KENT'S men's A team suffered a 24-20 defeat against Sussex in the first match of the new inter-county pool season.

After the first 11 frames, Kent led 6-5 but the hosts reeled off the last five frames for victory.

Jordan Church and Jason Herring (Dover) both won three frames each.

The B team failed to build on a good start as they went down to a 27-17 defeat.

Kent led 6-5 going into the second quarter but Sussex took a 15-7 lead at the halfway mark.

Kent won five of the next 11 frames but failed to recover from their poor second session as Sussex secured the win.

Ken Riddell (Dover) and James Challis (Deal) both won three from four.

The C team's bid to retain their regional title started with a comfortable 30-14 win.

Despite losing a number of players through promotion to the B team, the new players helped Kent build a 10-1 lead going into the second session.

Despite a fightback from Sussex, Kent held their nerve and took seven of the last 11 frames with maximums from Nathan Venner (Deal), Andy Biggs (Dover) and Chris Prodromou (Rochester).

The ladies' team were always in control as they secured a 30-14 win. Captain Julie Fane (Ramsgate) and Liesa Conlin (Gillingham) both cleared maximums.

The youth team failed to recover from a poor third session as they went down to a 24-20 defeat.

After winning just three frames from 11, Kent were 20-13 down going into the last quarter.

They won seven of the next eight frames but the home side took the last three frames to secure the victory.