-Fullwood over Philip Bennett doubled the lead and making it 3-0 was Ash Khayat with his 4-2 success against Wayne Lang. The home team’s lead was reduced to 3-2 when Chris Long beat Ryan Locker 4-2 and Dave Richards won 4-0 against Cameron Baird but by the halfway point West Midlands men’s ‘A were leading 4-2 after Adam Teasdale added his 4-2 in against Paul Smith to their tally.
The first four games of the second half were shared with Phil Lloyd and Mike Addison in turn winning 4-3 against Mark Curley and Karl Hughes, Will Beaden and Kieran O’Mahoney replied for West Midlands as they beat respective opponents Dan Nuttie (4-2) and Barry Bowes (4-3).Taking the score along to an 8-4 win for hosts were Luke Griffiths and Callum Parkes, Griffiths winning 4-0 against Alan Magee and Parkes beating Tom Gater 4-2.
As in the ladies ‘B’ game, the ladies ‘A’ also didn’t have the best of starts as Janet Hardman won 3-0 against Jacqueline Maiden and Viv Cullimore beat Gemma Barrettt 3-2. Lady of the match Evonne Taylor stopped the Merseyside charge when in the third game she won 3-2 against Jane Robson with a 20.18 average. The score was levelled in the fourth thanks to a 3-1 win from Shellbie Simmons who accounted for Vicki Lloyd. The away team got their noses in front once again in the fifth when Adele Mulligan won 3-1 against Kat McLean only to see the points shared in a 3-3 draw when last on Jacqueline Trott (West Midlands) beat Emma Barlow 3-2.
Going into the men’s ‘A’ match both teams still had everything still to play for with the score level at 12-12 and it was the away team who took the first lead as Ben Jones won 4-2 against Mark Craddock. A 4-3 win from Alex Simmons over Robbie Gorst levelled the game only to see Merseyside forge ahead again in the third when Terry Roach won 4-2 against Adam Teasdale. For a second time parity was restored, this time it was Scott Baker with his close 4-3 verdict over Tom Lockyer that kept West Midlands on level terms. Game number five saw the hosts take the lead for the first time when Glen McGrandle beat Kevin Lloyd 4-2 and by the midway point that lead was extended to 4-2 with a further 4-3 win from Callum Parkes over Steve Gow.
As in the first half the opener to the second went to Merseyside as Clive Rule beat Richard Platt 4-2 and with a similar 4-2 win for Bradley Williams over Neil Pointon the running score was now standing at 4-4. Gavin Baker’s 4-2 win against John Prescott gave West Midlands a 5-4 lead, Jack Aldridge guaranteeing a share of the spoils with his 4-3 win over Anthony Brown in the tenth. The winning seventh game was put up by man of the match Ryan O’Connor who in his 4-1 win against Dave Harnick he averaged 28.66. The last game of the weekend saw Shaun Carroll take West Midlands Men’s ‘A’ result to an 8-4 victory as he beat Aaron Jones 4-2.
The overall result for the weekend was a 20-16 victory for West Midlands which saw them leap up the table to pole position with 198 points, six more than former leaders Middlesex who dropped to second place. However being as West Midlands fixture was brought forward, their pole position would only last for one week as despite Middlesex somewhat surprisingly losing their home fixture with Leicestershire 20-16 they returned to top of the table with 208 points, ten more than West Midlands with one to play.
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