The Telford Snooker League's Consolation Cup first round saw two teams from the second division produce minor giant killing acts when both Minnesota Fats B and Maddocks C accounted for first division opposition to move into the last eight of the competition.

Minnesota's cup exploits saw them come out on top against a high-flying Shifnal A side who were chasing a 130 point handicap deficit at the start of play.

The first division outfit set about reducing the visitor's start through John Fallows 71-34 opening frame victory over Mick Egan and they continued to claw back the points when captain Andy Easthope saw off the challenge of Rob Palin by 76 points to 34.

However a stunning performance from Kirk Stevenson saw him turn the tide in favour of the Canongate team as he recorded a super 66-43 win over Linsay Knox to give his side just the fillip they needed.

Simon Biddulph's 75-42 success over Mick Pearson drew Shifnal back in with a shout but it wasn't to be the Islander's night as Angus Way's 50-38 final frame victory over Neil Pearson wasn't sufficient to prevent Minnesota progressing to the next round by a margin of 344 points to 313.

Maddocks C also moved into Round 2 courtesy of a fine win over Dawley Social and they had Graham Hoof to thank for adding to their 30 point handicap when he took the first frame by 61 points to 38 against Barry Roden.

Jim Hill then added a 22 break as Maddocks continued to impress and although it wasn't enough to prevent Mark Jones taking the second frame 66-48 the home side remained in the driving seat thanks to a brilliant win for Colin Smith over Pete Nolan.

Chris Woods' narrow 41-30 defeat of Billy Rushton in the next meant that Rick Bailey came to the table some 77 points adrift against Joe Oliver and despite a brave attempt Rick's 59-42 score line was never sufficient to prevent the match slipping from Dawley's grasp.

Maddocks A also had few problems as they set about reducing Bayley C's 150 point handicap in some style.

Indeed the deficit had been reduced to just 40 points after Phil Davis and Darren Wincott took the first two frames against Mark Taras and Ian Johnson respectively.

Leigh France then weighed in with a 21 break against Chris Haycox as the visitors turned the screw and although Mick Healey stayed right on the heals of Ian Skelton until the last few reds there was nothing he could do to prevent the in-form Maddocks man all but securing his side's place in the next round with a 62-24 win.

That left visiting captain Dave France to complete a comfortable win for his Maddocks team by taking the final frame against Jim Lewis leaving his opposite number Mick Healey to congratulate the visitors on their sportsmanship as the third division side bowed out of this year's competition.

Little Dawley A moved into the quarterfinals of the GM Services Consolation Cup with a devastating display down at the Coddon.

Ade Henry got things rolling with a fine 49 clearance to move the first division side in front, with man of the match Rick Cousins winning the next by over 70 points to give Little Dawley a commanding lead.

Coddon star man Fraser Mackinnon then outplayed Richie Heighway and, aided with a 32 break, began a possible Coddon revival and although Ray Whitehead then levelled the frame scores at two a piece with a fine display against Jesse Lowe bringing Little Dawley's lead back to 62, it wasn't to be the Coddon's night.

Darren Pountney then went on against Sef Tusel and kept things tight eventually winning on the black to extend the visitor's winning margin to 70, giving them a well-deserved passage into the next round.

In the A&D Billiards Cup, league leaders Anstice A's hopes of a league and cup double fell by the wayside as they were beaten by a fine performance from Second Division leaders Bayley E.

The visitors started with 100 handicap points but this was whittled down to 81 following Nick Oakley's opening frame win over Andy O'Brien.

Neil Price further reduced the arrears with a 65-42 success over Steve Hoof and the home side continued in the same vane with Keith Price's 70-47 win over Martin Watkins.

The deficit was now just 37 points but any hopes the Madeley side had of repeating Hills Lane A's double success of last season were soon put in doubt as the visitors took both of the final two frames.

First John Squire produced some excellent snooker to take the fourth frame 71-52 against Noel Stones to leave Ali Jones with a lead to protect as he took on one of the League's most consistent potters Shaun Harris.

And try as he might Shaun was unable to pull back the difference as a fine display from Ali Jones saw the Bayley player claim the final frame by 63 points to 61 to put the Wellington side in the hat for the next round.

Coddon A narrowly avoided a similar fate to the Anstice when they entertained Little Dawley G of the second division and came out on top by a narrow margin of just 16 points.

The visitors made full use of their 140 point start as Dave Leneveu took the opening frame with a superb performance against Ian Ferriday. His 52-39 success suggested that a shock might just be on the cards but the home side rallied superbly to take all four of the remaining frames.

Darren Weston played brilliantly to deny Chris Leneveu as did Lee Szklarzewicz as he accounted for Andy Leneveu to reduce the overall deficit to just 26 points.

Graham Copson's narrow 56-38 defeat at the hands of Coddon captain Dave Lloyd meant that the visitors held a slender four point advantage going into the last and although Roy Leneveu put up some stubborn resistance against former County Champion Zenon Lembicz it was the Donnington man who took the final frame by just 20 points to take Coddon over the winning line.

Coddon B were unable to emulate their A team's success as they fell to fellow second division promotion rivals Wellington Billiard Hall C in a match where both teams received the same start.

Wayne Weeks led the way for the home side with a 32 break on the way to an opening frame victory over Mark Wall. Captain John Rawlins followed suit with an equally impressive performance to deny Andy Jones and although Steve Downs provided some respite for the Coddon with a 59-50 defeat of Dave Cartledge the home side took the final two frames through Alex Turnbull and Ian Eldridge to ease their way into the next round.

Wellington Billiard Hall A won't be joining them though as they lost out in an all first division clash at home to Minnesota Fats A.

The visitors started the day with an extra 30 points start on their opponents and although Graham Darrall took the first frame against Steve Collins for the Billiard Hall by two points the home side failed to make any real impression on the visitors.

Mick Gears also won the next frame for the Wellington side - again by two points in a high-scoring 72-70 win over Jon Wright but it was the visitors who then took control courtesy of Kevin West's 71-43 win over Andy Phelan.

Mick Hughes gave the home side some hope with a 51-43 win over Steve Osborn but it was all in vane as Paul Devey secured Minnesota's place in the third round draw with a 64-37 victory over Alan Turner.

The Canongate club's C team also did well as they too progressed in the competition at the expense of fellow third division side Bayley D.

The Wellington side received 10 points start and must have fancied their chances after captain Darren Rhoades restricted Neil Robinson to victory in the opening frame by a mere five points.

Dave Williams then took the next for the visitors against Bob Lane and the Bayley continued to impress when Dave Dudley got the better of Toby Welsh on the final black.

However the visitors hadn't reckoned on Tom Firmstone producing some fantastic snooker on the way to a good win over Brian Aberdeen and with Dave Welsh taking the final frame 60-20 against Bill France the home side ended the match victorious by 246 points to 193 overall.

They will be joined in the hat by Maddocks B who negotiated a tricky tie with Anstice B by 77 points overall.

Doug Morrey set them on their way with a 70-44 win over Billy Watson as the Oakengates side set about protecting their 50 point handicap.

Veteran Les Hicks kept up the pressure with a 66-55 win over John Darrock before Mick Cahill won Anstice's first frame with a cool 56-29 defeat of John Archer.

Ant Loveitt then took the next for Maddocks by just a single point against George Hammond before Steve Pritchard wrapped things up with a 47-31 final frame victory over Steve Smallwood.

Little Dawley B entertained Shifnal F and went in to bat with 100 points under their belt but it was soon whittled down as the visitors, on the back of a fine win over their A team last week, put in another improved performance.

Wally Harper defeated Gary Clements by 61 points to 21 before Spencer Rowley went on to turn the deficit to an advantage of 8 by beating Craig Darrock.

Nev Whitehead increased their lead to 56 when he overcome Ray Barlow 73-25 and Chris Painter claimed the fourth frame after triumphing over Phil Cottey 71-29 giving the visitors a 98 cushion for Dave Peplow.

But sadly the home side could not field another player and were forced to concede another 72 points leaving Shifnal as comfortable victors overall.

Inter-Town Competition - Round 2

Simon Mcleod was Telford B's hero as the League's two representative sides in this season's Inter-Town competition had mixed fortunes with the B team defeating Shrewsbury B and last year's runners-up Telford A falling at the first hurdle at home to Stourbridge A.

Two black ball games - one on a re-spotted black, put paid to Telford A's hopes as they were beaten 4-3 by Stourbridge A at the Anstice Memorial Club on Friday.

Having lost out in the final last season, Telford were hoping to go one better this time around but their hopes were dashed as Stourbridge held their nerve to take the match by the narrowest of margins.

With the first four frames shared both sides needed just two more for victory as home captain Darren Pountney and Anstice's Nick Oakley took on respective opponents in the shape of Roger Desaules and Paul Hipkiss.

Darren has been in fine form of late and started brightly only to see his opponent claw his way back with a run of 28. Nonetheless the Little Dawley player proceeded to pot all of the colours including the pink to leave himself seven points ahead with just the black remaining.

But it was here that Telford's luck was to change as Roger first clipped the black into the middle pocket before sinking a terrific long pot to take the frame on a re-spotted black to leave Stourbridge requiring just one more frame for victory.

And that frame duly arrived, despite a brave comeback from Nick Oakley who, urged on by his home club supporters, clawed his way back from a 25 point deficit to leave himself requiring just brown and blue to take the match into a deciding frame.

Sadly it wasn't to be however as his opponent, Paul Hipkiss held his nerve to sink pink and black to send Stourbridge through to the last eight.

The home side had started brightly with Shaun Harris knocking in a 36 break on the way to a 60-12 opening frame victory over Ashley Aston.

Neil Price looked all set to double that lead as he set off with an early 31 break only to miss a crucial black which gave Stuart Amos the opportunity to steal the frame with a delightful run of 52 to level the frame scores.

The visitors then went ahead for the first time when Neil Robinson claimed the third frame from Ian Duffy but Telford drew level again through Keith Price's 54-15 defeat of Rob Pitt.

Steve Fletcher's final frame win over Charlie Randle was for Telford sadly academic as it was Stourbridge who progressed to the next round of the competition with a final score of four frames to three.

That defeat meant that Telford B are now left to fly the flag for the Telford League after they disposed of Shrewsbury B with a clinical 5-2 victory.

Having trailed early on through Mark Blomfield's 53-29 defeat of Paul Humphries Telford moved in front courtesy of a solid 63-31 win for Matty Bailey over N Cove and Angus Way's stunning 63-7 defeat of R Howells.

Shrewsbury captain Steve Adams drew his side level again though with a comfortable if slightly fortuitous 72-39 win over Linsay Knox to leave the tie delicately poised at two frames apiece.

The stage was then set for Simon McLeod to steal the limelight with a crucial comeback to take what proved to be a vital fifth frame.

Having been some 28 points behind C Richards on the brown, Simon obtained the two snookers he required before taking the last four balls with a tremendous clearance to eventually take the frame 65-55 to tip the balance in Telford's favour.

That left Tim Hicks to secure Telford's passage into the next round with a solid 61-31 win over I Barker.

And with Simon Biddluph in the wings to claim the final frame as well, 63-42 against Pete Connor, Telford B were able to celebrate a fine victory over what is a good Shrewsbury side.

My thanks to Shifnal's Angus Way for providing the details of the B side's results.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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