The third division title race was plunged back into the melting pot last week when an astounding performance from Bayley B saw them rock the current leaders Little Dawley C with a 4-1 win.

Having lost only one of their previous seven games, the Little Dawley outfit clearly have their eyes on promotion to division two, but so it seems have Bayley B after this victory moves them up to fourth in the table - five points behind their opponents who remain top.

Paul Jones isn't nicknamed the Welsh Wizard for nothing - and he left his opponent spellbound as he took the opening frame on the black against the previously undefeated Mike King.

Home captain Bob Tracy was unable to prevent young Byron Mitchell levelling the scores with a 68-28 second frame success but the Bayley went back in front thanks to another close win as Kevin Ryan defeated Steve Farrington by 52 points to 42.

Paul Easthope remained focussed throughout the next frame to record an excellent 63-37 triumph over the highly rated Lee Elcock before home favourite Dicky Beddall sealed a fine all-round performance by taking the final frame against Lee Drinkwater.

With the top side losing, Maddocks B were able to take full advantage by taking all five points from their trip to Wellington Billiard Hall F to leave them in second place just two points behind Little Dawley.

Veteran Les Hicks continued his good start to the season by taking the opening frame from Steve Williams. Doug Morrey returned to his old stamping ground to take frame two from Richard Tranter and Mick Lucas made it three soon afterwards by defeating Chris Durham 42-14.

Graham Tudor continued the trend with a 54-28 success over Billiard Hall captain Steve Weatherall and although Chris Fletcher came close for the home side in the final frame by potting the black, the subsequent in-off robbed the home side of a point and left Tony O'Neill to celebrate a 5-0 win for the Oakengates lads.

As a result Maddocks swap places with Anstice C who drop one place to third after suffering their third defeat of the season at home to Little Dawley G.

Ray LeNeveu gave the visitors the perfect start by taking the opening frame 60-35 from Steve Ward, but brother Paul was unable to follow suit as Andy Elliott wrapped up frame two for the Anstice by 41 points to 20.

Gary Clements' black ball win over Frank Williams put the Little Dawley side in front again only for Jason Mills to force the decider by beating Paul Perks in the next.

Little Dawley's Graham Copson was not going to see his side let all their good work go to waste and he successfully negotiated the final hurdle by taking the deciding frame by 69 points to 48 against Steve Camp.

Bayley D now lie fifth, one place behind their B side, after a 3-2 success at Wellington Billiard Hall B saw them record their fourth win of the season.

Dave Williams set them on their way by taking the first frame from Gary Hughes but Roy Francis levelled matters soon after with a close 62-53 win over Bill France.

Kev Whitehed then put the home team in front by claiming frame three from visiting captain Steve Lane but the Bayley took the last two frames through Darren Rhodes and Dave Dudley to seal a fine win which keeps them in touch with the top four teams above them.

Bayley C threw away a golden opportunity to shrug off their seasons seemingly endless 3-2 scorelines, against visitors Hills Lane B.

Chris Haycocks struck the first blow for the home side, but was made to work hard for his 57-38 victory by Matthew Davis, before he was allowed to put the Bayley lads 1-0 up.

Craig Whitehead then made it 2-0 with runs of 21 and 24, although Steve Powell made the home player struggle to close the frame out before going 2-0 up.

'Black ball frame' King, Les Frances then took his frame with Steve Weaver to the black yet again, before the visitor potted a super last ball to chalk up Hills Lanes' first point of the night.

The match was then taken to the deciding frame after Jim 'roly poly' Lewis decided to roll in a length of the table pink, which 'jawed' to allow Lee Harris to pot the final pink and secure a 58-41 victory for the visitors.

Richy Jones was eventually too strong for Bayley anchorman Ian Johnson, to give the visitors what at one stage seemed an unlikely 3-2 victory.

Maddocks D took the lead at home to Newport British Legion when Harry Hulme defeated Alan Davies by 69 points to 38.

Ken Davies then made it 2-0 with a close 43-35 defeat of Keith Gardner before Roy Lowe followed in the same vane to post a 69-39 win over Manjit Gidda for a 3-0 lead.

Alan Munn stemmed the tide temporarily with an excellent 54-37 success over Roy Adams only for Colin Smith to wrap up a 4-1 win for the home side by taking the last against Mike Doverskog.

DIVISION 1

In Division 1 Minnesota Fats pulled off their best result of what is their debut season in the top flight as they defeated a strong Maddocks A side by four frames to one.

Phil Davis gave the visitors the lead though with a 54-36 win over John Wright but Steve Collins replied with a 29 break to draw Minnesoata level but he had to fight hard to finish off a stern challenge from under 21 champion Darren Wincott, eventually taking the frame by 68 points to 57.

A somewhat low scoring third frame saw Paul Smith defeat Ian Skelton 39-27 before Keith Blackham's 37 break saw him safely home against Adrian Barraclough to put the home side 3-1 in front.

And things got even better for Minnesota when Kev West completed an excellent performance with a final frame victory over visiting captain Dave France.

At the top of the table, Champions Hills Lane A got back to winning ways after last week's shock reversal at Broseley as they came out on top by the odd frame at home to Shifnal A.

Shifnal's Roy Martin and Andy Easthope soon found themselves on the wrong end of runs of 39 as the two Matthews - Messrs, Bailey and Davies, took the opening two frames for the Madeley side.

Linsay Knox pulled a frame back though when he won a high scoring third frame 86-65 against his West Midlands team-mate Darren Pountney but the ever-dependable Shaun Harris soon restored Hills Lane's two frame lead by taking frame four from John Fallows.

But with the Past Master Simon Biddulph rolling back the years to take the last frame 74-50 against Ian Duffy the home side were left with a return of just three points as they search for their fourth successive league title.

With the league table now fully up to date, Anstice A are currently emerging as one of Hills Lane's main challengers and they too recorded a 3-2 win over last season's runners-up Wellington Billiard Hall A to leave them four points adrift of the league leaders.

Neil Price is currently in a rich vein of form and he wasted no time in giving the Madeley side the lead by taking the first frame from Nigel Fletcher.

Phil Reynolds narrowly missed out on making it 2-0 when he was pipped at the post by Graham Darrell and the Wellington side took the lead when Morton Hughes completed a superb 58-47 win over Keith Price.

However Nick Oakley replied for the Anstice with a 62-40 success over young Ian Eldridge leaving John Jones to take the decider against Andy Kendrick.

The Madeley side now share second spot with Coddon A who completed their seventh win in eight when the entertained last week's heroes Broseley A and came out on top by the odd frame.

Simon McLeod's 52 break suggested Broseley might do a repeat of last week's win over Hills Lane as he took the first frame from Ian Ferriday in some style.

Richie Hulme then made it 2-0 as the visitors continued to shine but Darren Weston was not going to see his side's title hopes dented any further as he rattled in breaks of 36 and 42 against Paul Humphries to set up a mini revival.

Zenon Lembicz's win over Carl Walker in the next drew the home side level and they won the match thanks to a fine potting display from Adrian Smith. The Coddon man's two breaks of 38 secured the final frame and the match as he defeated visiting captain John Shepherd to ensure Coddon remain one place ahead of their opponents in the league table.

At the other end of the table the two Bayley sides both recorded their second wins of the season, although for Bayley A it has done nothing to move them off bottom spot.

Chris Morgan-Adam's break of 26 gave the A string the lead as they entertained Dawley A. Mark Jones soon levelled matters though as his specially crafted "snooker boots" helped him to reach great heights - and he never missed a ball, amassing a run of 42 on the way to victory over Dennis Fletcher.

Rick Bailey made it 2-1 to the visitors by claiming the third frame from Bob Mason only for Arthur Burrows to draw the Bayley level by taking the last three balls against the unfortunate Gaz Bradshaw.

And with Steve Fletcher taking the decider against Barry Roden the Wellington side were able to taste victory for only the second time this season - a far cry from their endeavours last year when they were fighting for a place in Europe!

Nonetheless that victory leaves them within two points of their opponents and Bayley E who also won 3-2 away at Little Dawley A.

Andy O'Brien put them in front thanks to a 40 points to 20 win over Richie Heighway. A run of 40 helped Martin Watkins to victory over Jesse Lowe as the visitors continued to impress but home captain Rick Cousins then reduced the deficit with a fine win over John Squire.

Ali Jones restored Bayley's two frame advantage as he got the better of Ade Henry by just nine points before Graham Wiley defeated David France on the final black to deny the visitors of an even bigger winning margin.

DIVISION 2

Second Division leaders Shifnal E were at it again last week when a 4-1 win over Audco secured their eighth win in nine outings.

Father and son team Jeff and Aaron Sparkes led the way as first Aaron took on Paul Smith and then Jeff defeated Andy Heathcote.

Richard Jones then made it three in a row by defeating Neil Hendy 57-43 and although Rob Wright wasn't able to repeat his heroics of the week before when he bagged a 46 break, his current good form held good to see him safely to victory over Mark Matthews to give the home side a 4-0 lead.

Thankfully for Audco Chris Austin was able to salvage a point for the Newport side with an excellent win over Chris Petford in the final frame of the evening but it wasn't enough to prevent Shifnal E from retaining top spot even though their closest rivals, Shifnal F were able to close the gap a little with a 5-0 win at home to Shifnal D.

The F side, relegated from Division 1 at the end of last season, are obviously looking for a quick return to the top flight and they showed no mercy as they took all five frames of the evening against their D side.

Wally Harper pointed the way when a 26 break helped him to a 34 lead on the colours which was too much for Simon Ackland.

Chris Painter wasted no time as he overcame Mick Guest with a quick fire break of 21 and then Nev Whitehead put the match safe by defeating Geoff French 60-23.

A 30 break by Spencer Rowley gave them number four as he defeated George Nelson 66-24 before Dave 'Mr Reliable' Peplow completed the show by taking the final frame from Barry Easthope 62-56. Pep didn't have it all his own way however as Barry took an 8 lead on the colours but the Shifnal anchor man picked them off one by one including a brilliant thin cut into the baulk pocket on the final black.

The F team now lie just two points behind Shifnal E with Wellington Billiard Hall C a further point behind in third after suffering a 3-2 defeat at Maddocks C.

Alex Turnbull gave the Wellington side the lead but Jimmy Hill soon levelled matters as he took the next 67-25 against John Rawlins.

Dave Blagborough restored the Billiard Hall's lead by defeating Dave Hogan 57-24 only for Joe Oliver and Billy Rushton - the latter by just a single point over Paul Lucas, to take the final two frames for Maddocks to complete a fine win for the Oakengates side.

Another of the Wellington club's sides, Billiard Hall E lie in fourth spot after a 3-2 home win over Coddon C sees then with 28 points from nine games played - one game fewer than Billiard Hall C in third.

But they did it the hard way as wins for Ray Whitehead over John Powell and Don Bayliss against Chris Morris gave the Coddon a 2-0 lead.

Ray Evans began the fightback by taking the next from Matt Bothwell and when Paul Wilkes levelled it was up to Nigel Stallard to seal his side's seventh victory in nine by defeating Sef Tusel by 68 points to 26.

Wellington Billiard Hall X recorded a similar result on their travels to Pot Black A. But they didn't have things all their own way in the opening frame as Paul Crooks gave the home side the lead.

A Ali soon restored parity with a 67-31 success over Bob Lane and the visitors took the lead when M Surfraz beat Tom Firmstone 52-37.

Neil Robinson made it all square again when he took M Shadab in the next only for M Shabir to claim victory over Dave Welsh in the deciding frame with a brilliant run of 42.

Mick Pearson looked to be well on the way to giving Pot Black D the lead as they made the trip to Anstice B.

However an unlucky in-off on the brown gave Nigel Wallcroft just the chance he needed to clear the last four balls for a 50-46 win to give the home side the lead.

Kirk Stephenson drew Pot Black level though when he won another close frame 58-42 against John Darrock. George Hammond's 64-21 defeat of Harry Jones put the Anstice in front for the second time but further wins for Mick Egan and Neil Pearson secured a 3-2 win for the Oakengates side.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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