Bayley boys clinch a second straight Premier League title

Bayley already had one hand on the trophy going into the final round of fixtures, leading long-standing rivals Castlefields by 11 points.

And they made sure of a second straight league title – also winning it in 2019 while last year was wiped out by Covid-19 – with a 7-3 (189-172 aggregate) success.

Kane Beaman and Paul Evans were Bayley’s joint-best winners, carding 21-12 victories over Julian Cooke and Tracy Ryan respectively.

David Lloyd, Chris Worthington, Scott Simpson, Alex Jones and Paul Reeves also won their games on a memorable Friday night.

Doug Edwards was the top scorer for Meole Brace – beating Gordon Hawkins 21-6 – as they finished eighth in the table.

Second-placed Castlefields, who were holding on to slim hopes of a Bayley collapse, wrapped up their campaign with a 6-4 loss at home to Wrockwardine Wood.

But the hosts prevailed 183-157 on aggregate, giving both teams six points.

Kiah Roberts and Michael Beer recorded big wins for Castlefields, with them beating Stuart Clee and Dale Downes 21-4 respectively.

Rob Clarke’s 21-10 triumph over Paul Williams was the best result for Wood, who finished sixth out of the league’s 12 teams.

Ifton ended the season on a real high, with a 7-3 (181-137) win at Hanwood.

Geraint Williams was their top scorer in an impressive display as he beat Rob Carter 21-6.

Nicky Jones, Leighton Roberts, Dave Jones, Martin Jones, Ian Jones and Sam Williams also won their games.

Ifton, who lost to Wood in the County Cup final last month, ended up fourth in the table.

Hanwood, while disappointed with the result, will be happy with their efforts over the season as they finished third.

Hanmer fell just short in a tight clash at Highley.

Ending 5-5 in games, the hosts succeeded 188-162 on aggregate to end a tough season on a positive note, with Reece Farr their stand-out performer.

He beat Graham Bennett 21-6 while Stuart Gittings also enjoyed a comfortable win over Alan Faulkner (21-7).

Highley finished bottom of the Premier pile while Hanmer came a respectable fifth.

St Georges rounded off their year in dominant fashion, thrashing Wem USC 9-1 (208-134).

Peter Grimston breezed past Alex Hassell 21-4 in an emphatic outing for the hosts.

Scott Thomas fought hard to beat Phil Jones 21-19 in Wem’s only win on the day.

St Georges finished 10th in the table, with Wem 11th.

Finally, Chester Road recorded an 8-2 victory over Bylet (202-162).

Gary Beff, Steve Rogers, Chris Stretch, Ben Hinton, Chris Nicholson, Martin Lloyd, Edward Proudlove and Dave Rogers all won their games for the hosts.

It saw them end their campaign with 10 wins and 12 defeats to their name, putting them seventh.

Bylet, who had Jamie Taylor and Jason Groom pick up 21-17 successes over Carl Hinton and Andrew Davies, ended up in ninth – just two points short of Chester Road in the end.