A magnificent century break from Wellington Billiard Hall's Paul Harper has set the standard for the highest break prize in Division 1 of the Telford Snooker League (Sponsored by Golden Purse Jewelers)

The Billiard Hall A captain is no stranger to big breaks and indeed he beet his own record earlier this season of 79 with a superb 111 clearance against Maddocks A's Phil Davis.

With the break on 98 Paul was left with a tricky shot along the cushion on the final pink, but it proved no obstacle as he slotted the penultimate ball into the yellow pocket sending the cue ball round off two cushions for position on the black.

There was a great atmosphere in the Billiard Hall as the other tables stopped play to watch Paul put the finishing touches to what was undoubtably a brilliant clearance which earned a deserved round of applause.

The rest of his team mates soon followed Paul's example as they rattled off three of the remaining four frames for a 4-1 win over what is a strong Maddocks A side who, despite this reverse, are still fourth in the table.

Morton Hughes's 63-28 defeat of Leigh France put the home side two up before Ian Skelton replied for the Foundrymen by taking the next from Spencer Rowley.

Phil Whitby soon restored the Wellington side's two frame advantage though as he took on visiting captain Dave France and with Graham Darrall securing the final frame 61-26 over Adrian Barraclough the Billiard Hall made sure of retaining top spot, one point ahead of champions Hills Lane A, who took all five points from their encounter with Shifnal F.

The pink ball proved decisive throughout this match as Shifnal's Wally Harper found himself requiring a snooker with just the last two balls remaining only to miss the pink completely leaving Jamie Fallows to take the opening frame by 60 points to 33.

Shaun Harris then opened up the next with a 32 break only for Chris Painter to reply with a run of 39 to lead by eight points on the colours. However a bizarre 10 minutes of fouls and free balls then followed leaving Shaun to wrap things up on the pink for a 2-0 lead to the Madeley side.

A brave performance from home captain Brian Painter saw him push Matt Bailey all the way only for a foul stroke with the half butt to cost him dearly as Matt made the frames score 3-0 with yet another pink ball victory.

Darren Pountney looked to have made certain of the next frame too for the home side when he led Nev Whitehead by 35 points with one red remaining. But the Shifnal man fought back well only for Darren to sink the final pink for a frame score of 76-61 for a 4-0 lead.

Ian Duffy then made no mistake in concluding a 5-0 whitewash with a comfortable win over Dave Peplow in the last to leave Hills Lane in second place, hot on the heals of the Billiard Hall.

Coddon A's title hopes received a boost when they dropped only one frame in their match with Dawley Social.

The Donnington side had Lee Szklarzewicz in good form with a 41 break as he took the first frame against Chris Woods and they went further in front after Adrian Smith's narrow 56-48 success over Mark Jones.

Ian Ferriday made it three in a row when he took the next against debutante Rich Watson before Rick Bailey retrieved one frame for the visitors with victory over Coddon captain Dave Lloyd.

However with Darren Weston taking the final frame of the evening, Coddon leapfrog over Maddocks A into third place, five points behind the leaders.

Former leaders Anstice A drop to fifth following their fifth defeat of the season at home at Shifnal A.

Things seemed to be going their way at the start however as Keith Price kicked off with breaks of 28 and 35 to give them the lead against Linsay Knox.

Nick Browne levelled though with an excellent win over Neil Price and the visitors then took the lead through Andy Easthope's 55-38 win over Nick Oakley.

Simon Biddulph then made it 3-1 before Phil Reynolds retrieved another point for the Anstice with a close 59-46 defeat of Roy Martin.

Little Dawley A's recent good run was halted slightly when they fell 4-1 away to Broseley who had Kelvin Mcleod in fine form to give them the lead with a super win over Ade Henry.

There was an embarrassment of Richies in the next frame as Richie Hulme took on his namesake Richie Heighway and came out on top to give the home side a 2-0 lead which then grew to three frames when Carl Walker narrowly accounted for Jesse Lowe 59-44.

Ray Clements saved a point the visitor's though with a brave 62-35 success over home captain John Shepherd but there was nothing Graham Wiley could do in the next when he came up against Simon McLeod.

Having performed heroics the previous week with a black ball win over Paul Harper the Little Dawley newcomer was unable to stop Simon McLeod claiming the final frame 58-28 for a 4-1 win to Broseley.

Hadley A were also in fine form as they soundly beat Bayley A by four frames to one for their fifth win of the campaign.

Mark Watkins eventually sank pink and black to deny Arthur Burrows in the first frame before Steve Hoof battled back from an early 20 point deficit to defeat Steve Nicholls as the home side took the first two frames.

Four breaks over 20 were then shared two apiece by Andy O'Brien and Chris Morgan-Adams, but it was Chris' final contribution of 22 which proved decisive as he sank the last four colours to snatch victory on the black and pull one frame back for the Bayley.

A fine performance from John Squire then saw him comfortably beat Steve Fletcher to restore the home side's two frame advantage before captain Dave France potted the final black to take the last against Bob Mason for a 4-1 win to last year's second division champions.

DIVISION 2

It's still close at the top of Division 2 as the two Billiard Hall side's E and C battle for top spot with Little Dawley B closely behind in third place.

W.B.H. E stay top although they lost ground slightly on the other front runners as they overcame a four man Minessota Fats team by three frames to two.

Former captain Warren Barber gave them just the start they were looking for with a 60-28 win over Paul Smith and Alan Turner continued his fine season with a 31 break against Steve Collins to make it 2-0.

The visitors never gave up though and fought back strongly to take the next two frames through J Wright and Paul Devey who got the better of Mick Hughes and Chris Morris respectively.

And with Ray Evans receiving a walkover in the last the E side clinched their seventh win in ten games to lead the table by one point ahead of Wellington Billiard Hall C who won 4-1 at Bayley C.

Steve Minshall set them on their way by taking the opening frame against Mick Healey but youngster Craig Johnson levelled matters with a fine 64-22 win over visiting captain John Rawlins.

That was all the home side could muster though as Dave Cartledge put the Billiard Hall in front again and further wins from Mick Birch over Craig Whitehead and Matty Locklin, who with breaks of 30 and 32 overcame Pete Woodcock, secured a good win for last season's third division winners.

Like the Billiard Hall's C team, Little Dawley B also arrived in this division courtesy of promotion from the third division last term, and they too are looking a good bet to make another step upward to division 1 although their opponents last week, Coddon B, also have ideas of moving ever upwards having been relegated two seasons ago.

Nick Pearce gave the Donnington side the lead with an excellent win over Byron Mitchell and Andy Jones piled on the pressure still further as he took the next against Brendan Wincott to put the visitors 2-0 up.

However Ian Eldridge pulled one back for Little Dawley against Mark Wall and the home side were soon level as Darren Wincott weighed in with a 28 break to take the fourth frame from Steve Downes.

Phil Szklarzewicz ended the home side's comeback with a sound performance against Rob Withington in the decider to give Coddon a fine 3-2 win which now means that with eight wins in their ten games they have now won more games than any other team in the division.

The Donnington Club's C team didn't fare quite so well unfortunately as they returned home from Maddocks C with just two points from a possible five.

They did take the lead though thanks to Frazer MacKinnon's 42-30 defeat of Craig Rowley only for J Hill to draw Maddocks level by taking the next against Sef Tusel.

Billy Rushton then put the home side in front by taking frame three from Ray Whitehead but the Coddon boys fought back again as Mick Stokes beat new boy D Hodson to set up the decider which went Maddock's way on the final black as Joe Oliver celebrated a narrow win over Chris Ferriday by 53 points to 48.

Another black ball finish saw Mick Guest give Shifnal D the lead as they played host to Anstice B.

But the Madeley side soon recovered to take the next two frames as John Darrock first defeated Geoff French and then George Hammond accounted for Mike Smith.

Barry Easthope responded for Shifnal by drawing them all square once more with a 47-36 win over Pete McCleary before S Morse claimed the deciding frame against Billy Watson to give Shifnal only their second win of the season.

DIVISION 3

Wellington Billiard Hall X still lead the way in Division 3 following a 4-1 win over Pot Black D.

The X men had J Powell in good potting form as he notched a 31 break on the way to taking the opening frame against Kirk Stephenson.

M Shadab then made it 2-0 and things went from bad to worse for the visitors when A Ali made it 3-0 with a 58-27 success over H Jones and then D Khan beat Mick Pearson to make it 4-0 on the night.

Only Neil Pearson's last gasp win over M Surfraz rescued a point for the Oakengates side who despite this defeat are still handily placed in sixth spot with the result from one of their games still to come in.

Second placed Wellington Billiard Hall F have now won more games in the league than any other team after a 3-2 win away at Maddocks D secured their ninth consecutive victory.

They were a little fortunate though this week as two of their games were settled on the final black after Steve Pritchard had given the home side the lead by taking the first frame against Rob Cook.

Andy Fletcher then drew the Billiard Hall lads level with a 49-41 defeat of Alan Bould befoere Richard Tranter put the Wellington side ahead 61-48 against Roy Lowe.

Chris Fletcher then took a low scoring fourth frame 34-27 before Colin Smith got the better of Steve Weatherall to leave the home side in third spot six points behind the leaders.

Bayley D 's stealth tactics seem to be working as they are gradually moving up the table almost unnoticed as they now lie fourth following a 3-2 home win over Little Dawley C.

Dave Williams held his nerve to secure a brilliant first frame win over Mike King before Steve Farrington levelled with a 48-22 win over the Grinder Bill France.

Darren Rhoades soon restored the Bayley's advantage with a good win over C Walton in the next and the visitors looked to be drawing level before Steve Lane obtained the snooker he required and then followed this by potting each of the last four colours to snatch an unlikely win over R France for a 3-1 lead to the home side.

D Childs did pull another frame back for Little Dawley though with a final frame win over Mark Beddall to leave the final score 3-2 to the Wellington boys.

Bayley B were also in good form as they returned home from the short trip to Billiard Hall B with four points safely in the bag.

Harry Parkes set them on their way with an opening frame victory over Alan Francis and Kevin Ryan duly followed suit to post a 60-22 win over J Thornhill as the visitors took control.

Bob Tracy then made it 3-0 before R Francis pulled a frame back for the Billiard Hall with a fine win over Robin Sturmey.

That failed to stem the tide though and the Bayley duly completed a fine win with Dicky Beddall's 50-24 defeat of Ian Atkinson.

Hills Lane B went one better though with a 5-0 win as they entertained Newport British Legion B.

Steve Powell's 58-33 win over Colin Farge was followed by further wins from Alan Morris and Lee Harris.

Mick Butler continued the trend with a 38-29 win over Mike Doverskog leaving Matthew Davis to claim the last frame by the narrowest of margins with a 47-46 success over John Yapp.

Les Hicks gave Maddocks B the lead with a 48-16 win over G Clements but his team only won one more frame as Little Dawley G took the match by three frames to two.

R Lenevell's victory over G Arnold drew the home side level and they went ahead when Graham Copson beat John Archer 59-21.

G Tudor did level the match at two frames all but Paul Perks took the decider 74-34 to leave Little Dawley the victors by three frames to two.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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