AFTER dropping a last-end four Colin Thresher, pictured, and Richard Shelley kept their nerve to win a sudden-death decider in the area final of the English Indoor BA pairs' championship.

Playing at Riverside, the Atherley twosome were five shots ahead at halfway and were still that far in front with four ends remaining against Julian Haines and Kevin Cousins of East Dorset.

Even going into the final end Thresher and Shelley had a four-shot cushion but after ditching the jack Cousins managed to hold three shots - and he forced a 21-21 tie by drawing to within an inch of the ditch for the crucial fourth.

On the extra end in this four-and-a-half hour marathon Shelley drove the jack into the ditch and although Cousins rolled in to within less than three feet with his final wood in search of the match-winning shot Shelley got a foot closer to earn a trip to Melton Mowbray.

In the opening round (last 32) at the Leicestershire venue Atherley face a tough test in newly crowned England under-25 champion Robert Paxton and his Exonia colleague Luke Hardware on Tuesday, April 8.

Shelley last qualified for the pairs some 14 years ago with Chris Daniels - and Daniels will also be in the line-up at Melton as the singles standard-bearer for Area 31 with his latest club Bournemouth.

Having put out England bowlers Adam Tidby and Graham Standley, Daniels took another international scalp in the area final when defeating Dean Morgan of East Dorset 21-12 at Poole.

The turning point in the match came when Daniels, three down at the head, fired and gained two shots. That left him only one behind Morgan and after that the Bournemouth man took charge.

His first opponent in the national stages is Richard Fensome (Lawson Park, Bedfordshire) on April 10.

East Dorset qualified in the triples and fours after providing all the finalists in those sections.

Dean Morgan, Russell Morgan and Martyn Sekjer sunk Chris Martin, Alan Geary and Bill Ward 22-5 at Dolphin in the triples but the Morgans, Ward and Sekjer bowed out 20-18 to Darren Clark, Terry Chivers, Bill Belcher and Nicky Jones in the fours' showdown at Atherley.

Sekjer faces Darlington on April 7 and Jones' first opponents on April 5 are Barwell (Leicestershire).

In the men's national championships at Northampton Norman and Richard Shelley were pipped 16-15 by

Egerton Park (East Sussex) in the opening round of the father and son championship. Keith and Steve Robertson took their first match 21-16 against Watchet (Somerset) but then the Victory duo slumped 26-6 to Erewash (Nottinghamshire).

Hampshire association representatives Palmerston (Andrew Miller, Bernard Spall and Derek Arnold) and East Dorset (Bob Tappin, Ron Sparks and Chivers) both took early exits in the over-50 triples.