Third defeat in four for Staffordshire's darters
Staffordshire are slipping in the BDO British Inter-Counties Championship Division Two after a third defeat from four matches.
The county darters were beaten at home to Suffolk last weekend and failed to come out on top in any of the four pairings,
Losses have also come away to Surrey and Northamptonshire, with their solitary success against Worcestershire at their base of the White Eagle Club in Riverway, Stafford.
Another setback leaves them second bottom of the table, with Suffolk leapfrogging them after coming away with the spoils.
Staffordshire's first chance to make amends won't come until 2017, with the long trip to Northumberland on the weekend of January 21-22.
Play began for two days with the women's B teams first to the oche, which ended all square after a 3-3 draw.
Terry Selman led the way, racking up a top score with an average of 19.42 for the home side in a 3-1 win over Teresa Dale (14.80).
Chrissy Stubbings was the pick of the replies, with 16.89 amassing a 3-0 whitewash against Maria Pickering (16.49).
Slender two-point defeats would prove Staffordshire's undoing, starting with the men's B clashes where they blew a 5-4 lead.
The weekend's highest averages were recorded along the way, Barry Young notching 30.06 for Staffordshire in a 3-0 landslide over Andrew Meikle (25.08).
But even that was surpassed by Suffolk's Ryan Meikle, who raced to 31.98 in another 3-0 shut-out of Jake Jones (24.96).
The visitors came out on top at the end of the women's A affairs, too, after rolling over the hosts' line-up by a 4-2 verdict.
Susan Sherratt restored parity for Staffordshire after the opening game, with 19.36 in a 3-1 vanquishing of Mandy Reeves (16.69).
Sarah Ceska put Suffolk ahead in the following game and got 17.95, as she downed Anne Allsop (14.94) in a 3-2 last leg battle.
The final result put Suffolk four points ahead going into the men's A finale where, after a see-saw battle, they again prevailed 7-5.
Callum Matthews was the pick of the Staffordshire victories, as play was upgraded to a best-of-seven format. He got 29.55 in a 4-2 result over Andrew Gilding (28.39).
Stephen Burton was the best alternative for Suffolk, with 27.23 in a 4-2 success over stubborn home opponent Stuart Livesley (22.98).
