Warwickshire’s fifth fixture of the season in the Premier Division of the UKDA National League was a tough away game against Suffolk. Prior to the game Suffolk were riding high in the division placed second, fifteen points short of leaders Lancashire, while Warwickshire were six places below them and had some twenty-nine fewer points, however they had played one game fewer than their hosts.
Warwickshire were first out of the blocks as the weekend got underway with the ladies ‘B’ fixture, Jodie Rigg giving them the early lead when she won 3-1 against Holli Jarmaine. Nina Bolt doubled the away team’s lead with her similar 3-1 win over Becky Smith before the home side chalked up their first stripe on the board when Leanna Hadfield beat Clare Greenwood 3-1. Restoring Warwickshire’s two games buffer was their lady of the match Kacie O’Connor, who in her 3-1 win over Jean Prewitt, she averaged 18.73. With two games to play and a draw already in the bag, Warwickshire then saw the final two games go to their hosts as Lesley Compton won 3-2 against Lucy Shepherd and Sue Waterman beat Kirsty Hinchliffe 3-1 to put the final score at 3-3.
Like the ladies ‘B the men’s ‘B’ also won the opening two games as Zac Prince beat Paul Spiers 4-1 and William Naylor won 4-3 against Andrew Caine to take the match award for his 26.63 average. A 4-2 win for Paul Williams over Dave Hill saw the home team momentarily reduce the arrears, only to see their opponents once again win two-in-a-row as Lee Miller had a 4-2 success over Ollie Howard and Ian Shaw won 4-0 against Josh Church. At the break Warwickshire were leading 4-2, James Holden (Suffolk) closing the half with a 4-2 win over Mark Carter.
Suffolk’s third winner came in the shape of Jason Elvin, his 4-0 win over Mark Strong taking the running score to 4-3 to the visitors. Jason Meek made it 5-3 with his 4-1 win against Jason Stalker and with a 4-3 win from Karl Reynolds over Ian Randles, Warwickshire were in an unassailable 6-3 lead. Two 4-1 wins from Dan Brown and Stewart Thompson over respective opponents Jnr Joyce and Paul Harbourne left the result hinging on the final game between Paul Woods and Jason Prince, but a straight 4-0 win for Jason Prince gave Warwickshire men’s ‘B’ a 7-5 victory.
Warwickshire’s ladies ‘A’ could not have wished for a better start as they romped into a winning 4-0 lead. Donna Pinch began the quartet of wins when she opened up with a 3-1 win over Leesa Woollard, similar 3-1 wins for Courtney Hine and Wendy Adams over their respective counterparts Lauryn Salter and Nadine Leathers meant the away side were guaranteed at the worst a draw after only the first three games. A draw was never going to be the result as the visitors lady of the match Macy Gibbons added her straight 3-0 win over Ruby Grey to put up the all-important fourth win, Macy having a super 23.86 average/ The last two games both went to Suffolk, Jo Locke and Carly Chenery beating Caroline Pike and Marian Conway 3-0 to give a final score of 4-2 to Warwickshire.
With the overall score for the weekend standing at 14-10 in Warwickshire’s favour, the men’s ‘A’ required five winners to secure an overall win for the weekend. Alas it was not to be.
Suffolk kicked-off with two 4-1 wins supplied by Curtis Hammond and Ryan Meikle who in turn defeated Karl Reynolds and Steve Hine. Wayne Mynard halved the deficit when he won 4-1 against Nick Bloom. Nathan Potter took the score along to 3-1 to the hosts when he beat Jamie Hughes 4-3 before Warwickshire’s man of the match Noel Grant won 4-1 against Ben Poulton with a 28.98 average. By the midway point Suffolk were leading 4-2 after Stephen Burton added his 4-0 win over Nigel Heydon.
As far as Warwickshire were concerned the less said about the second half the better as the home side won all six games thanks to their David Ballard-Flatt, J.J.Wright, Max Haley, Aaron Hammond, Gary Butcher and Rob Butters who in turn accounted for Matty Washbrooke (4-3), Kevin Dowling (4-2), Jack Wareing (4-2), Martin Tonks (4-2), Ryan Jackson (4-2) and Gareth Braham (4-3) to give the home team a 10-2 win.
Despite the overall 20-16 defeat for the weekend, Warwickshire actually moved up one place in the table to seventh with ninety-four points from five games and although they have a game in hand on four of the six teams above them they trail leaders Lancashire by a huge fifty-four points.
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