Mirror men's losses cost Shropshire darts

The hosts already needed to bounce back from defeat at Norfolk in their campaign opener last month and were beaten again, writes Craig Birch.

Shropshire welcomed the West of England to Castle Hall in Bridgnorth for their second fixture of the new BDO British Inter-Counties Championship Division Four schedule.

Play began for two days with the women's B teams first to the oche, playing out a 3-3 draw to produce a stalemate early on.

It needed Shropshire to come from 3-1 down to force parity, with their teenage duo again playing their part in the fightback.

First Sophie Fawcett, 16, registered 16.72 and held her nerve to see off Claire Iles, who bettered her average with 17.97, for a 3-2 last leg win to make it 1-1 for the team.

The away ranks surged ahead before Grace Angell, 15, top scored with 18.21 in another 3-2 battle against Laura Humphrey (15.65).

Lynne Watton (12.13) ensured a share of the spoils for Shropshire with a 4-2 success over Barbara Strutt (11.65).

Mev Kelly (15.08) was the pick of the West of England throwers, with 15.08 in a 3-1 result over Cal Jones (14.34).

It was all square going into the men's B ties, but that's where the West of England surged ahead through a 9-3 victory.

Shropshire found themselves 6-1 down despite the best efforts of Peter Eley (22.80), who beat Gary Grimmitt (22.04) by a 3-1 score-line.

Zach Quinn caught the eye for the West of England, top scoring with 26.84 in a 3-0 landslide over Tim Eley (18.57).

Adrian Williams also hit two 180s for them, gleaning 23.32 in a 3-2 verdict at the expense of the spirited Royston Minton (21.42).

Robert Thompson top scored for Shropshire, with 32.01 as he came out on top 3-2 in the last leg against Kieran Grimmitt (23.10).

Robert Trumper also landed a maximum in their other reply, averaging 20.49 in a 3-2 win over Alan Skinner (20.42).

Shropshire clawed back some of the deficit through their women's A line-up, who prevailed 4-2 to cut the advantage to 14-10.

Stephanie Clarke led the way with 20.04 in a 3-0 whitewash of Jackie Skinner (18.21), while Jayne Fitzgerald replied with 15.14 over a 3-1 success against Sue Lane (13.65)

Shropshire's Kat McLean also landed the match's first 180, finishing with 17.89 in a 3-0 shut-out of Louise Ballantyne (14.72).

It made the men's A finale a must-win for Shropshire but, in the end, they could only match the 9-3 loss that befell their B contemporaries. Play was upgraded to a best-of-seven legs format.

The home side lost seven games in a row after the opener, where Brian Hickman (20.63) had seen off Mike Johnson (19.25) by a 4-2 verdict.

John Cooper (20.59) even hit a 180 in defeat for Shropshire, going down 4-2 to Paul Fellows (25.31). Andre Knox (25.38) did likewise, too, in a 4-0 drubbing to Andrew White (29.91).

PDC World Championship runner-up Mark Dudbridge starred for the visitors, notching the highest average of the weekend. He racked up 32.85 in a 4-0 whitewash of Paul Bromley (21.15)

Shropshire picked up a couple of wins towards the finish, Danny James producing their final reply with 26.25 in a 4-2 vanquishing of Wayne Allen (25.21).

James also hit two 180s, with Allen himself landing one. The West of England's Martyn Lansdown (25.68) also hit a brace of maximums in a 4-1 win over Eddie Austin (22.32)

Shropshire went down 26-13 overall, counting three extra points for the West of England as the winning county. They next travel to Clwyd on the weekend of October 29-30.