Girl power can't halt Shropshire's defeat
Shropshire are tumbling down the BDO British Inter-Counties Championship Division Four after a loss at home to Bedfordshire made it back-to-back defeats.
The county darters are hovering above the bottom two after the visitors left with the 22-17 victory that settled them into second place, writes Craig Birch.
It's now three defeats from five - with a draw and win also recorded - so far this season, with hopes of a return to Division Three after two years diminishing.
They could face a tough test in their next fixture, too, with a trip to league leaders Gloucestershire awaiting them on the weekend commencing February 6.
Two days of darts started, at their home base of Castle Hall in Bridgnorth, against Bedfordshire with the ladies 'B' team stealing the show.
Girl power helped them dominate,as they dropped just one game in a 5-1 victory. Angela Moyce mustered Bedfordshire's sole reply, averaging 15.59 in a 3-1 verdict against Leanne Quinton (15.59).
Sophie Fawcett, 15, secured her first victory in her second county appearance, with 13.85 in a 3-2 last leg decider against Charlotte Tyler (13.59).
Grace Angell took top billing on her county debut, the 14-year-old notching 15.56 in a 3-1 success over Irene Maddy.
The outlook wasn't so bright for Shropshire after the men's 'B' standings, which proved to be where the match was won and lost.
It was looking good when Louis Burling and Clive Lucking took the first two games, Burley racking up 23.88 in a 3-1 downing of Michael Battams (22.99).
But they lost the next nine in succession, Dean Taylor top scoring for Bedfordshire with 24.45 in a hard-fought 3-2 battle against Matt Williams (24.28).
Shropshire's Eddie Austin (19.78) whitewashed Frank Raleigh (17.73) to pull something back, but he couldn't stop his side being on the end of a 9-3 drubbing.
Stalemates in both the ladies and men's 'A' clashes saw the away ranks secure victory, on the back of their men's 'B' exploits.
It was 6-6 in the ladies 'A,' Steph Clarke opening in style for Shropshire with 17.37 in a 3-1 vanquishing of Maria Goodard (15.44).
Shropshire relinquished the lead three times as proceedings swung back and forth, Maria Perrin top scoring for Bedfordshire in a 3-0 shut out of Michele Pritchard (15.13).
Parity with the scores 6-6 came in the men's 'A' finale, with Shropshire going 2-0 up and then coming from 6-4 down to force the result. Play was upgraded to the best-of-seven format.
Again, the best work was done for the hosts in the first game, Danny James knocking up 24.46 in a 4-1 win over Richard Wood.
Bedfordshire's Micky Reed recording the highest average of the weekend, with 29.27 in a 4-0 whitewash of Ian Pallett, father of PDC pro David.
The visitors departed with a 19-17 match result, with three extra points for the winning side.
