Little Dawley C are definitely finding their feet now in this, their first ever season in the Telford Snooker League (sponsored by Golden Purse Jewelers).

Steve Farrington's side must have been wondering what was in store for them when they turned up at Wellington Billiard Hall to take on runaway third division leaders Wellington Billiard Hall X but they needn't have worried as they produced the performance of the season so far to become only the third team this term to defeat the X men.

The home team, themselves newcomers to the third division this year, contain some experienced players and they took an early lead when M Shadab opened the scoring with a 62-36 success over Russ France.

The only player with previous league experience for Little Dawley is Mike King, a one time century breaker in the third division, and it was Mike who set the visitors on the road to what was to become their fourth win of the campaign when a 25 break preceded a second frame victory over M Khan.

Steve Farrington then put the visitors in front with a fine 76-45 win over D Khan but the X men bounced back immediately as they drew level thanks to A Ali's win over Danny Childs.

That left all the pressure on Craig Walton as he took on A Afzal and despite a close encounter he eventually sealed a fine win for the Little Dawley outfit by taking the frame by 64 points to 29.

Despite their disappointment the X men still head the table by six points ahead of Pot Black D who ran out 4-1 winners at home to Newport British Legion.

Mick Pearson and Rob Palin gave the Oakengates side the perfect start with respective victories over M Gidda and A Davies and things continued to go their way when Mick Egan secured the third frame too against Ray Hall.

Colin Farge did manage to rescue at least one point for Newport with a 50-18 win over Kirk Stephenson but it was to be his side's sole consolation as Neil Pearson rounded off a good evenings work for Pot Black by taking the final frame against Alan Munn.

Wellington Billiard Hall F remain third following a 3-2 win over Bayley D.

However they had to come from behind after Dave Williams took the first frame against Rob Cook. Andy Fletcher drew the home side level though soon afterwards with a black ball finish and the next two frames were also shared as Steve Lane won the battle of the two captains when he took on Chris Durham and then Richard Tranter defeated Darren Rhoades.

The decider saw former Billiard Hall captain Steve Weatherall come out on top against the Ice Man Bill France to leave the Billiard Hall side two points behind Pot Black in the battle for runners-up spot.

Little Dawley G lost a little ground on the top three when they fell to a 3-2 defeat away at Wellington Billiard Hall B. Nonetheless those two points keep the Little Dawley outfit in fourth place with 37 points.

Things started well for the visitors as they took the opening two frames through Graham Copson and R Lenevell.

But Ian Atkinson pulled the next frame back for the Billiard Hall before Andy Kendrick's 64-20 defeat of G Clement made the scores all square.

R Francis was then able to complete the comeback with a fine 53-33 win over Paul Perks to leave the Billiard Hall the victors by the odd frame.

Maddocks D are still very much in the hunt for promotion too following their 4-1 win over Hills Lane B.

And they could have won all five frames too had Steve Powell not taken the opening frame by just a single point against Colin Smith to give the visitors a fragile one frame lead.

Ken Davies hit back immediately to level the frames scores at one apiece by taking the next 53-25 over Steve Weaver and the home side continued to perform well as Alan Bould put them ahead with a narrow 39-31 win over Lee Harris.

Another close frame went the home side's way as Roy Adams won frame four 43-34 against M Butler and although visiting captain Kev Davis put up a brave fight in the last he could do nothing to stop Steve Pritchard making it 4-1 with a 62-45 last frame victory.

Bayley B are slowly creeping up the table after successive 4-1 victories sees them in mid table with 35 points.

But they had to come from behind after veteran Les Hicks took the opening frame for Maddocks against Harry Parkes. However wins from Kevin Ryan and Dicky Beddall put the home side in front and Dave Weston then made it 3-1 by beating G Tudor.

Robin Sturmey then continued the trend with a 48-22 final frame victory over Tony O'Neil who despite needing several snookers towards the end of the frame fought on valiantly, playing what must surely be one of the shots of the season when he neatly tucked the white behind the black in the jaws of the pocket for one of the snookers he required.

DIVISION 1

Shifnal F finally got back to winning ways in Division 1 when they bounced back from a run of three games without a point to beat Dawley Social by three frames to two.

Wally Harper put the Islanders one up when he defeated Mark Jones in a tight match resulting in a pink ball win for Wally and a scoreline of 56-47.

Ivor Peplow then came close to doubling that lead only for a pot and in-off on the final pink to give Chris Woods the game by 48 points to 46.

Dawley then took the lead when a useful 27 break from Shaun Nolan secured a 34 point lead on the colours against Brian Painter but with Dave Peplow returning to winning ways the frame scores were soon level again.

Known as "The Rock" for his solid displays, Dave led by 8 points on the yellow and maintained that advantage to run out the winner against Rick Bailey and set up the decider which saw Nev Whitehead take on Barry Roden.

Nev's early run of 24 proved vital as he eventually took the frame by 69 points to 43 to secure a much needed fillip for the Shifnal boys who, although bottom of the league, still have a chance of maintaining their first division status with three teams above them having just three points more.

At the other end of the table, reigning champions Hills Lane A continue to lead former winners Wellington Billiard Hall A by two points after both teams recorded maximum points from last week's games.

Hills Lane may have lost their last two encounters with Shifnal A, but they made amends in some style with a thumping 5-0 home win over the Shifnal side.

Shaun Harris made their intentions clear right from the kick off with a brilliant opening frame win over John Fallows and although Linsay Knox had a chance on the colours for Shifnal he was unable to prevent Matty Bailey continuing his fine season with a 57-43 second frame win to put the home side two up.

Two soon became three as Tim Hicks accounted for Nick Browne and with Darren Pountney and Ian Duffy taking the last two frames, against Roy Martin and Simon Biddulph respectively, the Madeley side made certain of retaining top spot ahead of the Billiard Hall who also won 5-0 at Hadley, although no match card is available.

Third placed Coddon A also continue to impress after they increased their chances of keeping hold of their lofty league position by taking all five points on offer at Little Dawley A.

Darren Weston weighed in with a 32 break to take the first frame against Ade Henry and, not to be outdone, Lee Szklarzewicz followed up with a 40 break to defeat Richie Heighway as the Donnington side eased into a two frame lead.

A close third frame saw Ian Ferriday come out on top by 59 points to 42 against Jesse Lowe before further wins from Dave Lloyd and Adrian Smith completed Coddon's ninth win of the campaign to leave them on 42 points, nine behind the leaders Hills Lane A.

Bayley A reached their highest league position for many a year when they overcame Maddocks A by four frames to one to leapfrog over the Oakengates side into fourth spot.

Chris Morgan-Adams recovered from 20 points down to take the first frame from Phil Davis on the pink to give the home side the lead.

Unlike his namesake Bob the Builder, Bob "The Bus Driver" Mason was unable to fix it for the Bayley as Leigh France took frame two for Maddocks. However Arthur "The Builder" Burrows laid some firm foundations early on against Adrian Barraclough and although at one point they appeared to be crumbling, Arthur clawed his way back from 20 points down on the colours to take the frame on the final ball when his opponent unluckily went in off the black.

Arthur's win was sandwiched in between by yet another solid display from Steve Nicholls who accounted for an out of sorts Ian Skelton and a run of 78 from Steve Fletcher to take the fourth frame against Dave France.

Anstice A are hot on the Bayley's heals though after recording a 4-1 win for themselves over Broseley.

John Jones' 61-34 opening frame win over Kelvin McLeod was quickly followed by Keith Price's win over Richie Hulme as the Madeley side started brightly.

Former Individual Champion Adam Moore took a close third frame too for the visitors when he came out on top by 8 points against Paul Humphries and things looked even bleaker for Broseley when Neil Price put Anstice four up against Carl Walker.

Only Simon McLeod's last ditch win over Nick Oakley saved the day for the home side and prevented the whitewash.

DIVISION 2

It was good news all the way for Wellington Billiard Hall C last week as they extended their lead at the top of Division 2 to two points after taking all five points from their trip to Shifnal D.

Steve Minshall's 49-31 success over Mick Guest set the visitors up for their ninth win of the campaign and they never looked back after John Rawlins made it 2-0 with a 22 break against George Nelson.

Dave Cartledge then made it three before Mick Birch took the fourth for the Billiard Hall by just three points against Barry Easthope.

And with youngster Matty Locklin taking the last frame too against Steve Morse the visitors returned to Wellington with their hopes of a second successive promotion still a firm possibility.

Second placed Little Dawley B lost ground on the leaders, but only slightly, after they too recorded a good win, dropping only one frame from their home clash with former leaders Billiard Hall E.

Lee Elcock potted superbly to give the home side the lead with a 69-48 triumph over Warren Barber before Ian Eldgridge doubled their lead by taking the next over Ray Evans.

Alan Turner continued his crusade towards the most wins trophy by pulling one frame back for the Billiard Hall following a long safety battle with Brendan Wincott but the home side replied by taking the last two frames through Darren Wincott and Byron Mitchell to leave themselves just two points behind the leaders.

Coddon B suffered a rare defeat when they entertained a Minnesota Fats team themselves looking to gain promotion to Division 1.

Indeed, with the Cannongate Club still to post one of their previous results, it looks likely that they could actually take over in second spot as it is believed that the missing result could well be a 4-1 win.

Instead they must be content with fourth spot for the time being, although their 3-2 win at Coddon B leaves them on the same points as the Donnington side but having played a game fewer.

Things looked good early on for Coddon though as Andy Jones opened up with a 62-36 win over Steve Collins and then Mark Wall rattled in a 29 break to put them two up.

The visitors didn't lie down though and fought back first through Paul Smith and then Kev West whose 76-41 defeat of Nick Pearce forced Paul Devey into a decider against Phil Szklarzewicz which went the visitor's way by 78 points to 49 to keep things tight at the top of the table with five teams all in with a shout of going up to Division 1.

A 3-2 win for Anstice A over the team immediately above them in the table, Shifnal D sees them remain in mid table with 33 points from 14 games.

They set off at a rare old pace too, as Nigel Wallcroft gave them the lead with a 22 break against Aaron Sparkes and then breaks of 21 and 20 secured the second frame against Aaron's dad Jeff.

George Hammond then made it 3-0 with a 65-33 success over Chris Petford before the visitors regrouped and took the last two frames.

Rob Wright survived a 23 break from his opponent Steve Smallwood to take the fourth frame for Shifnal before a close 51-42 final frame win for Fred Harper saved another point for the visitors.

Pot Black A pulled further away from the relegation zone with an excellent 4-1 win away at Maddocks C who are left hovering dangerously close to the bottom few teams.

Paul Crooks and Toby Welsh both scored 57 points as they took the first two frames for Pot Black before Tom Firmstone put them further in front with a palindromic scoreline of 63-36 against J Hill.

Maddocks' worries continued as Neil Robinson took frame four against Billy Rushton and only a final frame win for Joe Oliver over Tony Hall saved the home side's blushes.

Coddon C also won 4-1 as they entertained second from bottom Bayley C who had Craig Whitehead as their only winner.

Frasier McKinnon gave Coddon just the start they were looking for by taking the first frame from Ian Johnson before Craig Whitehead levelled against Paul Wilson.

Ray Whitehead's 21 break secured the next for Coddon against Mike Healey and further wins for Sef Tusel and Chris Ferriday wrapped up a fine 4-1 success for the Donnington side.

LITTLE DAWLEY PLAYERS TAKE JUNIOR EVENT BY STORM

Three out of the four semi-finalists in the Telford Snooker League (sponsored by Golden Purse Jewelers) Under 21 Competition play their snooker at Little Dawley Snooker Club.

Indeed, all three are team mates in the club's C team which is currently riding high in second spot in Division 2 so there is a strong possibility that they could all be making a name for themselves in the top flight very shortly.

Darren Wincott, who won the title last year, was joined by Byron Mitchell and Lee Elcock in the semi finals which were played at Wellington's Sir John Bayley Club last week.

The only player to reach the last four not to come from Little Dawley was Shifnal E's Aaron Sparkes and he started brightly against Byron Mitchell before narrowly losing out in the opening frame of the best of five match.

The match turned Byron's way in the second frame when a good opening pot paved the way to an excellent 36 break and Byron secured his place in the final by taking the last frame too.

In a repeat of last season's final, Darren Wincott edged in front of Lee Elcock early on when he took the opening frame by 52 points to 43.

Lee replied by taking the next 48-20 only for Darren to restore his lead with a 58-29 third frame success and he then looked to have confirmed a place in the final for a second consecutive season when he opened up a 30 point lead with just one red remaining in frame four.

However some excellent potting from Lee forced a nail-biting finish which was only concluded when Darren potted both blue and pink to keep alive his hopes of retaining the trophy.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

Return To Top