WILTSHIRE travelled to Northumberland for their second BDO Division Four match of the season and narrowly lost 19-17.

The B team ladies raced into a 5-0 lead with great wins for Ruth Smith, Cat Mackie, Jill Little, Erica Hartnett and lady of the match Rachel Hutton, before Freda Squires was defeated.

A loss for Darren Garrod was followed by an excellent John Newland win and Ron Ashton put Wiltshire 2-1 up.

Despite defeats for Neville Moore and Trevor Higginson, Lee Hussey levelled the match at 3-3.

Losses for Gary Ellis, Pete Harris, Richard Ettwell and Antony Gray occurred before wins for Chris Bailey and man of the match Mick Cummins, who finished a great performance with a 29.00 average, as Wiltshire led 10-8 overnight.

An early start on Sunday in the ladies A section saw Karen Hutton narrowly lose the opener before Ann Paget squared the match. Wiltshire then lost the next four with defeats for Heather Lane, Jo Hooke, Tina Rowlands and Jane Jenkins.

Wiltshire needed a strong start in the Men’s A and this was achieved with a terrific Juan Hopkins win, and when Mark Cox levelled the match with a 150 checkout, Wiltshire were taking the game to Northumberland.

Dave Wicks then put Wiltshire in front before a shock Paul Boulton defeat saw the match level at 14-14.

Youngster Chris Aubrey silenced the home crowd with a 3-1 win with the help of a 146 finish, but with Mick Duggan losing the scores remained level.

Richard North did well on his debut A match but narrowly lost and Steve Willand then met BDO star Davy Richardson and took a 1-0 lead, before missed doubles cost him.

Two points down with four matches to play, Tony Clark went 2-0 down before taking a 3-2 victory.

Lee Evans was next on and played superbly before losing.

Wiltshire needed to win the final two matches to draw the weekend. However an off-colour Ian Greenaway was unable to win his match and despite Richie Jones putting in a man of the match performance in the last contest, Wiltshire lost by two points.

Maximums Ladies: Tina Rowlands. Men: Richard Ettwell, Mick Cummins, Dave Wicks, Chris Aubrey, Lee Evans and Richie Jones.

Results Ladies B Ruth Smith (14.12) beat Tip Whillis (15.13) 3-1; Cat Mackie (15.61) beat Anne Dunn (14.85) 3-1; Jill Little (15.24) beat Lisa McKenzie (12.87) 3-2; Rachel Hutton (18.43, lady of the match) beat Debra Waugh (15.05) 3-1; Erica Hartnett (12.86) beat Lil Frost (12.10) 3-2; Freda Squires (12.90) lost to Jemma Reay (14.84) 3-1.

Men’s B Darren Garrod (17.47) lost to Kevin Browne (20.04) 3-2; John Newland (25.52) beat Chris O’Donnell (22.72) 3-1; Ron Ashton (21.56) beat Andy McClure (20.45) 3-2; Neville Moore (21.67) lost to Graham Fletcher (24.45) 3-2; Trevor Higginson (19.10) lost to Billy Moore (23.38) 3-1; Lee Hussey (20.93) beat Tony Grant (19.40) 3-2; Gary Ellis (18.47) lost to Paul Bell (19.26) 3-1; Chris Bailey (20.62) beat Bob Stanley (20.24) 3-2; Pete Harris (20.74) lost to Steve Wanless (22.10) 3-0; Richard Ettwell (19.44) lost to John Purvis (18.93) 3-2; Antony Gray (23.72) lost to Andy Ballantyne (23.44) 3-1; Mick Cummins (29.00, man of the match) beat Darren Bell (23.71) 3-1.

Ladies A Karen Hutton (14.27) lost to Mary Moore 3-2; Ann Paget (17.38, lady of the match) beat Angie Best (14.22) 3-1; Heather Lane (13.34) lost to Dawn Longstaff (13.31) 3-1; Jo Hooke (18.43) lost to Cath Groves (18.37) 3-1; Tina Rowlands (22.18) lost to Sue Nicholson (22.46) 3-2; Jane Jenkins (17.52) lost to Ali Murphy (21.78) 3-0.

Men’s A Juan Hopkins (27.98) beat Darren Gray (25.01) 3-2; Mark Cox (26.86) beat Paul Sinclair (23.60) 3-1; Dave Wicks (25.93) beat Andy Dillon (23.66) 3-2; Paul Boulton (23.45) lost to Jimmy Blakey (23.86) 3-0; Chris Aubrey (25.95) beat Colin Saunby (22.20) 3-1; Mick Duggan (25.62) lost to Ian Gleeson (26.54) 3-1; Richard North (21.26) lost to John Stevenson (21.38) 3-2; Steve Willard (25.62) lost to Davy Richardson (26.16) 3-1; Tony Clark (22.54) beat Andy Lynn (23.93) 3-2; Lee Evans (27.29) lost to Spencer McGarry (27.42) 3-2; Ian Greenaway (21.25) lost to Dave Wightman (23.02) 3-2; Richie Jones (28.88, man of the match) beat Dave Maitland (23.74) 3-1.