Third division Bayley D came close to producing the shock of the season as they came to within three points of dumping high flying Shifnal A out of this season's Team Knockout competition only to lose out on the final black of what was an enthralling encounter.

Dave Williams seemed to have a mountain to climb as he started the final frame eleven points behind on aggregate after the first division side had clawed their way back from conceding 135 points handicap at the start of play.

The Bayley player started brightly as he attempted to keep former county champion Simon Biddulph at bay. Cheered on by his team-mates, Dave managed to edge in front and required just one of the last two balls to secure a memorable victory.

But it was the Shifnal man who slotted home the pink to set up a tense finale and with just the black remaining both players had opportunities to clinch victory before Dave took the bull by the horns, rattling an attempted long pot in the corner pocket jaws leaving Simon the opportunity to snatch overall victory by a margin of just eight points.

Nonetheless the home player can be well pleased with his own performance in winning the frame by three points.

Currently second in division 1 and with only one defeat to their name, the visitors must have been confident of progressing to the third round as despite key man Matthew Davies being unavailable they were still able to field a star studded line up including former John Bethell Trophy winner Linsay Knox who opened the scoring with a 56-34 victory over Mark Beddall.

Bayley captain Steve Lane then made a surprise return to the line up. Having missed his side's two previous matches he dusted the cobwebs off his cue to take on John Fallows. However it was the Shifnal man who emerged victorious by a margin of 39 points leaving Steve to pin his hopes on his brother-in-law Dave Dudley who was taking on Darren Pountney in the next frame.

However there was nothing Dave could do as another solid performance from the first division player secured the frame by 42 points as the home side's 135 point handicap was cut down to just 32 points with two games to play.

Nothing seemed to click for Brian Aberdeen either as Andy Easthope never missed a thing on the way to a 43 point win to put Shifnal into what proved to be a vital eleven point lead overall enabling Simon Biddulph to eventually pull his side through to victory on the last black.

Former winners Wellington Billiard Hall A, playing on the adjacent table, had no such problems as they swept to a comfortable 116 point win over Bayley C.

Pete Woodcock, no stranger to the local dancing scene, kept in step all the way against Steve Minshall, but eventually fell to a 65-37 defeat before jetting off to Holland for some clogg dancing lessons. Paul Harper then produced some "total" snooker with a 68 break on the way to victory over Mike Healey before Phil Whitby ensured the future looked bright for the Billiard Hall with a 39 break against Chris Haycox.

Further wins for Spencer Rowley and Graham Darrall ensured the visitors eased through to the next round where they will be joined by reigning League Champions Hills Lane A.

The Madeley side made sure of a place in round three at the expense of another Bayley side , Bayley B who saw their 145 point handicap evaporate after just three frames.

Keith Price set them on their way with victory over Kevin Ryan in the first frame before Shaun Harris put them further in the driving seat against Dave Weston.

Matt Bailey's 68 break in the next against Robin Sturmey put the home side 77 points in front overall and further wins from Jamie Fallows and Richard Wade left the Wellington side, currently second in division 3, free to concentrate on clinching promotion to the second division.

Maddocks A also made their top flight pedigree count as they returned home from the short trip to Pot Black A with a narrow 28 point aggregate victory.

Phil Davis gave the visitors the perfect start with an 88-37 win over Neil Robinson as they attempted to recoup a 115 point handicap, but the division 2 side hit back with good performances from both Tom Firmstone and Toby Welsh in the next two frames.

First Tom restricted Leigh France to a 55-42 win before a fine performance from Toby Welsh saw him lose out by just a single point against super-sub Ken Davis.

Ian Skelton's 62-24 success over Tony Hall left visiting captain Dave France 12 points adrift going into the last against Paul Crooks. After a close tussle it was the Maddocks man who came out on top by 62 points to 22 to secure a third round spot for his side by 315 points to 287.

Holders Coddon A kept a tight grip on their title as they overturned a 60 point handicap to beat club-mates Coddon B.

An excellent opening frame saw both players in superb form as Mark Wall opened up an early lead against Lee Szklarzewicz with a 30 break only for Lee to finish with a 57 clearance to take the frame 67-39.

Lee's hard work was then complimented by Darren Weston who's 58-49 success over Lee's dad Phil reduced the B team's lead to just 17 points overall.

Adrian Smith followed suit to post a 61-52 win over Bob Dando before Ian Ferriday put the "home" side in front for the first time with victory over Steve Downing in the next.

That left captain Dave Lloyd to wrap things up with a 36 break against Nick Pearce by taking the final frame 67-24.

With there being an odd number of teams in the competition, two matches were played as a preliminary round, with the winners of each match due to play each other before February 7th for a place in round 3.

Former winners Hills Lane B maintained their excellent record in the competition with a narrow 5 point win over Wellington Billiard Hall B.

The Madeley side, currently in a rich vein of form as they strive to maintain their Division 1 status, had to battle hard as their opponents made the most of their 120 point start to take the match all the way to the final black.

Steve Powell set about recovering some of the handicap with an excellent 78-47 win over Kevin Francis only for Andy Kendrick to reply for the visitors by taking the next by just three points against home captain Kev Davis.

Lee Harris took the next for the first division side with a 71-29 win over Ian Atkinson and although Richie Jones also won the fourth frame, 59-33 over Alan Francis, the home side still trailed by 24 points going into the last.

As expected this proved to be a close affair but it was Paul Eyke who eventually held his nerve to sink the final black for a 75-46 victory over R Francis to book his side's place in round 2 where they will play Maddocks C for a place in the third round.

The Oakengates side had Mark Finucane to thank for a brilliant display in the last as he recovered from 45 points down to steer his side to victory as they entertained third division Newport British Legion B.

A brilliant opening frame from Alan Davies secured an 82-37 victory against J Hill as the visitors looked to build on their 75 point handicap start.

However, Joe Oliver hit back strongly for the second division outfit with a 73-20 success over Manjit Gitta before G Hoof took the next for Maddocks 76-51 over Mike Doverskog.

Keith Gardner's brilliant 57-54 win over C Rowley then put the visitors 45 points in front overall only for Mark Finucane to steal the show with an outstanding display in the last to snatch an unlikely win for the Oakengates side.

Little Dawley A, currently riding high in Division 2, made short work of progressing in the cup competition when they followed their first round win over Bayley A with another away win, this time at Wellington Billiard Hall F.

The home side started shakily as they defended a 105 point start with captain Steve Weatherall losing out by 60 points to 29 against Richie Heighway.

Visiting captain Rick Cousins reduced the deficit even further with a 59-15 success over Rob Cook and further wins for Ade Henry over Chris Durham and Ray Clements against Chris Fletcher put Little Dawley seven points ahead going into the final frame in which Jesse Lowe gave Andy Fletcher no chance with a solid 61-24 win to see his side safely home.

Little Dawley's B team also accounted for a Billiard Hall side as they entertained runaway third division leaders Wellington Billiard Hall C and came out on top without the need for their 15 point handicap start.

B Wincott set the home side on their way to a famous victory with a superb 50-44 success over Dave Cartledge. That was followed by Darren Wincott's 56-39 win over John Rawlins as the home side rocked the Division 3 pacesetters.

Matty Locklin responded well for the visitors to take the next 65-49 from G Whiley only for Lee Elcock, who reached the final of the under 21 competition the night before, to continue his recent good form with a 46-39 defeat of Mick Birch. And although Martin Locklin took the last 63-51 against Byron Mitchell he couldn't prevent the home side taking the match by a margin of 32 points overall.

CONSOLATION CUP.

Shock of the round must surely be Pot Black D's annihilation of Bayley A who carried their recent poor form in division 1 into this cup tie.

The division 3 side built on their 120 point start with an outstanding display from Mick Pearson who coolly potted pink and black for a single point victory over Steve Fletcher.

Steve Nicholls replied for the visitors by taking the next by some 50 points and although Bob Mason narrowly scraped home in the third, Kirk Stephenson's black ball win over Arthur Burrows left Chris Morgan-Adams facing a 60 point deficit going into the last against Neil Pearson.

This proved too much for the Bayley man to recoup and indeed it was Neil who actually took the frame when Chris potted the black and went in-off in the middle leaving the third division side with a comfortable aggregate win having taken three of the five frames.

One first division side safely through to the next round are Dawley Social who scraped home against Shifnal B by just eight points overall.

The Shifnal side, receiving 30 points start, began well as Richie Whitehead took the opening frame 48-41 against Chris Woods and then John Jones followed with a 70 points to 45 success over Barry Roden.

But the home side hit back strongly and took the last three frames to turn the tables on their division 2 opponents.

Mark Jones started the fight back by beating Danny Bedworth 68-24 and when Rick Bailey claimed the next frame too with a 70-53 win over Emlyn Watts, the visitor's lead was cut to just a single point with one game left to play.

And despite a brave performance from Sean Nolan, it was his namesake Steve Nolan who held on for a 51-42 final frame win which sees Dawley safely through to the second round of the consolation cup.

Maddocks D had to give fellow third division outfit Little Dawley E a 15 point start, but they didn't let that distract them as they eventually took the tie by 35 points overall in what was another of those preliminary matches due to the uneven number of teams.

J Clarke got the better of Harry Higgins by 40 points to 36 to virtually double the visitor's 15 point start but young Ian Eldridge replied for the Oakengates side to take the next 62-32 to put Maddocks in front by one point overall.

Back came Little Dawley as G Clement got the better of J Pearce, 49-35, and then Graham Copson beat John Archer 55-38 to put the visitors in front with just one game left.

However it wasn't to be their night as a brilliant display from A Loveitt secured the match for Maddocks as he took a high scoring final frame 94-41 to leave the Oakengates side having to play the winners of the derby match between Hadley A and Hadley B for a place in the next round.

INTER-TOWN DATE

Telford B will entertain holders Stourbridge A in the second round of the West Midlands Inter-Town competition at Shifnal War Memorial Club tomorrow night (Friday February 4th) at 7.30pm.

Having received a bye in the first round, Simon Biddulph's side couldn't have asked for a harder tie as he visitors will be fielding a strong team as they hope to continue the defense of their prestigious title and it is hoped that both teams will bring along their supporters for what proves to be a good nights snooker.

Anyone wishing to attend to support the teams will be most welcome.

STEVE FLETCHER 

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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