WHITE Hart were pushed almost to the limit by Raven in their Warks/Worcs Division Four match on Saturday before finally recording a 220-211 home win.
With two wins out of the first four ties from Trina Higgins and Graham Arnott (both 21-16), the Redditch club were six shots ahead at this stage. Mike Hancock (21-12), Katy Lang (21-19) and Neil Laxton (21-11) then increased the lead to 15 shots with the final four ties to come, but Raven battled back and it took wins from Mike Estell (21-17) and Martyn Higgins (21-15) to seal victory for Hart.
In Yardley Wood & District League Division Two, White Hart A suffered their first defeat of the season with a heavy 157-94 loss at Ye Olde Knowle A where Tim Hollingshead (21-12) and Mike Hancock (21-19) were their only winners in a generally poor team performance, albeit on a notoriously difficult green.
White Hart B were easy 146-99 victors over Maggies B in Division Four, despite only having four winners. Phil Hemming (21-7) and John Meredith (21-2) were always in control of their ties and similar wins came from Norman Batchelor (21-4) and Ged Dooner (21-2) who currently tops the league averages.
In the Heart of England Thursday League Division Two, White Hart A were comfortably defeated 151-95 at Woodbourne A with only two winners – Ken Brown 21-15 and Ian Humphreys 21-10 – while the B team also went down 147-121 at home to British Oak A in Division Three as Roger Broome (21-17), Norman Batchelor (21-6) and John Meredith (21-19) gave them three points.
In the HOE Over 60s Cup first round, White Hart A disappointingly exited the competition with a 110-82 defeat by College AG at Black Horse. Kirk Wright (21-10) and Graham Arnott (21-16) were both worthy winners of their ties but Hart were comfortably beaten in all the other four games.
In SW Birmingham & District League Division One, White Hart A posted a fine 122-95 home win over local rivals Wythall A. Mike Estell (21-11) and Ken Brown (21-20) gave them a good start while Ray Richards only lost out by a single shot.
Ian Humphreys was narrowly beaten 21-18 but Graham Arnott (21-14) and captain Kirk Wright (21-8) made sure of a win for the Redditch team and eight points. White Hart B lost 112-91 to Solihull RBL A in Division Four, taking just two points through wins from Norman Batchelor 21-12 and Mick Perrins 21-16.
