West Midlands’ fixture in the UKDA National League L-Style Division One was a home fixture against bottom of the division Devon who were nine points adrift of their hosts who were four places above them with fifty-nine points, both teams only having played three games.
Devon had the brighter start to the ladies ‘B’ game as their Merryl Dennis beat Tara Simmons-Fullwood 3-1 and Alison Gabriel-Wotton won 3-2 against Shellbie Simmons. Sarah Maybury chalked-up West Midlands’ first stripe on the board when she accounted for Rebeca Bowen with a 3-2 result. The away side moved to within an ace of victory in the fourth when Katie Miller won 3-1 against Jacqueline Simmons but a share of the spoils were salvaged when the hosts last two players Kelly Doleman and Hannah Davies both won 3-1. Kelly Doleman beat Lisa White while Hannah Davies defeated Sal McDermott and in the process earned herself the match award for her 14.68 average. The final score 3-3.
The first four games of the men’s ‘B’ match all went with the first throw advantage, Kieran Joy giving Devon the early lead when he won 4-0 against Luke Griffiths. The visitor’s lead didn’t last long as a 4-3 win from Kieran O’Mahoney over Flynn Jones took the score to one each. Devon forged ahead again in the third when Danny Belsten beat Alex Simmons 4-2, only to see parity restored for a second time when Neil Pointon won 4-2 against Shane Maddicks . The sequence was broken in the fifth when Dean Simmons-Fullwood (West Midlands) won 4-1 against Luke Roberts but with a close 4-3 win for Luke Grantham over Anthony Whitehouse in the closing game of the first half, the score was level at 3-3.
The visitor’s went ahead again as the second session got underway, Brandon Stow accounting for Adam Teasdale with a 4-1 scoreline. From 4-3 down the home team then opened up a 5-4 lead with two 4-0 wins from man of the match Ryan Locker and Ash Khayat. Locker beat Jake Wreford 4-0 with a super 30.36 average while Khayat won by the same 4-0 margin against Shane House. The score was levelled yet again in the tenth, Mark Turner (Devon) beating Callum Parkes 4-3. Glen McGrandle was the man to assure the hosts of a share of the points when he handed out a 4-0 whitewash to his opponent Daniel Brazier but a win was confirmed in the final game when Ian Stanton beat Mike Beard to give West Midlands a 7-5 victory.
The ladies ‘A’ game swayed one way and then the other before finishing all-square, Gemma Barrett opened up for the home team, winning 3-0 against Karen Matthews. Nicole Goyne (Devon) was taken to a deciding leg before beating Jodie Rowlands 3-2 to level the game and with a further 3-0 win from Goyne’s team-mate Kelly Gabriel over Claire Hobbs the away side were 2-1 up. It took a lady of the match performance from Jacqueline Maiden to level the score for a second time as she won 3-1 against Tracy Ware with a 20.20 average. In the penultimate encounter Evonne Taylor (West Midlands) won 3-2 against Lisa Hughes before the final score was taken to 3-3 after Hayley Brant (Devon) won the last game against Jacqueline Trott 3-1.
First on for the West Midlands in the men’s ‘A’ match was Martin Price who put the home side one up when he defeated Danny Belsten 4-1. The hosts lead didn’t last long as Simon Washington won 4-2 against Gavin Baker and Ben Chamberlain beat Shane Price 4-3 to give Devon a 2-1 advantage. Rob Thompson’s 4-1 success over Mike Pearce followed by a 4-2 win for Richard Platt against Paul Palmer gave the Midlander’s a 3-2 lead and by the midway point that lead was extended to 4-2 after Darren Williams won 4-1 against Mark Vellacott.
The second half was mainly West Midlands as Shaun Carroll got the session underway with a 4-2 win over Jon Bush. A draw was guaranteed as early as the eighth game as the hosts man of the match and long serving player Ian Jones made it 6-2 with his 4-1 win and 29.39 average against Andy Hitchman. The win was confirmed in the very next game as Scott Baker beat Steve Colbourne 4-2 and with a 4-1 result for Mark Craddock over Shaun Hurrell, West Midlands were 8-2 up with two to play. Jack Walker made the score a little more respectable for the visitors when he won 4-2 against Karl Hughes but a final 4-0 win for Will Beaden over Daniel Case gave the West Midlands men’s ‘A’ a comfortable 9-3 victory.
The overall 22-14 win for the West Midlands saw them consolidate their seventh position on eighty-four points and they still have a game in hand on three of the six teams above them.
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