Shifnal F have all but confirmed their place as Champions of the second division of the Telford Snooker League after a 4-1 win over Audco leaves them five points clear of their closest rivals Wellington Billiard Hall E with just one game to go.

Wally Harper gave the Islanders the perfect start as he defeated Pete Smith 84-33 and things got better for the home side when Chris Painter, who limits his wins to 15 minutes a frame, made it 2-0 with a quick-fire 55-29 success over Richard Hendy.

Nev Whitehead looked to be well on the way to increasing their lead still further only for Neil Hendy to take the last six colours to snatch a point for Audco by taking the frame 56-42.

Colin Austin tried hard to claim another point for the visitors but in the end his efforts were in vane as Spencer Rowley took the fourth frame for Shifnal by 71 points to 56 to leave the home side with a 4-1 win as Audco were unable to field a fifth man to take on Mr Reliable Dave Peplow.

So with Wellington Billiard Hall E also winning 4-1 at Maddocks C the Shifnal boys are now almost certain of lifting the division two title unless they fall to a 5-0 defeat in their last game of the season and the Billiard Hall take all five points from their final game.

Ray Evans gave the Wellington side the lead as they made the short trip to play Maddocks C. However Ray's 58-29 win over Dave Thomas was soon nullified as Jim Hill drew the home side level with a 67-26 defeat of John Powell.

Chris Morris and Billy Rushton then fought out a tight tussle which ended with the Billiard Hall player taking the frame on a re-spotted black and further wins from Nigel Stallard and Pete Wilkes leaves the Billiard Hall in pole position as three teams chase the runners-up spot and with it promotion to Division 1.

The Wellington side now have a total of 73 points and have won 19 of their 23 matches. The latter statistic could prove crucial when next weeks' results are added to the table as both Coddon B and Shifnal E have won just 17 of their 23 matches - but are only a point behind the Billiard Hall on 72 points each.

And with things being so close Shifnal E's 3-2 win at Coddon B last week could give them the edge as the league enters it's final week.

Mark Wall gave Coddon the start they had been hoping for when he narrowly came out on top against Aaron Sparkes by 65 points to 53.

Jeff Sparkes made amends as he took an even tighter second frame 63-55 to deny Phil Szklarzewicz but the Coddon went back into the lead courtesy of Andy Jones' 58-20 win over Rob Wright.

However it was Shifnal who rallied to take the final two frames through Chris Petford and Fred Harper to secure an important 3-2 win and keep alive the Shifnal Club's hopes of having two teams promoted to Division 1 next season.

Ray Whitehead gave Coddon C the lead as they travelled to play Pot Black A. Ray's 73-23 win over Bob Lane was the first of three successive wins for the Donnington side as they raced into a 3-0 lead with Don Bayliss getting the better of Tom Firmstone and Matt Bothwell coming out on top against Dave Welsh.

Neil Robinson stopped the rot by pulling a frame back for Pot Black with a fine 76-49 success over Mick Stokes and Paul Crooks made the scoreline more respectable for the Oakengates side as he claimed the final frame on the black to deny Sef Tusel 58-52.

Those two points could prove vital for Pot Black A as they battle to stave off relegation - but Shifnal D look doomed to fall down to the third division after falling to a 4-1 defeat at home to Pot Black D.

Terry Askew was the home side's only winner as he followed Mick Pearson's victory over Mick Guest with a good win over Rob Palin to level the match at one frame all.

Kirk Stephenson restored the visitor's lead with a 54-38 win over S Chauhan and further wins from Mick Egan over Arthur Aston and Neil Pearson who beat Geoff French sealed a fine 4-1 win for the Oakengates team.

IAN LIFTS FIRST DIVISION CROWN

Ian Skelton claimed the First Division Individual title last week with a brilliant 2-0 win over Anstice A's Keith Price as the final stages of the competition were played off at Wellington's Sir John Bayley Club.

The event attracted a good entry of 29 which was whittled down to the last eight when the competition began two weeks earlier.

The quarter-finals proved to be tense affairs with the first two both going to the wire. League Secretary Alan Turner started from where he left off when he produced some fine potting early on and although he potted three of the last four colours it was his opponent, John Fallows who held his nerve to sink the final black for a place in the semi's.

Ian Skelton booked his place in the last four with a similarly close finish against Andy Kendrick - the Oakengates man potting a long black to join John Fallows in the semi-final.

In the other half of the draw Madeley's Keith Price was in dazzling form to deny John Squire to book his place in the semi-final against former team-mate Darren Pountney who received a bye into the last four as his opponent Matt Bailey was unable to attend.

Both semi-finals were close affairs with Ian edging out John and Keith getting the better of Darren on the colours.

Keith looked to be in control early on in the final as he opened up a 40 point lead against his Maddocks opponent - but Ian clawed his way back and when Keith miscued on the pink he was left requiring a snooker in the opening frame.

Having taken that opening frame Ian never looked back and took the second frame too to complete an excellent 2-0 win over this year's Chris Ward runner-up to lift the title for the first time.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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