KENT LADIES 107

DORSET COUNTY LADIES 78

DORSET Ladies suffered a disappointing defeat as they lost 107-78 against Kent in the semi-final of the Atherley Trophy.

Following convincing wins in earlier rounds against Wiltshire and Devon, the visitors were hoping to reach their fourth final in eight years.

The six rink encounter played over eighteen ends at neutral Portsmouth, saw Kent lay down an early marker as they scored shots on all but one rink, to open up an 8-2 lead.

With the initiative firmly in favour of Kent, the Dorset players were already under the cosh and an early response was desperately needed, as the overall gap widened to sixteen shots as they approached the half-way point.

A clear pattern had emerged as the two top Kent rinks weighed in heavily and the remaining four traded shots evenly.

Sue Dadson, Penny Cresswell, Julie Leake and Lyn Howard combined to give Dorset a slender 37-36 lead, however Joan Halliwell (11-4) and Val Farrant (15-5) were fighting to stay in the match.

Jan Barteluk, Linda Johnson, Sandi Smith and Dorset skip Julie Leake initially held sway over Kent skip Jacky Spice and led 17-9, before failing to score again and crashing out over the final five ends to lose 20-17.

Sally Williams, Frances Hewett, Janet Emerson and Penny Cresswell trailed Kent skip Jane Cogle 12-7, but fought back to a final shared score of 14-14.

The rink of Julie Hudson, Liz Messer, Jill Bryant and Sue Dadson, against the Kent quartet skipped by Sue Swan also were held level as they recorded a credible 13-13 score sheet.

Meanwhile Val Baxter, Ros Gwatkin, Pat Cornick, and Val Farrant (Skip) had drawn the short straw as they came up against the established international back end pair of Sandi Hazel and skip Wendy King, who were supported by Under-25 international Page Dennis and Emily Ferguson, who demonstrated their class as the racked up a 24-10 result, while the rink led by skip Joan Halliwell also had a bad day at the office when they slumped to a 21-7 defeat.

A small consolation came as skip Lyn Howard (Poole), Jan Meyers (Dorchester), Lyn Margaret Hooper and Margaret Crawford (both Moonfleet) scored three shots on the final end, to record Dorset a winning rink at 17-15.

Despite the valiant effort, it was Kent who came out victorious and travel to meet Norfolk In the Atherley Trophy Final.