The men can't save Staffordshire's darters
The men's teams came to the rescue but couldn't stop Staffordshire slipping to another defeat in the BDO British Inter-Counties Championship Division Two.
The county darters lost for the third fixture in a row away to Cumbria last weekend but still managed to go up a place,
They climbed into sixth, a point ahead of Suffolk after the tally they picked up in their latest outing. The match was staged at the West Street Social Club in Wigton.
The writing was on the wall from the ladies B pairings, where the away side were whitewashed 6-0. Cumbria's Roxanne Litherland averaged 19.72 in a 3-1 win over Erin Wilson (18.04).
The men's B line-up won their clashes and ate into the deficit with a 8-4 victory, Steve Rushton top scoring for Staffordshire with 28.36 in a 3-0 shut-out of Darren Armstrong (26.83).
That was one of four whitewashes the visitors would enjoy during these ties. Rob McCoubrey replied for Cumbria with 27.19 in a 3-1 success over Frazer Hill (25.34).
The gap widened again after the ladies A affairs where the hosts ran out 4-2 winners, despite Sarah Cope's 20.31 in a 3-0 landslide over Michelle McGimpsey (15.96) in response.
Cumbria's Mary Paine had 20.04 in a 3-2 last leg battle to see off Sam Prommetta (20.29), leaving Staffordshire trailing by four points going into the men's A proceedings.
They did beat the home line-up in their finale, but the 7-5 verdict saw them fall short. Play was upgraded to a best-of-seven format.
Staffordshire's John Burgess notched the highest average of the weekend, with 29.47 in a 4-0 drubbing of Trevor Watters (21.48).
Cumbria's David Carr came in second with 27.68 in a 4-2 vanquishing of Jamie Dunsdon (25.80) as they got to the finishing line 19-17, gaining three extra points as the winning county.
Staffordshire next host Somerset in their penultimate league fixture of the season. It will take place at the White Eagle Club in Riverway, Stafford, on the weekend commencing April 2.
