Win puts Shropshire on course for final four

They beat their qualifying group two opponents both home and away on Sunday, overall victory by 47 shots putting them in pole position to make the semi-finals come August, writes Malcolm Fletcher.

A cracking two-chalk win at The George in Warley saw recent County Merit winner Rob Roden star with a 21-5 card as the visitors won a magnificent seven of the 12 games.

And on Bowring’s Premier green in Wellington, watched by a near-400 crowd, Alex Jones and Michael Beer were imperious 21-5 winners to hush the rowdy visiting supporters as Shropshire won by 45 with eight winners.

Delighted selector Mick Jones thanked the players for proving his choice of green correct before confirming Beer as the overall man of the match and Jones as the home county’s award winner.

W&W president Phil Whitehead admitted: “I really don’t like this result. It’s brilliant for Shropshire to have beaten us, especially on The George.

“And here at Bowring I heard whispers that some home players thought it was the wrong green, but I think it was brilliant for you and I say back your selectors – they do a good job.”

But he added, tongue in cheek and in hope for the rest of the campaign: “Shropshire will mess up somewhere!”

That’s not likely if they can keep up the intensity of this performance, starting against Wales next month as they try to recover from their 20-shot overall defeat against Derbyshire in their group opener.

Three winners in the middle away, including Roden and the recalled Adie Rowe, gave Shropshire the impetus at home to build on three winners in the first four – and that’s exactly what they did by battling in some style.

“A fantastic result for Shropshire in the first game, but there are still four games to go in the quest to do one better than last season,” said a county association spokesman, remembering last year’s Crosfield Cup final defeat to Yorkshire.