SHARPLES B produced a superb performance to hold high-flying Markland Hill C to a close-fought draw in B Section of the Bolton Badminton League.

Ninth-placed Sharples were only denied victory in the final game of the night as Paul Webber and Greg White clinched victory to earn the third-placed visitors a share of the points.

It was a stunning show by Sharples who went into the game with six defeats from their opening six games of the season, while Markland Hill had won five and lost one.

Markland Hill got an indication of the tough night ahead of them in the first game of the match which Judith Stenson and Paul Bargh won for Sharples 21-19, 21-17 against Susan Webber and Greg White.

The next games were shared when Markland Hill’s first couple, Kath Spillane and Andrew Rodger, won the first 21-15 before Eileen Beeney and Michael Clarke beat them in the second 21-17.

And Sharples pulled further ahead in the match when the third couples met.

Amy Larcombe and Matthew Duckworth proved too strong for Lucy Ault and Paul Webber with 21-16, 21-17 victories.

When the first couples met the games were shared, Spillane and Rodger winning the first 21-16, and Stenson and Bargh claiming the second.

Markland Hill’s Webber and White then claimed two close games 21-19, 21-19, against Beeney and Clarke in the second couples’ clash.

Going into the level doubles the score was 6-4 in Sharples’ favour.

And the margin remained the same after the first pair of ladies’ games, Ault and Spillane winning the first 21-14 and Larcombe and Stenson claiming the second 21-15.

Markland Hill’s Webber and Rodger levelled the match when they won both the first pair of men’s games 21-15, 21-14 against Sharples’ Duckworth and Bargh.

And it remained nip and tuck as the second pair of ladies’ games was also shared, Ault and Webber winning the first 21-13 and Sharples’ Larcombe and Beeney edging the second 22-20.

Sharples’ Duckworth and Clarke gave their side a chance of victory in the last clash of the night, the final men’s encounter, when they won the first of the two games 21-17.

But the determined pair of Webber and White would not be denied and won the second 21-15 resulting in a deserved drawn match.