WARWICKSHIRE women concluded their Middle England League campaign with a hard-fought 116-110 victory over Oxfordshire at Banbury Borough.
The 13-4 success leaves Warwickshire top of the table but, with other counties still having games to play, they are unlikely to capture the title. Regardless, this has been an impressive season for the county.
Highest winning rink went to Pat Moore (Three Spires) with Jean Petty (Norgren), Margaret Grosvenor and Di Thurlbeck (both Lillington) who were level pegging 4-4 at five ends and then started to trail, but a strong second half enabled them to finish with a 26-14 win.
Maureen Edwards with Sigrid Thomas (both Rugby Thornfield), Sharon Keal (Snitterfield) and Helen Harris (Stoke) also started slowly and were trailing at five ends, but a sudden spurt, including five shots on the eighth end, lifted their spirits and they never looked back, eventually finishing 22-16.
Moira Parsons with Wendy Holloway (both Welford), Velisa Brown (Southam) and Trish Jarvis (Wolvey) set off at a pace and were 17-5 at the tenth end when their opposition fought back but they were still able to finish with a 23-17 win.
Chris Cooke with Rosemarie Geden (both Southam), Di Medhurst (Stoke) and Donna Kerr (RLS) were fairly evenly matched throughout the game but just managed to hold on to a one-shot lead and win 14-13.
Debbie Bloxham with Lynne Innes, Linda Linney (all Stratford) and Sue Hornsby (Lillington) were also fairly evenly matched until the end when their opponents managed to pull ahead, leaving the visitors trailing 20-16.
Jenny Corn with Pippa Mace, Jacqui Cook (all Lillington) and Joy Cooke (Blossomfield) were always trailing and, despite a valiant effort, were unable to turn the tables and finished 20-15 down.
THE WEATHER continued to be kind for the trip to Herefordshire to face Eastnor, where the green and their opponents proved too testing for the visitors, who lost their winning streak with a 118-111 defeat.
Helen Harris (Stoke) with Christine Harding (Rugby Thornfield), Chris Ward (Lillington) and Ros Taylor (Avenue Coventry) were in determined mood and 9-1 up at seven ends, when their opponents started to pull back over the next three ends, but the visitors held on to finish with a 22-14 win.
Jenny Corn with Hazel Goodman (both Lillington), Cynthia Briggs (RLS) and Chris Roberts (Stoke) were fairly evenly matched and 13-13 at 13 ends before finishing just two shots ahead at 23-21.
Debbie Bloxham (Stratford) with Joy Cooke (Blossomfield), Wendy Holloway (Welford) and Liz Crowther (Lillington) were on a roll and doing well until they dropped ten shots on the 14th and 15th ends which put the home team in front and it was only a determined effort and four shots on the last end that gave them a 23-22 victory.
Maureen Edwards (Rugby Thornfield) with Liz Chedgzoy (Stratford), Pat Harvey (Lillington) and Rosemarie Geden (Southam) were evenly matched until the last few ends when they managed to pull away and hold on for a 19-18 success.
Jean Petty (Norgren) with Liz Crispin (Wolvey), Janet Pooler (Stoke) and Linda Linney (Stratford) struggled to get going and it was not until the eighth end that they scored.
Once on the board they kept going and, although they never pulled ahead, they did hang on to lose by a more respectable 18-12 margin.
Chris Cooke (Southam) with Donna Kerr (RLS), Pippa Mace and Ann Doherty (Lillington) were also fairly evenly matched for most of the game and it was only a surge by the home team over the last few ends that left them 25-12 adrift at the end.
Warwickshire president Joy Cooke was delighted to present Liz Crowther (Lillington) with her colt badge.
