The race for runners-up spot in Division 2 is now headed by Little Dawley A after an emphatic 4-1 win over Shifnal E sees them move into second spot, level on points with Wellington Billiard Hall E who fell to a 4-1 defeat at home to runaway leaders Hadley A.

Hadley now seem unstoppable as they head the table with 55 points - twelve more than their closest rivals Little Dawley who recorded their tenth win of the campaign to move ahead of the Billiard Hall who have the same points but have won only seven of their fourteen matches.

Richie Heighway's opening frame win over Jeff Sparkes set the scene for another excellent display from Rick Cousin's side who took the next frame too as Ade Henry just held on to pip young Arron Sparkes on the black.

Jesse Lowe plunged Shifnal into even deeper despair as he made it 3-0 with a 46-35 win over veteran Ken Holwell before C Petford bounced back for the visitors with a spirited performance to rescue a point against Ray Clements.

But with Rick Cousins taking the last 49-16 over Ivor Peplow the Little Dawley side move into the promotion frame with 43 points from 14 matches played.

Wellington Billiard Hall E drop one place to third after a 4-1 reverse at home to table-toppers Hadley A leaves them level on points with Little Dawley but having won fewer matches.

Andy O'Brien opened the scoring for the visitors with a close 65-40 success over Mick Hughes before Steve Hoof doubled the lead with another narrow win, 64-43, over Alan Turner.

Warren Barber responded well to pull a frame back against Dave France only for the visitors to claim the last two frames through Ali Jones and John Squire to keep their unbeaten run intact.

Newport A stay firmly in the hunt for promotion despite falling to their fifth defeat of the season at home to Pot Black A who had Neil Robinson in fine form to take the opening frame 62-24 against Colin Farge.

Things got even worse for the home side as Tom Firmstone made it 2-0 against Chris Gilbertson but Newport responded brilliantly to level the scores and force the decider.

Ivor Hellyar pulled a frame back with a black ball finish against Tony Hall before Matt Bothwell got the better of Paul Crooks. However it was there that the home side's luck ran out as Toby Welsh took the decider for Pot Black, 51-43 against Simon Thornley to complete a fine win for the Oakengates side who, with 34 points, are not yet out of the running for second place.

Coddon B are definitely still in the running however after a superb 4-1 win over Maddocks C sees them jump into fourth place level on points with Newport - both teams having 40 points, some 15 points behind the leaders but just three off the pace for second place.

Bob Dando set Coddon on their way to their eighth win of the campaign with a 65-27 defeat of Billy Rushton to put the home side in front.

Mark Wall followed with a 57-31 win over Craig Rowley as did Steve Downs who won the third frame on the black against G Hoof to put the Donnington side 3-0 up.

Things got even better when Terry Garmston weighed in with a fine 35 break to take the next frame too against Mark Finucane and only Joe Oliver's final frame win over Nick Pearce saved the visitor's blushes leave the Coddon well placed to push for that final promotion place.

Coddon's C side didn't fare quite as well as the B team as they entertained Anstice B in a hotly contested relegation dogfight, and fell to a 3-2 defeat.

Pete McCleary wasted no time in giving the visitors the lead with an excellent 61-29 win over Sef Tusel but the home side replied quickly as Mick Stokes levelled the frames score with a comfortable 62-25 success over Steve Smallwood and then Chris Ferriday produced an excellent display of potting to account for Adam Moore by 64 points to 51.

The visitors though, battling to maintain their division 2 status, were not to be denied only their third win of the season as they fought back to take the last two frames for a 3-2 win.

George Hammond showed he'd lost none of his ability from his division 1 days as he strode to a 74-28 win over Keith Morris before Stuart Wimbush rounded things off 55-32 against Paul Wilson to complete a fine comeback from the Madeley side who now head their opponents by four points at the foot of the table.

Coddon meanwhile remain second bottom, one point ahead of Bayley C who lost 3-2 at Shifnal B.

John Jones narrowly gave Shifnal the lead as he saw off Darren Roades by 53 points to 42 before bird fancier Pete Woodcock, who often shows canaries in the bird equivalent of Crufts, flew into an early lead before cruising to a 67-44 win over Rich Whitehead to level the scores at one frame apiece.

John Kelsey then winged his way to a 59-23 success over youngster Craig Johnson before Mike Healy once again levelled matters with a close 59-45 success over Emlyn Watts.

Sean Nolan made no mistake in the last as he beat visiting captain Ian Johnson to leave the Shifnal side perched in sixth place on 38 points.

DIVISION 1

With the result from Hills Lane A's away trip to Maddocks A not yet in, Shifnal A take over in top spot, one point ahead of their Madeley rivals who have played one game fewer.

And with the Shifnal side notching their twelfth win from thirteen games, they must fancy themselves as strong contenders for the title after a 4-1 win away to Hills Lane B.

Although Hills Lane A's result is not in, it is known that their captain Ian Duffy arrived at Maddocks only to open up his cue case to reveal red lining instead of blue. Obviously he'd picked up the wrong cue case so it was a quick trip back to Madeley where it was discovered that he'd inadvertently picked up Shifnal player Simon Biddulph's case. Having swapped cases it was back to Oakengates where the order of play had been altered to allow Ian to return right on cue.

Meanwhile back at Hills Lane B, Matthew Davies gave the visitors the lead following a brave fightback against Lee Harris.

Having missed a straight pink his opponent, Lee Harris took full advantage with a superb 37 break leaving Matt needing all six colours to pinch the frame.

Having potted the pink, and almost gone in-off when the white looped over the middle pocket several times, Matt eventually potted the black for a 54-51 win to put the visitors ahead.

Lindsay Knox then made it 2-0 after a tight frame which swung both ways before eventually going Shifnal's way thanks to a good pink down the rail.

Darren Pountney then raced into an early 40 point lead on his old hunting ground before also clearing the colours up to the pink to defeat Richie Jones for a 3-0 lead to the visitors.

The next frame started off scrapily but ended superbly as Simon Biddulph, now reunited with his cue, burrowed out an excellent run of 50 to clinch victory over home captain Kev Davis.

Andy Easthope started brightly in the next as he attempted to put last week's disappointment, when he lost his hundred per cent record, behind him. However a 20 point lead on the colours wasn't decisive as his opponent Paul Eyke clawed his way back and with the aide of a couple of foul strokes eventually took the frame on the pink to rescue a point for the home side who despite that loss are still heading in the right direction having had some excellent results in recent weeks.

Wellington Billiard Hall A drop to third, a point behind Hills Lane A, following a superb performance from Shifnal F who came close to possibly the upset of the season when they went down by only the odd frame to their more illustrious opponents.

Two former winners of the Telford Individual came face to face as Morton Hughes gave Wellington their first point with a 50-17 win over Wally Harper.

A 40 point lead on the last red proved too much for Wally to retrieve as Morton reversed his defeat by Wally earlier in the season.

Shifnal captain Brian Painter then played his best game of the season - by all accounts potting them off the light shades, as he overwhelmed Steve Minshall to square thing up.

Although both players were level on the colours, captain courageous picked them off one by one and with the help of a foul on the pink by his opponent, secured the frame 69-24.

Forget Kramer versus Kramer - the next frame featured Harper versus Harper as Fred of Shifnal took on reigning individual champion Paul of the Billiard Hall.

And it was the Wellington man who was first to show with two quick fire breaks of 54 and 44 to make it 2-1 to the Billiard Hall.

Once again Shifnal responded well as the ever dependable Dave Peplow produced yet another solid display to defeat his former team-mate Spencer Rowley 62-47 to tie the match once again at two frames all.

In a tense finale Neville Whitehead took on former county champion Graham Darrall. Nev leapt into an early 25 point lead only for Graham to retaliate with a 30 break. It was anybody's game on the brown, however a badly judged safety shot from the Shifnal player allowed Graham to clear the colours for a final frame score of 70 points to 43 to leave the Billiard Hall heaving a huge sigh of relief as they came away with a 3-2 win.

Bob Mason's fears that Bayley A will be relegated are slowly becoming reality after the Wellington side crashed to a dismal 5-0 defeat at home to Coddon A.

Breaks of 21 and 51 secured the first frame for Darren Weston over Steve Nicholls and things didn't get any better for the home side as Lee Szklarzewicz rattled in a 29 break to take the next frame from Bob Mason.

Chris Morgan-Adams looked to have stopped the rot as he led by 22 points on the colours only to miss the yellow with the rest leaving Adrian Smith to clear the colours in style for a 47-42 victory to put the Coddon three up.

Dave Lloyd soon made it four against Arthur Burrows before a missed pot on the final pink proved to be Steve Fletcher's downfall as Ian Ferriday stepped up to take pink and black to complete the whitewash.

The Wellington side are now third from bottom - just a point ahead of Dawley Social who claimed only their second win of the season with a 3-2 success at home to Minesotta Fats.

Things didn't start too brightly for Rick Bailey's side though as Paul Lloyd took the opening frame 58-31 with a 41 break against Chris Woods.

Mark Jones soon levelled matters though with an excellent 58-17 defeat of Mick Brezwyn only to see P Humphries put the Oakengates side back in front by beating Dave Hampton.

However the home side were not to be denied as first Barry Roden drew them all square with a black ball finish against John Shepherd and then Rick Bailey secured the win with a 26 break on the way to a 68-36 success over Simon McLeod.

DIVISION 3

Wellington Billiard Hall C's march towards Division 2 continued as they returned from Bayley D with a 4-1 win safely in the bag.

A super pink secured the first frame for Dave Cartledge over Mark Beddall and it wasn't long before the visitors doubled their advantage through John Rawlins' 74-20 win over Bill France which included a 24 break.

There was the usual ten minute intermission as Brian Aberdeen pulled a frame back for the visitors. When he returned, "Clicker" made sure of victory with an excellent blue and pink to put himself seven points in front with just the black remaining. Although Mick Birch had shots at the black, he wasn't able to prevent Brian taking he frame 52-38 to give the home side some hope.

Matty Locklin soon put the visitors back in the driving seat though as a brilliant 38 break made it 3-1 against Dave Williams before father Martin won a tense final frame, full of tactical play and snookers, by potting the last pink to leave the league leaders triumphant by four frames to one.

And with the Bayley side due to face Shifnal A in the next round of the cup next week, captain Steve Lane may have little option but to pick himself in view of his side's recent indifferent form during his two week absence.

Bayley B continue to be the surprise package in this division as they returned home from Hadley B with three very valuable points which keep them in second spot two points ahead of third placed Pot Black D.

Although the Bayley will have little hope of catching the runaway leaders, Wellington Billiard Hall C, who now have a nine point lead, they can be well pleased with their performance so far this season.

Kevin Ryan set them on the right track by taking the opening frame 45-37 against Steve Johnson before Dave Weston won an even closer encounter, 52-49 against Doug Morrey to put the visitors two up.

Hadley weren't going to lie down however and J Hoggins reduced the deficit against Steve Scenters before John Whitehouse drew his side level with a fine 58-39 win over Robin Sturmey.

That left Dicky Beddall to seal the points for the away side as he defeated P Lucas 59-22 to leave the Bayley well pleased with their ninth win in fourteen outings.

Pot Black D move up to third on the back of a 3-2 win at home to Wellington Billiard Hall B who as a result move to three places off the bottom.

Mick Pearson's opening frame win over Kev Francis seemed to be just the tonic for the home side but they then fell behind to two counter punches as Andy Kendrick drew the visitors level by beating Rob Palin before Ian Atkinson got the better of Mick Egan to put the Billiard Hall in front.

The home side may have been shaken but they soon turned the tables to eventually take them match by three frames to two.

Kirk Stephenson's 51-15 defeat of Alan Francis proved the catalyst for Neil Pearson to clinch his side's sixth win with a 63-17 success in the last.

Shifnal D lie fourth after slipping to a keenly contested 3-2 defeat at home to Newport British Legion B.

John Yapp put the visitors ahead with a narrow black ball victory over Mick Guest only for Geoff French to reply by taking the next by just 8 points from Alan Munn.

Matt Hester put Shifnal in front for the first time but his joy was short-lived as A Davies got the better of Mick Smith to set up the decider in which Kevin Gardner completed a 60 points to 24 win over Arthur Aston to clinch a much needed win for the Newport side who remain second from bottom just a point ahead of Little Dawley E who fell 3-2 at Wellington Billiard Hall F.

Wellington's Rob Cook suffered a touch of déjà vu as J Clarke fought back to take the opening frame on the colours, however Andy Fletcher was able to continue his recent run of good fortune to level the match with a 54-16 success over J Rollinson.

Richard Tranter then came up against an in-form Graham Copson who promptly won 70-18 to put Little Dawley back in front only for the home side to respond once more through Chris Fletcher who triumphed on his return to the side by 52 points to 37 over C Jones.

Steve Weatherall's long range pink just tipped the balance the Billiard Hall's way as his efforts secured a 54-40 win over C Smith to complete a 3-2 win for the home side.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

Return To Top