Reigning Champions Hills Lane A took another huge stride to retaining their Telford Snooker League crown when they defeated a new look Coddon A side by four frames to one last week.

Matt Bailey set them on their way by taking the opening frame against Zenon Lembicz before former national champion Matthew Davies recorded a break of 56 on the way to taking the second frame from Lee Szklarzewicz.

Coddon then gave debuts to two new players from the Manchester area as Graham Walls and Mark Miller attempted to retrieve the situation for the visitors.

Although Graham pulled one frame back with a 57-43 defeat of Ian Duffy, a 48 break from Shaun Harris saw him restore the home side's two frame advantage as he took the fourth frame 82-22 against the other new boy.

And with Darren Pountney taking the final frame of the evening against Darren Weston, the Champions further cemented their position at the head of the table whilst condemning one of their closest rivals to their first defeat of the season.

The Madeley side now lead Coddon by a massive five points and although the Donnington side still hold on to second place they are now joined on twelve points by both Anstice A and Broseley

The Anstice recorded their third win out of four when they took three important points from their trip to Maddocks A.

Mark Finucane gave the home side the lead by taking the opening frame on the black against Adam Moore but the tables were soon turned as the two Price brothers, Neil and Keith took the next couple of frames against Ian Skelton and Darren Wincott respectively.

Phil Reynolds then extended the visitor's lead with a close 58-43 win over home captain Dave France before Leigh France saved another point for Maddocks by claiming the fifth and final frame against Nick Oakley.

Broseley also share second place despite falling to their first defeat of the season away to a rejuvenated Shifnal A side.

The home side welcomed professional pool player Craig Reynolds back to snooker league action by giving Craig his first outing of the season, and he didn't let them down with a 57-37 win over Richie Hulme.

Linsay Knox then doubled the home side's lead with an impressive 59-40 win over Mick Brezwyn before the visitors rallied by taking the next two frames through John Shepherd and Paul Humphries.

However any hopes Broseley may have had of completing the comeback were soon dashed by John Fallows' 49 break which saw him safely to victory to take the deciding frame from Kelvin McLeod for a 3-2 win to Shifnal.

Little Dawley A claimed their first win of the season as they travelled to Bayley A and came away the victors by four frames to one.

Jesse Lowe set them on their way by taking the first frame on the black against Dennis Fletcher and visiting captain Rick Cousins continued the trend by taking then next over Bob Mason.

Richie Heighway's victory over Arthur Burrows made it three before the Bayley's star of the evening, young Sam Morgan-Adams took centre stage in place of the injured Steve Fletcher.

Sam, playing in his first ever league match at the young age of twelve, kept his composure throughout a tense frame and almost snatched victory when the pink stopped just an inch short of the middle pocket.

However his opponent Ray Clements eventually potted pink and then the black to put the visitors into a commanding four frames to nil lead.

Thankfully for the Bayley, Sam's dad Chris did manage to salvage a point for the home side with a 58-29 final frame success over Graham Wiley but it wasn't enough to prevent the home side slipping to their fourth successive defeat.

DIVISION 1

Coddon C are the new leaders of the Second Division following an emphatic 4-1 win at home to Pot Black D.

Neal Pearson's 66-33 win over Fraser Mackinnon equalized Matt Botthwell's opening frame defeat of Rob Palin, but Neal was to be Pot Black's only winner on the night as the home side reeled off the next three frames.

Don Bayliss put them in front before Ray Whitehed made certain of victory with a 61-28 triumph over Mick Pearson.

And with Sef Tusel taking the last frame from Kirk Stephenson on the black, Coddon were left to celebrate their third win in six games - a win which puts them on 17 points overall, one point ahead of four teams tied together on 16 points.

One of those teams is Shifnal E and they were well pleased with their 3-2 home win over rivals Shifnal F.

Wally Harper gave the away side the first frame defeating young Richie Jones 67-19. Breaks of 19 & 20 gave Wally an early lead which he comfortably held before forcing his young opponent to concede on the brown.

Father & son team, Jeff and Arron Sparkes took the next two frames with Arron forcing Chris Painter to require two snookers on the pink whilst dad Jeff had to pot the last black against Ivor Peplow to give his side a 2-1 lead.

Rob Wright made the match secure by using the 'cocked hat' approach on the final pink to defeat Nev Whitehead 61-43 only for Spencer Rowley to restore some moral for the F side by winning a hard fought battle against Chris Petford 54-43 in the final frame of the evening.

League new boys Audco A continue to perform well in this division and last week was no exception as they defeated Shifnal D by three frames to two to move into joint second spot with four wins now from their opening six games.

Wayne Unitt won a close first frame 58-43 against Simon Ackland to give Audco the lead and Neil Hendy then made it two nil by defeating Barrie Easthope 54-29.

Back came the visitors though as their two Micks pulled them level again at two frames each. First Mick Guest saw off the challenge of Richard Hendy before Mick Smith made the frame scores all square by beating Anthony Heathcote 48-34.

But with Mike Matthews claiming the deciding frame over Geoff French by 48 points to 35, the home side were able to secure their fourth win of the season so far.

Wellington Billiard Hall E's stay at the top was only a brief one. They may have started the day at the top of the table but a 4-1 home defeat to Coddon B saw the Wellington side slip to a share of second place - just one point ahead of their opponents who now have 15 points from their six games played.

Things looked to be going smoothly for the home side though as Nigel Stallard's 18 break proved to be the difference as he gave the Billiard Hall the lead with a 48-35 win over Tony Garmston.

However a narrow 53-43 win for Nick Pearce over John Powell drew Coddon level and they didn't have to wait long to go in front as Phil Szklarzewicz and Mark Wall took the next two frames over Chris Morris and Paul Wilkes respectively.

And despite a brave fight from Ray Evans, he was unable to stop Steve Downs taking the final frame by 71 points to 42 to seal an excellent victory for the Donnington side.

Wellington Billiard Hall C join their E team on 16 points following a 3-2 win away to their X side.

This match was quality through and through as Dave Blagbrough gave the C team the perfect start with a 40 break against A Khan.

D Khan replied for the X men as he knocked in a 31 break early on in his frame against John Rawlins. However the C team captain rallied with breaks of 25 and 27 to take the frame 59-39 for a 2-0 lead to the "visitors".

A Ali and M Shabir took the next two frames for the X men though as the fightback looked to be on the cards - but with Paul Lucas notching a 28 break against M Shadab in the final frame, it was the C team who eventually emerged the victors by the odd frame to maintain their push towards Division 1 status.

Maddock C did their promotion hopes no harm at all as they returned home from Pot Black A with all five points safely in the bag.

Graham Hoof and Dave Thomas gave Maddocks an early 2-0 lead with wins over Toby Welsh and Graham Firmstone.

Jimmy Hill and Joe Oliver have obviously been getting in many hours of practice on Joe's new snooker table at his home, as they both won their respective frames to increase Maddocks' lead to four frames.

And with Billy Rushton also winning his frame against Neil Pearson on the black, the visitors left happy in the knowledge that they are now only two points off the lead.

DIVISION 3

Little Dawley C continue to lead the way in Division 3 after a resounding 4-1 success at home to Bayley D.

But it wasn't as easy as it sounds as Mike King only narrowly got the better of Dave Williams 57-45 to give the home side the lead.

Darren Rhoades soon levelled matters with an excellent win over young Byron Mitchell only for Lee Drinkwater to restore Little Dawley's lead with another close win, 49-39 over visiting captain Steve Lane.

Steve Farrington then took the next by an even closer margin as he potted the final black for a 44-39 win over Bill France before a run of 23 by Lee Elcock put paid to Dave Dudley's chances in the last.

Little Dawley therefore increased their lead over second placed Maddocks B to three points after the Oakengates side suffered their first defeat of the season at home to Hills Lane B.

The ever-dependable Les Hicks gave Maddocks the lead as he defeated Steve Weaver in the opening frame. However Steve Powell and Lee Harris reversed things round for Hills Lane by taking the next two frames from Doug Morrey and John Archer.

Richie Jones then made it 3-1 to the visitors before Tony O'Neil saved another point for Maddocks with a 46-23 success over Andy Morris.

Anstice C now join Hills Lane in third spot on eleven points following a 4-1 home win over Maddocks D.

The home side raced into an early three frames lead thanks to Jason Mills who took the first frame from Roy Lowe and further wins from John Smith and Andy Elliott.

Roy Adams saved a point for Maddocks as he took the fourth frame 58-25 from Frank Williams only for Steve Camp to deny Brendan Wincott in the final frame to give the Anstice four very valuable points as they try to stay in touch with the early leaders.

Bayley C recorded their fourth straight 3-2 scoreline last week against visitors Wellington Billiard Hall F, but it was a match in which the Bayley lads took only 2 points.

Craig Whitehead again put the home side in front early doors with the help of a run of 23 and two breaks in the high teens. Solid all round play gave Craig a lead of 45 with only one red left, and it was sufficient for an out of form Rob Cook to concede soon after with the score on 71-25.

Craig Johnson then attempted to frighten all the pockets on the table with hard hitting before taking a scrappy frame for the Bayley against Chris Durham to extend the lead to 2-0.

Bayley's Jim Lewis again left it late to come into the frame against Richard Tranter. But on this occasion he could only secure one of the two snookers Richard had forced him to obtain, before accidentally potting the final pink to hand the visitors their first point of the night.

Next door neighbours Les Frances and Hall's Steve Weatherall then enjoyed a mighty struggle, before Steve claimed the frame 52-44 to take the match to 2-2.

With Bayley's regular anchorman Pete Woody Woodcock unavailable, it was up to Mick Healey to experience the pressure of a deciding frame against Chris Fletcher, however it was the visitor who did just enough to allow his team to return to the Hall with the final three points of the match.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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