Reigning Champions Hills Lane A won the battle of the titans in the Telford Snooker League sponsored by The Golden Purse Jewelers last week when they narrowly beat their arch rivals Wellington Billiard Hall A by three frames to two to leave Anstice A as the new League leaders.

Anstice's 4-1 win over near neighbours Little Dawley A sees them sitting pretty at the top of the table with ten points, one ahead of Shifnal A who fell to their first defeat of the season away to Broseley.

However it was the clash of the champions for the past two seasons, against the team who have finished second to them on both occasions, which attracted the most attention and it didn't take the Madeley side long to get into their stride as Matt Bailey took the opening frame with a 32 break against Morton Hughes.

The visitors hit back immediately through Darryl Grainger who got the better of Richard Wade by 44 points to 34 only for Shaun Harris to put the home team in front again with a superb break of 43 as he defeated Phil Whitby 62-36.

Madeley captain Ian Duffy then secured his side's second win of the season with a fine 63-39 success over Spencer Rowley before Paul Harper followed his 69 break last week with a run of 44 against Darren Pountney to leave the final score 3-2 to the Hills Lane boys.

The new look Anstice A team have started their league campaign very brightly indeed as they followed last week's narrow 3-2 reverse at the hands of Hills Lane A with a 4-1 success away at Little Dawley A.

Keith Price, himself a Hills Lane player last season, opened the scoring for Anstice with a close 53-38 win over Richie Heighway before his brother Neil doubled their advantage with a 39 break on the way to a high scoring 81-55 success over Jesse Lowe.

Phil Reynolds then made it 3-0 before a brave performance from Ade Henry saw him rescue a point for Little Dawley by taking the next 69-49 against John Jones.

That just left Nick Oakley to wrap things up nicely with a narrow 52-44 victory over Tommy Bell to leave the Madeley side top of the league, a point ahead of Shifnal A who suffered their first defeat of the season away to Broseley.

Things seemed to be going to plan for last season's team knockout winners when Linsay Knox took the first frame against Kelvin McLeod but the home side rallied superbly and they drew level when P Humphries got the better of John Fallows by 43 points to 12.

Broseley captain John Shepherd continued the trend with a fine 52-38 win over Roy Martin to put his side in front only for Andy Easthope to force the decider with a 69-24 defeat of debutante G Long.

And what a decider it proved to be as Simon McLeod crafted a 30 break to clinch the frame against Simon Biddulph to complete the home side's first win of the new campaign.

Another side to get off the mark with their first win were Shifnal F as they overcame old rivals Maddocks A by the odd frame.

Wally Harper claimed first blood when he defeated Phil Davis in a close opener. An early 29 break from the Maddocks player put him in the driving seat only for Wally to retaliate with a 22 break of his own to lead by 13 points on the colours. However despite a spirited fight back from Phil it was the home player who eventually potted the pink he required for a 68-57 win to give Shifnal the lead.

Ian Skelton soon squared matters for the Oakengates side as he opened up a 30 point lead on the colours only for his opponent Brian Painter to get the snookers he required. However Brian was unable to prevent Ian reaching the finishing line first as the visitors drew level at one frame apiece.

Maddocks then went ahead as Leigh France took the next frame against Chris Painter only for Nev Whitehead to restore parity after a close tit-for-tat encounter with Adrian Barraclough went his way on the final pink.

Who better now to take the stage for Shifnal than the "Rock" Dave Peplow? - A 23 break gave the Shifnal stalwart the early impetus as he took on Maddocks captain Dave France and although the Oakengates man hit back well to trail by just 4 points with one red left it was Shifnal who took the frame by 68 points to 38 for a 3-2 win.

Dawley A were also celebrating a 3-2 success as they returned from Bayley A with their second win of the season safely in the bag.

Mark Jones' pink ball win over Steve Nicholls gave the visitors just the start they were looking for and they went further ahead after good work from Sean Nolan secured the next frame too against Bob Mason.

A spirited comeback from Barry Roden saw him coolly slot in a 25 break to reduce the deficit after home captain Steve Fletcher had taken the lead with a run of 35. However it was not quite enough to prevent the Bayley pulling a frame back and the home side were soon on level terms again after a brilliant performance from Arthur Burrows claimed the next frame too.

But it wasn't easy as Rick Bailey bravely fought his way back from 36 points down to lead by three points on the blue. Arthur wasn't to be denied though as he stuck to his task superbly to take both blue and pink for a 52-43 win to draw the Bayley level and set up the decider.

This proved to be a tense affair with Chris Morgan-Adams opening up an early 20 plus lead only for Pete Nolan to claw his way back into contention with some excellent potting.

Almost inevitably the game was to hinge on the final black and so it proved with Chris potting an excellent black into the corner pocket only to see his white go in-off into the middle off two cushions to leave Dawley with a well earned three points and the home side bottom of the table.

DIVISION 2

A stunning 5-0 win for Coddon C has seen them rocket to the top of the second division table with the best record of all the teams in the League.

The Donnington side followed victories in their opening two fixtures with a resounding home win over Pot Black A to leave them top of the pile in their division with 12 points from a possible 15.

Fraser MacKinnon set them on their way with a 26 break in his first frame victory over Paul Crooks before John Whitehouse put them two up. Keith Morris' 59-34 success over Dave Welsh was then followed by Sef Tusel who got the better of Toby Welsh to put the home side 4-0 in front.

And there was nothing Tony Hall could do to stop the rot either as Ray Whitehead took the last frame of the evening to complete the Donnington side's third successive victory.

Newly promoted Wellington Billiard Hall C are hot on their heals however after they recovered from an opening day reverse at Little Dawley A to win both of their next two matches with the loss of just one frame.

Coddon B were their unlucky opponents this week as the Wellington side took all five points from an impressive display against the former first division side.

Steve Minshall's opening frame win over Andy Jones set the stage for yet another excellent performance from visiting skipper John Rawlins who finished his frame against Steve Downes in some style.

John's penchant for the spectacular has now reached legendary proportions - and he didn't let his fans down as another famous "Rawlins Special" saw him sink the final black to complete a 27 clearance to take the frame by 65 points to 27.

Nick Pearce fought bravely as he tried to pull a frame back for the home side against young Matty Locklin, but despite some great potting early on from the Coddon player the Wellington man came back strongly to eventually take the frame 54-35 for a 3-0 lead.

The home side looked certain to break their duck in the next however as a fine performance from Phil Szklarzewicz saw him notch a 27 break only to be pipped on the final black after a battling performance from Mick Birch secured the fourth frame too for the visitors by just three points.

The final frame of the evening proved to be the most compelling as some excellent safety play saw both players battling for supremacy. However it was the Billiard Hall's Dave Cartledge who finally took a nip and tuck affair 61-31 against Mark Wall to leave last season's Division 3 Champions in second spot - a point ahead of their E side who also enjoyed an away victory as they returned from playing Anstice B with a 4-1 win.

However they had to come from behind as N Wallcroft put the home side ahead with some brilliant potting to take the first frame from Ray Evans.

Chris Morris quickly drew the visitors level though as he accounted for Pete McCleary before two former first division players came face to face in the next when John Darrock took on Alan Turner.

Alan took that frame 69-23 to put the Billiard Hall in front and they never looked back as further wins from Mick Hughes and Nigel Stallard secured a 4-1 win for the Wellington outfit.

Minnesota Fats B also took four points from their visit to Shifnal D to leave them handily placed in fourth place with 9 points from their three games so far.

Despite the scoreline this match was always keenly contested with three of the five games being decided on the final black.

One of those close encounters saw P Devey give the Cannongate Club the lead as he beat Mick Guest by two points to put the visitors in front.

S Collins then made it 2-0 before Matt Hester pulled one frame back with a narrow 42-37 defeat of K West.

J Wright then took the next frame for Minnesota, also on the black, against M Smith before K Blackham ended the evening on a high with a 33 break on his way to victory over S Morse.

DIVISION 3

Maddocks D are the early pace-setters in Division 3 after a 4-1 win over Newport British Legion B keeps them one point ahead of newcomers Wellington Billiard Hall X who won 3-2 at home to Maddocks B.

The Newport side took the lead though as A Davies took the first frame 58-35 from Harry Higgins. However he could only sit and watch as the home side reeled off the next four frames for a third consecutive victory.

Roy Lowe put them back on track with a 64-27 success over M Gidda before Roy Adams followed suit with a similar success over Alan Munn.

Colin Smith took the next frame too for Maddocks against Mike Doverskog before S Pritchard sealed a good night's work by the Maddocks lads with a narrow 42-32 win over John Yapp in the last.

Billiard Hall X also secured their third win in as many games to keep their unbeaten start to the season intact when they entertained Maddocks B.

However they didn't have things all their own way as the visitors left with two valuable points - and they could have left with even more had M Shadab not taken the opening frame on the black against veteran Les Hicks to give Wellington the lead.

Maddocks soon drew level though as Graham Arnold got the better of W Gathercole to make it all square at one frame apiece only for A Ali to restore the home side's lead with a 20 break on the way to victory over John Archer.

A Mahmood then made it 3-0 against G Tudor before Tony O'Neil saved another point for Maddocks with an excellent 44-31 win over M Surfraz.

Bayley B's 4-1 home win over Little Dawley C sees them well placed in third spot, level on points with W.B.H. X but having sadly lost one of their opening three games.

R France gave Little Dawley the lead with a superb performance against Fred Spragg but the home side never gave up and were rewarded with Kevin Ryan's 50-23 win over C Walton as well as the three remaining frames.

Robin Sturmey claimed the third frame by just two points over C Newey before another close finish saw home captain Bob Tracey snatch victory from Steve Farrington by 42 points to 34.

The ever dependable Dicky Beddall then took on Roland Hassel in the final game of the evening and once again came up trumps, winning the frame 46-23 to complete a fine 4-1 win for the Wellington side.

The win keeps them two points clear of the other Bayley side in this division, Bayley D, who lost 3-2 at Wellington Billiard Hall B.

With regular Bayley captain Steve Lane working the captain's armband passed to Brian Aberdeen and although he fought bravely he couldn't prevent Paul Gubats taking the first frame 53-44 to give the Billiard Hall the lead.

Some brilliant potting from Andy Kendrick then made it 2-0 as he took the next frame with a 30 break against Darren Rhoades before the visitors retaliated through Dave Williams' 54-20 win over Alan Francis.

Mark Beddall may have been feeling down in the mouth after a trip to the dentist, however he soon cheered up as former player Dave Dudley was called out of retirement to take his place and quickly pulled the Bayley level with a fine win over Ken Francis to set up the deciding frame.

It was here that the Bayley comeback ended however as Ian Atkinson completed a 3-2 win for the Billiard Hall with a cool 53-32 defeat of the Ice Man Bill France to leave his side with 6 points from three games played.

Another Billiard Hall side on the way up are the F team who recorded their second win of the campaign at home to Hills Lane B.

They didn't start too brightly however as Alan Morris gave the visitors the lead with a black ball finish against Andy Fletcher and then Steve Powell won the next frame too against Rob Cook.

Richard Tranter began his side's comeback though with a superb 56-26 win over Lee Harris before Chris Fletcher made it all square as he accounted for Hills Lane captain Kev Davis in the next.

That left former Billiard Hall captain Steve Weatherall, deputising for the present skipper Chris Durham, to take the plaudits with a final frame success over Steve Weaver to keep his side in fifth place just three points off the lead.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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