Black Country had a tough away fixture against high-riding Clwyd who topped the L-Stylr Division One table with 160 points, Black Country lying seventh and with some forty-nine points fewer than their hosts but with a game in hand. Despite this it was Back Country who had the better start to the weekend with the ladies ‘B’ getting a share of the spoils in a 3-3 draw and the men’s ‘B’ winning 7-5. Match awards going to Chez Allcock and Rich Bowen who in turn accounted for Alex Foulds with a 3-0 win and 20.31 average and Dan Alker who Bowen beat 4-0 and averaged 27.45.
Beginning Sunday with a 10-8 lead, Black Country quickly found themselves trailing 13-11 as the ladies ‘A’ finished on the wrong side of the 5-1 result with Stella Sims their only winner, Sims taking the match award for her 14.88 average in her 3-2 win over India Edwards. Although the running-score was now 13-11 in Clwyd’s favour, there was still a chance of Black Country getting something out of the fixture and hopes were heightened as at the halfway stage of the men’s ‘A’ game the score was 3-3 and the overall total standing at 16-14 to Clwyd but still with everything to play for. With three winners in the first four games of the second half, Clwyd were home and dry, the result 7-5 to the home team to give them an overall 20-16 win for the weekend. One shining light for Black Country was the performance from their Tom Bissell, who in his 4-0 win over Phil Hughes he chalked up a fantastic average of 33.97.
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