The coveted Shropshire County Cup was contested for a fourth time by Whitchurch, who posted arguably their best performance to date reaching the semi-final stages from a field of 12 teams representing towns from across the county.

Group A had a north Shropshire feel to it with Market Drayton and Wem joining Whitchurch – it was Drayton who made the ideal start signalling their intentions with a 8-0 rout over Wem, whose interest was ended by Whitchurch, with a 6-2 win that saw Phil Wragg, Gary Crowther, Andy Evans and Paul Vicars register victories in the singles.

Whitchurch then faced Market Drayton with both teams already through to the quarter-final stages, finishing 4-4.

In the quarter-final, Whitchurch must have thought the competition was at an end as they trailed 4-0 to a Bridgnorth side led by Welsh darting legend John Roberts, but key victories for Paul Vicars and Gary Crowther kept the match alive going into the pivotal pairs matches.

Whitchurch took the first two pairs games through Paul Vicars/Andy Evans, Gary Crowther/Phi Wragg to level up going into the deciding match that saw Danny Humphries teamed up with Rowan Price in a last game shoot out. Rowan crowned an impressive first County Cup showing for Whitchurch nailing double five to seal a sensational comeback that put Whitchurch into the final four of the County Cup.

Whitchurch were paired up against Shrewsbury A in the first semi-final but were beaten 5-1 winners in a somewhat flattering scoreline. Every game went the full three legs with opportunities for victory in three of the five games that proved elusive, Gary Crowther was the sole winner defeating Shrewsbury captain Steve O Callaghan 2 v 1.

Indeed Gary had the satisfaction of winning all four singles that he played firing four maximums, one of the stand out performances of the day.

Market Drayton defeated Baschurch in the other semi final to reach their second County cup final in four years where they found Shrewsbury A to strong as the hosts ran out 5-2 winners to claim a second consecutive County Cup.

However, there can be immense satisfaction from the performance of the players who represented Whitchurch. All of who have played in the Monday night Whitchurch league and have proved again that they can hold their own against some of the best dart players in the county.