Shropshire’s revival continues and following their 22-14 win against Pembrokeshire they have now added a 23-13 victory away to Bedfordshire.
Saturday’s games gave Shropshire a terrific boost as both of the ‘B’ sides chalked up wins. The ladies ‘B’ after going 1-0 down when Charlotte Tyler beat Debbie Davies rattled off three wins to go 3-1 up, Kirsty Jenks began the trio of wins when she won 3-2 against Becky Minney. Leanne Quinton beat Jo Dilley 3-1, her 16.40 average proving to be an award winning one at the end of the day and taking the score to 3-1 was Pamela Evans another 3-1 result as she accounted for Carol Perkins.
Bedfordshire then recorded their second winner when Louisa Chamberlain beat Caroline Powell 3-1, but the result ended with a 4-2 win for Shropshire when Mandy Morgan added her straight 3-0 win against Irene Maddy to the tally.
The men’s ‘B’ tie saw Shropshire win the opening two games thanks to wins from Martin Riggs and Andrew Chatter, who in turn won 3-2 against Simon Parrott and 3-0 against Lloyd Wintle.
The hosts were quick to reply as Micky Reed beat Richard Parker 3-1 and Ben Hazel won 3-0 against Neville Quinton to level at 2-2, then for a second time Shropshire won two in a row John Cornmell winning 3-1 against Mark Ciruitt and Philip Austin beating Steve Mace 3-2.
The second half was mainly Shropshire’s going from 4-2 to 9-2 up as Simon Pritchard started the half with a 3-1 win over Paul Orchard followed by a 3-2 win from Scott Pitchford against Mark Kingdon. David Evans added the all important seventh winning game when he beat Gary Morris 3-1 and by the same margin John Breeze defeated Kelvin Maddy to make it 8-2.
In the penultimate encounter Shropshire found their man of the match, Derek Coulson went one down to Pierce O’Mahoney but then stepped up a gear, levelled the game, went 2-1 up with two maximums and a 16 darts leg and rounded off his win with a 14 darts leg to give him a 25.44 average.
Danny Humphries looked all set to put the final score at 10-2 when he went 2-0 up against Joe Butlin, but Butlin held his nerve and went on to win 3-2 and give a result of 9-3 to Shropshire.
As it turned out the ladies ‘A’ was the only down side of the weekend, Marie Riggs beat Sue Smith 3-0 in the opening game and despite Kerry King (Bedfordshire) cancelling out the lead with her 3-0 win over Suzanne Lane Shropshire took went ahead again in the third when lady of the match Michele Pritchard defeated Maria Goddard 3-0 with a 17.48 average. Unfortunately from there on in it was all Bedfordshire, three 3-0 wins from Shirley Williams, Maria Perrin and Lisa Perkins at the expense of Lorna Wheatley, Caroline La-Ffin and Katharine McLean to give the home team a 4-2 win.
The men’s ‘A’ were in superb form as they guaranteed at least a draw and more importantly secured an overall win in the first seven games.
Two straight 4-0 wins in the opening two games supplied by Glen McGrandle and Daniel Astbury in turn against Frank Raleigh and Mat Caste. Bedfordshire did reduce the arrears as Richard Wood beat Mark Jones 4-3 but it was only momentarily as Danny James beat Colin Essam 4-1 then Eddie Austin and Les Marson rounded off the first half of the game with 4-0 wins over Lee Rose and Dean Taylor to give the away team a 5-1 lead.
Sam Hamilton (Shropshire) went one up against Trevor Ellacott with a 110 outshot only then to go 2-1 down after missing finishing doubles in the next two legs. Hamilton then got his act back together, won the fourth in 17 darts with scores of 2×100 and 139, then went 3-2 up with a 180, 100 and 117 in 15 darts and rounded off a superb 4-2 win in 19 darts and a match award winning average of 28.44.
Trailing 6-1 Bedfordshire then had their best run of the match, three wins from Carl Yeowell, Steven Spring and Andy Moser, Yeowell beating Antony Stoneman 4-2, Spring winning 4-1 against John Cooper and Moser having a 4-3 win against Scott Towers.
With their lead reduced to 6-4 Roger Taylor put Shropshire back on winning ways with his 4-3 win over David Broome after Broome had gone within an ace of victory when he opened up a 3-1 lead, and rounding off a terrific 8-4 win was Clive Lucking who won the final tussle against Bobby Lee 4-2 to give Shropshire an 8-4 win and an overall 23-13 victory to see them move up the table and put them within eleven points of second placed Gloucestershire who they take on at home in their next fixture.
Full Results:Bedfordshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Frank Raleigh 0 Glen McGrandle 4, Mat Caste 0 Daniel Astbury 4, Richard Wood 4 Mark Jones 3, Colin Essam 1 Danny James 4, Lee Rose 0 Eddie Austin 4, Dean Taylor 0 Les Marson 4, Trevor Ellacott 2 Sam Hamilton 4, Carl Yeowell 4 Antony Stoneman 2, Steven Spring 4 John Cooper 1, Andy Moser 4 Scott Towers 3, David Broome 3 Roger Taylor 4, Bobby Lee 2 Clive Lucking 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Simon Parrott 2 Martin Riggs 3, Lloyd Wintle 0 Andrew Chatter 3, Micky Reed 3 Richard Parker 1, Ben Hazel 3 Neville Quinton 0, Mark Ciruitt 1 John Cornmell 3, Steve Mace 2 Philip Austin 3, Paul Orchard 1 Simon Pritchard 3, Mark Kingdon 2 Scott Pitchford 3, Gary Morris 1 David Evans 3, Kelvin Maddy 1 John Breeze 3, Pierce O’Mahoney 1 Derek Coulson 3, Joe Butlin 3 Danny Humphries 2, Women’s ‘A’:- Sue Smith 0 Marie Riggs 3, Kerry King 3 Suzanne Lane 0, Maria Goddard 0 Michele Pritchard 3, Shirley Williams 3 Lorna Wheatley 0, Maria Perrin 3 Caroline La-Ffin 0, Lisa Perkins 3 Katharine McLean 0, Women’s ‘B’:- Charlotte Tyler 3 Debbie Davies 0, Becky Minney 2 Kirsty Jenks 3, Jo Dilley 1 Leanne Quinton 3, Carol Perkins 1 Pamela Evans 3, Louisa Chamberlain 3 Caroline Powell 1, Irene Maddy 0 Mandy Morgan 3.
Shropshire v Gloucestershire
In division four of the BDO Inter County Championships despite their home advantage Shropshire’s two match winning run was brought to an end by promotion chasing Gloucestershire.
The ‘B’ games produced a mixed bag of results as the ladies found themselves trailing 3-0 to wins from Cath Brennan, Maria Lock and Sharon Nyland before registering their first winner who came in the shape of Julie Griffiths. Julie was taken the full five legs distance by Christine Marsh before clinching her win, a win that gave her an award winning average of 17.65.
Tracy Bishop (Gloucestershire) was on at number five and her 3-1 success against Kirsty Jenks was the win the put the match beyond Shropshire’s reach as the score then stood at 4-1.
Rounding off the ladies ‘B’ game was Pam Evans for Shropshire who made the result a little more respectable when she accounted for Kirsty Bishop with a straight 3-0 win to give a final score of 4-2 to the visitors.
The men’s ‘B’ were out to protect an unbeaten record, their previous five games producing four wins and a draw and they got off to the perfect start when Phil Austin and Richard Parker each handed out 3-0 defeats to their counterparts Keith Lawrence and James Atkins.
The 2-0 lead was short lived as Gloucestershire’s Rob Long beat Paul Boddison 3-1, Simon Delaney won 3-2 against Dan Humphries and putting the away side 3-2 up was Luke Carpenter with his 3-0 win over Simon Pritchard.
Neil Christopher Powell (Shropshire) levelled the game getting the better of Charlie Millard with a win in the deciding leg of their game. The advantage then swung back in Shropshire’s favour as David Evans recorded a 3-1 win against Kevin Devries.
For the third time in the match the scoreline was levelled, this time it was Gloucestershire’s Mark Turley who took the tally to four each with his 3-1 win over Derek Coulson before his team mate Wesley Cole added his 3-2 win over John Cornmell to give the away team the lead for a second time with only three to play.
Trailing 5-4 the home team needed something special to maintain their undefeated run and something special is what they got as Martin Riggs beat Andrew Hammond 3-0, Neville Quinton laid on a man of the match performance against Ian Beasley to win 3-0 and average 24.24 and making it a hat-trick of 3-0 wins was John Breeze who defeated Andy Neocleous to give his team a 7-5 victory.
Going into Sunday’s games the score stood at 9-9 with both teams still having everything to play for that however quickly changed as the ladies ‘A’ lost their match in the opening four games Vicky Fairbrother won 3-0 against Suzanne Lane, Wendy Booth and Krystal Gibbins both won 3-1 against respective opponents Michele Pritchard and Lorna Wheatley and rounding off a 4-0 lead for Gloucestershire was Louise Bayliss who beat Caroline La-Ffin 3-2.
It was the penultimate game before the home side registered their first winner, Marie Riggs just getting the edge on Jane Smith in a five legs encounter to seal what turned out to be not only a lady of the match award for Marie as she chalked up an 18.09 average but also Shropshire’s solitary win as Katharine McLean lost the final game to Karen Brown 3-1 to give the away side a 5- 1 victory.
The men’s ‘A’ went one down when their Clive Lucking lost by the odd leg to Aaron Dyer, however John Cooper erased Gloucestershire’s lead with a straight 4-0 win against Ben Green and with a further 4-2 win from Dan Astbury over Shaun Hughes the home team were 2-1 up.
Scott Richards (Gloucestershire) levelled the score at 2-2 with a 4-2 win over Eddie Austin, but a second straight 4-0 win for Shropshire, this time from Les Marson against John Raynsford saw the hosts take the lead for a second time.
A close 4-3 win by Chris Jackson at the expense of Glen McGrandle once again tied the match and in the seventh game the visitors took the lead for the first time when Kieran Smith beat Andi Chatter 4-1. Mark Chiswell took the score along to 5-3 in favour of Gloucestershire when he beat Roger Taylor 4-1. Danny James reduced the arrears to 5-4 with a 4-2 win over Joe Griffiths, Danny’s average of 26.03 earning him the match award.
Gloucestershire’s two game buffer was restored in the tenth, a 4-2 win from Ricky Oram over Scott Towers to leave his side requiring just one more win for victory. Mark Jones (Shropshire) won the penultimate tie against Keith Philburn 4-1 but his win only delayed the eventual outcome which was a victory for Gloucestershire as Liam Devries won the last game of the weekend against Antony Stoneman 4-2 to give the away side’s ‘A’ team a 7-5 win and an overall victory of 21-15.
Despite the defeat Shropshire remain in sixth position in the promotional table with 114 points, 20 fewer than their opponents who are third in the table. Shropshire do not have the easiest of run ins as their next two fixtures are away against second in the table Tyne and Wear followed by next to bottom Isle of Wight. They then round off their fixture card with a home tie against Middlesex who are two places and fifteen points above them.
Full Results:Shropshire names first):Men’s ‘A’:- Clive Lucking 3 Aaron Dyer 4, John Cooper 4 Ben Green 0, Dan Astbury 4 Shaun Hughes 2, Eddie Austin 2 Scott Richards 4, Les Marson 4 John Raynsford 0, Glen McGrandle 3 Chris Jackson 4, Andi Chatter 1 Kieran Smith 4, Roger Taylor 1 Mark Chiswell 4, Danny James 4 Joe Griffiths 2, Scott Towers 2 Ricky Oram 4, Mark Jones 4 Keith Philburn 1, Antony Stoneman 2 Liam Devries 4, Men’s ‘B’:- Phil Austin 3 Keith Lawrence 0, Richard Parker 3 James Atkins 0, Paul Boddison 1 Rob Long 3, Dan Humphries 2 Simon Delaney 3, Simon Pritchard 0 Luke Carpenter 3, Neil Christopher Powell 3 Charlie Millard 2, David Evans 3 Kevin Devries 1, Derek Coulson 1 Mark Turley 3, John Cornmell 2 Wesley Cole 3, Martin Riggs 3 Andrew Hammond 0, Neville Quinton 3 Ian Beasley 0, John Breeze 3 Andy Neocleous 0, Women’s ‘A’:- Suzanne Lane 0 Vicky Fairbrother 3, Michele Pritchard 1 Wendy Booth 3, Lorna Wheatley 1 Krystal Gibbins 3, Caroline La-Ffin 2 Louise Bayliss 3, Marie Riggs 3 Jane Smith 2, Katharine McLean 1 Karen Brown 3, Women’s ‘B’:- Mandy Morgan 0 Cath Brennan 3, Samantha Roberts 1 Maria Lock 3, Leanne Quinton 2 Sharon Nyland 3, Julie Griffiths 3 Christine Marsh 2, Kirsty Jenks 1 Tracy Bishop 3, Pam Evans 3 Kirsty Bishop 0.