Opening day victory for Shropshire

Victory by 13 shots overall against South Yorkshire put the county joint top of qualifying section three ahead of a crunch clash with bitter rivals Merseyside next month.

But it took single figure wins both at home on Newport No.2 and away on Barnsley No.1 in the middle fours, plus some nerves of steel at the end, to seal a win over South Yorkshire that a county association spokesperson admitted was ‘an extremely close contest’.

“A slow start at home saw us lead by eight chalks with two winners, whilst away we trailed by 17 despite reserve Gary Neal (in for Kiah Roberts) winning 21-15 and Michael Beer getting 17 from 9-1 down.

“But the tide turned in the middle as a single-figure winner at each venue meant we led overall.

“Overall Endsleigh and Shropshire man of the match, Ash Wellings, produced a fine 21-8 win away in Barnsley, while ex-Newport player Sam Millward used green knowledge to his advantage to win 21-5 there. This, coupled with two more wins at home, Stuart Rutter winning 21-18 after being 10-4 down, and Callum Wraight winning 20 away, meant Shropshire led by 12 overall.”

But South Yorkshire hit back to level matters and put the outcome in real doubt.

“It was down to the last three away only dropping eight more shots, and then David Lloyd and Pete Farmer both using their green knowledge to win 21-12 and 21-11 at Newport to earn a 48-shot win at home and by 13 overall,” added the spokesperson.

“Well done to the players and officials, who now turn their attention to Merseyside on June 5 after they defeated Cumbria by 13 as well, with the winner of next month’s clash being favourites to progress to the semi-finals.”

Debutant Jack Hewitt won 21-18 at Newport as Shropshire had just 11 winners from the 24 games but still managed to secure a vital victory.