Shropshire seniors move into pole position
Shropshire accelerated into pole position in their Endsleigh British Senior County Championship group with a top gear display against Lancashire.
They drove to a super 80-shot success on Newport No 1 and that, allied to a battling 15-chalk defeat on a big green at Horwich RMI, added up to victory by 65 overall.
That leaves them as the only unbeaten county in qualifying section four, with a big plus aggregate, and just needing to avoid a slip-up against Staffordshire next month to finish top and make the semi-finals.
Ten winners out of 12 at Newport included three single figure romps, while the away side recovered from the shock of Rich Goddard's heavy first four defeat on his 99th appearance for Shropshire to more than hold their own.
County president Mike Potter said: "Holding a strong Lancashire team to 15 chalks with five winning cards proved successful at Horwich.
"Coupled with the 80-chalk advantage at the banker green of Newport, we have put ourselves in prime position for a semi-final place."
A clean sweep of the first four at Newport saw Shropshire 42 up and featured Darren Wellings winning 21-7, a score equalled by man of the match Wayne Phillips at No.5 while Michael Beer went even better with a 21-5 card at No.10.
County No.1 Callum Wraight produced some super bowls to run out from 19-15 down at No.8 and Stuart Rutter and Glyn Picknell fought hard in the back four.
Horwich RMI, in the shadow of Bolton Wanderers' football ground, looked a tricky test early on as only Gary Neal – in for bronchitis victim Glyn Herbert – managed a winning card as Shropshire trailed by 22.
But Phil Emery produced a Shropshire man of the match display by going 10-2 up and winning 21-9, Peter Grimston edged a 21-20 cracker and Jamie King rallied from 19-10 to lead but then lose 21-20 in the middle.
The last four games were also shared with Clay Flattley and Wayne Rogers eventually converting big leads, while the recalled Paul Williams played well to be 15-8 up but then stalled somewhat and ended up with 19.
Just as selector Mike Jones had ordered, Shrophire had been positive and played to the best of their ability – and the semi-finals surely await after Staffs beat the Isle of Man by 106.
