Hills Lane A's domination of the Telford snooker scene reached Manchester United proportions last week, when just like the mighty reds of Old Trafford they secured the Telford Snooker League (sponsored by Golden Purse Jewelers) for a third successive season.

Their 5-0 demolition of bottom of the table Shifnal F condemned Wellington Billiard Hall A to the position customarily occupied by Arsenal, as the Wellington side once again had to settle for runners-up spot.

Hills Lane A went into their final fixture against Shifnal F knowing they required just 2 points to secure their status as once again Division 1 champions.

And they didn't have to wait long as Matt Bailey produced a 31 break in the first frame, before eventually forcing Wally Harper to concede the frame on the blue.

Shaun Harris then came up with breaks of 30 and 28 before clinching his frame from an unlucky Chris Painter, who's 6 in-off's during the frame helped Shaun to a win of 96-15.

Nev Whitehead then found himself 26 behind on the yellow, with a possible chance of clearing the colours against Darren Pountney. But an in-off yellow gave the Hills Lane man the fillip he needed to go on and secure the frame and with the league title safely in their grasp the Madeley side went from strength to strength.

Ian Duffy's first potting attempt produced a 45 break followed by a 24, and then a 32 clearance put paid to Shifnal skipper Brian Painter's hopes of securing a point for the visitors. Tim Hicks then nailed the Shifnal coffin after defeating Dave Peplow. Dave who had a 16 point lead going into the colours, found himself faced with some good snookers from Tim, which got him out of jail and he later came up trumps to clinch the frame 55-42 for a 5-0 frame score.

Their defeat leaves Shifnal rooted to the bottom of the First Division and sadly they will be competing in Division 2 next season, although with the wealth of experience in their side a swift return to the top flight could well be on the cards.

Although the result from Wellington Billiard Hall's final game of the season at Maddocks A is not yet in, their position as runners-up for yet another season is confirmed as third placed Anstice A lie some thirteen points behind the Wellington side after they ended the campaign with a 3-2 away win over Shifnal A.

The wanderer returned for Shifnal as they welcomed back Matt Davies who, having played the first game of the season, came back to give Shifnal the lead in their final match as breaks of 30 and 46 gave the former English Amateur Champion the first frame against Mick Cahill.

Neil Price then levelled matters with a 62-27 win over John Fallows before his brother Keith ensured himself of a share of the most wins in Division 1 by beating Linsay Knox.

Keith and his former team-mate from Hills Lane Ian Duffy share the most wins prize having both lost just three games each out of 22.

Arsenal fan Andy Easthope followed his team's example as he finished second to Phil Reynolds in the next frame by some 15 points before former County Champion Simon Biddulph won Shifnal's last frame of an inconsistent season with a 75-52 win over Nick Oakley.

Bayley A's inconsistency shone through yet again as they continued their slide down the table with a 3-2 defeat at home to Hadley A.

The Hadley side started the day knowing that just two points would secure their first division status for another season and things didn't look promising as the home side took the opening two frames thanks to Steve Fletcher's victory over Andy O'Brien and Arthur Burrow's last gasp black ball win over Steve Hoof.

But the visitors responded brilliantly to take all three of the remaining frames as first Martin Watkins got the better of Steve Nicholls by 61 points to 41 and then Ali Jones defeated Bob Mason on the final pink after a long tactical encounter.

That left John Squire to wrap things up for Hadley with a 72-35 final frame win over Chris Morgan-Adams as the Hadley team completed their eighth win of the season.

Their victory meant Little Dawley A's 3-2 defeat at home to Broseley would condemn last years second division runners-up to a return to Division 2 after just one season in the top flight - a position which seemed unlikely at the half way stage of the season.

Little Dawley had initially adjusted well to life in the first division only for a run of indifferent results towards the end of the campaign to eventually cost them dearly.

Ade Henry gave Little Dawley the perfect start with a black ball win over Carl Walker but Broseley hit back to take the lead, first through Richie Hulme who defeated Rick Cousins 64-33 and then Paul Humphries whose 77-44 win over Richie Heighway put Broseley ahead.

Jesse Lowe levelled matters by taking the next 67-28 from Kelvin McLeod only for Simon McLeod to clinch the match with a 61-27 success against Graham Wiley.

DIVISION 2

The Little Dawley club will still be represented in Division 1 next year though as their B side clinched the second division title by just a single point ahead of Minnesota Fats who finish second.

Although Little Dawley B only won their game at Coddon B by the odd frame, Minnesota Fat's failure to claim all five points from their last match of the season, which they won 4-1, left Little Dawley as champions by a single point.

Byron Mitchell's victory over Mark Wall put the visitors in the driving seat, but parity was soon restored as Steve Downe's took frame two from Lee Elcock on the final black.

Ian Eldridge once again put Little Dawley ahead and when Brendan Wincott increased their lead still further by taking the next frame from Nick Pearce the visitors edged ever closer to their second successive promotion.

A final flourish from Coddon's Phil Szklarzewicz saw him take a high scoring last frame 74-69 on the black to deny Brendan Wincott but his efforts couldn't dampen the Little Dawley youngster's joy as they move into Division 1 after just two seasons in the league.

Although no match card has been received from Minnesota Fats last game, their 4-1 victory leaves them in second place and they too will be promoted to the top division next term after their first season in the league.

Wellington Billiard Hall C, who for a long time led the second division title race, had to settle for third place this time around having won the third division title last season.

However they finished their campaign in style by taking all five frames against relegated Bayley C.

Mattly Locklin saw off the challenge of Pete "Woody" Woodcock in the opening frame and further wins from John Rawlins over Craig Whitehead and Dave Cartledge, who had a 22 break on the way to victory over Ian Johnson, put the home side well and truly in control.

Steve Minshall's 27 break settled frame four in his favour before Wayne Weeks completed the whitewash with a close 52-42 win over Craig Johnson.

Pot Black A also ended on a high note with a 3-2 win away at Shifnal E.

Toby Welsh gave the Oakengates side the lead before Tom Firmstone doubled their advantage with a 35 break against young Arron Sparkes.

Neil Robinson's 5 point winning margin against Richard James made it 3-0 but Shifnal rallied somewhat to take the last two frames of the evening.

Chris Petford first of all pulled one back with victory over Tony Hall before Fred Harper continued in the same vane with a 47-34 win over Dave Welsh to leave Pot Black the victors by just the one frame.

Anstice B were also on the winning trail as they too secured a 3-2 win from their least match at home to Shifnal D.

But they had to come from behind as Steve Morse shot Shifnal into an early lead with a 62-27 win over Stewart Wimbush.

Nigel Wallcroft's close 56-47 victory over Geoff French pulled Anstice level and they then took the lead thanks to John Darrock'' 49-40 win over Arthur Aston.

Mick Smith made it all square again for Shifnal though before Danny Weaver claimed the frame and match for Anstice with a 63-47 final frame success against Barrie Easthope.

DIVISION 3

Wellington Billiard Hall X were already confirmed as Third Division Champions when they made the short trip to Oakengates to take on second placed Pot Black D in their final game of the season.

They left with a 3-2 win under their belts and the satisfaction of knowing that they had won 18 of their 22 games in the division.

John Powell was once again in scintillating form to give the X men the lead with a 59-17 win over Mick Pearson. M Shadab followed his example to post a 58-32 win over Rob Palin before Harry Jones put Pot Black on the scoreboard by defeating Ash Mahmood 75-33.

A Ali's 28 break not only secured the next frame against Mick Egan, but also ensured the Billiard Hall man of his twentieth win of the season to claim the most wins trophy.

And although Kirk Stephenson took the last frame for Pot Black against M Ayaz, the home side were unable to defeat the champions who finished the season seven points ahead of the Oakengates side who themselves can be well pleased with their seasons work.

Pot Black D's two points mean that they finished some seven points ahead of third placed Hills Lane B - and they will therefore be promoted along with W.B.H. X to division 2 next term.

Hills Lane B's charge up the table came just too late to see them gain promotion as they finished strongly with a 4-1 win away at Newport British Legion B.

Keith Gardner gave Newport the lead with a black ball finish against A Morris - but it was all down hill for his side from then on as the Madeley side hit back to take all four of the remaining frames.

Kev Davis levelled matters with a 52-22 win over Colin Farge and further wins from Steve Powell and Lee Harris put the visitors into a commanding lead.

That lead was then extended still further when Richie Jones took the last frame 47-22 from Mike Doverskog to leave Hills Lane the winners by four frames to one.

WBH F finished fourth, a further two points adrift of Hills Lane after their promising season concluded in a 4-1 home victory against Maddocks D.

Beating their 3-2 win against Maddocks earlier in the season, the team was only let down by occasional player John Tranter, as Rob Cook, Richie Tranter, and Chris's Durham and Fletcher, saw the team to the end of their best season for some time.

Wellington Billiard Hall B ended their season with a win as they travelled to Bayley B and came away with a 3-2 victory.

Andy Kendrick's 58-20 success over Robin Sturmey set them on their way before Kevin Ryan levelled for the Bayley by beating Ken Francis 59-21.

Alan Francis put the visitors back in front with a 54-17 win over Len Weston only for Dicky Beddall to draw his side level once more against Ian Atkinson.

However Roy Francis secured victory for the Billiard Hall side by clinching the decider 50-37 against home captain Bob Tracy as the Billiard Hall made the short trip home with a 3-2 win safely in the bag.

My thanks to everyone who has contributed to the reports this season - especially Nev Whitehead who has provided a report for all of Shifnal F's games this season, and to his son Craig who has recently sent Bayley C's match reports to me by e-mail. Darren Pountney and Rick Cousins have also supplied match details during the season.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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