OXFORDSHIRE ace Deta Hedman teamed up with former world champion Trina Gulliver to win the women’s pairs title at the World Cup in County Mayo, Ireland.

But they did it the hard way battling back from 4-1 down to beat the Netherlands duo of Francis Hoenslaar and Karin Krappen 6-5 in a thrilling best-of-11 leg final.

It proved a good event for Gulliver, who used to play for Shears, Wantage, as she won the ladies singles with a 7-6 win against Wales’s Julie Gore.

Hedman got England off to flier in the pairs, hitting a 180 in the opening leg.

However, the Dutch pair hit back in style to take a 4-1 lead.

That proved a wake-up call for the England duo who won the next three legs with a 16 dart-leg squaring the final at 4-4 before they took a 5-4 lead.

In the tenth leg the England pair hit 100, 140, 140 and missed a bullseye for a 12-dart leg.

Hoenselaar took advantage, checking out with an impressive 118 and it was 5-5.

In the deciding leg, it was nip and tuck, and with the Dutch pair on 60, Hedman won the match and title with an awkward, but rewarding double seven.

Their single darts average was a respectable 25.20 with the Dutch pair on 23.78.

The pair will face each other when Oxfordshire host Gulliver’s Warwickshire side on October 8-9 in the Inter-Counties Championship.

England’s Martin Adams, Tony O’Shea, Scott Waites and Martin Atkins took the men’s team title with a 9-8 win against Finland.

Adams and O’Shea also wonthe men’s pairs with a 6-4 win against Sweden’s Johan Engstrom and Daniel Larsson.

Waites took the men’s singles title by beating Adams 7-3.