There was double delight for Little Dawley Snooker Club last week when Little Dawley G pulled out all the stops to record a 5-0 win against Maddocks B to follow in the footsteps of their C team by claiming promotion from Division 3 of the Telford Snooker League.

The Little Dawley Club's C side secured the third division title some weeks ago - leaving several teams to scrap out a tense finish to the season as they searched for the one remaining promotion place.

And it was the G team who claimed runners-up spot after long time incumbents Hills Lane B faltered at the last hurdle when they fell to a 3-2 home defeat against fellow promotion hopefuls Wellington Billiard Hall F who finish fourth.

Colin Clifford's 65-25 defeat of Les Hicks gave Little Dawley the fillip they needed and they never looked back with Gary Clements taking the next from Steve Pritchard by 66 points to 31.

Ray Leneveu produced an equally solid display against John Archer as the visitors stretched their lead and further wins from Dave Leneveu over Tony O'Neil and Graham Copson, who beat Geoff Tudor 54-24, left Maddocks B pointless and Little Dawley G safe in the knowledge that they will be playing second division snooker next season.

Hills Lane B's hopes of moving up to division 2 rested on having to defeat a strong Wellington Billiard Hall F side in their last match of the season - but it was the visitors who took the last two frames to take the match by three frames to two - a result that once again leaves them just outside the promotion frame having finished third last year.

Lee Harris gave Hills Lane the lead with a fine 59-25 win over Steve Williams only for Baggies fan Chris Durham to draw the Billiard Hall level. Chris is obviously used to close finishes as he is a season ticket holder at West Brom - so it was no surprise that his game should go all the way to the final black before he eventually ran out a 45-39 winner.

Richie Jones then took another close frame 50-40 to deny Rob Cook as Hills Lane went back in front but it wasn't to be their night as Richard Tranter and Chris Fletcher wrapped up the Wellington side's sixteenth win of the season to leave both sides just outside the promotion frame.

Bayley B finished a point behind WBH F as they ended their season with a 3-2 home win over Newport British Legion.

Things didn't look too bright early on though for the home side as Welsh Wizard Paul Jones soon found himself requiring a snooker with just pink and black remaining. Spurred on though by his mentor Bayley bowler Alan Davies Paul eventually obtained the six extra points he needed before slotting home the pink and black to deny an unlucky John Yapp by 46 points to 43.

The boot was on the other foot in the next frame though as Andy Davies levelled matters with a black ball win over young Danny Oliver.

The visitors then went ahead courtesy of Dave Edwards' 54-38 win over Dicky Beddall only for Bob Tracy to set up the decider by taking the next from Manjit Gidda.

Robin Sturmey's final frame victory over Mike Doverskog completed the Bayley side's twelfth win to leave them in mid table.

The other two Bayley side's in this division came face to face in their final game of the season - and the C team took the opportunity of coming dressed for the occasion with Mike Heally looking particularly resplendent in what amounted to a red jump suit. Other team members joined in the fun, donning red shirts and socks in an attempt to dim the effect of "visiting" captain Steve Lane's famous lucky red socks.

As it was, the C team saved their best performance of the season for their final match. Chris Haycox drew first blood for the home side when he overcame an early 20 point deficit to pip Brian Aberdeen on the black.

Steve Lane soon recovered for the D team, although he must have been perturbed by the home side's donning of red shirts, trousers and socks, in a tribute to the away skipper, whose 'lucky' red socks are now a permanent fixture of the Bayley side's Wednesday nights. With his opponent Les Frances unable to find a way back when requiring 5 snookers on the brown, the scoreline became 1-1.

Home skipper Craig Whitehead then took on the Iceman Bill France, hoping to have a last crack at regaining the divisional highest break, which stood at 44 before it was snatched from him by Byron Mitchell only 2 weeks previous. Yet again Craig knocked in a superb 44 break, only to suffer from deja vue and miss a long pot on the final yellow, with the remaining colours in open positions.

Line Dancing Champion Pete 'Woody' Woodcock then left the C side wondering what they will be missing next season as he secured a third chalk for the home team with a typical Woody smash and grab defeat of Mark Beddall 42-30, before announcing his retirement from league snooker, along with pal Les Frances. His enigmatic style will surely be missed.

Young Craig Johnson looked to have a tall order in front of him, when asked to tackle Dave Williams, but the home anchorman played his best snooker of the season to sink the D teams chances of securing a second point, and ran out 60-19 winner, giving the C team a pleasing 4-1 scoreline.

With both teams able to field seven players for this 'crunch' fixture two friendly frames followed, but wins for Darren Rhodes and Dave Dudley were scant consolation for the visitors. However, the match will have served to ease Steve Lane with his selection headache prior to his teams attempt to defeat Hills Lane A in the final of the Team Knockout on 8th May. The Bayley club wish him and his colleagues all the very best for what will be a very tough encounter.

Two other teams to record 4-1 wins were Maddocks D and Little Dawley C. The Oakengates side warmed up for their Consolation Cup final against Shifnal F on May 8th with a 4-1 win over Wellington Billiard Hall B whilst the Champions of this division finished off their campaign in style with a comfortable victory at home to Anstice C.

Ken Davies arrived in time to give Maddocks D the lead with a 62-38 defeat of Graham Hughes and his side extended their lead to two frames when Mick Wincott defeated Kev Whitehead 67-30.

The Billiard Hall replied through Roy Francis' 66-43 win over Roy Lowe - but it wasn't enough to prevent the visitors taking the final two frames through Brendan Wincott's 68-29 defeat of Alan Francis and Colin Smith's final frame success against Ian Atkinson.

Little Dawley C warmed up for second division snooker next term as they said goodbye to Division 3 with a 4-1 home win over Anstice C.

Mike King set them on their way with a 53-31 win over John Smith before Lee Elcock secured the most wins trophy with a good win over Jason Mills in the next.

Steve Camp did manage to pull a frame back for Anstice when he defeated Lee Drinkwater 50-31 but it was scant consolation for his side who lost out in the final two frames as Steve Farrington beat Kev Smith and Byron Mitchell wrapped things up with a 55-41 win over Steve Ward.

DIVISION 1

With Hills Lane A already having wrapped up the first division title for a fourth successive season, attention turned to the other end of the table where Bayley A were battling to preserve their first division status - needing at least three points against Broseley A to have any hope of escaping the drop.

And with Dawley A starting the day two points ahead of the Bayley - and having won one more match - they started play safe in the knowledge that three points would secure their own survival - and that's exactly what they got as the League Champions fell to only their third defeat of the season.

Back at the Bayley, Bob Mason was determined to give the A team every chance of staying up as he potted superbly, knocking in several crucial pinks into the middle sack to open up a 46 point lead with two reds remaining. However his opponent John Shepherd wasn't going to lie down easily - and although at one point he required three snookers he battled on and was just nineteen points behind with blue, pink and black remaining.

However the Bayley's hopes were raised when Bob potted the blue to clinch the first frame by 59 points to 49 - and when Steve Fletcher took the next frame too with a close pink ball win over Richie Hulme their hopes of avoiding the drop were looking possible if not probable.

Arthur Burrows was also in determined mood as he led by 19 points with just the last five colours remaining - although it wasn't to be his, or his team's night, as Paul Humphries produced a brilliant 25 clearance to pip Arthur on the black.

Chris Morgan-Adams then opened up with a 26 break to take the initiative against Graham Long - only for the Broseley man to rally superbly to draw his side level by taking the frame 76-50.

And as news filtered through of Dawley's victory over Hills Lane, Simon McLeod's 59-44 defeat of Steve Nicholls proved academic as the Wellington side were already destined to join their E team in Division 2 next season.

Meanwhile at Dawley, Darren Pountney had given Hills Lane A the lead with a 64-38 win over Chris Woods, rounding off a good season for the league treasurer.

But with Mark Jones replying with 25 break in his 76-45 victory over Tim Hicks, this meant Hills Lane would fall to their third defeat of the season as, due to work commitments, they were sadly only able to field three players.

Shaun Harris then defeated Rick Bailey to make it 2-1 to the Madeley side, who then had to concede frames 4 and 5 to Gaz Bradshaw and Barry Roden giving Dawley the match by three frames to two.

That defeat means Hills Lane finish the season on 78 points - six ahead of their closest challengers Coddon A who ended their season in style with a thumping 5-0 win at Little Dawley A.

A close opening frame saw Darren Weston pip Richie Heighway on the pink to give Coddon the lead and they went two frames up when Adrian Smith defeated Graham Wiley.

Lee Sxklarzewicz increased the visitor's lead with some excellent long potting to deny Jesse Lowe before Ian Ferriday made it four on the trot with a 31 break against Rick Cousins.

And with Zenon Lembicz tidying things up with a 59-17 win over Ade Henry, the Donnington side were able to finish their season on a total of 72 points a whacking twelve points ahead of Anstice A who jumped into third place on the back of a 4-1 win over Minnesota Fats.

The Madeley side were in no mood to suffer a repeat of the 5-0 result they endured in the reverse fixture as Neil Price kicked the match off with a 39 break on the way to taking the opening frame 66-26 from Steve Collins.

Phil Reynolds took a close second frame on the black against John Wright before Keith Price got the better of Kev West to put the home side 3-0 up.

Nick Oakley continued to pile on the pressure with a 57-47 win over Keith Blackham only for Paul Devey to rescue a point for the visitors with a final frame win over John Jones.

Broseley's 3-2 win at Bayley A ensured them of fourth place, one ahead of Maddocks A who finish fifth following a 3-2 reverse at home to Shifnal A.

John Fallows was in good form to give Shifnal the lead with a 56-43 win over Phil Davis before Golden Wonder Linsay Knox got the better of Darren Wincott to put the visitors two up.

Ian Skelton replied for Maddocks by taking the next 64-39 from Simon Biddulph but Shifnal restored their two frame lead thanks to Roy Martin's 52-39 win over Leigh France.

Dave France's 58-35 win over Andy Easthope in the final frame left the final score 3-2 to Shifnal, who themselves finish in sixth place one ahead of last season's runners-up Wellington Billiard Hall A who ended on a high note with a 3-2 win over bottom of the table Bayley E.

But they had to come from behind to record their tenth win of the season after Martin Watkins had beaten Ian Eldridge and Steve Hoof defeated Alan Turner.

Nigel Fletcher began the comeback in some style, notching a beautiful 50 break on the way to a 71-23 victory over John Squire.

Graham Darrall then weighed in with a 40 break to defeat Ali Jones before Andy Kendrick claimed the decider against David France with a run of 39.

DIVISION 2

With just two matches to go the Division 2 title is still up for grabs and any hope that Shifnal F had that their D team would do them any favours were soon dashed at the first hurdle when the D teams Mick Guest grabbed the first point with a 74-34 win over Wally Harper.

Chris Painter then levelled the match with a quick fire victory over Mick Smith. Nev Whitehead then looked all set to take frame three for the F Team only for a late 19 break from Terry Asken and a foul on the pink from Nev to leave him requiring a snooker.

And although he fought valiantly for 15 minutes he eventually went down 51-27 to leave the F team trailing by two frames to one.

Spencer Rowley with the division individuals title and possibly the highest break under his belt made
the match all square with a fine display against Geoff French. And like so many occasions this season it was then left up to Dave Peplow to save the day for the league leaders.

The "Rock" had to fight hard against Barry Easthope but managed to pull through 44-21 to leave Shifnal four points ahead of Coddon B who had a bye last week.

Wellington Billiard Hall E narrowly missed out on promotion to Division 1 last season and are once again in the hunt for league honours after a 4-1 win at Coddon C sees them just a point behind Coddon B in third spot.

Nigel Stallard got the better of Sef Tusel in the opening frame and John Powell won the second frame against Mick Stokes as the Wellington side took control.

Chris Morris made it 3-0 with a narrow 45-34 defeat of Don Bayliss and the visitors continued in the same vane as Ray Evans defeated his namesake Ray Whitehead by 68 points to 28.

Only Fraser MacKinnon's 57-17 win over Pete Wilkes saved the home side from the whitewash as the Billiard Hall did their promotion prospects no harm at all with a 4-1 win.

Shifnal E are also in the shake-up for honours after a 3-2 win away at Audco has left them level on points with Billiard Hall E but having won fewer matches.

Neil Hendy won a tight opening frame against Aaron Sparkes to put the home side ahead but the match turned Shifnal's way when Jeff Sparkes levelled with a pink ball victory over Mike Matthews.

Rob Wright continued his fine season with an excellent win over Antony Heathcote and the visitors went further ahead when Chris Petford got the better of Pete Smith by 67 points to 27.

However Fred Harper was unable to put the icing on the cake as Colin Austin rescued another point for the home side to leave Shifnal the victors by the odd frame in five.

Wellington Billiard Hall C's hopes of moving up to the first division look slim after a 3-2 defeat at home to Maddocks C leaves them in fifth spot some seven points off second place.

They got off to a great start though with Paul Lucas and John Rawlins winning the opening two frames.

It was then that the wheels came off though as Jim Hill replied for Maddocks with a 62-42 win over Wayne Weeks and then Billy Rushton hit a 28 break to deny Laki Badhan by just three points.

And with Joe Oliver taking the deciding frame 62-20 from Mick Birch, the home side are left with 63 points from 22 games played so far.

Wellington Billiard Hall X suffered a similar fate as they entertained Pot Black A at the Billiard Hall - although unlike their C team they fell two frames behind before drawing level at two apiece.

Dave Welsh and Tom Firmstone did the damage early on as the Oakengates side went two frames up.

Amm Ali pulled one frame back for the X men with a fine win over Mike Thompson and M Shadab then made the frames score all square again as he got the the better of Neil Robinson to force the decider.

However, it wasn't to be the Billiard Hall's night as Toby Welsh made no mistake against A Mahmood to leave the visitors victorious by three frames to two.

Pot Black D also recorded a 3-2 win when Neil Pearson took the deciding frame of their match against Anstice B.

Mick Pearson's opening frame win over John Darrock gave the home side the lead only for George Hammond to draw Anstice level with a 65-46 win over Rob Palin.

Steve Smallwood took the next on the black to deny Mick Egan although with Kirk Stephenson defeating Danny Weaver and Neil Pearson beating Nigel Wallcroft the match went to Pot Black D by three frames to two.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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