Hampshire lost their opening British Inter County League match but showed some of the character they will need during the forthcoming season.

It looked as if a hammering was on the cards at Glamorgan when the home side raced to a 14-4 overnight advantage.

However, Hampshire hit back on day two and did their ‘games for’ tally the power of good, despite losing 20-16.

Some of that hard workwas undone when the county was deducted two points for falling foul of a rule that has been introduced in recent years.

Debutant Linton Hickman showed how valuable he can be to Hampshire when he produced a winning 26.81 average.

He was rewarded for his B team win by being given a slot in the A team the following day.

Poor start However, rules state that players can only compete in one team during their first county appearance.

The weekend had got off to a disappointing start for Hampshire with the women’s B side losing 6-0.

The men’s second string also had a tough time but battled back towards the end of the day, which ended with the visitors 14-4 adrift – winners for Hampshire were Jamie Kelling, James Nicholson, Arron Monk and Linton Hickman.

The women’s senior side gave Glamorgan some of their own medicine with a 5-1 victory – Joanne Senior, Jane Monaghan, Nikki Stevens, Tara Power-Gillet and Wendy Reinstadtler all winning after Sue Lowther lost to Welsh international Rhian Edwards.

Hampshire’s men’s A side were slow to get off the mark but rallied to get to within three sets of the hosts at one point.

That opportunity was missed, as was the chance to force a draw as the last two games were lost.

Winners were Mike Symes, Sam Rooney, James Nicholson, Gary Stafford, Luke Getty, Robin Hathaway and Charlie Jackson, who hit the highest winning average for his county with 30.53.

Hampshire County Darts spokesman Frank Branscombe said: “Having two points deducted was not the fault of the players and from 14-4 down they made a great comeback, there’s no doubt about that.”

Hampshire’s next game is another away match, at West Midlands, on October 7/8.