Wem's two-year unbeaten record is over

The Shrewsbury-based title-chasers bounced back from their County Cup disappointment to keep up the pressure on leaders Newport.

In reference to his side's cup final defeat to Castlefields six days earlier, skipper Mark Thomas joked: "It happened a week too late.

"It's a pity we never played that well on the Saturday before, but that's life. It was a nice way to get over that as they hadn't lost at home for such a long time – it shows our bouncebackability.

"We went there with a good attitude and Glynn Wellings bowled really well, along with Adrian Rowe and Julian Cook."

Rowe registered Meole Brace's best result, beating Graham Dulson to nine, while Peter Bound was their Most Valuable Player with a 21-10 win over Chris Brettell.

Thomas' delight with the result was tempered a little with news of Newport's 10-4 win at Hadley USC.

He admitted: "That was a bit disappointing, because I thought Hadley might have got a better score. But at least we got a win to help put that County Cup disappointment behind us a little bit."

Defending champions Newport's win extended their lead at the top to 15 points, ahead of a showdown between the top two on Friday.

The first four was key for the game as all the encounters were high-quality affairs, with Newport managing to edge three of them.

They then took control of the middle with Jamie King returning to his former club and registering a 21-10 win and Mark Selley winning to 13, this despite a best win for the hosts' Adrian Smith 11.

They sealed the aggregate at the back with Russ Pegram's best win to seven against Steve Homer.

John Potter took MVP for beating league averages leader Peter Farmer to 15 after being 9-0 down.