Devon held to draw in first BICC match

DEVON travel to Fareham this weekend looking for their first victory of the 2017-18 British Inter County Championships after they were held to a draw when hosting West Midlands in the opening fixture.

Their result was disappointing after leading 11-7 and 14-10 and a win against newly promoted Hampshire is much needed to boost morale.

Devon Ladies B had a great start against West Midlands and overcame their counterparts 4-2. Jodie Hawton (15.75) won 3-1 and the trio of Karen Matthews (19.12), Kelly Gabriel (16.35) and Tracy Ware (19.47) all came out on top after being pushed the full five legs.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mark Shears won two man-of-the-match awards whilst playing for Devon in the British Inter County Championships.

The Men’s B side continued to push the scoreline along when they triumphed 7-5, with man-of-the-match Mark Shears (24.99) winning 4-1, as did Darren Collis (22.16).

There was a win in four straight legs for Neil White (23.30) while Martin Horn (22.90) and Dan Belsten (23.77) both won 4-2.

An excellent performance from Phil Goodwin (24.77) saw him come from 3-0 down to win by the odd leg in seven while Lee Alderman (22.67) also came from behind in a 4-2 victory, aided by an outshot of 114.

Holding an 11-7 overnight lead, the Ladies’ A side had to settle for a 3-3 draw, inspired by another top performance from Maria O’Brien (25.47) who won in three straight legs.

There was also a 3-0 success for Merryl Dennis (20.31) while Anna Johnson (18.33) took the last point with a 3-2 victory to force the draw.

Leading 14-10, a Devon victory looked “on the cards”, but missed opportunities

cost the Men’s A team and they crashed to an 8-4 defeat.

There were some encouraging performances though, none more so than by Mark Shears, who was promoted to the A team following his performance the previous day and he finished the weekend with two man-of-the-match awards.

In winning 4-2, Shears achieved an outstanding 30.78 average when securing his winning legs in 18, 14, 14 and 15.

There was also a 4-2 victory for Ben Chamberlain (25.35) while Glyn Wells (23.36) won 4-3 and Matt Dickinson (29.62) caught the eye with a 4-1 success.