There was double cause for celebration at Hills Lane last week as the Madeley club's A side clinched their second League Championship in as many weeks with a 3-2 win over Shifnal F and the B side, promoted from Division 2 last season, made certain of their first division survival with what was perhaps their best performance of a difficult first season in the top flight.

The B side's 3-2 win over title chasing Wellington Billiard Hall A moves them six points clear of bottom of the table Dawley Social who didn't play this week and with just one game remaining their first division future is mathematically secure for another season at least.

Richie Jones set them on their way to a famous win as he took the first frame 77-22 against Daryl Grainger who was making only his second appearance of the season for the former champions.

Paul Harper soon levelled however as he opened up the next frame with a 49 break. Steve Powell replied almost immediately with a 22 break of his own only for the reigning individual champion to finish off with a run of 43 to make the frame scores all square at one frame each.

The Wellington side were keen not to lose any more points as they continued their fight for the runners-up place with Shifnal A, but they fell behind once more as home captain Kev Davis got the better of Phil Whitby by 52 points to 28 to put the Madeley side back in front.

Graham Darrell drew them level for a second time however with a 57-36 defeat of Steve Weaver leaving Lee Harris and Spencer Rowley to battle out the decider.

And it was Lee who eventually came out on top to secure first division snooker for the Hills Lane side for a second consecutive season.

Despite that defeat, which was only their fourth of the season, the Wellington side stay in pole position for second place as they lie three points ahead of Shifnal A who suffered a similar fate on their travels to Coddon A.

This was always going to be a tough game for the Shifnal side as Coddon are themselves well placed in fourth place in the table however the visitors got off to the perfect start thanks to Linsay Knox's 56-31 success over Ian Ferriday.

Darren Pountney then made it 2-0 with a fine 50-41 defeat of Lee Szklarzewicz before the tide turned dramatically with Adrian Smith's 60-38 win over Simon Biddulph.

Dave Lloyd soon levelled the scores at two apiece with victory over Roy Martin in the next before Darren Weston completed the Coddon comeback in some style, cracking in a break of 61 to defeat Andy Easthope in the decider.

Hills Lane A were finally able to celebrate their second successive League Championship as they won a close encounter with Shifnal F to stretch their lead at the top to an unassailable ten points with just one game to play.

With six reds remaining home captain Ian Duffy put the home side in front with a 35 break to defeat Wally Harper 83-27 and Keith Price then looked as if he would go one better as he rattled in a 30 break only to miss a relatively easy black with the remaining reds at his mercy. Nonetheless his 61-40 defeat of Shifnal captain Brian Painter doubled the home side's advantage only for Fred Harper to reply for Shifnal.

Fred raced into a 35 point lead on the colours and although young Matt Bailey achieved three very good snookers the Shifnal man was equal to them and eventually ran out the winner by 75 points to 38.

Two breaks of 24 kept Shaun Harris in with a chance of the most wins trophy as he got the better of Nev Whitehead to make it 3-1 with his eighteenth win in nineteen games - his only defeat coming against Paul Harper who has a hundred percent record with one game to play.

Shifnal then bounced back however with none other than a win from Mr Memorial Man Dave Peplow who turned a six point lead on the colours into 67-47 victory over Richard Wade.

Despite this excellent result, Shifnal still lie towards the bottom of the table, although with two of their results missing, their position at the bottom is believed to be a false one as they no doubt have substantially more than the 29 points the current table suggests leaving Dawley Social with 32 points at the foot of the table following a bye in last week's fixtures.

Minesota Fats recorded their eighth win of the season when they entertained Bayley A and ran out 3-2 winners with Adam Matthews claiming the decider with a blue ball victory over visiting captain Steve Fletcher.

Super sub Robin Clarke had earlier been on hand to give the Bayley the lead with a 59-44 win over John Shepherd but the home side soon drew level as Paul Humphries made no mistake against Arthur Burrows in the next.

Steve Nicholls then retrieved a 24 point deficit against Kelvin McLeod to put the Bayley back in front on the pink before Simon McLeod forced the decider with a fine 68-31 success over Chris Morgan-Adams.

Not far away, another Oakengates side, Maddocks A were strolling to a fine 4-1 win over Anstice A who had Nick Oakley to thank for their solitary point with a 72-24 defeat of Ken Davis.

Nick's win was sandwiched in between the home side's four frames after Leigh France put the home side in front against Mick Cahill and Ian Skelton had accounted for Mick Downing 55-25.

Phil Davis then made it 3-1 with a 36 break against John Darrock and despite runs of 16 and 20 Neil Price was unable to prevent home captain Dave France rounding off an excellent victory for his Maddocks team with a 33 break in the final frame.

DIVISION 2

Having gone 19 games unbeaten, second division champions Hadley A lost their second consecutive game when they went down 3-2 at home to Anstice B who, in the process, maintained their second division status for another year.

Andy O'Brien won a closely fought opening frame 45-33 against Pete McCleary before former individual champion Adam Moore weighed in with a 40 break to defeat Steve Hoof and draw the scores level at one frame all.

Another former first division player, George Hammond, then put the home side in front with a 58-45 win over John Squire before visiting captain Dave France made things all square once more with victory over Steve Smallwood.

Billy Watson then secured the Madeley side's fifth win with a close 42-30 final frame win over Martin Watkins to move the Anstice well clear of second from bottom Bayley C who despite winning 4-1 at home to bottom of the table Coddon C must now face the prospect of life in division three next term as they are now five points behind Anstice but have won fewer games.

Mike Healey opened the scoring for the Wellington side with a narrow 54-42 defeat of Steve Lumley but Sef Tusel soon made it one all as he got the better of home captain Ian Johnson by 61 points to 31.

Chris Haycox restored the home side's lead with a black ball finish against Mick Stokes before young Craig Johnson made it 3-1 with a superb 64-32 success against Keith Morris.

And with Jim Lewis taking the last frame too on the black the Wellington side were left with mixed feelings having secured their best win of the season which sadly wasn't enough to save them from relegation to the third division along with their opponents.

At the other end of the table, Little Dawley A put themselves in the driving seat as they prepare to play third placed Wellington Billiard Hall E in their last match next week, with both teams still battling for the runners-up spot.

Their 3-2 win keeps them just one point ahead of the Wellington side who won 4-1 at home to Shifnal E but as they have won sixteen of their 21 games - three more than the Billiard Hall, the Wellington side must win next week's match by at least 4-1 if they are to overtake Little Dawley and grab that coveted second place.

Richie Heighway gave Little Dawley the lead with a first frame win over Maddocks C's G Hoofe and things continued to go their way as Jesse Lowe took the next frame too to put the home side firmly in control.

Ray Clements narrowly lost out in the next however as Chris Rowley won 51-42 but it wasn't long before Ade Henry had restored their two frame cushion with victory over Billy Rushton in the next.

However Jim Hill's 54-37 success against home captain Rick Cousins left the home side with a narrow 3-2 win which nonetheless keeps them well placed for the showdown against the Billiard Hall next week.

The Wellington side were left ruing some bad luck as they almost snatched all five frames as they entertained Shifnal E.

Ray Evans put the home side on the road to victory with a 25 break in his opening frame triumph over Ken Holwell and Alan Turner then made it 2-0 against Chris Petford before Mick Hughes potted the final brown to leave his opponent Arron Sparkes requiring a snooker only to knock the blue in as well.

A series of brilliant pots by Arron saw him sink brown, blue and pink before finally slotting home the black down the cushion with the rest for a superb 47-40 win to put Shifnal back in the match.

Chris Morris replied for the home side though by taking the next 58-24 against Ivor Peplow before leaving Nigel Stallard to complete a fine win for the Billiard Hall with a 58-33 defeat of referee Rob Wright.

That dropped point could prove costly for the Wellington side who narrowly lost out on promotion to division 1 last term after leading the table for much of that season.

The only other side in with a shout of promotion is Shifnal B whose result this week is not yet in and with one of their previous results also not yet recorded they have two games in hand on their rivals and are eight points behind Little Dawley A who currently occupy that second spot.

Newport British Legion A are now level on points with Shifnal B but their 58 points come from 21 games following an emphatic 4-1 away win at Coddon B.

The Donnington side had been on a good run lately and it looked at one point as though they might have a chance of finishing second themselves, but any hopes they had were soon dented as the visitors raced into a 4-0 lead with only Mark Wall's 58-25 defeat of Simon Thornley a consolation for the Coddon.

Colin Farge put Newport in front with a fine 59-32 win over Bob Dando. Ivor Hellyar and Matt Bothwell followed suit with wins over Steve Downs and Antonio Garmston respectively before Welsh Wizard Paul Jones conjured up a 67-35 victory over Nick Pearce to ensure his side of a high finish in their first season in Division 2.

DIVISION 3

What a season the youngsters of Little Dawley B have had this year. Not only did two of their players, Darren Wincott and Lee Elcock, reach the final of the Under 21 competition, but to top it all they secured promotion to Division 2 in style as last week's 5-0 win over Little Dawley B made certain of the runners-up spot behind League Champions Wellington Billiard Hall C.

Brendan Wincott once again opened the scoring to put the visitors in front and they never looked back as Lee Elcock followed up to make it 2-0 against Alan Munn.

Byron Mitchell then got the better of Manjit Gidda 51-27 and there was no let up for the Newport side as Darren Wincott took the next frame too against John Yapp.

D Wilson's 58-27 win over Mike Doverskog completed the whitewash to leave the Little Dawley outfit seven points clear of third placed Shifnal D who lost 4-1 to champions Wellington Billiard Hall C.

Dave Cartledge played probably his best game of the season for the Champions as the "Machine Gun" was in superb form potting his way to a 64-46 opening frame victory over Mick Guest.

John Rawlins, who this week revealed that he is a distant relative of Jimmy White, wasn't in whirlwind form as a series and in-offs meant that his usual "Rawlins Specials" were thin on the ground. Nonetheless he fought back to clinch a close second frame on the black against Mat Hester before Mick Birch did what he does best and ground his way to a 45 -26 win over Geoff French to put the home side 3-0 up.

Matty Locklin's potting ability then took him to an impressive 57-27 win over Mick Smith before Barry Easthope rescued a point for the visitors.

However, the whitewash looked to be on the cards as Paul Cartledge took a 22 point lead on the colours only for a string of excellent pots to take Barry past the winning line for a 47-44 black ball finish.

The Wellington side were however well pleased to have reversed the result earlier in the season when Shifnal had beaten them by the same scoreline.

Pot Black D lie level on points with Shifnal D in fourth place but having won fewer games and the best the Oakengates side can now hope for is to finish third following a 3-2 win over Wellington Billiard Hall F.

Mick Pearson set the ball rolling as he got the better of Chris Fletcher 54-29. Mick Egan then made it 2-0 to the home side as he took the next 54-40 against Chris Durham.

H Jones was then close to making it 3-0 only to be cruelly denied by the jaws on the final black as Rob Cook stepped in to win 61-53 and Richard Tranter then levelled the match with a 57-39 success against Rob Palin.

A potting frenzy erupted in a close final frame before Neil Pearson clinched the decider against Andy Fletcher to leave the Oakengates side victorious by a score of 3 frames to 2.

Bayley B, who for a long period during the winter months looked as though they might make it to Division 2, will have to settle for a mid table position now despite beating Maddocks D by the odd frame last week.

Visiting captain Bob Tracy raced to a 60-32 first frame win over Harry Higgins before an excellent 58-25 win for Fred Spragg over Ian Eldridge put the visitors two up.

John Archer wasted little time in pulling a frame back for the home side as he took the next 51-11 against Dave Weston before Ant Lovett went one point better in beating Kevin Ryan 51-10 to make it all square.

The deciding frame was as expected closely contested however it was the experienced Dicky Beddall who stole the points with a very close 57-49 defeat of Roy Adams to earn his side's tenth win of the campaign.

Another Bayley side who had harboured hopes of a return to Division 2 are Bayley D but they too will have to try again next year despite a resounding 4-1 win over Little Dawley E.

Steve Lane's rotational selection policy once again meant no place for Mark Beddall and things looked bleak as the home captain unluckily missed the brown leaving C Jones to snatch the opening frame 53-44 for a 1-0 lead to Little Dawley.

However his trusty colleagues never let him down as they reeled off the next four frames for the Wellington side's twelfth win of a long season.

Brian Aberdeen levelled the scores with a 54-31 win over J Clarke and things really began to hot up as the Ice Man Bill France put them in front against J Rollinson.

Dave Williams 60-30 win over Graham Copson made it 3-1 leaving Dave Dudley to finish off in style with a 58-46 success over Paul Perks.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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