Reigning Champions Hills Lane A started the new century as they ended the last - at the top of the League, however their grip on the league title was weakened slightly as they suffered only their second defeat of the season last week at home to second placed Billiard Hall A.

Nonetheless despite letting a 2-0 lead slip, they still head the table by three points although with the result from Shifnal A's game at Minesota Fats not yet in that lead could be even more tenuous as the memorial men, currently third in the table, are just six points behind the leaders with a game in hand.

Hills Lane captain Ian Duffy whose wife Clare gave birth to their second child, Chloe Victoria just before Christmas, started the new year in stunning form as he gave his side the early lead against Steve Minshall and when Jamie Fallows followed suit, coming from 30 points behind against Morton Hughes to eventually take the frame 61-48, the home side looked all set to record their tenth win in eleven outings.

The visitors had other ideas however and Spencer Rowley began the fight back with an excellent 77-32 defeat of Keith Price before the next two frames kicked off at the same time with Richard Wade taking on Graham Darrall and Shaun Harris playing Paul Harper.

First to finish was the clash between two players who were previously undefeated in a league game this season as Paul Harper won a closely fought battle by taking the last two reds and colours up to the brown for a 71-36 victory to put himself in pole position for the most wins trophy.

It was then left to Graham Darrall to clinch the Billiard Hall's ninth win of the campaign as he completed a 64-44 win over Richard Wade to secure a winning start to the new year for the Wellington side.

Maddocks A also started the New Year brightly as they came from behind to beat Dawley Social by four frames to one.

Having celebrated his first ever century break earlier in the week with a run of 110 in a friendly, Ian Skelton was unable to prevent Chris Wood's giving the visitors the lead as the Dawley man weathered an early 24 break from his opponent to eventually take the frame on the black.

Phil Davis soon levelled matters however with a 66-14 success over M Parkes before home captain Dave France produced a solid performance to defeat Dave Hampton 59-21 with the aide of two twenty plus breaks.

Adrian Barraclough then made it 3-1 with a 26 break on the way to defeating Barry Roden to leave the ever improving Leigh France to take the next with a 29 break against Mark Jones for a 4-1 win to the Oakengates side.

Hills Lane B leapfrog over Bayley A following a second successive 4-1 win over the Wellington side.

Lee Harris set the tone with a 30 break on the way to a 67-30 defeat of Bob Mason before Steve Powell potted both pink and black to make it 2-0 against Steve Nicholls.

Steve Fletcher did manage to salvage some pride for the home side with victory over Kev Davis in the next but with Paul Eyke in good form against Arthur Burrows it wasn't long before the visitors restored their two frame advantage.

The final frame proved once again to be a cliff-hanger as Chris Morgan-Adams bravely fought his way back against Richie Jones to take all the colours to force a re-spotted black, only for the Bayley player to lose the toss.

Having been put in to play by his opponent, Chris attempted to cut the black in off it's spot leaving Richie the opportunity to take the frame on a re-spot - just has he had done in the reverse fixture against Steve Fletcher a few weeks earlier.

The year 2000 looks promising for Shifnal F after they entertained Anstice A and came away victorious by a score line of three frames to two.

The home side, who have struggled of late, welcomed back stalwart Wally Harper after a months holiday in the New Zealand sun. It obviously worked wonders as Wally strolled to an 83-32 victory over Mick Cahill to put the home side in front.

Captain Brian Painter then made it 2-0 when his opponent John Darrock attempted a thin cut on the final black - only to miss the ball completely leaving Brian victorious by 55 points to 43.

Neil Price then pulled a frame back for the Anstice by overcoming Fred Harper 75-17 in some style. Having opened up with a 39 break only to foul the black, Neil was asked to play again by his opponent and duly rattled in another break of 36 to give Fred little chance to recover.

Phil Reynolds then levelled matters as he left his opponent, Nev Whitehead, requiring a snooker on the yellow however it was Dave Peplow, playing in his favoured position as anchorman, who stole the show as he took the decider on the blue against Nick Oakley to secure the Shifnal side's first win for some time.

DIVISION 2

Hadley A's stay in Division 2 looks set to be a short one, as they recorded their twelfth win of the season away at Bayley C, to open up an eight point lead at the top of the table as they attempt to return to Division 1 at the first time of asking.

Andy O'Brien's opening frame defeat of Chris Haycox set the visitors on their way and further wins from Steve Hoof over Jim Lewis and M Watkins who beat Craig Johnson, ensured that they would keep their unbeaten record intact.

Darren Rhoades' brilliant performance in the next saw him reduce the deficit for the Bayley with a superb victory over Ali Jones and this looked to have inspired Pete Woodcock who started brightly in the last frame of the evening against visiting captain Dave France.

Pete, whose New Year began somewhat unfortunately when the Millenium Bug appeared to have attacked the electric windows and alarm on his car, seemed to be on the way to victory as he led throughout only to be pipped on the final pink to leave the final score 4-1 to the top of the table side.

With Hadley running away with the title, the race is on for the runners-up spot - and it's currently Billiard Hall E who lead the chasing pack following their 5-0 whitewash away at Coddon C.

League secretary Alan Turner was astonished to see Nigel Stallard take the opening frame for the Wellington side after the visiting player battled back superbly to get the three snookers he required to take the frame on the black - Alan had earlier stated that he would take all his clothes off and run around the Coddon Club if Nigel won the frame - thankfully the efforts of his team-mates to persuade him to comply with his threat were not taken up and Alan was able to win the next frame, fully clothed, to put his side 2-0 in front.

Chris Morris then took the next against Seth Tusel to leave Ray Evans and Warren Barber to complete a good evening all round for the Wellington side who move three points clear of third placed Little Dawley A who won a vital promotion battle against Newport British Legion A by three frames to two.

Richie Heighway's 50-36 success over Colin Farge put the home side in the driving seat and they then went further head when captain Rick Cousins got the better of Ivor Hellyar by 70 points to 31.

The ever reliable Jesse Lowe then made it 3-0 against Paul Jones before Matt Bothwell revived the visitor's flagging fortunes with a black ball win over Ray Clements.

And with John Mellings taking a close final frame 41-32 against Ade Henry the scramble for promotion is now well and truly hotting up with the Newport side now fourth, just two points behind Little Dawley and two points ahead of Shifnal B who lost ground on the leaders with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Coddon B.

The Donnington side went ahead through Bob Dando's excellent 53-36 defeat of Rich Whitehead.

Mark Wall put them further ahead with a black ball win over John Jones before Steve Downs took another close frame, 53-44, to make it 3-0 to the home side.

Emlyn Watts made no mistake in the next however as he pulled a frame back for Shifnal with a 61-29 success over Terry Garmston only for Nick Pearce to win another black ball frame 57-51 against Steve Nolan to leave the final score 4-1 to the Coddon boys.

Shifnal's E side fared somewhat better than their higher placed B team when they returned home from Maddocks C with an excellent 4-1 win safely in the bag.

Veteran Ken Holwell set the scene with a 59-49 opening frame win over G Hoof before father and son Jeff and Arron Sparkes made it 3-0.

Firstly Arron got the better of C Cowley 53-31 before father Jeff accounted for Mark Finucane 54-36 to put the away side comfortably in control.

Worse was to follow for Maddocks as Rob Wright won a closely fought battle with Billy Rushton on the final black to make it 4-0 and only Joe Oliver's 51-48 black ball finish against Dave Barden saved some consolation for the home side.

A brilliant performance from Anstice B saw them recover from 2-0 down to record only their second win of the season at home to Pot Black A.

Tom Firmstone's narrow 43-34 win over Pete McCleary put the Oakengates side in front and the writing seemed to be on the wall when Neil Robinson took the next from Stuart Wimbush to put the visitors firmly in the driving seat.

However a solid performance from Danny Weaver saw him pull a frame back with a 53-15 success over Mike Thompson before George Hammond drew the home side level with a fine 81-25 win over Alan Morris.

Steve Smallwood then kept his nerve superbly to take a nail-biting decider 67-28 against Dave Welsh to secure the Madeley side's second win of the season and move them out of the relegation places - one point ahead of Coddon C and four ahead of Bayley C who stay bottom.

DIVISION 3

Despite falling to only their second defeat of the season, Wellington Billiard Hall B still head the Division 3 table by a massive eleven points ahead of Pot Black D who lie second despite falling to a 3-2 defeat themselves at home to Bayley D.

Things seemed to be going to plan for the league leaders as Dave Cartledge rattled in a 30 break on the way to an 82-24 first frame success over G Whiley as the Billiard Hall entertained Little Dawley B but the visitors hit back strongly to take the next three frames.

First D Wincott levelled the scores with a 22 break against John Rawlins whose earlier run of 19 wasn't enough to prevent his young opponent taking the frame by 54 points to 44.

Byron Mitchell followed with a similar scoreline against Matt Locklin to put the visitors in front before L Elcock made it 3-1 with a 56-34 win over Paul Cartledge.

However Mick Birch stopped the rot with a 61-23 final frame win over D Wilson but it wasn't sufficient to rob Little Dawley of a superb victory - and one which leaves them as one of two teams on 30 points, just three points behind second placed Pot Black D.

The Oakengates side, 5-0 winners over Bayley D just before Christmas, fell to an unexpected 3-2 defeat at home to the Wellington side who stay in the hunt for the runners-up spot themselves with 31 points from 12 games played.

Brian Aberdeen was well pleased to receive a new chalk clicker for Christmas and duly celebrated by clicking his way to the narrowest of wins, 43-42 on the final black to give the Bayley the lead against Mick Pearson.

Bill France thought he'd made it 2-0 to the visitors when he potted the final black only to see his white trail in off into the middle pocket to give Kirk Stephenson the frame by 55 points to 42 as the home side drew level.

Visiting captain Steve Lane put his side back in front with a 67-43 win over Mick Egan before Rob Palin survived a 25 break by his opponent Mark Beddall to force the decider in which Dave Dudley potted an excellent blue and pink to leave the Wellington side just two points behind Pot Black in the chase for promotion to Division 2.

Maddocks D lie third with 32 points after they enjoyed a 4-1 win away at Shifnal D who are also chasing the runners-up spot with 30 points so far.

Harry Higgins' 60-44 win over Mick Guest gave the visitors the lead only for Shifnal to draw level as Geoff French got the better of Roy Lowe by 60 points to 25.

Ian Eldridge put Maddocks back in front and they never looked back then as Alan Bould made it 3-1 against Arthur Aston before A Lovett rounded things off with a fine 53-37 win over Barry Easthope in the last.

Bayley B drop to fourth after suffering their fifth defeat of the campaign away to Billiard Hall B.

Kevin Ryan put the visitors in front only to see Andy Kendrick level for the home side with a 70-24 success over Dave Weston.

Dicky Beddall put the Bayley back ahead once more as he coolly took the next from R Francis but the home side rallied to take the final two frames for a 3-2 win.

Ian Atkinson's 62-30 defeat of Bayley captain Bob Tracy left the way clear for Alan Francis to take the decider with a 56-23 victory over Robin Sturmey who was making his first appearance of the season for the visiting side.

That defeat leaves the Bayley on the same points (32) as Maddocks D but one place below the Oakengates side in the table due to having won one less match. Also level with 32 points are Hadley B who have now won half of their games after falling to a 3-2 defeat at home to Wellington Billiard Hall F.

The Millennium Bug was blamed for an early mix up as visiting captain Steve Weatherall nominated his first two players but then put them to play on the wrong tables - it was not until after half a dozen shots had been played that it was realised they were playing the wrong players.

Some apologising and quick re-racks soon followed as the match was re-started with the correct players playing each other.

However Rich Tranter must have been wishing for another re-rack as he lost out in a black ball thriller to Steve Johnson, who eventually potted the black after his opponent had rattled the jaws with three previous efforts.

Andy Fletcher making his regular round trip from Bristol fared somewhat better in the mix up as he levelled matters with a close 45-32 win over D Morrey.

The home side then took the lead as J Higgins got the better of Chris Durham to make it 2-1 only for the Billiard Hall to take the last two frames for a memorable victory.

Firstly Rob Cook made it all square at two each with a high scoring 76-27 victory over Joe Fielding before visiting captain Steve Weatherall atoned for his earlier mistake as he got the better of Ray Whitehead 60-33 in a close final frame.

Newport British Legion B entered the new Millenium on a high note as they repeated their win over Little Dawley B before Christmas with a 3-2 win at home this time to record their second win of the season.

Things didn't start brightly however for the Newport side as Graham Copson gave the visitors the early lead with a 50-29 defeat of M Gidda.

However they were soon celebrating as Kevin Gardner levelled the match with a 49-27 success over C Smith before A Davies put them in front with a black ball win over C Jones.

Paul Perks' 69-37 defeat of John Yapp could't prevent his side slipping to defeat as Alan Gardner wrapped things up for Newport with a narrow 47-32 deciding frame win over J Rollinson.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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