The West Midlands stay at the summit

The country throwers hit the road to Sussex last weekend and returned home with another 23-13 win, as they did at home to Somerset.

The Club Cue Leisure in Worthing was the stage for four teams to do battle, with the visitors last travelling to Staffordshire for their opening fixture.

Play was underway with the the ladies 'B' affair, where the West Midlands set their stall out by claiming a convincing 5-1 success, writes Craig Birch.

There were three 3-0 whitewashes of the home darters along the way, most notably with Jacqueline Maiden's average of 18.11 against Elaine Chapman (14.86).

Hayley Gatford (17.43) replied with a 3-2 last leg result against Wendy Waine (17.86), but the advantage was with the West Midlands.

They built on their success in the men's 'B' meeting, Ash Khayat top scoring with 28.16 and seizing a 3-2 vanquishing after a cracking contest with Lee Jennings (26.99).

Jennings' ratio topped his side's standings but it came in defeat, with Todd Rainsley reversing that notion with 23.87 in a 3-2 downing of Robert Smith (24.43).

The women's 'A' clashes proved to be the closest of all, with the spoils shared after a 3-3 draw.

The away side's Sarah Roberts gleaned 23.48 as he shut out Crystal Woodrow (18.54), while Sussex's Trish Kidd replied with 20.88 in the same result over Gemma Barrett (15.61).

And the win was secured by the men's 'A' side's 8-4 verdict over their host counterparts, with three extra points for each team prevailing.

The West Midlands' Mark Craddock racked up 27.96 in a 4-3 victory over Rod Hawkins (26.11). Sussex's Craig Stoner got 28.69 in a 4-1 win over Ian Jones (27.60).

The table-toppers next go to the Britwell Ex-Servicemen's Club to take on fourth-placed Berkshire, on the weekend beginning November 28.