With the Telford Snooker League season reaching the half-way stage, the Division 2 title race looks destined to become a battle between two clubs with the top four teams coming from either Wellington Billiard Hall or Shifnal's War Memorial Club.

Shifnal E head the table by a single point following a 4-1 win at home to Pot Black A but Billiard Hall E's 3-2 away win at Audco sees them in second spot, with Shifnal F third and the Billiard Hall's C team in fourth.

Aaron Sparkes once again led the way for Shifnal E as a 63-47 win over Paul Crooks set up their ninth win out of twelve.

Fred Harper soon put the home side two up and they continued to dominate proceedings as Jeff Sparkes took the next frame as well against Mike Thompson.

However a surprise defeat for Rob Wright, his first of the season so far, enabled Pot Black to retrieve a frame as Neil Robinson took frame four 74-38 only for Chris Petford to take the last on the black to complete a 4-1 win for the Shifnal side to put them back in top spot, just a point ahead of Wellington Billiard Hall E.

The Wellington side fell behind though when they travelled to Newport to face Audco A - Pete Smith taking the opening frame from Nigel Stallard by just three points.

John Powell's 68-44 win over Ray Hendy levelled matters but, undeterred, the home side took the lead again as Mark Matthews sealed a 70-43 win over Chris Morris.

Ray Evan's 22 break secured frame four for the visitors though and with Paul Wilkes winning a tight decider 30-22 the Billiard Hall left happy with their tenth win of the season safely in the bag.

Shifnal F lie a point further back, in third, after pulling out all the stops to record their seventh win on the trot by beating Anstice B by three frames to two.

Once again Wally Harper led the way by beating John Darrock 60-28. The Madeley side then retaliated as Nigel Wallcroft displayed some fine potting to overcome Chris Painter 54-19.

A good variety of potting and defensive work was the plan for George Hammond and it paid off as he put Antice ahead by triumphing over Nev Whitehead 57-22.

Spencer Rowley levelled the match when he had to rely on all his experience and relieve Shifnal's tension by pipping Billy Watson on the pink 46-34.

When your back's against the wall, who better to put into bat than "Dependable Dave" Peplow - The Shifnal anchorman saved his side's blushes once again by taking the final frame from Stuart Wimbrush 54-33 to leave Shifnal well place in third spot, two points off the lad but with a game in hand and one point ahead of fourth placed Billiard Hall C.

Coddon B move up to fifth on the back of a resounding 5-0 triumph over Shifnal D, who as a result slip dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Phil Szklarzewicz's opening frame victory over Terry Askew was swiftly followed by Mark Wall's win over Sanjay Chauhan, which included a lovely break of 31.

Nick Pearce took the next frame too from Geoff French and further wins for Andy Jones and Steve Downs completed a superb result for the Donnington side who are still in with a shout of regaining their top flight status.

Joe Oliver's practice on his own table seems to be paying off as the Maddocks C man gave his side the lead as they travelled to Pot Black D.

Jim Hill made it 2-0 thanks to a 34-22 win over Rob Palin and the visitors went further in front when Dave Thomas won the next frame too against Mick Egan, though it was a close struggle with Dave eventually winning through on the final black.

Kirk Stevenson's 57-20 defeat of Dave Hooson proved to be the home side's only consolation as Billy Rushton rounded of a super display from Maddocks by claiming the final frame 66-27 against Neil Pearson.

DIVISION 3

Little Dawley C's lead at the top of the third division has been cut to three points after the title favourites suffered their third defeat of the season in the derby game with their G side.

Gary Clements put the G team in front with a fine 51-27 success over "home" captain Steve Farrington.

The C team restored parity immediately though as Lee Elcock took the next against Paul Perks and they went ahead when Lee Drinkwater won a tight third frame 55-47 against Dave Leneveu.

However the G team were not going to give up the fight very easily and they took the last two frames to secure a 3-2 win. First Ray Leneveu got the better of Byron Mitchell leaving Graham Copson to win the decider 47-38 against Mike King.

Hills Lane B move into second spot after a superb 4-1 win at home to Maddocks D.

Richie Jones set them on the way to their seventh win of the season when he took the first frame 58-24 from Harry Hulme.

Young Christine Eldridge narrowly failed to draw Maddocks level as Dean Harris took the next frame by 44 points to 32, however I must offer my apologies to Christine - the only lady player in the league, as unfortunately I misread the score card last week and failed to report on her victory for Maddocks.

Lee Harris then put the Madeley side in front only for Roy Lowe to level things up again at two frames all. That left Steve Weaver to wrap things up for Hills Lane with a deciding frame victory over Brendan Wincott to leave the Madeley side three points off the lead with Maddocks a further two points adrift in third.

Wellington Billiard Hall F also recorded a 3-2 win when they entertained local rivals Bayley D. Richard Tranter gave the home side just the start they were looking for with a close 58-44 win over the in-form Darren Rhoades. Dave Williams drew the Bayley level though by taking the next on the black against Chris Fletcher.

The same fate then befell Rob Cook as Steve Lane retrieved a 20 point deficit to "rob" Rob on the final black however the home side rallied strongly to take the last two frames through the two Steves as Messers Williams and Weatherall accounted for Bill France and Dave Dudley to leave the Billiard Hall triumphant by the odd frame in five.

Billiard Hall B were not quite so lucky, as they entertained another of the Bayley sides and lost out by the odd frame 3-2.

The Bayley C boys left the Billiard Hall on a high after recording only their third win of the campaign. However, it took a gritty fightback to secure the win, something the Bayley side have not been regarded for in recent times.

The Billiard Hall took the opening two frames thanks to wins from Gareth Hughes and Kevin Whitehead over Chris Haycox and Les Frances respectively.

Jim Lewis then turned the Bayley's night around with a comprehensive victory over Paul Gubbats 58-23, and Mick Healey followed up in timely fashion to record his first win of the season, to seal a 59-39 win over Ian Atkinson.

With two tables in operation, away skipper Craig Whitehead found himself 18 behind with only four colours remaining when Mike tied the match at 2-2, but the skipper thrived on the pressure of the situation, taking the final fours balls to record a one time unlikely 43-35 win over Roy Francis, and secure a deserved win for the visitors which must help their basement struggle going into the league halfway break.

DIVISION 1

With only three match cards received for the First Division this week, the league table paints a somewhat false picture - however on thing that is for certain is Hills Lane A's position at the top of the tree - as they recorded their tenth win in eleven games away to basement strugglers Bayley A.

However, they didn't have things all their own way - and Bob Mason played particularly well for the home side, notching a 24 break against Matt Bailey only to lose out on the final blue as the visitors took the lead.

They soon doubled that advantage when a vintage display from Shaun Harris saw him safely home against Steve Nicholls before the Bayley hit back as a potting bonanza from Chris Morgan-Adams secured frame three for the home player by 83 points to 63 against Darren Pountney.

Steve Fletcher's somewhat fortunate 63-42 win over Tim Hicks drew the Bayley level only for Ian Duffy to play an almost perfect frame, knocking in a beautifully crafted 48 break on the way to a deciding frame win over Arthur Burrows to give the Madeley side victory overall by three frames to two.

With second placed Coddon A's result not in, we turn to the bottom half of the table where Minnesoata Fats built on their remarkable 5-0 win over Anstice A last week with a resounding 4-1 win over Bayley E.

John Wright's 37 break gave him victory over Martin Watkins by 72 points to 41 as the home side took an early lead. Paul Smith made it 2-0 by beating Steve Hoof 57-34 before breaks of 30 and 26 secured frame three for Keith Blackham against Andy O'Brien.

Ali Jones continued his good run of results by pulling one frame back for the Bayley with a 68-24 success over Kevin West only for Paul Devey to clinch the final frame for Fats with a 68-34 win over John Squire.

As a result, Minnesota are now fast pulling away from the drop zone - but the Bayley are still looking one of the likely contenders for second division snooker next season - along with their A side and Dawley A, whose result this week is not yet in.

Little Dawley A are creeping ever closer to the relegation area as well after they fell to a 3-2 defeat at home to Wellington Billiard Hall A.

However, they did take a 2-0 lead in this match after the opening two frames both went their way on the final black.

First off Morton Hughes missed an opportunity to force a re-spotted black allowing Richie Heighway to snatch the first frame 50-36 and then Jesse Lowe followed suit by beating young Ian Eldridge on the black to put Little Dawley 2-0 in front.

The third frame was also settled on the black after Rick Cousins missed a long pink which would have put the home side three frames up - allowing Graham Darrell to polish off the last two balls to take the frame 50-40.

And Little Dawley couldn't believe that they hadn't won all four of the opening frames after Ade Henry set off at a tremendous pace, only to knock a red in when potting his third black on the trot. Alan Turner eventually cleared the blue, pink and black for a 55-42 winning score line to level the frames tally at two apiece.

The Billiard Hall then completed their fifth win of the season courtesy of Nigel Fletcher's 82-42 final frame win over Graham Wiley to leave both sides wondering about those black ball games which somehow slipped from their grasp.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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