Black Country’s final away game in the L-Style Division One of the UKDA National League saw them travel to the south-west to take on Devon, a game which on current form was always going to be a win for the away side with the home team placed ninth in the table and 133 points while the away side were fourth on 177 points.
The home team’s ladies ‘B’ had the better start to the game with Alison Gabriel-Wotton beating Grace Angell 3-2, that lead doubled for the hosts when Lisa White won 3-0 against Marie Millward. Lacey Hughes, with a 3-0 result, accounted for Katie Miller and halved the deficit for the visitors only to see Lisa Hughes beat Kirsty Shaughnessy 3-1 and with a further 3-0 success for Kirsty Whiting-O’Brien over Leanne Wilson, Devon ladies ‘B’ were home and dry with a 4-1 lead. Black Country’s best came in the last when lady of the match McKenzie Taine Thomas won 3-1 against Tracy Ware with a 14.68 average.
It was a bright start for the Black Country men’s ‘B’ with Rob Smith and Rich Bowen in turn winning 4-1 against Mark Turner and Luke Grantham to open a 2-0 lead. The lead however was short-lived as by the midway point of the match the hosts were leading 4-2 with wins from Todd Woodberry, Kieran Joy, Andy Hitchman and Daniel Brazier who in turn defeated Neil Steventon (4-2), George Willetts (4-1), Mark Rollinson (4-3) and Jake Shipley (4-2).
As the second session got underway, Paul Palmer added to the home team’s lead beating Wayne Hobday 4-1 to put them 5-2 up. Game eight produced Black Country’s man of the match in the shape of Sam Bissell. Bissell handed out a straight 4-0 defeat to Mike Beard with an outstanding average of 34.55. Unfortunately for the away side that was to be their last winner as Devon stormed to a 9-3 victory with further wins from Danny Belsten, who won 4-3 against Jamie Barrowman, Darren Pearce had a 4-2 success against Al Smith, Steve Donohue won his game with Mark Jones 4-1 and to conclude the day’s procedures, Jake Wreford beat Ian Townsend 4-3.
First on for the ladies ‘A’ was Heather Wright who put Black Country one up when she defeated Nicole Goyne 3-1. The lead lasted until only the next game as Kelly Gabriel levelled the match with her 3-2 win over Kirsty Shaughnessy. The visitors went ahead for a second time in the third when Chez Allcock beat Karen Matthews 3-2 and with a 3-1 win for Black Country’s award winner Doreen Hunt (18.33) over Hayley Brant, the away team were already assured of a share of the spoils. Alas a share was all it was going to be as Merryl Dennis (Devon) won 3-1 against Grace Angell and Anna Peatroy beat Stella Sims 3-0 to pout the result all-square at 3-3.
Black Country’s men’s ‘A’ could not have wished for a better start as Michael Powell not only beat Jack Walker 4-3 but in the process earned himself the match award for his 29.79 average. Taking the lead to 2-0 was Kieron Bridgwater who had a 4-1 success in his game with Simon Washington. Paul Milford pulled one back for Devon when he beat Trev Brennan 4-0, only to see the away side then go 4-1 up with a straight 4-0 win for tom Bissell over Luke Roberts followed by a 4-2 success for Dan Homer over Ben Chamberlain. The last game of the half went to the home team as Steve Colbourne got the 4-3 edge on Steve Jones to put the score at the halfway stage at 4-2 in favour of Black Country.
The 4-2 lead taken into the second half was soon eroded as Mike Pearce beat Jamie Rollinson 4-2 and with a 4-1 result, Mark Vellacott won against Harry Williams to restore parity at 4-4. A close 4-3 win for Cayden Smith over Shaun Hurrell saw Black Country forge ahead once more and with a 4-2 win for George Willetts over Flynn Jones, the away side were within an ace of victory as their lead now was 6-4. Victory was not to be though, a share of the points is what Black Country got as the last two games of the weekend both went to Devon, Scott Andrews and Brandon Stow in turn winning 4-2 against Paul Wells and Alex Howells to put the result at 6-6.
The defeat does now look as though it has cost Black Country any chance of promotion as they have dropped one place to fifth on 191 points and although only seven points short of neighbouring West Midlands in second place, they have a really tough fixture to bring the curtain down on their season, a home tie against divisional leaders Middlesex.
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