Castlefields’ seven-year drought over

The Shrewsbury club, the most successful side in the league’s history, had not enjoyed being champions since 2010. But they are delighted to have ended the long wait to get their hands on the prestigious silverware.

Keith Walton, the vice-captain to Andy Duckett, said: “Seven years is a long time, but consistency has been key for us this season, especially away. It’s been a long time for the club without winning the premier league, but there’s a lot of good teams in there.”

Walton admits that Fields have used more players throughout the season, 23, than he and Duckett would have ideally liked, but he’s just pleased they came out on top in the end.

“We’ve used far too many players,” he insisted. “But we managed to get through that.”

Fields needed to pick up just two points to be confirmed as table-toppers going into their final-night clash at Chester Road and they did what they had to do, plus a little extra for good measure, to ensure they finished in pole position. They were eventually beaten 8-6 (agg four) in Whitchurch but it was more than enough to allow them to begin their celebrations.

Duckett was the pick of the six away winners, beating Chris Nicholson 21-9, while Adam Jones was next best for Fields, overcoming Steve Rogers 21-11.

Martin Lloyd led the way for the 11th-placed Roaders, getting the better of Walton 21-8, with Andy Moss seeing off Michael Beer 21-10.

Two Fields men featured in the top three in the final averages table for the season, which was headed by Newport’s Pete Farmer with 22 wins from 26 games (+145). Callum Wraight was runner-up with 21 victories from 25 games (+155) with Beer taking third spot with 21 wins from 24 games (+115).

Walton added: “In my opinion, we’ve got the two best players in the county playing for us in Michael Beer and Callum Wraight, so that’s a good base. We’ve had four players (Duckett and Paul Williams the others) in the top 10 of the league averages this year, so that speaks volumes.”