Shifnal D produced the performance of the evening last week with a stunning 4-1 victory over runaway Division 3 leaders Wellington Billiard Hall C to move into third place in the table.

The Wellington side started the evening undefeated but were soon put under pressure as Mick Guest took the first frame for Shifnal with a close 50 points to 40 win over Dave Cartledge.

The home side then moved further ahead as Geoff French got the batter of John Rawlins by a similar scoreline, 50-37 to make it 2-0 and things got even worse for the league leader's when Matt Hester took the next frame for Shifnal with a 62-35 success over Mick Birch.

Matt Locklin then pulled a frame back for the visitors with an excellent 48-25 win over M Smith but with Barry Easthope claiming the last frame 47-38 against Paul Cartledge the Shifnal side were able to celebrate a memorable victory as they move up two places to third in the table.

Despite their first defeat the Billiard Hall still head the table by a massive seven points ahead of second placed Bayley D who recorded a 4-1 win from their away trip to Little Dawley E.

Dave Williams set the visitors on their way to their sixth win in nine games with a 59-38 opening frame victory over C Jones. Visiting captain Steve Lane, who is more at home at the moment in a pair of wellingtons due to his recent interest in DIY, donned a more appropriate set of footwear before stepping up to take the next for the Bayley with a stunning black along the cushion for a narrow 46-44 win over John Rowlinson.

Graham Copson put in a sterling display in the next to reduce the deficit to 2-1 with a 78-28 defeat of Brian Aberdeen before Mark Beddall put the visitors back on track with a superb 57-18 success over Paul Perks, leaving Dave Dudley to take the last for a 4-1 win to the Wellington side who move into second place just a point ahead of third placed Shifnal D.

Hadley B stay fourth despite falling to their fourth defeat as they travelled to play Wellington Billiard Hall B and left thankful for two points after recovering from 3-0 down to take the last two frames.

Paul Gubats opened the scoring with a narrow 53-44 win over John Whitehouse before Andy Kendrick doubled the home side's advantage as he took the next 64-26 against John Hoggins.

Ian Atkinson then made it 3-0 with a 59-30 success over Frazer MacKinnon before Steve Johnson began the Hadley fightback as he took the next against Ken Francis to leave Joe Fielding to complete the comeback with victory against Alan Francis in a high scoring final frame by 74 points to 65.

Maddocks D slip from third to seventh following a 4-1 defeat as they travelled to Bayley B who lie fifth with 24 points from nine games played. Although with the Oakengates side on 22 points themselves they are certainly not out of the running for honours this season.

Steve Scenters set Bayley on their way with a 57-29 opening frame win over Harry Higgins before Kevin Ryan once again had to sweat it out on the final black to defeat John Archer 55-52 to put the home side two up.

Fred Spragg then made it 3-0 against Ian Eldridge before Dicky Beddall got the better of Alan Bould 45-32 to make it 4-0 to the Wellington side. Only Roy Adams' 78-32 final frame win over home captain Bob Tracy prevented the whitewash leaving the Bayley victorious by four frames to one.

After being relegated last season, Wellington Billiard Hall F are finding life in the third division just as tough as they slipped to their heaviest defeat of the season so far at home to Pot Black D.

Mick Pearson put the visitors in front with a 20 break on the way to inflicting a first home defeat of the season on Chris Durham before Mick Egan got the better of Rob Cook 64-33 to put the visitors two up and Rob Palin then made it 3-0 with an excellent 46-30 win over Richard Tranter.

Chris Fletcher, the only Billiard Hall winner, had previously been involved in a comical situation when having been dropped off by a friend he realised his cue was still on board the car as it pulled away. He was then seen chasing the car waving his arms in the air but to no avail. However a change in team tactics saw home captain Steve Weatherall make the necessary journey to retrieve the situation - and Chris' cue.

Thus Chris was able to take the fourth frame by 53 points to 37 against Kirk Stephenson but he could do nothing to stop Neil Pearson claiming the last frame for Pot Black by 67 points to 21 over Andy Fletcher to round off an excellent 4-1 win for the Oakengates side.

Newport British Legion B are still looking for their first win of the season although they did come close last week after twice taking the lead away to Little Dawley B before finally losing out by three frames to two.

A Davies gave the Newport side the lead with a 64-27 success over D Wincott before Byron Mitchell potted his way to an excellent win over A Munn in the next to level the scores at one each.

M Gidda then put the visitors back in front, 59-45 against L Elcock only for the Little Dawley to respond by taking the last two frames through B Wincott, who saw off the challenge of Mike Doverskog, and D Wilson's 57-20 win over John Yapp in the last.

DIVISION 1

There's no change at the top of the table after the top two teams, Hills Lane A and Wellington Billiard Hall A, both recorded 5-0 wins to move away from the chasing pack.

Hills Lane still lead the way - as having won all eight of their matches they stay five points ahead of the Billiard Hall who, having won seven, are just two points clear of Shifnal A who lost ground slightly despite winning 4-1 at home to Coddon A.

The Madely side did their chances of retaining their title no harm at all as they claimed all five points at home to struggling Shifnal F. Matt Bailey set the ball rolling by beating Shifnal captain Brian Painter before a 42 break from Keith Price secured the second frame 84-29 against Fred Harper.

Home captain Ian Duffy then wasted no time in defeating League President Nev Whitehead - a defeat which Nev later described as his worst for many a season. The usually reliable Dave Peplow was unable to give his side any encouragement as Richard Wade made it 4-0 with a 65-16 win over the Shifnal stalwart.

The match then had an hours delay as Shaun Harris sportingly waited for Shifnal's last player, Craig Whitehead to return from Birmingham where his car had been vandalised. Upon his arrival, Craig started well by taking two early blacks only for Shaun to retaliate with a 33 break. Back came Craig however to just nine points behind on the brown before Shaun eventually ran out the winner by 64 points to 40 to complete another excellent win for the reigning league champions.

The team who Hills Lane deposed last season as League Champions, Wellington Billiard Hall A, kept in touch with the Madeley side as they too recorded a 5-0 home win when they entertained Hills Lane B.

Morton Hughes' first frame victory over Steve Powell set the scene for the Wellington side's seventh win of the campaign as Steve Minshall and Graham Darrell soon followed suit to make it 3-0 with victories over Lee Harris and Kev Davis respectively.

Paul Harper then continued his fine season as he took the next with just two scoring visits to the table as breaks of 31 and then an 85 clearance made it 4-0 against the unfortunate D Harris. Spencer Rowley then weighed in with two 24 breaks to complete the whitewash against Steve Weaver.

Shifnal A leapfrog over Coddon A into third spot after an excellent 4-1 win ver the Donnington side.

Linsay Knox set them off on the right foot with a fine 66-34 win over Darren Weston before Matt Davies made it 2-0 by taking the next 71-24 over Lee Szklarzewicz.

The visitors then pulled a frame back after an intriguing game between John Fallows and Adrian Smith saw the Donnington man take a 36 point lead with a 39 break. However, John fought his way back into contention only to mis-read the situation as having potted the yellow he then attempted a snooker on the green when perfectly placed to clear the colours - enabling Adrian to eventually take the frame by 70 points to 34 to reduce the frame scores to 2-1 to Shifnal.

Andy Easthope then produced a yellow to pink clearance against Leon Farrell to make it 3-1 before Darren Pountney rounded off a good night for Shifnal with a final frame win over Ian Ferriday.

Maddocks A lie fifth, with 21 points from eight games following a 3-2 defeat away to the rapidly improving Anstice A.

And the Madeley side raced into a 3-0 lead although the first frame was only won on the black after Neil Price held on to the lead he had virtually all through the frame to finally defeat Phil Davis by 54 points to 47.

Nick Oakley then potted well to take the next against Ian Skelton before Mick Downing played solidly as he notched a 26 break to defeat Ken Davis who had turned up at short notice as a substitute for the Oakengates side.

That left father and son Dave and Leigh France to salvage two points for the visitors as first Leigh used his new cue to good effect to defeat John Darrock 68-34 with a 26 break before Dave took a scrappy last frame 61-25 from Mick Cahill to leave the final score 3-2 to the Madeley side.

Bayley A got back to winning way after a see-saw encounter with Minesoota Fats left the home side victorious by three frames to two.

Carl Walker put the visitors ahead on the blue against Steve Nicholls before Chris Morgan-Adams continued his excellent start to the season with a cut back on the pink to leave just the black which was positioned over the corner pocket for a 46-36 win over Mick Brezwyn to draw the frame scores level.

The Bayley went back in front as Bob Mason completed a 52-31 success over Kelvin McLeod before Simon McLeod levelled matters once more with a 68-17 win over Arthur Burrows.

Home captain Steve Fletcher then took the decider with a 66 break against Paul Lloyd to secure the Bayley's fourth win of the campaign.

DIVISION 2

Hadley A look all set for a quick return to Division 1 after yet another 5-0 win, this time at home to Anstice B, sees them increase their lead at the top to six points after second placed Little Dawley A dropped one point from their trip to Maddocks C.

Andy O'Brien gave Hadley the lead against Stuart Wimbush, and they never looked back from then on as Steve Hoof doubled their advantage with a 47-23 success over George Hammond.

Mark Watkins and Ali Jones then took the scoreline to 4-0 before John Squire rounded things off nicely with a 32 break on the way to a 69-43 final frame victory over Danny Weaver to leave the Madeley side rooted to the foot of the table after Bayley C claimed two points from their trip to Coddon C.

Home captain Seth Tusel got the home side off to a good start with a 57-16 win over Chris Haycox but Bayley captain Ian Johnson then levelled the match after a scrappy game with Mick Stokes went his way on the final black.

Another black ball game saw Keith Morris just edge out Pete Woodcock 49-43 after the Bayley player missed the black ball completely.

Darren Rhodes then proceeded to fight back magnificently from a 33 point deficit to eventually clear the colours from the brown with a 22 break to clinch the frame 54-48 against Chris Ferriday and set up the decider in which Paul Wilson secured victory for Donnington in a closeley fought tussle with Bayley anchor man Jim Lewis went his way by 63 points to 42.

Despite losing out, Bayley C move three points clear of Anstice B at the foot of the table.

Little Dawley A look to be on the way to promotion after a 4-1 win over Maddocks C leaves them well placed in second spot - six points off the lead with 29 points, although with three other teams all within three points of them, the battle for promotion to the top flight looks certain to be fiercely contested.

Richie Heighway and Colin Gittus put the Little Dawley side into an early two frame lead and things got even better for them when Jesse Lowe took the next frame too with a 56-32 win over Craig Rowley.

Mark Finucane replied for Maddocks though with an emphatic win over Ray Clements but the visitors were not to be denied as Ade Henry completed a fine performance with an excellent win over Billy Rushton.

Wellington Billiard Hall E are once again in the thick of the promotion battle after they too recorded a 4-1 away win as they travelled to Shifnal E.

Mick Hughes and Alan Turner put the visitors 2-0 up before Chris Morris got the better of Jeff Sparkes to make it 3-0.

Rob Wright was once again on hand to save the day for the home side as he took the next 76-30 to pull a frame back for Shifnal, but it wasn't enough to prevent Warren Barber from taking the last frame 72-43 against Dave Barden to complete a fine win for the Wellington side who now have 28 points, one more than Newport British Legion A who fell to their third defeat of the season at home to Coddon B.

And it could have been worse for the Newport side had Ivor Hellyar not potted the final black against Steve Downs to level the scores at one each after Bob Dando had given the visitors the lead.

Mark Wall put Coddon back in front with a 75-26 success over home captain Paul Jones before Nick Pearce ensured his side of victory with a 45-14 defeat of Simon Thornley.

However Newport rallied once more to take the final frame thanks to John Mellings' close 59-49 win over Phil Szklarzewicz to leave the final score 3-2 in favour of the Donnington side.

Shifnal B stay fifth after returning home from Pot Black A with a 3-2 win safely in the bag.

John Jones and G Woods put them 2-0 up early on with wins over Tom Firmstone and Neil Robinson respectively only for Mike Thompson to reply with a 46-38 success over Emlyn Watts.

Rich Whitehead then restored the visitor's two frame advantage with victory in the next by just a single point against the unfortunate Dave Welsh and with Toby Welsh weighing in with a 22 break against John Bell in the last the visitors had to settle for a 3-2 win.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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