Ladies seal spots in the semi-finals

A stunning 53-shot overall victory against Staffordshire meant North Shropshire pipped them to top spot in the final qualifying group one table to earn a knockout tie against Warwick & Worcester next month.

And even though Shropshire lost by 37 chalks to North Warwickshire at the same time on Sunday afternoon, they still finished top of group four to earn a last-four crack at reigning champions Yorkshire on August 19.

A superb show at Oakhill in Stoke with eight out of 12 winners earned North Shropshire a 49-shot win there, but it wasn’t until almost 7pm before they could celebrate as the green at the home venue of Hanmer, baked by the recent sunshine, was almost too quick to handle.

Delighted North Shropshire chairperson Chris Sayers said: “We were under no illusion how important this match was.

“Staffordshire were the only unbeaten team in the group and we not only needed to beat them, but we also had to beat them by a big margin (of at least 48) to stand any chance of progressing to the next stage.

“Hanmer was chosen as the home venue, as this green has always served North Shropshire Ladies well in the past. But it soon became clear that the hot weather made this more of a level playing field as everybody was struggling to keep any woods on the green.

“When the first four came off the green at Hanmer there was very little in it, but the news from away was much more positive, with six winners out of the first seven games, two of those to single figures (Donna Bennett 21-7 and Anne Speake 21-5).

“And the good news continued with another two winners, Susie Lawson also winning to single figures (21-9) as we won by 49 away.

“With the away game concluded and only seven players off the green at Hanmer, it was becoming quite tense.

“Credit must go to Olive Pass and Joan Groom who were the last two on the green and ensured that North Shropshire won by four at Hanmer and by 53 overall.

“From being the in the President’s Cup group last year to top of the group in the main competition this year and into the semi-finals is a brilliant achievement and all of us should be proud of it.”

Shropshire won their home leg against North Warwicks by 61 at Hanwood with Tracy Ryan’s 21-3 card the best of their nine winners.

But the away side found Bedworth No.2 incredibly hard to play and lost by 98 with only Gill Chambers (21-15), Angela Gaut (21-16) and Jayne Craggs (21-20) managing to win to leave the selectors with plenty to ponder ahead of next month’s huge semi-final test.