Game number five for the Black Country in the UKDA National League’s L-Style Division One was a home tie against Leicestershire, the home team beginning the weekend in third place with seventy-nine points and their opponents placed fifth with seventy-two points but from one game fewer than their hosts.
It turned out to be a weekend to forget for the Black Country ladies as both teams finished on the wrong side of a 4-2 result. Scarlett O’Sullivan gave the home side the early lead when she opened up with a straight 3-0 win over Nicky Cropper and in the process earned herself the match award for her 14.88 average, but from one down the visitors then went into a 3-1 lead as Caroline Newberry and Melanie Bell in turn won 3-0 against Grace Angell and Kirsty Shaughnessy and Janine Gough won 3-1 beating Paige Robbins. Sarah Tromans kept Black Country in the game with her 3-1 win over Angela Lenton only to see Paula Swain chalk up a 3-0 win over Leanne Wilson to give the 4-2 result to Leicestershire.
The ladies ‘A’ quickly went 2-0 down as Ella Coburn won 3-2 against Abbey Hunt and Shannon Reeve beat Sarah-Jane Parker 3-0. Nevertheless the home team fought back to level the score at 2-2 thanks to a lady of the match performance from Heather Wright who won 3-2 against Liz Brunt and averaged 16.74, and Doreen Hunt who beat Kelly Welsh 3-0. Kirsty McIlvenny put a halt to the hosts winning run when she handed out a 3-0 defeat to Stella Sims and with a 3-2 win for Lauren Hall in the final game against Chez Allcock, once again Leicestershire ladies had won 4-2.
As both ladies teams finished 4-2 down both men’s teams ended all-square at 6-6.
The men’s ‘B’ had a good start as Neil Steventon and Wayne Hobday put them 2-0 up with respective wins over Nigel Ward (4-2) and Tom Mills (4-3). However the lead didn’t last long as Adam Marziano won 4-1 against Matthew Lloyd and Janek Hill beat Matt Coleman 4-1. The visitors then took the lead when Ash Clarke won 4-0 against Al Smith and at the midway point were 4-2 up after Ryan Carter added his 4-2 success over Sam Bissell.
The second session began as did the first with Black Country winning the opening two games, Mark Rollinson winning 4-2 against Ian Turner and Andy Garratt not only beating Derek Allsopp 4-3 but winning the man of the match award for his 27.16 average. With the score level at 4-4, Leicestershire forged ahead with a 4-2 win from Grant Brown over Mark Jones, only to see the score levelled once again as Rich Bowen won 4-1 against Andy Shillcock. Mark Faulkner assured the away side of a share of the points when he beat Rhys Butler 4-0, and a share of the points is what they got as Ian Townsend won 4-2 against Neil Pullen to take the result to 6-6.
The men’s ‘A’ match was similar to the ‘B’ as the first half ended with Leicestershire leading 4-2. The away team won the first two games thanks to their Jason Lole and Ben Quenby who had wins in turn over Dave Edwards (4-0) and Connor Whitehouse (4-1). Trev Brennan was the host’s first winner beating Ricky Sudale 4-1 but the two games buffer was restored for the visitors when David Barker won 4-2 against Paul Wells. Tom Bissell added Black Country’s second stripe on the board when he beat Ryan Hawkes 4-1 but a 4-2 win for Sam Whittaker over Jamie Rollinson gave the away side the 4-2 lead
Kieron Bridgwater was in superb form for Black Country as he kicked off the second half with a straight 4-0 win over Scott Hope and recorded a tremendous 33.40 average. A further win for Steve Jones over Paul Ablett levelled the game at 4-4 and with a 4-2 win from Michael Powell against Mark Thompson Black Country were leading for the first time in the game. However from 5-4 up they then trailed 6-5 as Andrew Hibbert won 4-0 against Dan Homer and Martin Giddings beat Grainger Jordan 4-3 to leave the result hinging once again on the last game of the match. The final game of the weekend went to the wire but it turned out to be a 4-3 win for George Willetts over Jaikob Selby-Rivas to salvage a draw the Black Country men’s ‘A’.
The overall result for the weekend was a 20-16 win for Leicestershire, this being the Black Country second successive defeat. The defeat sees Black Country drop two places to fifth on ninety-five points while Leicestershire move up one place to fifth with the same ninety-five points but still with a game in hand.
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