With just two matches to go before the Telford Snooker League season reaches its climax Madeley Club Anstice are looking good to claim two of the three divisional titles.

The Memorial Club's A side now have a four point lead over their closest rivals Broseley A and now look almost certain to lift the first division title whilst Anstice C head the third division table ahead of both Maddocks B and Bayley F who have two points fewer.

Anstice A put themselves firmly in the driving seat in Division one when they returned from third placed Coddon A with a resounding 4-1 victory to leave themselves requiring just six points from their two remaining games to lift the title.

Visiting captain Ian Duffy led the way as two breaks of 29 helped him to an opening frame win over Zenon Lembicz - and although Lee Szklarzewicz levelled for last season's runners up by taking the second frame 52-28 against Neil Price - it was the Madeley side who took all three of the remaining frames for a 4-1 victory.

Keith Price put them back in front with a 62-15 success over Darren Weston before Shaun Harris rattled in a 36 break on the way to making it 3-1 against Coddon captain Dave Lloyd

And with Noel Stones taking the last frame too against Ian Ferriday the Madeley side extended their lead at the top of the table to four points as their closest rivals Broseley A could only manage a 3-2 win away at Little Dawley A.

Richie Hulme once again gave Broseley the lead with a 31 break against Ade Henry and things continued to look up for the visitors when Tim Hicks took the next in some style compiling breaks of 40 and 25 on the way to making it 2-0 against Richie Heighway.

Veteran Jesse Lowe stemmed the tide with a stunning performance in the next, defeating Mick Brezwyn on the black before Darren Pountney drew Little Dawley level with a 56-35 win over Paul Humphries.

However Broseley weren't finished yet and Simon McLeod made no mistake in the final frame as he secured a 3-2 win for Broseley with a 54-36 defeat of Graham Wiley to keep his side four points ahead of third placed Coddon A who they play next week.

Maddocks A consolidated their fourth place in the table with a fine 4-1 win at home to struggling Dawley A.

Phil Davis took the opening frame on the black against Steve Nolan before Darren Wincott's 69-31 win over Garry Bradshaw doubled the home side's advantage.

Dave France completed a good 58-20 win over Rick Bailey in the next as the home side took charge of proceedings a fact underlined by Ian Skelton's performance in the next.

Mark Jones broke off only for Ian to rattle in a run of 54 which only ended when he attempted to split the pack of reds leaving himself without a possible pot.

And the home side looked as though they might complete a nap hand as Leigh France took the lead against Chris Woods - but fortunately for Dawley Leigh missed an opportunity to sink the final black enabling Chris to salvage the frame by 53 points 47 to rescue a point for the visitors.

As a result Dawley now lie second from bottom five points adrift of Shifnal F and a point ahead of Wellington Billiard Hall A who fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat at Shifnal A.

Andy Easthope gave the home side the lead and Angus Way, who continued his recent good form which helped him to the Rex Williams Three-a-Side Trophy along with Linsay Knox and Darren Pountney, made it 2-0 by beating Mick Gears.

League Secretary Alan Turner pulled a frame back for the Wellington side with a fine 61-27 victory over John Gallows only for Linsay Knox to restore Shifnal's two frame advantage with a good win over Graham Darrell.

However with the home side unable to field a fifth man the final frame went to the visitors leaving the final score 3-2 to Shifnal.

Minnesota Fats also won by the odd frame when they made the trip to play Wellington Billiard Hall E.

John Wright's 33 clearance saw him snatch victory from the jaws of defeat as he came from behind to take the opening frame against Nigel Stallard on the black.

A Ali made amends for the home side by defeating Steve Collins 65-35 only for Kev West to restore Minnesota's lead with a 73-48 success over Phil Whitby.

Keith Blackham made it 3-1 as he triumphed over Jon Powell but with M Shadab claiming the final frame for the Billiard Hall the Minnesota lads left with just a 3-2 win under their belts.

Anstice D entertained Shifnal F and were victorious by three frames to two but barring any last disastrous slip ups by the Islanders the two points gained should be enough to maintain their first division status next year.

Andy Elliot gained Anstice's first point by beating Wally Harper 53-43 and John Jones made it 2-0 after forcing Chris Painter to concede on the brown at 57-19.

A blue ball win for Spencer Rowley against Nigel Wallcroft put Shifnal back in the game at 61-31 and Dave Peplow looked all set to square the match but for an inspired finish and excellent black by skipper Phil Reynolds which sealed the match for the Madeley lads.

Shifnal skipper Nev Whitehead then returned the compliment by taking the black off Darren Stevens56-52 to leave the home side victorious by the odd frame.

DIVISION 2

It's looking good for the two E teams in Division 2 as Bayley E head the table by a whacking five points ahead of Shifnal E who now look favourites to go up with the Wellington side as their lead over the chasing pack is also a massive five points.

The leaders didn't have things all their own way however as they fell two frames down early on as they entertained Coddon B.

Andy Jones gave the visitors the perfect start with a 67-50 victory over Martin Watkins and Mark Wall followed up by inflicting only a second defeat of the season on home player Steve Hoof.

Andy O'Brien was in no mood to see his side's hopes of lifting the second division trophy diminish and he quickly put his side back in the match with a 78-34 win against Steve Downs.

John Squire followed suit with a 65-21 success over Nick Pearce to force the decider which saw David France come up trumps with a 72-46 win over Phil Szklarzewicz.

The Bayley's victory means that with only two matches remaining they are now certain of returning to division one next year and the chances are that it will be as champions of the second division as they now lead Shifnal E by five points.

Aaron Sparkes victory over Rob Palin set the Shifnal boys on their way to a fourteenth league win and with former English Amateur Champion Matthew Davies following a 102 clearance in his doubles semi final the night before with a 49 break in his league match the home side soon found themselves two up.

Neil Pearson's 69-28 defeat of Rob Edmunds did provide some hope for Minnesota Fats B but it was their only bright spot as Chris Petford and Jeff Sparkes completed a 4-1 victory to keep their side in pole position for the remaining promotion slot.

Little Dawley C now look to be Shifnal's only threat after they disposed of Bayley A by four frames to one.

Mike King set them on their way to a thirteenth win with a 62-30 success over Steve Nicholls and although Steve Fletcher levelled for the Bayley by taking the next against Lee Drinkwater the home side were soon back in front courtesy of Lee Elcock's victory over Arthur Burrows.

Bob Mason put up a determined challenge for the visitors in the next but narrowly failed to prevent Byron Mitchell clearing brown to pink to make it 3-1 to the home side. And with Steve Farrington in inspired form potting them off the lampshades to deny Chris Morgan-Adams Little Dawley move into third spot but they have a lot to do if they are to catch Shifnal E.

Coddon B are a further two points back in fourth - one place above Maddocks C who lost 3-2 at Wellington Billiard Hall C.

Dave Thomas gave them the lead by beating Alex Turnbull 61-35 only for home captain John Rawlins to steal the limelight with two twenty plus breaks on the way to levelling the frame scores against Graham Hoof.

Ian Eldridge also knocked in a 20 break on the way to defeating Joe Oliver as the home side took the lead - and they went further ahead shortly afterwards when Aaron O'Donnell got the better of Billy Rushton on the final black.

However with Colin Smith again in good form, notching a run of 20 in the last against Wayne Weeks, the home side had to settle for a 3-2 win over their Oakengates opponents.

Audco A had their hopes of a fifth league win raised when Mark Matthews set off like a train in the opening frame of their game at Anstice B by knocking in a lovely break of 39 against Danny Weaver.

However his opening frame victory was to prove his side's only win on the night as Stew Wimbush led the rest of his players to a 4-1 win by beating Neil Hendy 51-27 in the next.

An inspired John Darrock rolled back the years with breaks of 22 and 28 as he defeated league newcomer L Grocott to put the Anstice ahead and further wins from George Hammond and Billy Watson completed a good 4-1 victory for the Madeley side.

Coddon C recorded a similar victory when they entertained a Little Dawley G side who had Roy Leneveu as their only winner.

Don Bayliss put the Donnington side in the lead with a 27 break against Pete Frost and Fraser MacKinnon followed up with a run of 31 to deny Chris Leneveu.

A close third frame went the way of Coddon's Matt Bothwell 51-41 against Dave Leneveu and an even closer fourth frame saw Ray Whitehead defeat Graham Copson on the black 55-49.

However Roy Leneveu saved the day for the visitors with a fine 70-31 final frame win over Sef Tusel to leave the final score 4-1 to the Coddon boys.

DIVISION 3

Anstice C did their promotion prospects a power of good when they won the top-of-the-table clash with Maddocks B by a single frame to lead the table by two points with just two matches remaining.

Darren Wilkie maintained his recent good form with a fine win over Doug Morrey to give the Madeley side the lead and the visitors then doubled their advantage through Steve Camp's 68-21 defeat of veteran Les Hicks.

Steve Pritchard's victory over Dave Harper pulled a frame back for the Oakengates side who started the day just a point behind their opponents and they came close to making it two frames all only for Ant Loveitt to lose out on the final black to Jason Mills.

However they did claim a second frame courtesy of John Archer's final frame win over Chris Westwood but it wasn't enough to prevent the Anstice securing their fourteenth win of the season.

That defeat gave third placed Bayley F the chance to close the gap on Maddocks by beating their D team by the odd frame.

A 25 break secured the opening frame for Eddie Whitehead against Darren Rhoades but the "visitors" hit back through Dave Williams' 46-32 win over Andy Summers.

Young Tom Maxfield restored the F Team's lead with a super 21 break against Bill France and the home side made certain of victory when dad Paul Maxfield got the better of Brian Aberdeen in the next.

However the D side had the last say with Dave Dudley seeing off the challenge of Chris Shaw to leave the F team level on points with Maddocks B but having won two matches fewer.

Minnesota Fats C still lie in fourth spot a further five points behind - although as the result of their game is not yet in they may still have a big say in who gets promoted come the end of the season.

Gary Clements gave Little Dawley B the lead as they travelled to Newport British Legion but that lead was only temporary as Alan Munn levelled by taking the second frame from Phil Cottey.

Darren Edwards then gave the Newport side the lead with a 62-32 win over Steve Ward only for the away side to regroup and take the final two frames of the evening through Craig Darrock and Rob Barlow to leave them well placed in mid-table.

And mid-table is where Wellington Billiard Hall F would like to be as they currently languish third from bottom of the table after slipping to a 4-1 home defeat against Shifnal D.

Terry Askew led the way with a fine win over Spencer Clarke and Sanjay Chauhan added to the home side's woes with a 65-41 win over Chris Durham.

Chris Fletcher did pull one back for the Billiard Hall with a good win over Geoff French but it was the home side's only success on a disappointing evening.

Veteran Arthur Aston ended the next frame in style with a 27 clearance to defeat Richard Tranter 54-43 before Barrie Easthope put the seal on a 4-1 win by beating Rob Cook 48-27.

Bayley C welcomed local visitors Wellington Billiard Hall B to the Bayley Club and it was the Billiard Hall who ended up taking the match by the odd frame.

Craig Whitehead was in super form against Paul Gubats to give Bayley an early advantage which included a run of 34. A break which could have been greatly extended with a number of reds still available had it not been for a difficult pink jawing.

Kevin Whitehead then replied for the visitors in tremendous style against averages chasing Jim Lewis. The frame was full of quality, with only four scoring visits to the table being made. Kev had two opportunities to snatch the high break prize, but his runs ended on 31 and 30 respectively.

Chris Haycox then found himself well behind against Gareth Hughes, but he played one of the best matches of his season when he obtained the snooker he needed on the yellow, and gradually sunk all the colours to record an impressive win to claim the Bayley's second point.

However the Billiard Hall team again came straight back thanks to Iain Atkinson's win over Craig Johnson, and then wrapped up the match when Alan Francis showed great determination to hang on in his frame against Ian Johnson to eventually snatch a 3-2 win.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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