It's tough at the bottom of Division 1 of the Telford Snooker League (sponsored by Golden Purse Jewelers) - with just four games remaining Shifnal F look doomed to relegation to Division 2 but there are number of other teams anxiously looking over their shoulders.

Shifnal's disappointing season continued when they fell to a 4-1 defeat away at fellow strugglers Little Dawley A.

Having come up from division 2 last year, Little Dawley started their first spell in the top flight promisingly but their form had dipped somewhat in recent weeks. So they will have been pleased to have refound some of their early season form as Ade Henry knocked in breaks of 25 and 54 on the way to defeating Wally Harper in frame one.

A 28 break from Richie Heighway was enough to see off Nev Whitehead to claim the second frame before Rick Cousins continued the trend as he popped in a 26 break to put his side three up against Chris Painter.

More breaks were to follow as veteran Jesse Lowe put together a run of 30 to lead Brian Painter by 21 points on the colours, and when Brian missed the green Jesse stepped up to make the score 4-0.

Dave "The Rock" Peplow did manage to pull a frame back for Shifnal thanks to a 39 break against Graham Wiley but the visitor's solitary point wasn't the return they had hoped for and second division snooker now seems a certainty for next season.

Little Dawley's win sees them move up a place to third from bottom and out of the relegation places after Hadley A fell to a 3-2 defeat at home to top of the table Hills Lane A.

Shaun Harris gave the champions elect the perfect start with an excellent 74-34 defeat of Andy O'Brien and things continued to go to plan for the Madeley side when Matt Bailey took the next from Steve Hoof.

Martin Watkins soon pulled one frame back for Hadley though as he recovered from 40 points down to take the lead with a 38 break before eventually winning a high class game 67-48 against Tim Hicks.

Ali Jones' black ball win over Darren Pountney left Hills Lane looking at possibly only their third loss of the campaign, but Ian Duffy wasn't going to let that happen as he coolly secured the decider against John Squire with a 57 break to leave Hills Lane comfortably on top of the pile, and Hadley in that unwanted second relegation place.

Hadley now lie seven points ahead of Shifnal F and a point behind Little Dawley A who have 37 points, two points less than Dawley Social who lost out by the odd frame against Shifnal A

The home side shot into an early two frame lead thanks to John Fallows and Linsay Knox who defeated Chris Woods and Mark Jones respectively.

Sean Nolan replied for Dawley with a good win over Bernie Southern before Rick Bailey squared things up with a 73-35 success over Roy Martin.

However the visitors were unable to complete their comeback as Simon Biddulph was once again on hand to record a 76-24 deciding frame win over Barry Roden to give the home side their eighth win of the season.

Broseley lie a point ahead of Dawley after they too fell to a 3-2 reverse at home to Coddon A.

Lee Szklarzewicz gave the Donnington side the lead as he took the opening frame by just one point from Paul Humphries but Broseley levelled when Richie Hulme beat Darren Weston, again by a single point 51-50.

Carl Walker's 30 break helped to put Broseley in front by two frames to one as he got the better of Adrian Smith. But Dave Lloyd's 72-40 win over G Long was followed by a 45 break from Ian Ferriday as Coddon ran out 3-2 winners.

Wellington Billiard Hall A now lie 6 points adrift of Hills Lane A at the top of the table after their 3-2 win away to Bayley A.

Phil Whitby gave them the early advantage by defeating Bob Mason before two valuable flukes helped Steve Fletcher to level matters against Morton Hughes.

Paul Harper put the visitors in front again with a 43 break against Steve Nicholls and although Daryl Grainger increased their lead against Arthur Burrows, Chris Morgan-Adams' pink ball win over Spencer Rowley left the home side happy with two well earned points.

DIVISION 2

The top of the second division table is a still unclear as Little Dawley B currently lead Minnesota Fats by two points - although one of the Cannongate team's results is missing, and it is believed that the missing result is a 5-0 win which would put them three points clear at the top.

Little Dawley B claimed their thirteenth win in eighteen games when they entertained Anstice B and came out ahead by three frames to two.

Nigel Wallcroft gave the visitors a surprise lead when he produced a brilliant performance to beat last year's John Bethell Trophy winner Ian Eldridge 55-25 only for Lee Elcock to draw the home side level with a fine 71-30 win over John Darrock.

George Hammond put Anstice back in front by taking the next frame from Brendan Wincott before Byron Mitcchell and Darren Wincott completed a 3-2 win for the home side to keep them on track for a second successive promotion.

Another important result missing from last week's fixtures is that of Wellington Billiard Hall C's visit to Shifnal E - a result which saw the Shifnal boys triumph by a resounding four frames to one to leave last year's third division champions in third place.

Coddon B lie fourth following their 3-2 win over Billiard Hall E who once again had Alan Turner in fine form to give them the lead with a 59-50 win over Steve Downes.

Andy Jones then levelled things up with a 61-47 win over Chris Morris before Mick Hughes knocked in a 43 break on the way to taking frame three 68-35 from Bob Dando.

Nick Pearce drew Coddon level again before Phil Szklarzewicz took the deciding frame with a 54-25 win over Nigel Stallard.

Coddon C also recorded a 3-2 win when they entertained Shifnal D.

Ray Whitehead's 76-27 opener against Mick Guest was followed by Frazer Mackinnon's 54-45 success against Geoff French.

Sef Tusel then made it 3-0 against Steve Morse before the visitors hit back through the fastest cue in the league Arthur Aston who began a mini comeback with his 50-12 defeat of Mark Tusel.

Barrie Easthope then doubled his side's tally with a 74-40 final frame win over Mick Stokes to leave Coddon victorious by the odd frame in five.

Bayley 'C' took the disappointment of being relegated to the bottom of Division 2 last week, by ending their long losing run with an away win at Maddocks 'C'.

Craig Whitehead put the visitors in the driving seat with a convincing win over Dave Thomas. Pete Woodcock then took on Chris Rowley and although both players enjoyed some good fortune, it was Pete who continued his impressive form of late and 'blasted' his way to a 62 points to 38 victory, to make it 2-0 to the visitors.

The home side then ignited their recovery, firstly thanks to Graham Hoof leaving Craig Johnston needing snookers on the yellow, which the visitor failed to obtain, as Maddocks secured their first point, 54 - 16.

Joe Oliver then followed suite as he accounted for Chris Haycox with some impressive potting, 65-19.

Bayley captain Ian Johnson then found himself in foreign territory, as he was handed the opportunity to record a rare win for the bottom side. Ian left his recent form behind him as he beat Maddocks anchor man Jimmy Hill by 69 points to 37.

Quite ironically for the Bayley team, this was their first win since 1st November 2000, when they then played host to the same Maddocks side.

DIVISON 3

Third Division Leaders Wellington Billiard Hall X continue to keep on winning it seems and last week was no exception, although they did drop two points from their derby tie with Billiard Hall F.

F team captain Chris Durham gave his side the lead with an excellent 53-27 win over John Powell and Chris Fletcher put the champions elect under some pressure with a 23 break on the way to making it 2-0 as he took the next frame too, 50-26, against M Khan.

Facing defeat, the X men responded magnificently and took the next frame through M Shadab's 57-40 win over Richard Tranter.

A Ali then completed a 58-23 success over Rob Cook to force the decider in which M Surfraz got the better of Stephen Weatherall 66-33 to keep his side in the driving seat as they look for promotion to division 2.

With second placed Pot Black D's result not in the X Men now head the table by ten points with Hills Lane B a further five points behind Pot Black in third spot following a 3-2 win over Maddocks B.

Richie Jones took the first frame against Les Hicks and Steve Powell then took on and beat G Arnold as the home side raced into a 2-0 lead.

John Archer pulled one back for Maddocks with a 69-23 win over A Morris but Lee Harris restored the Madeley side's two frame lead soon afterwards.

It was then left to Tony O'Neil to save another point for Maddocks with a 45-34 defeat of Ken Davies to leave the home side the winners by one frame overall.

DARREN RETAINS UNDER 21 CROWN

Darren Wincott successfully defended the Telford Snooker League (sponsored by Golden Purse Jewelers) Under 21 title when he defeated fellow Little Dawley B player Byron Mitchell by four frames to one at Wellington's Sir John Bayley Club last week.

The reigning champion was quickly into his stride as breaks of 36 and 22 secured the opening frame of what was to become a closely fought contest.

Byron then took an eight point lead on the blue in the second frame and looked as though he might draw level only to see his opponent crucially fluke the blue before clearing both pink and black for a 2-0 lead.

Another black ball finish in frame three saw Byron reduce the deficit to one frame before Darren took the next 62-22 for a 3-1 lead.

An exciting finale saw Byron pot the pink trail by just three points with a difficult long black facing him.

A valiant effort narrowly missed leaving Darren the chance to secure the frame and match as he sank the final ball for a 60-51 frame score to secure a 4-1 win to put his name on the trophy for the second time.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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