Few teams could have hoped for the start that Wellington Billiard Hall C have made to the new season as with just six games gone the Wellington side have dropped just six frames in an unbeaten start which has seen them open up a huge six point lead at the top of Division 3 of the Telford Snooker League.

And they enhanced their reputation as the division's pace setters when they outplayed their local derby rivals W.B.H. F with some solid snooker to record a 4 -1 win.

Dave Cartledge and Chris Durham fought out a tough battle in the opening frame, but it was Dave who eventually came out on top as an excellent 26 break saw him pull through for a 72-32 win.

Matthew Locklin then doubled the "home" side's advantage as he took the next by 42 points to 15 against Rob Cook before John Rawlins, in superb form, potted his way through a closely fought frame to defeat Steve Weatherall 68-33 to make it 3-0.

Andy Fletcher may have travelled all the way from Bristol to take his place in the F team, but he could do nothing to prevent his side slipping even further behind as Mick Birch took the next 49-26 to put the league leaders four frames up.

The final frame got off to a bizarre start when Paul Cartledge missed the pack from the break only to see the cue ball come off three cushions, avoiding all the colours before hitting the opposite side of the pack. That appeared to be all the luck he was going to have however as the C team player then suffered a night of in-offs as Chris Fletcher pulled a frame back for the F team with a narrow 63-44 win in the last.

Hadley B remain six points adrift of the leaders after they too recorded a 4-1 win as they entertained Shifnal D.

John Whitehouse got his side off to the perfect start with a 25 break on the way to a 57-15 success over Mick Guest before Steve Johnson increased the home side's lead with a fine 70-50 defeat of Geoff French in the next.

Joe Fielding then made it 3-0 against Mat Hester before Mick Smith took a close fourth frame by 51 points to 41 against Ray Whitehead to pull a frame back for the visitors.

Frazer MacKinnon wrapped things up however as a solid performance against Barrie Easthope earned him a 57-23 victory to secure a 4-1 win for the Hadley side who now lie two points clear of third placed Maddocks D who got the better of the side immediately below them in the table, Bayley D, by three frames to two.

The omens weren't good for the visitors from the outset as their lucky mascot Aubrey Massey was unable to attend due to unforseen car problems and worse was to follow as the Bayley's piano playing maestro Brian Aberdeen was sadly out of tune as he fell to a 67-40 defeat against Harry Higgins as the Oakengates side took an early lead.

There was no virtuoso performance from Mark Beddall either as Alan Bould took the next frame on the black to put the home side two up.

Steve Lane pulled one back for the Bayley with a 51-40 win over M Stephens in the next only for I Eldridge to restore Maddocks' two frame advantage with a comfortable 56-17 victory over Dave Williams.

The Ice Man Bill France then kept his cool to defy John Archer in the last as a narrow 48-36 win for the Bayley player left the final score 3-2 in favour of Maddocks who now move one point and one place ahead of their opponents in the table.

Bayley B fared somewhat better than their D side as they entertained Little Dawley B and ran out winners by three frames to two.

But they had to come from behind as B Mitchell gave the visitors the lead with an excellent 61-27 win over home captain Bob Tracy.

Kevin Ryan restored parity with a fine 64 -25 win over G Wiley before the home side took control as Fred Spragg's black ball victory over D Wincott was followed by Dicky Beddall's sterling display against B Wincott to put the home side 3-1 up.

The Wellington side had to settle for a 3-2 win however as R Goldie took the final frame of the evening with a 58-24 success against Dave Weston.

Little Dawley E also fell to a narrow defeat when they also lost 3-2 at home to Wellington Billiard Hall B who put in a magnificent performance to recover from a two frame deficit to claim their first win of the new season.

C Smyth got the better of Paul Gubats by 60 points to 47 to give the home side the early advantage before a brilliant display of potting saw Graham Copson take the next with a 33 break against Kevin Francis.

But the visitors were not to be denied as first Alan Francis replied with a 48-32 win over Sheridan Smyth before R Francis levelled matters with a close 57-50 defeat of Andy Meredith.

That left Ian Atkinson to take the glory with a 51-20 deciding frame win over Paul Perks to leave the Wellington side just one point adrift of Newport British Legion B at the foot of the table.

The Newport side are still looking for their first win of the season after falling to a narrow 3-2 defeat at home to Pot Black D.

Mick Pearson put the visitors ahead before Kirk Stephenson made it 2-0 with a black ball finish against A Munn.

But the home side never gave up and they pulled a frame back when John Yapp outscored Mick Egan by 65 points to 29. K Gardner then drew his side level with a fine 59-40 success ver Harry Jones to set up the decider in which Neil Pearson kept his nerve to give Pot Black their second win of the campaign with a 57-19 victory over Mike Doverskog in the last.

DIVISION 1

Reigning Champions Hills Lane A are clearly intent on keeping their crown as despite not having a game this week due to Maddocks B dropping out of the league, they still head the table by a point and also have a game in hand over their closest rivals.

Last season's runners-up, Wellington Billiard Hall A share second place with Coddon A after both teams enjoyed 3-2 home wins.

The Wellington side played host to fancied Shifnal A and were well pleased to come out on top by the odd frame in five.

Morton Hughes claimed the first frame for the home side with an excellent 63-29 success over John Fallows before Matt Davies levelled matters with a black ball victory over Steve Minshall.

Graham Darrall put the Billiard Hall ahead once more as he took the next with a 63-20 win over Darren Pountney before Paul Harper ensured his side would remain undefeated with a 54-16 win over Linsay Knox to put his side 3-1 up.

Visiting captain Andy Easthope made up for his disappointment at Arsenal going out of the Champions League with a final frame win over Spencer Rowley to leave Shifnal in fourth place, one point behind the Billiard Hall and Coddon A who got the better of local rivals Maddocks A by three frames to two.

Ken Davies made a rare appearance for the Oakengates side and very nearly came up trumps but in the end he couldn't prevent Lee Szklarzewicz taking the opening frame by a narrow 54 points to 43 to put the home side ahead.

Another close frame also went the Donnigton side's way when Ian Ferriday made it 2-0 with a 54-41 defeat of Leigh France before Maddocks responded with Ian Skelton's 68-24 win over Leon Barber.

Dave France then pulled his side level with victory over John Kibble in the next only for Darren Weston to take the decider 59-43 against Adrian Barraclough with a 37 break.

Bayley A continued their good start to the season with an excellent 4-1 win away to Shifnal F.

An early 24 break by Bob Mason set him on the way to a memorable first frame victory over Wally Harper - but only after the Shifnal player had courageously fought his way back from needing several snookers on the colours to leave himself just seven points behind with just the black remaining only to see his white go in off when attempting a double.

Steve Nicholls looked all set to make it 2-0 before inexplicably missing an easy yellow. He then discarded his new glasses before clearing yellow to blue to leave his opponent needing snookers. To the amusement of all of the onlookers, he then proceeded to miss the pink ball completely from just a few milimetres but nonetheless ran out the victor against Brian Painter by 60 points to 32.

The ever dependable Dave Peplow has obviously benefitted from some expert coaching from Stan Davies over the last few weeks as he gave Steve Fletcher no chance in the next, leaving his opponent requiring snookers on the colours before running out the winner by 56 points to 16 as he pulled a frame back for the Memorial men.

The next frame was a tense affair as it came down to the final black with Fred Harper finally knocking it in to tie the frame score and force a re-spot against Arthur Burrows.

However this time it was the Bayley player who won the safety battle to eventually take the frame when his opponent left the black over the corner pocket for a final frame score of 62-55.

That left Chris Morgan-Adams to complete the Bayley's third win in five with a steady 53-40 success against Nev Whitehead in the last.

Minnesota Fats also celebrated a 4-1 win as they entertained Anstice A.

P Humpries took a high scoring first frame 68-57 against Mick Cahill before Mick Brezwyn followed suit with a 52-30 success against Phil Reynolds to put the home side two frames ahead.

Nick Oakley pulled one back against A Matthews but it was to be his side's only success as further wins from Paul Lloyd and Simon McLeod completed a fine win for the former Audco team.

DIVISION 2

Table toppers Hadley A increased their lead over second placed W.B.H. E after the Hadley side returned home from Shifnal E with a well earned 3-2 win safely under their belts.

But they had to come from behind as veteran Ken Holwell produced a superb performance to defeat visiting captain Andy O'Brien in the opening frame. However the home side's joy was short lived as the visitors took the next three frames in quick succession as first Steve Hoof pulled the scores level before M Watkins got the better of Jeff Sparkes to put the Hadley side ahead.

Ivor Peplow could do nothing to prevent Ali Jones taking the next frame too for Hadley before Rob Wright edged home against Dave France to salvage another point for Shifnal.

Second placed Billiard Hall E fell to their third defeat in six when they played host to Shifnal B and suffered a 3-2 reverse.

Mick Hughes opened the scoring with a 68-34 success over Rich Whitehead to give the Wellington side the lead but it was the visitors who then took control winning three of the remaining four frames.

Emlyn Watts levelled matters with an excellent 53-21 victory over Alan Turner before G Woods weighed in to take the next against Nigel Stallard to put the Memorial Club in front.

Ray Evans did draw his side level by taking the next with a 58-21 success against John Jones but it wasn't to be his side's night as J Bell secured a 3-2 win for Shifnal by just a single point as he beat home captain Warren Barber 53-52.

The Shifnal side are now one of three teams sharing third spot on 17 points - the other two, Little Dawley A and Coddon B also secured 3-2 wins from this week's fixtures.

The Little Dawley side did it the hard way though, as they came from two frames down to defeat Coddon C after Steve Lumley had given the Donnington side the lead.

Sef Tusel secured the next with a brilliant performance against Jesse Lowe before the home side began their recovery thanks to Rick Cousin's 38 points to 30 victory over Mick Stokes.

The home side then drew level through Ade Henry before Colin Gittus got the better of Ian Robinson in the last.

Coddon B also came from 2-1 down to secure their fourth win of the campaign as they travelled to play an Anstice B side who took the lead through Billy Watson's 67-43 win over Mark Wall.

Bob Dando soon levelled for Coddon before George Hammond produced the highest break of the evening in this division with a superb effort of 41 to edge past Steve Downs 66-54.

Nick Pearce then saw off the challenge of Darren Shaw in another high scoring affair, 70-42 to set up Phil Szklarzewicz to take the deciding frame in some style with a 73-24 success over Dave Harper.

Maddocks C lie comfortably in mid table following their 3-2 success away at Pot Black A.

Tom Firmstone gave the home side the lead before C Rowley levelled by the narrowest of margins, 40-39 against Mike Thompson.

Mark Finucane took the next against Toby Welsh to put Maddocks in front for the first time only for Paul Crook to force the decider with a 65-23 defeat of Billy Rushton.

Tony Hall's 24 break wasn't enough to give Pot Black the win they were looking for however as Joe Oliver took the crucial fifth frame 68-48 to complete Maddocks' second win of the new campaign.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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