The Big Guns of the Telford Snooker League came face to face last week as Division One leaders Anstice A took on fellow title hopefuls Broseley A in a game that could go a long way to deciding this season's League Championship.

And as expected it proved to be a close run thing with Nick Oakley the hero for the Anstice with a nail-biting 56-44 deciding frame victory over Mick Brezwyn to leave his side two points clear of Broseley with third placed Coddon A a further three points adrift.

Broseley marksman Richie Hulme started the day one game ahead of Shaun Harris in the race for the most wins in Division One - so when the top two players in the top flight came face to face in the opening frame there was sure to be some quality snooker on display.

And the game certainly lived up to its billing with Shaun completing a 66-40 victory with a 36 break to claim his eleventh win of the season.

Anstice's lead didn't last long however as Tim Hicks rose to the occasion with a super display to deny his former team-mate Ian Duffy to draw Broseley level. The game then swung the way of the visitors when Paul Humphries got the better of Keith Price on the black only for the Anstice to take the final two frames to take the match 3-2.

Neil Price's 69-56 defeat of visiting captain John Shepherd set the scene for a final frame showdown between Nick Oakley and Mick Brezwyn - and it was the home player who held his nerve in a tight deciding frame to record a 56-44 win which puts his side two points clear at the top of the table.

Last season's runners-up Coddon A have got some catching up to do as they now lie five points behind Anstice A following on from their 3-2 home win over Shifnal F.

Ian Ferriday opened for Coddon with some fine potting to record an excellent 55-10 win over Spencer Rowley.

Wally Harper retaliated to square the frames by out-pointing Terry Brenthall 50-16 before Lee Szklarzewicz made it 2-1 for Coddon as he wrapped up his frame on the brown against Nev Whitehead 73-34.

Zenon Lembicz then ensured Coddon of their ninth win of the season as the former County Champion produced some of his old potting ability chalking up breaks of 39 and 32 on the way to a convincing win over Chris Painter who conceded on the yellow.

Dave Peplow now playing back in his familiar role of anchor man gained the last point for the Islanders with victory over Coddon skipper Dave Lloyd 62-31 to leave the Donnington side with 38 points from 13 games - two points ahead of Maddocks A who fell to only their fifth defeat as they entertained Anstice D.

The Madeley side had former Telford Individual Champion Adam Moore on hand to give them the lead against an out-of-sorts Phil Davis. Adam proved too strong on the colours and took the opening frame 58-28 to give the visitors the lead.

That lead was soon to be doubled as John Jones knocked in a 28 break to deny Darren Wincott 66-52 to put the Madeley side in the driving seat.

Ian Skelton, having made a 122 break in practice the night before, continued to shine giving Phil Reynolds few chances in the next frame as Ian reduced the deficit to 2-1 with some fine potting.

And the home side looked as though they might draw level when Leigh France slotted home the final black to force his game with Nigel Wallcroft to a re-spotted black - but it wasn't to be his night as he went in-off to give Nigel the frame by 65 points to 58 as the visitors stretched their lead to 3-1.

Maddocks captain Dave France was in no mood to see his side slip further adrift though and made no mistake in the last frame of the evening with a 62-38 victory over Darren Stevens.

Shifnal A made up for last week's defeat at Dawley Social with a fine 4-1 win at home to Minnesota Fats A.

John Fallows has been in excellent form for Shifnal - both in the Telford League and in the West Midlands League on a Thursday night - and once again he was unstoppable, notching a 34 break on the way to taking the first frame against Kev Blackham.

Angus Way increased Shifnal's lead when he took the second frame by the narrowest of margins, slotting home the final black for a 51-50 win over Steve Collins and the home side benefited from another black ball finish when Linsay Knox got the better of Paul Devey 56-53 in the next.

Steve Osborn clinched a well-earned point for the visitors when he came out on top against home captain Andy Easthope 74-33 only for Simon Biddulph to wrap up a fine 4-1 win for Shifnal by taking the final frame from Kev West.

Their win leaves Shifnal in joint fourth place with Maddocks - but both teams will have to get their skates on if they are to make up the seven points gap between themselves and leaders Anstice A.

Little Dawley A's recent good form came to an end when the wheels fell off against Wellington Billiard Hall E

Darren Pountney got them off to his usual good start, and although not firing on all cylinders he overcame a stubborn Nigel Stallard by 63-20.

In the next, Richie Heighway was below par and several good long pots by Phil Whitby saw the Billiard Hall level as Phil took the frame by 59 points to 29.

Jesse Lowe then came up against an inspired John Powell who potted several tremendous balls to run out a deserved winner to put the visitors into the lead.

Graham Wiley then potted steadily throughout his frame with M Shebab but seemed to run out of ideas when he got to the colours, eventually losing the frame on the black ball and although the match was already out of reach for the home side, Ade Henry dug deep to overcome A Ali by 53-43 to leave the final frame score 3-2 to the Billiard Hall boys.

DIVISION 2

Bayley E seem to be on course for a quick return to Division One as they still head the second division table by four points despite falling to only their third defeat of the season away to Wellington Billiard Hall C.

They started brightly though with Martin Watkins compiling a 48 break on the way to taking the first frame from Ian Eldridge.

The home side replied through captain John Rawlins who won a tight frame against Andy O'Brien 52-41 to draw his side level at one frame apiece.

Steve Hoof then put the visitors back in front again with a 58-42 win over Dave Cartledge but it was the Billiard Hall side who maintained their own push for promotion by taking the last two frames for a 3-2 win.

Alex Turnbull squared things up once more with a 67-39 success over Chris Owen to leave Wayne Weeks to secure the deciding frame with a late night 46-36 triumph over Ali Jones.

Despite their loss the Bayley side still look odds on favourites for promotion as they hold a four point lead over Shifnal E who did their promotion prospects no harm at all with an excellent 4-1 win at home to Little Dawley G.

With Rob Wright promoted from team captain to his team's Director of Snooker it was left to Aaron Sparkes to give Shifnal the lead with a fine display against Pete Frost.

Jeff Sparkes made it 2-0 with a 57-40 success over Dave Leneveu before Matt Davies joined in with a 45 break against Ray Leneveu to make it 3-0.

Rob Edmunds was unable to continue the trend though as Chris Leneveu pulled a frame back for the visitors with an excellent 47-25 victory only for Chris Petford to continue his own fine season with a good 58-23 win over Graham Copson.

That 4-1 win leaves the Shifnal side two points ahead of both Bayley A and Wellington Billiard Hall C - who both have 38 points from 13 games.

The Bayley side were lucky to come out on top against a battling Audco side - and they had Arthur Burrows to thank for ensuring they notched their ninth win of the season.

Arthur had to pot each of the last four balls in separate visits to the table to pip Pete Smith 51-47 on the black to set up a deciding frame finish which saw Steve Fletcher complete a 3-2 win for the Bayley.

Chris Morgan-Adams had earlier given the home side the lead with a 68-28 success over Richard Hendy but the Newport side replied with some fine potting from Neil Hendy as he accounted for the ever-improving Dennis Fletcher to draw his side level.

Chris Austin's victory over Bob Mason then put the visitors in front only for the Bayley to take both of the remaining frames for a 3-2 win.

The promotion race in this division looks set to go all the way to the final games of the season as there are no fewer than seven teams all within five points of second spot - and one of those is Coddon C who returned from Anstice B with a 3-2 win under their belts.

A 31 break from Danny Weaver was enough to give Anstice the opening frame against Fraser MacKinnon but the Donnington side hit back through Matt Bothwell's 68-39 defeat of John Darrock.

Don Bayliss then put Coddon in front with a fine win over Mick Cahill and they continued to dominate proceedings when Sef Tusel took the next frame too from Stew Wimbush with the aide of a 29 break.

However the Anstice finished the stronger with Steve Smallwood securing the final frame on the black against John Whitehouse leaving the Coddon to settle for three points and joint fifth spot with Little Dawley C.

Coddon B and Maddocks C share seventh spot on 35 points each after mixed fortunes in their respective games last week.

Maddocks continued their winning start to the New Year with their second successive 3-2 win away at Minnesota Fats B.

Mick Pearson gave the home side the lead on the black against Dave Thomas only for Graham Hoof to draw Maddocks level with a 45-36 win over Kirk Stevenson.

Jim Hill made no mistake in the next as he accounted for Mick Egan to put Maddocks in front for the first time and they secured the match when Bill Rushton got the better of Rob Palin by 46 points to 33.

However the home side stole the final frame with a fine performance from Neil Pearson as he kept his nerve to win a close game 48-50 against Colin Smith.

Little Dawley C kept their promotion hopes intact with a fine 3-2 win over Coddon B and they took the lead when Lee Elcock defeated Bob Dando 59-21 in the opening frame.

Mike King then extended their lead still further with an excellent 31 break in his 60-39 success over Steve Downs but the visitors responded in style as Andy Jones pulled them back into contention with a fine win over home captain Steve Farrington.

Nick Pearce's 66-55 defeat of Byron Mitchell then drew the Donnington side level but it was the home side who eventually claimed the spoils with Lee Drinkwater's final frame victory over Phil Szklarzewicz.

DIVISION 3

Bayley F take over as new leaders of Division 3 after former leaders Anstice C suffered a shock defeat away to Bayley B.

Darren Wilkie won his twelfth game out of thirteen to put the Madeley side in front but the home side hit back immediately through Danny Oliver whose 62-33 victory over Dave Harper made things all square again after Darren had taken the opening frame 43-33 against Kelvin McLeod.

Dickie Oliver's 40-29 win over Jason Mills gave the Bayley the lead and they made certain of recording a sixth win of the season when Dickie Beddall defeated Kev Smith in the next.

However the visitors claimed the final frame through Frank Williams' 61-36 victory over Robin Sturmey to secure what could prove to be a vital second frame for the Madeley side who drop to second place - a point behind Bayley F who won 4-1 at Newport British Legion B.

Young Tom Maxfield led the way for the league's newcomers with a superb victory over Alan Davies and although Keith Gardner drew the home side level by taking the second frame against Paul Maxfield all three of the remaining frames went the way of the Bayley.

Eddie Whitehead restored the visitor's lead with a fine 57-26 defeat of Darren Edwards before Chris Shaw and Andy Summers rounded off an excellent win for the Bayley by taking the final two frames from John Yapp and Mike Doverskog respectively.

Third placed Minnesota Fats C have some catching up to do though if they intend claiming one of the two promotion slots as they are now five points off second spot following a 3-2 win over a Bayley D side whose fortunes took something of a nose dive last week after recently showing some signs of improvement.

Lucky Mascot Aubrey Massey could do nothing to prevent the Wellington side slipping to their seventh defeat of the season - as they sank to fifth in the table.

Tom Firmstone's 45-35 defeat of Dave Williams gave the home side the early advantage and although captain Darren Rhoades salvaged the next frame for the Bayley against Andy Beech the home side regained the lead through Dave Welsh.

Bob Lane's 41-17 success over Brian Aberdeen put the Canongate side 3-1 up but they were unable to put any more daylight between themselves and the Bayley as Dave Dudley rescued another point for the home side with a 52-38 win over Toby Welsh.

Bayley C seem to be swimming in the right direction though after they recorded their first 5-0 win for over four seasons and sounded a timely "we're coming after you" message to staunch rivals Bayley D when the teams meet next week.

Skipper Mike Healey was keen to see a 4-1 defeat from when Bayley travelled to Shifnal D early in the campaign reversed, and sent his big guns out early to try and get points on the board.

But it wasn't looking like things were all going to plan, as John Bethall Trophy champion Craig Whitehead was forced to sink the final 3 colours on his way to collecting his side's first frame against Mick Guest.

However, any luck the visitors enjoyed in the first frame quickly went "south" in the second frame, with super cool Jim Lewis continuing his great form by defeating Terry Askew on the yellow, 69-27.

Chris Haycox played one of his best frames of the season as he took control of the third frame against Sanjay Chauhan, and was "coasting" on the colours. But the Islander showed great character to fight back to take Chris to the black, only to go in-off and hand the Bayley a 3-0 lead.

Mark Taras extended the home team's advantage when Arthur Aston decided 3 snookers on the pink was one too many to pull back, and with Ian Johnson continuing to show improved form of late, taking the fifth frame 54-20 against Barry Easthope, the Bayley completed an unlikely 5-0 result which left captain Mick Healey "staggered".

Wellington Billiard Hall B joined Little Dawley B on 30 points when they beat the Little Dawley side by three frames to two.

Phil Cottey gave the visitors from Little Dawley the perfect start with a 64-23 win over Gareth Hughes and things continued to go their way as Mike Rhodes got the better of Alan Francis on the black.

Kevin Whitehead replied for the Billiard Hall, winning another close frame 47-34 against Rob Barlow only for Gary Clements to take the next for the visitors against Iain Atkinson.

But the home side had the final say with Roy Francis saving another point with a final frame victory over Craig Darrock to leave the visitors victorious by just the odd frame.

Maddocks B also won by a single frame when they entertained Wellington Billiard Hall F.

Doug Morrey slotted home the final black to give him victory over Steve Weatherall in the opening frame but the visitors hit back through Chris Fletcher's fine 47-34 win over John Archer.

Veteran Les Hicks restored Maddocks' lead with a high-scoring 72-62 win over Rob Cook and the home side secured their tenth win of the season - more than any other team in the division - when Ant Loveitt got the better of Richard Tranter in Frame Four.

However the visitors took the last frame of the evening thanks to Steve William's 52-32 victory over Tony O'Neil to leave Maddocks victorious overall by three frames to two - and overall fourth place in the table with 30 points.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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