The Telford Snooker League came close to seeing the first century break of the new season last week when Broseley's Richie Hulme knocked in a superbly crafted run of 82 only to miss a relatively straight forward black as he attempted to gain position on the final yellow.

The popular Broseley player looked all set to complete what would have been a 116 clearance only to leave himself with a tricky shot on the final red. The cue ball stopped in front of the blue leaving Richie in a "Chinese Snooker" and having to use the extended spider, but he calmly slotted the red into the corner pocket leaving almost perfect position on the black.

However it wasn't to be has crucially he took his eye off the pot in trying to gain position on the yellow and the black jawed leaving his break 5 points short of the current top mark of 87 made by Hills Lane players Ian Duffy and Matthew Davies.

Nonetheless Richie's effort secured the second frame of Broseley's game with Bayley A and his win over Chris Morgan-Adams left the frame scores all level after Steve Nicholls had taken the opening frame for the visitors against Carl Walker.

Paul Humphries gave Arthur Burrows no chance in the next to put Broseley in front but the visitors took the last two frames to record their third successive victory.

Bob Mason held his nerve to pot the final pink for victory over home captain John Shepherd and the Bayley moved off bottom spot as Steve Fletcher claimed the deciding frame against Simon Mcleod for a 3-2 win to the Wellington side.

The breaks were also flying in as Champions Hills Lane A entertained Dawley Social.

Matthew Davies led the way with a 67 break in his opening frame win over Chris Woods. The in-form Mark Jones put up a good fight in the next, compiling a run of 32 as he took on Matt Bailey - but the Hills Lane youngster held firm to take the frame by 68 points to 56 for a 2-0 lead.

The visitors did pull a frame back in the next when Gaz Bradshaw got the better of Darren Pountney 62-42 and they levelled the match when Rick Bailey replied to Ian Duffy's 40 break with a 37 break of his own to take the next frame on the pink.

However Shaun Harris was not going to see his side slip to their second defeat of the season - and a 52 break completed an 84-42 win over Barry Roden to take the match by 3 frames to 2.

Despite that win, the Madeley side's lead at the top is cut to four points after Coddon A cemented their position in second spot with a 4-1 win at home to Little Dawley A.

The visitor's Richie Heighway set off at a tremendous pace as he took an early 35 lead in the opening frame but his opponent Darren Weston soon got into his stride, notching a 36 break on the way to eventually taking the frame 72-42.

Some quick fire potting from Lee Szklarzewicz soon made it 2-0 as he took the next from Jesse Lowe and they went further ahead as Zenon Lembicz took the third 62-42 from Rick Cousins.

Ade Henry continued his recent improved form to pinch a tight frame fourth frame for Little Dawley with a close 46-35 win over Dave Lloyd and the visitors came close to pinching another frame as Graham Wiley took on Coddon's Adrian Smith.

A tight frame throughout ended with Graham potting an unbelievable pink and finishing on the black to set up a re-spot, only to misjudge his safety shot when put in to break, leaving Ade with an easy chance to secure the frame.

Third placed Anstice A lost ground on the leaders after he result of the night saw Minnesota Fats take all five points from their home clash with the Madeley side.

John Wright can be well pleased with his opening frame victory over the in-form Neil Price - John's 47-37 win inflicting a first defeat of the season for the Madeley man.

Another close finish saw Steve Collins take the next from Nick Oakley on the black and Keith Blackham, reunited with his cue after leaving it behind after last week's match, put it to good use in his 56-35 defeat of Phil Reynolds.

Kevin West then made it 4-0 with a tight 64-60 triumph over John Jones before Paul Devey sealed a fantastic result for the Minnesota boys with a superb final frame win over Keith Price.

That result pulls last season's second division runners-up away from the relegation zone as they now have three points more than Little Dawley A - and five points more than the three bottom teams, Bayley A, Bayley E and Dawley A who each have 19 points.

Although still near the foot of the table, Bayley E will have been well pleased with their performance at home to last season's runners-up Billiard Hall A.

Martin Watkins is proving to be a difficult player to beat these days - and so it proved for League Secretary Alan Turner as Martin took the opening frame by 53 points to 29.

Nigel Fletcher drew the visitors level with some panache, compiling a 59 break on the way to victory over Steve Hoof but the Bayley went in front again thanks to Andy O'Brien's 71-51 win over Morton Hughes.

Ali Jones extended that lead to 3-1 by beating Ian Eldridge 66-42 and only Andy Kendrick's 52-42 final frame win over David France saved another point for the Billiard Hall.

Maddocks A also won 3-2 when they travelled to Shifnal A and had captain Dave France on had to take the deciding frame 71-43 against Simon Biddulph.

John Fallows had earlier given the home side the lead when he outpointed Mark Finucane 62-37 but wins from Phil Davis over Lynsay Knox and Ian Skelton, on the black, over Andy Easthope put Maddocks into a 2-1 lead.

However Roy Martin stepped up to level the scores with a fine 49-39 win over under 21 champ Darren Wincott but with Dave France claiming the decider the Oakengates team were able to secure their fifth win of the season.

DIVISION 2

Shifnal F continued their crusade for a quick return to division 1 when they visited their old rivals Maddocks C and returned with all 5 frames under their belts - probably their best result of the season so far.

Wally Harper paved the way as he chalked up the first frame from Jim Hill. An early 36 break from Wally and a 34 lead on the colours was enough for him to win 70-27.

Chris Painter then made it 2-0 as he pipped Graham Hoof in a black ball finish by 63 points to 30 and although Spencer Rowley didn't have it all his own way when he encountered Dave Thomas in the next the Shifnal man cleared all the colours to run out the winner by 66 points to 36.

It was always on the cards that best buddies, Bill Rushton and Nev Whitehead would match up with one another and that's just how it turned out, but when the gloves went on it was League President Nev who came out on top as he reached the tape first with a 75-32 scoreline.

Frame of the night went to the pairing of Joe Oliver and Dave 'Mr Dependable' Peplow. Joe potted well and went into a 24 lead on the last brown but a brilliant snooker from the Shifnal man earned him the points he needed and he duly cleared up to pip Joe 50-48

That win leaves Shifnal F three points clear at the top of the table after their closest rivals, at the start of play at least, Shifnal E fell to a shock 4-1 win away to Wellington Billiard Hall C.

As a result the Wellington side swap places with their opponents and now lie in second spot themselves, one point ahead of both Shifnal E and Billiard Hall E.

Alex Turnbull's 29 break set up an opening frame win over Aaron Sparkes and despite a bright start in the next dad Jeff Sparkes could do nothing to prevent John Rawlins making it 2-0, the Billiard Hall captain knocking in a 49 break on the way to taking the frame by 69 points to 18.

Dave Blagborough then made it 3-0 before man of the moment Rob Wright, playing some of his best snooker ever, saved a point for the visitors with a close 56-40 win over Laki Badhan.

However with Paul Lucas claiming the final frame 48-38 from Chris Petford the Billiard Hall were left with four very valuable points as they strive for first division status.

Wellington Billiard Hall E are another side with promotion possibilities after a 4-1 win over their X side leaves them just a point behind Billiard Hall C in third spot.

Nigel Stallard opened the scoring with a 58-32 win over Bill Gathercole but M Shadab levelled matters with a 67-31 success over John Powell.

Chris Morris' 69-27 success over A Khan put the E side in front again and they never looked back as Ray Evan's knocked in a 22 break to defeat A Ali and Paul Wilkes took the last 43-16 against Abi Khan.

Coddon B also took four frames from their home tie with Pot Black D. Andy Jones got them off to a flyer with a 25 break on the way to an opening frame victory over Kirk Stephenson and, after Mark Wall had made it 2-0, Steve Downs weighed in with a run of 35 to defeat Mick Person.

Neil Pearson salvaged a point for the visitors with an excellent 49-37 win over Nick Pearce but Phil Szklarzewicz's final frame win over Mick Egan wrapped things up nicely for Coddon as they secured a comfortable 4-1 win.

There were plenty of 4-1 wins in this division last week it seems - and Audco were one of those teams on the right side of that scoreline after their match away at Pot Black A.

Mark Matthews' opening frame win over Neil Robinson was cancelled out by Paul Crooks who beat Steve Handley 54-18.

Neil Hendy and Ray Hendy took the next two frames for the visitors though, against Dave Welsh and Barry Lane respectively to make it 3-1 and with Chris Austin sneaking the final frame on the black the Newport side left happy with four points in the bag.

Anstice B might have hoped for a better result from their trip to Shifnal D - especially after John Darrock had given them the lead with a 61-39 success over Mick Guest. But the home side rallied to take all four remaining frames.

Geoff French started the comeback with a 52-28 success over Steve Smallwood and although Nigel Wallcroft came close in the next for the Anstice, it was Sanjay Chuahan who took the third frame 62-51 to give the home side a 2-1 lead.

Further wins for Terry Askew and Barrie Easthope completed a 4-1 win for the Shifnal team.

DIVISION 3

Little Dawley C maintained their push for promotion from division 3 with a 4-1 win away at Anstice C.

Mike King's win over John Smith set the tone and although Lee Drinkwater only just scraped home 48-40 against Andy Elliott the visitors went on to claim their eighth win in ten games.

Jason Miller reduced the deficit to 2-1 as he took the next 59-20 against Steve Farrington but Byron Mitchell restored Little Dawley's two frame advantage before Lee Elcock completed a good win for the visitors with victory over Kev Smith in the last.

A similar result for Maddocks B sees them retain second spot, still three points adrift of the leaders after a successful trip to play Little Dawley G.

Les Hicks continued his excellent start to the season to remain joint top of the averages with an opening frame victory over Ray Leneveu.

Doug Morrey doubled the visitor's lead by taking the next 70-42 from Graham Clements and when John Archer won the next frame too, Maddocks were assured of their seventh win of the campaign.

Geoff Tudor's 64 -50 win over Paul Perks made it 4-0 and only a last gasp win for Graham Copson over Tony O'Neil saved a point for the home side who, as a result, drop to fifth, some seven points off the lead.

Hills Lane B are now third after slipping to a 3-2 reverse away at Wellington Billiard Hall F.

Richard Tranter gave the home side the perfect fillip when he took the first frame for Wellington with a 58-42 win over Steve Weaver.

Steve Williams seems to be settling into his new team quite nicely now - and he duly made it 2-0 as he got the better of visiting captain Kev Davis by 69 points to 49.

Steve Powell and Richie Jones replied for the visitors though - Steve pulling back a frame with a 47-32 win over home captain Chris Durham before Richie set up the decider by taking the next against Rob Cook.

However Chris Fletcher kept his nerve to defeat Lee Harris 59-29 to claim the frame and match for the Billiard Hall whose topsy-turvy season continued.

Bayley B now have 27 points in fourth place following their 3-2 away win at Newport British Legion. However the Newport side, currently bottom of the table, gave their opponents a fright as they once again came close to recording their first win of the season.

Alan Davies lost out by just nine points as Dave Oliver gave the Bayley the lead with a frame score of 49 points to 40. Manjit Gidda then levelled matters with a 48-34 win over Bayley captain Bob Tracy and the home side took the lead thanks to a fine performance from Alan Munn as he ran out a 45-25 winner against Kevin Ryan.

However Paul Easthope's victory over Mike Doverskog made things all square again, and the ever dependable Dickie Beddall fired the Bayley to their sixth win of the campaign with a high-scoring 83-45 final frame win over John Yapp.

Steve Lane's Bayley D side kept their strong push for Division 2 snooker very much on track when they convincingly took 4 points from the clubs visiting C team.

'Iceman' Bill France led the way, taking an early 20 point advantage which he never looked like losing to run out a 56-11 victor over Chris Haycox.

C team skipper Craig Whitehead then salvaged his teams only point of the night when 'luckless' Darren Rhodes was unable to find the two snookers he needed on the blue, to take the frame 51-20.

Dave Williams made sure the home side got back to winning ways when he outpointed Mick Healey, 57-32 and home skipper Steve Lane then stepped up and gave the display of the night as he potted his way to a resounding 59-8 win over young Craig Johnson, which included a well constructed run of 32.

Home side anchorman Dave Dudley then locked horns with Pete 'Woody' Woodcock and the two players ensured the crowd were thoroughly entertained. It was Dave however who came out on top, but not before Woody had tried every trick in the book to disrupt his opponents concentration, including trying to steal Dave's pint at one stage. It was the home player however, who had the last laugh taking the frame 59-39, to put the seal on four welcome points, from a Derby match which on paper, seemed a little trickier than it was made to look.

Surprisingly, having won half of their matches this season, Maddocks D find themselves in the lower reaches of the table however their 3-2 win over Wellington Billiard Hall B will have given them just the tonic they needed as we reach the half-way stage of the season.

Brendan Wincott's 66-37 opening frame win over Ken Francis was cancelled out by Kev Whitehead's 64-21 success over Harry Hulme.

Dave Francis then made it 2-1 to the visitors before Roy Lowe and Colin Smith claimed the final two frames for Maddocks to leave the home side victorious by three frames to two.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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