Highlights
The Ladies County Championship and Presidents Trophy group stages were completed on Sunday 19th July with every team still having something to battle for, either a Championship Semi-Final, a Mavis Dearden Supplementary spot or to avoid the drop into the Presidents Trophy in 2027. No ‘dead rubbers’ in the Ladies format.
So who finished where, and who’s seasons are extended into August and September?
Group.1. had the straight shoot out between Shropshire and Wales for Championship & Supplementary places, with both teams having a 100% record going into the fixture.
Shropshire started well at home on Hanwood BC carding seven of the first eight winners, with Sonya Lucas’s 21-11 being the best winner, and despite Claire Over’s 21-14 for Wales, Shropshire raced to a 32 chalk lead. In Wales, at Denbigh BC, Shropshire took 3 from 8 winners, but good single figure wins for Kirsty Jones and Sian Ollerton redressed the balance and gave Wales a 24 chalk lead at home. So with 8 chalks in it, with 4 left at each venue there was all to play for. In Shropshire the fight was on and the Welsh back four dug out three winners and reduced the deficit to 23 with Kay Newell’s 21-11 being a key card. So if Wales could maintain their lead at home, they were going to sneak it. So which team had the hero to get them into the Championship Semi’s? Shropshire’s Louise Cotton took that crown. Her 21-9 meant that Shropshire reduced the deficit in Wales to 17 shots and pinched it by 6. Must have been a great match to be involved in.
Dudley & District v South Staffordshire wasn’t quite so tense, with Dudley & District carding 19 wins from the 24 games across both venues and producing an 136 shot win. Consequently they retain their position in the main championship for next year.
Group.2 finale was a little more pedestrian than Group.1, with the key win by North Midlands over North Lancs & Fylde in June, big victories for both over Staffordshire and Mid Warwickshire respectively, always looked the likely outcome this month. And indeed there were no shocks. North Midlands won by 97 and North Lancs by and impressive 183. A huge shout out for Mid Warwickshire’s Kate Williams who was the only winner on the whole card for her team.
So North Mids go to the Championship Semi-Final where they will meet Shropshire. North Lancs will take on Wales in the Supplementary and Staffordshire retain their championship place in 2027 for finishing third in Group.2.
Group.3 was also a day of large wins. Defending champions, Yorkshire, surpassed North Lancs’s huge win total and thumped Cheshire by 197 shots and only dropped 7 chalks in the entire match, while South Yorkshire weren’t quite as dominant in Merseyside, but still managed to win home and away.
So despite a thumping on the day, Cheshire retain their place in the 2027 Championship, South Yorkshire take the supplementary spot and Yorkshire continue the defence of their crown.
Group.4, like Group.1, had a direct shoot out between Warwick & Worcester & Mid Cheshire for top spot and the prize of meeting Yorkshire in the August Semi-Final.
Warwick & Worcester picked the very tricky ‘Ye Olde Knowle’ BC while Mid Cheshire went to Castle Private BC. Both teams started strongly at home and it was Mid Cheshire who took the lead after the first four. Nicola Boulton’s 21-5 along with three games that finished 21-12 (two for and one against), gave Mid Cheshire a 25 shot lead at Castle, while at Ye Olde Knowle Warwick & Worcester pulled 17 shots back after good wins from Susanne Green & Kathryn Williets. The middle four’s at both venues continued the home dominance with a 36 shot plus for Warwick & Worcester thanks to Julie Larkin’s 21-5 & Jodie Pritchard’s 21-9. The plus in Mid Cheshire was 28 due to Andrea Bell’s 21-8 and other good cards.
So that made the game all square after eight, and left a match that was going to go to the wire. At Castle all the back four were tight but Mid Cheshire gained 11, would it be enough? Three of the four at Ye Olde Knowle pinched 10 back for Warwick & Worcester. One match left and it was Kirsty Darling who was the ‘Darling’ of Warwick & Worcester and brought it home 21-3.
Warwick & Worcester v Yorkshire in the Semi, while Mid Cheshire will meet South Yorkshire in the Mavis Dearden Supplementary.
The other game in Group.4. resulted in Burton & District beating Lancashire to retain their Championship spot. Great away performances in this match, Lancashire winning on Littleover No.2. by 1 shot, only to be surpassed by the Burton & District away team who won on Ighten Mount by 37.
The Presidents League saw the battle of the slopes when Cumbria took on North Derbyshire at Lindal & Staveley King George respectively, and it was Cumbria who coped with the difficult conditions better with a 56 shot win at home a very credible 15 shot loss on Staveley. Gillian Balderstone’s 21-6 win in Derbyshire being the stand out card for the northerners.
Perhaps the shock of the round was 0 from 2 North Shropshire’s win over 2 from 2 Greater Manchester, which meant that all won a match in the Presidents this year. Mo Corley’s 21-9 win at Wem in Shropshire and Sue Palin’s 21-4 win away at North Chadderton were the only single figure wins of the match and tipped it in North Shropshire’s favour by just 4 shots. Boy did they celebrate on the bus home.
Congratulations to all winning teams. See you all next month for the Semi Finals of the Main Championship and the Mavis Dearden.
Full results and team picture gallery can be found on the Ladies County Championship Competitions Page.
