To end their season on the L-Style Division One, Salopian had a home tie with Somerset, going into the fixture Salopian were placed seventh on 182 points and their opponents fourth with 194 and still in with a shout for promotion.
The ladies ‘B’ went one down when Somerset’s opener Sue Lane beat Hayley McGuinness 3-0, but a 3-1 win from Kate Titley over Zoe Liddle followed by a 3-2 success for Sue Lane against Gillian Roper saw Salopian go 2-1 up. Kay Bissett levelled the game for the visitors with her 3-0 win over Anna Peatroy but with the last two games going to the hosts the result was a 4-2 victory for Salopian ladies ‘B’, Emma Tapp took the match award for her 3-0 win against Lisa Hughes and 20.88 average, Danni Pritchard completing the win with her 3-0 win against Lauren Collins.
The first two games of the men’s ‘B’ match went to Somerset, Vincent Archer winning 4-3 against Carl Wear and Daniel Rodgers beating Matt Elsey 4-2. From 2-0 down, the home side then went 3-2 up, Jake Elsey having a 4-2 win against Dean Baker Ollie Summer winning 4-3 against Daniel Davies and James Jenkins accounting for Bradley Archer with a 4-2 result. The last game of the half saw Somerset’s Charlie Gay beat Archie Wright 4-2 to put the score at the midway point all-square at 3-3.
Somerset went ahead again as the second session got underway, Jack Walker winning 4-3 against Eddie Price. Parity was restored once again in eighth when man of the match Sam Morris chalked up a 24.55 average in his 4-2 win against Jari High. The last four games all went with the first throw advantage, Ade Beale and Carl High both putting Somerset’s noses in front with their wins over Danny Humphries (4-3) and Ben Ellis Dean (4-1) with Jamie Kynaston and Jack Darby cancelling out their leads as they replied for Salopian with their respective 4-1 win over Dave Farmer and 4-3 success against Nick Eggbeer to give a final result of 6-6.
As Sunday’s ‘A’ games got underway, the visitors were once again first out of the blocks as Kate Hulme won 3-1 against Karen Weston. The lead however, didn’t last long as Emma Hayward with a lady of the match performance against Karen Littler won 3-1 and average 22.26. The home side took the lead for the first time in the third, Tracey Dean winning 3-0 against Donna Gullock, only to see the game levelled once again when Becky Taylor won 3-1 against Chloe Ames. Steph Clarke put Salopian side into an unassailable position when she beat Shelley Cotterell 3-0 . The final game going to the away side, Sally Smith having a 3-0 win over Stacey Price to put the final score at 3-3.
With the overall score now standing at 13-11 in Salopian’s favour, required from the men’s ‘A’ was at least a draw for an overall win for the weekend. That was achieved in the first half as the hosts romped through the six games without losing one of them. Ash Hilditch beat Mike Harper 4-2, Gary Crowther won 4-3 against Tyler High, Jamie Chaplin earned himself the match award for his 4-3 win against Jack Walker and 29.58 average. Jack B.Smith made it 4-0 when he won 4-3 against Sam Hoddinott before Dean Rogers added his 4-2 win in his tie with Rob Lovell and rounding off the first half with a 4-1 win was Kacey Jones who accounted for Daniel Rodgers.
Somerset got their first stripe on the board as the second half began, Ade Beale winning 4-3 against Dave Bayton, but the score was taken along to 10-1 with further wins for Salopian from Paul Rowley, Mark Crutchley, Andy Evans and Terry Nash who in turn defeated Adi Wood (4-1), Neil Raikes (4-0), Daniel Williams (4-1) and Carl Galeitzke (4-0). Taking the result to 10-2 to Salopian, Kevin Hardy got the second win for Somerset when he won 4-3 against Jon Mansell.
The overall 23-13 win by Salopian saw them finish the season in a very creditable fourth position with 208 points, only sixteen short of runners-up Worcestershire and promotion.
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