West Midlands' charge halted by drubbing
The West Midlands had their momentum stunted by a heavy away defeat to Dorset - but they remain second in the table.
The county darters came off firmly second best in their latest BDO British Inter Counties Championship Division One clash,
They were just a point off league leaders Hampshire going into play, but losing all four pairings left them drubbed 30-9. They are now just a point ahead of third-placed Oxfordshire.
The result brought them back down to earth, after three straight wins raised hopes of a second straight promotion. It's only their second defeat since going up, though.
The respective women's B teams were first to the oche, where the visitors were whitewashed 6-0 in their widest thumping of the weekend.
Cathryn Campbell top scored for Dorset with an average of 17.48 in a 3-0 landslide over Shelbie Simmons (15.60).
Jacqueline Maiden's 18.00 was the highest losing average, only enough to be beaten 3-2 in the last leg by Carol Llewellyn (17.07).
The West Midlands tried to arrest the slide in the men's B clashes but, despite a competitive effort, still went down 7-5.
Tommy Morris caught the eye for the away side, with 26.90 in a 3-1 victory over Mark Hampton (26.04). Glen McGrandle answered back with 26.84 in a 3-0 shut-out of Scott Hudson (23.71).
The deficit was in double figures after the women's A ties, where the West Midlands were put to the sword again 5-1.
Sarah Chick was the pick of Dorset's throwers, racking up 23.02 as she rolled over Sarah Roberts (22.51) by a 3-1 verdict.
Sophie Singh got the sole reply, with 18.20 in a 3-1 defeat of Donna Mabbatt (16.52). Dorset were out of sight going into the men's A finale, where play was upgraded to best-of-seven.
Dorset closed out match victory and recorded a 7-3 success, Lee Edwardson notching their highest average of the weekend with 29.13 in a 4-1 win over Michael Baker (27.57).
But McGrandle would return to the fore to race to the highest overall tally, with 30.29 over a 4-1 result against Dale Masterman (25.70).
Dorset eased home 27-9, earning three extra points as the winning county. The West Midlands next travel to Kent on the weekend of February 11-12.
