Meole Brace target glory on two fronts

After a narrow league defeat at Wrockwardine Wood, Thomas' side were successful in their bid to reach this year's cup final, where they face Castlefields on August 8.

But while they lost 8-4 at Wrockwardine, Thomas was relatively pleased that his side had managed to chip away at Flowfit Shropshire Premier League leaders Newport, who went down 9-3 at fourth-placed Burway.

He said: "Winning against St Georges on Saturday was very good. It's lifted spirits and will definitely make things more interesting as everyone wants to play in the final.

"So now everyone will have to be playing to the very best of their ability to be considered – selection is getting tougher!

"I thought we played well enough at Wrockwardine, but they're in a good run and played their third home game in a row and that is a tough ask.

"We had our usual 18s, 19s and 20s but just didn't see them over the line. I think it's a mixture of both luck and confidence.

"Darren Wellings played a great game but just lacked any luck when he'd got it back to 20-19."

The captain insists hopes remain high that Meole can reclaim their spot at the summit.

He said: "We're not far off first in the table and in the County Cup final – that's not bad. Getting the practice on our green is tough, because it's so popular.

"It's a case of scoring more points than Newport when we play away."

Castlefields cemented their mid-table position with an 8-4 victory over visitors Wem USC, while Ifton picked up a strong win on the road at Bylet, Simon Tyler the pick in beating Brian Walters to eight.

Seventh beat third as St George's edged Sir John Bayley 7-5. Bowring won comfortably at home to Chester Road (10-2).

Archibald Worthington lost a vital bottom of the table clash against Hadley USC 7-5.