West Midllands fourth encounter in the Andy Wheeler Fisheries Championship Division was a home tie against London, who were playing their fifth fixture. The divisional table saw West Midlands fourth with seventy-one points and their visitors eighth with fifty-six points.
The opening four games of the ladies ‘B’ match all went against the first throw advantage, Kelly Aston giving the home side the early lead when she won 3-2 against Carly Townsend, Holly Glet levelled the game when she beat Shellbie Guest 3-1 only to see the hosts take the lead for a second time in the third when Hannah Davies not only got the better of Lynne Biondid with a 3-1 result but also secure the lady of the match award for her 18.19 average. The lead was cancelled out for a second time in the fourth when London’s Kelly Livett won 3-2 against Jacqueline Simmons. The sequence was broken in the penultimate game, Su Holt (London) winning 3-1 against Jade Wellings but a 3-3 draw was secured in the final game when Tara Fullwood won a five legs affair with Emma Little.
The men’s ‘B’ could not have wished for a better start as their man of the match Dean Simmons-Fullwood won the opener 4-3 against John Hetterley and averaged 26.70. West Midlands lead was doubled in the second game when Kieran O’Mahoney handed out a straight 4-0 defeat to Dave Payne. From 2-0 up the home side then stormed into a 5-0 lead with Rob Thompson winning 4-2 against Gene Hill, Cameron Baird defeating Ray Johnson 4-1 and Martin Price had a 4-2 win over Dave Cook. The final game of the half saw the away team chalk up their first win, Harry Kelly having a 4-2 result over Jordan Craig.
London reduced the deficit even further as the second half got underway by winning the first three games, John Walters won 4-2 against Luke Griffiths, Tyler Gabriel beat Ian Stanton 4-1 and Charlie Little took the overall score to 5-4 with his 4-0 win over Paul Price. Connor Lucas stopped the rot for the Midlanders, despite being taken to a deciding leg by Clive Barden, Lucas getting the 4-3 result. A 4-1 win for Dean Buckland over Sean Craig took the overall score to 6-5 with the outcome of the match all down to the final game of the day. West Midlands were able to breathe a sigh of relief as their Justin Evans assured them of a 7-5 win when he won in straight legs, 4-0 against Dan Collis.
Although she didn’t have the first throw advantage Eloise Milburn put the hosts one up when she won 3-2 against Debs Watling. However the lead didn’t last long as Tammy Mackenzie beat Jacqueline Maiden 3-2 and Nikki Patten won 3-1 against Gemma Barrett to put London 2-1 up. Evonne Taylor levelled the game with her 3-1 result over Kath Meneer only to see the away side forge ahead once again in the penultimate game when Mandy Solomons won 3-1 against Katherine Jenkins. Despite the pressure now being on West Midlands anchor player Kat McLean, she held her nerve and went on to win 3-2 against Jo Deamer and at the same time earn herself the match award for her 19.90 average. Like the ladies ‘B’ the ‘A’ finished all-square at 3-3.
Going into the men’s ‘A’ match, West Midlands were leading 13-11 but it was London who got the first stripe on the board as Matt Wood got a 4-2 result against Gavin Baker. The Midlanders long-serving Ian Jones once again came to the rescue winning 4-3 against Alan Slater before the visitors took the lead for a second time when Jamie Tilley won 3-2 against Will Beaden. Although trailing 2-1, by the break the hosts had opened up a 4-2 lead after Scott Baker beat Lewis McGurn 4-3, Richard Platt won 4-2 against Freddie Box and Adam Teasdale closed the half with his 4-3 win over Tommy Sanwell.
Wayne Clarke grabbed London’s third win, a 4-1 result over Mark Craddock but from there on in it was plain sailing for West Midlands as Darren Williams won 4-1 against Harry Kelly, Daniel Hands beat Conan Whitehead 4-3 and Jon Platt put up the all-important winning seventh game, handing Dean Buckland a straight 4-0 defeat. With West Midlands now leading 7-3 Neil Pointon added his 4-2 result over Craig Watkins and rounding off a 9-3 victory was Jay Woodhouse who not only beat Graham Rackstraw 4-3 but also collected the match award for his 26.68 average
The win sees West Midlands move up one place in the table to third with fifty-seven points and although twenty and nine points behind respective teams leaders Middlesex and second placed Hampshire they do have a game in hand on both.
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