Salopian went into their final game of the season, a home tie with County Durham, in division two of the UKDA National League knowing that a win would almost guarantee them promotion, their second promotion in their four seasons in the National League. Game nine for Salopian saw them begin the weekend second in the promotional table with 173 points, eighteen short of leaders Worcestershire but eight to the good on third placed Nottinghamshire, their opponents, County Durham were placed fourth with 162 points.
The ladies ‘B’ gave Salopian the perfect start to the fixture, chalking up a fantastic 6-0 victory, all begun by lady of the match Tracey Dean who had a straight 3-0 win over Mia Ashurst with a 20.59 average. Stacey Pepperrell doubled the home team’s lead with her 3-2 success over Margaret Stewart and taking Salopian into an unbeatable 4-0 lead were Sue Lane and Hayley McGuinness, who in turn won 3-1 against Melissa Sams and Angie McDonald, Haley’s win seeing her end the campaign top of the ladies ‘B’ averages. Julie Griffiths 3-2 win over Suzanne Nixon made it 5-0 and with a final 3-0 win from Anna Peatroy against Sharon Storey the result was an emphatic 6-0.
County Durham got the better of the opening two games of the men’s ‘B’ match as Scott Jardine beat James Jenkins 4-3 and Michael Walker won 4-2 against Andy Gilbert. Two consecutive 4-1 wins for Dean Stokes and Jamie Kynaston over respective opponents Eddie Brown and Joe Weldon restored parity at 2-2 and although the visitors took the lead once again in the fifth when Ian Adamson won 4-1 against Ben Bevan, a straight 4-0 win to end the half from man of the match Andy Evans (24.74) over Stephen Hayers levelled the score at 3-3 at the break.
The second half all belonged to Salopian as they made a clean sweep winning all six games to give them a 9-3 victory. Chalking up those wins were Matt Williams (4-0) against Paul Berriman, Ian Bride and Steve O’Callaghan who in turn won 4-1 against Darren Sedman and Simon Dobson. A 4-3 win for Danny Humphries over Shaun Musgrave made it 7-3 and with a 4-0 win for Mick Unsworth against Robert Douthwaite and a final 4-1 win for Eddie Price over Davis Nixon, the 9-3 win was achieved.
Unusually all of the ladies ‘A’ games went against the first throw advantage, Steph Clarke first on for Salopian and winning not only 3-0 against Clare Stewart but also winning the lady of the match award for her 23.12 average plus at the same time ensuring she finished top of the ladies ‘A’ divisional averages. Cheryl Adamson was County Durham’s first winner she had a 3-1 success against Karen Weston. Giving the hosts the lead for a second time was Kate Tiley who accounted for Fran Jones with a 3-2 scoreline. Restoring parity for a second time was Linda Hindmarsh with her 3-0 win over Sue Lane but a similar 3-0 result for Tracey Dean in her game with Bryleigh Welsh assured the home side of a share of the points, and that was what they got as Laura Patton won the last game against Emma Tapp to give a final score of 3-3.
With the running score now standing at 18-6, Salopian required just one more win to secure an overall victory for the weekend and they didn’t have to wait long for it as opener for the men’s ‘A’ Ash Hilditch duly obliged with a 4-3 success against Michael Gladstone. The home side’s lead was then doubled as Dave Bayton beat Paul Johnson 4-1. Gary Miller pulled one back for County Durham when he won the third game against Eddie Price 4-3 but the remainder of the half went to the hosts as Gary Crowther won 4-1 against John Scullion, Terry Nash beat Gerry Hall 4-0 and Ian Evans ended the half with his 4-3 win against Ryan Anderson, to put Salopian 5-1 up. Gary Crowther taking the match award for his superb 31.46 average in his win over John Scullion.
As the second half got underway, Jamie Kynastion made it 6-1 with his 4-2 win over Graham Robertson before County Durham had their best run of the game winning two in a row thanks to their Paul Welsh who beat Kacey Jones 4-3 and Jack Bell with his 4-2 win against Mark Crutchley. On at number ten for Salopian was Paul Rowley who won 4-1 against Alan Bell and at the same time assured the home team’s men’s ‘A’ of victory with the score now at 7-3 but also his win making it nine out of nine wins for the season and guaranteeing himself the top spot in the men’s ‘A’ divisional averages. Andy Allaker chalked up the visitor’s fourth win in the penultimate encounter when he beat Jamie Chaplin 4-3 and with the same result, Salopian’s Jon Mansell won against James McClurg to put the final score at 8-4 to Salopian.
The overa;; score for the weekend was 26-10 to Salopian to see them finish as runners-up with 202 points, fifteen short of champions Worcestershire but nevertheless L-Style Division One next season.
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