The Telford Snooker League Division one title race is beginning to look like a three horse race after last weeks' fixtures saw Broseley A join leaders Anstice A at the top of the table with third placed Coddon A opening up a three point gap over Minnesota Fats A.

Broseley's bright start to the season continued when they claimed their fifth win in six matches by taking all five points from their home tie with newly promoted Wellington Billiard Hall A.

Richie Hulme set the ball rolling as he continued his recent good form by taking the opening frame 66-45 from Phil Whitby.

Tim Hicks took the next on the pink against Chris Morris and the writing was on the wall when John Shepherd made it 3-0 with a 59-20 success over John Powell.

A 27 clearance saw Simon McLeod come from behind to defeat Ray Evans 52-38 and with Nigel Stallard unable to produce his form of the previous week against Anstice, Mick Brezwyn was able to put the seal on a fine 5-0 win for the Broseley men by taking the final frame 49-37.

That win gives Broseley a share of top spot as leaders Anstice A dropped two points at home to Maddocks A.

The Madeley side started brightly with Shaun Harris knocking in a 30 break on the way to an opening frame victory over Darren Wincott.

Phil Davis levelled for Maddocks though with a fine 60-51 win over Neil Price and the visitors then took the lead as Ian Skelton won another close frame 59-45 against Keith Price.

Just as the home side seemed to be staring what would have been only their second defeat of the season, up popped Ian Duffy to restore parity with a brilliant 59-39 win over Mark Finucane and the home side then snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with thanks to Noel Stone's 66-41 deciding frame win over Dave France.

Both the Anstice and Broseley have identical records having won five of their six matches with a total of 25 points - two more than Coddon A who took a huge stride to perhaps repeating last season's success when they finished as runners-up when they beat Shifnal A by five frames to nil.

Shifnal had started the day level on points with their opponents but soon found themselves struggling after Paul Harper had given the visitors the lead with a close 60-47 win over home captain Andy Easthope.

Darren Weston then produced a fine clearance on the colours to snatch the next frame on the black after a valiant display from Nick Browne and the Donnington side continued to impress with Lee Szklarzewicz potting his way to a 63-27 success over Roy Martin.

Ian Ferriday then made it four on the trot against Simon Biddulph - and with the home side unable to field a fifth man Coddon left with five extremely valuable points in the bag.

As a result, Shifnal A drop to fifth place behind Minnesota fats A who recorded a moral-boosting 4-1 win at home to Anstice D.

The Madeley side took an early lead though as John Jones powered his way to an opening frame victory over Steve Collins with the aide of a 32 break.

Steve Osborne's narrow 51-42 defeat of Andy Elliot drew the home side level and they took the lead when Jon Wright got the better of Nigel Wallcroft 67-41.

Keith Blackham then made it 3-1 against Phil Reynolds before Paul Devey wrapped things up with a stylish performance against Darren Stevens.

Wellington Billiard Hall A also won 4-1 when they entertained Little Dawley A.

Morton Hughes led the way by taking the first frame with a 57-34 win over Richie Heighway and Mick Hughes followed suit with a 28 break helping him to a 58-11 triumph over Ade Henry.

Steve Minshall then made it 3-0 against Rick Cousins before the visitors rescued a point through Darren Pountney's 56-23 defeat of Alan Turner.

But with Andy Kendrick completing a 56-28 win over Graham Wiley in the last the Wellington side secured their fourth win of the season.

The clash of the bottom of the table between Dawley & Shifnal F was always likely to be on the cards as a 3-2 result - and that's just how it turned out with Dawley having the edge.

Chris Woods got them off too a good start by beating Dave Peplow 47-24. Dave playing in his unusual role of first man found he couldn't pull back the 19 lead Chris held from the yellow and the home side were one up.

Mark Jones then came up trumps against Spencer Rowley making it 2-0 in a frame where mark took some excellent shots to win 62-37.

Chris Painter then pulled back a point for Shifnal as he pipped Gaz Bradshaw on the black 65-58.

Veterans Rick Bailey and Wally Harper then took centre stage where Wally had the edge up to the green but then Rick took all five balls to win yet another black ball game 47-33.

Barry Roden nearly made it 4-1 when he took Nev Whitehead to the black and while he had a reasonable chance in middle pocket it was the league president who sealed the frame 68-55

DIVISION 2

It couldn't be closer at the top of Division 2 with just three points separating the top five teams.

There were mixed fortunes for the three sides who started the day in joint top spot as Bayley E made that position their own with a 4-1 win over Maddocks C. Bayley A drop one place to second following a 3-2 win at home to Wellington Billiard Hall C whilst Coddon C lost out to their B side in the deciding frame.

Bayley E said a fond farewell to Martin Watkins who played his last match before moving down south - Martin was one of the league's most improved players over the past couple of years as evidenced by his inclusion in the Telford A side which finished runners-up in the Inter-Town last season and he will be much missed by his team-mates as well as his friends throughout the league.

He signed off in style though with a 70-24 win over Graham Hoof and the Bayley went further in front when Steve Hoof got the better of Jim Hill by 70 points to 56 in a high-scoring frame.

John Squire's 31 break against Dave Thomas made it 3-0 before Joe Oliver pulled a frame back for Maddocks with a superb 72-44 success over Ali Jones.

However Dave France's final frame victory over Billy Rushton ensured that his side finished the day in top spot one point ahead of their fellow club-mates Bayley A.

The Wellington side entertained near neighbours Wellington Billiard Hall E and they soon found themselves trailing after Ian Eldridge took the fist frame for the Billiard Hall with a 26 break against Bob Mason.

Steve Nicholls maintained his own one hundred percent start to the season with a solid 58-22 win over visiting skipper John Rawlins to draw the Bayley level only to see them fall behind once mare as Wayne Weeks got the better of Arthur Burrows.

The equilibrium was restored soon afterwards as Chris Morgan-Adams beat off the challenge of Aaron O'Donnell before Steve Fletcher secured the Bayley's fifth consecutive win in an eventful final frame against Alex Turnbull in which the Bayley captain made a 47 break before suffering a bout of cramp in his right lag whilst stretching to play a long shot - much to the amusement of his fellow club-mates.

There was no cramping Coddon B's style however as they set about inflicting only a second league defeat of the season on Coddon C.

Don Bayliss gave the C side the lead in what was to become a keenly contested derby clash, with a black ball triumph over Andy Jones.

Fraser MacKinnon increased their lead soon afterwards with a 58-34 defeat of Mark Wall only for the "home" side to hit back by taking all three of the remaining frames.

First Alan Garmson got the better of John Whitehouse before Steve Downs won a close fourth frame 57-42 against Matt Bothwell.

That left Phil Szklarzewicz to battle out the deciding frame against Ray Whitehead - and Phil duly secured the frame for the B string after a close tussle, eventually taking the frame 65-56 to leave his own side just seven points behind the leaders.

Their defeat leaves Coddon C in third place, a point behind Bayley A and two adrift of Bayley E.

There are now two teams level on 21 points both sharing fourth place after Little Dawley C beat Shifnal E by the odd frame - to leave the two teams exactly tied.

Aaron Sparkes won the battle of the young guns with a narrow 47-35 victory over Byron Mitchell before Lee Elcock levelled matters with a fin win over Aaron's dad Jeff.

Victory over Ray Edmunds saw Steve Farrington restore the home side's lead only for Chris Petford to claim the next for Shifnal with a 58-24 success over Rob Withington.

But the evening belonged to Little Dawley as Mike King settled the match with a 72-59 defeat of Rob Wright to leave the two sides level with each other in fourth place.

Anstice B celebrated their first win of the season when they came out on top with a 3-2 win away to Minnesota Fats B.

Danny Weaver took the first frame on the black for the Madeley side against Mick Pearson and they doubled their advantage when Billy Watson took the next frame, also on the black, against Rob Palin.

Neil Pearson pulled a frame back for the home side with a 60-40 success over George Stew Wimbush only for George Hammond to take the glory with a 55-31 victory over Mick Egan.

However the Anstice had to settle for three well-earned points as Kirk Stephenson took the final frame of the evening with a 61-38 defeat of Mick Cahill to leave the Madeley side victorious by the odd frame.

Audco A were another side celebrating a welcome return to form as their second win of the season came courtesy of a 4-1 success against newly promoted Little Dawley G.

Neil Hendy's 52-34 win over Roy Leneveu preceded Pete Smith's victory over Pete Frost as the home side raced into an early lead.

Ray Hendy increased their advantage against Dave Leneveu and the whitewash looked to be on the cards when Chris Austin won the fourth frame too against Chris Leneveu.

Thankfully for the visitors Graham Copson was on hand to save their blushes as he rescued a point with a final frame victory.

DIVISION 3

Bayley Teams F and B lead the way in Division 3 although the table is a little distorted with former leaders Anstice C's result not yet in.

The F team have a share of the top slot and are looking a possible good bet for promotion as they have an extra game in hand over Bayley B who also have 21 points.

Paul Maxfield's 57-44 win over Mick Guest gave F team their lead away at Shifnal D but Terry Askew levelled matters with a fine win over promising youngster Tom Maxfield.

Chris Shaw put the visitors in front again with a good win over Shifnal favourite Arthur Aston and the visitors continued to lead the way with Eddie Whitehead and Andy Summers taking the last two frames against George Nelson and Barrie Easthope respectively.

Bayley B came close to promotion last year - and they will no doubt be knocking on the door again this season after a 3-2 win over Newport British Legion leaves them well placed at the top end of the table.

Dickie Oliver paved the way to their fifth win of the campaign by taking the opening frame against Manjit Gidda.

Kelvin McLeod made it 2-0 with a fine win over Alan Munn and the Wellington side made certain of victory when Danny Oliver got the better of Keith Gardner.

However thee home side were unable to sustain the momentum as first Darren Edwards and then Alan Davies rescued the final two frames for Newport against Dickie Beddall and Robin Sturmey respectively.

Bayley C on the other hand lost out by the odd frame as they entertained Minnesota Fats C and continue to languish at the wrong end of the table after picking up countless 3-2 defeats.

But after going 3-0 down at home to Minnesota Fats, they will be pleased this week, to have carded the same scoreline again.

Neil Robinson got the Fats off to a good start as some fine baulk to baulk safety play proved to be the backbone of his 79-21 win over Mark Taras.

Dave Welsh then wrapped up the second frame against Chris Haycox to give the Canongate lads a 2-0 lead.

Craig Whitehead, for once was unable to chalk up Bayley's first point of the night as Tom Firmstone ran out a 64-38 winner with the aid of a composed 24 break.

The Wellington lads then welcomed back Jim Lewis fresh from his holiday in Rhodes, and he promptly turned things around with a 58-27 victory over Toby Welsh. However, the frame was interrupted by the comical incident on table 1, where Steve Fletcher had contracted a bout of cramp during his frame, and was hopping around the table to the laughter of all.

Bayley skipper Mick Healey then took on Bob Lane and sought to add some respectability to the scoreline. He swiftly opened up a 20 point lead, but the visitor pulled himself back into the frame, to the point where the black was the only ball remaining. Cheers went up from the Fats entourage when Bob sunk the long black, but they were somewhat premature, as the white sailed into the opposite corner pocket to hand the frame the home side.

Bayley D failed to build on last weeks' long overdue victory when they fell to a 3-2 defeat away at Little Dawley B.

They can perhaps consider themselves a little unlucky however as Darren Rhoades lost out by just two points as Gary Clemence took the first frame for Little Dawley on the black.

Brain Aberdeen made amends by taking the next against Ray Clemence only for Phil Cottey to restore the home side's lead with a 50-32 success over Dave Williams.

Another black ball finish saw frame four go the way of Little Dawley as Snowy Darrock made it 3-1 with a single point victory over Bill France but the visitors had the final say with Dave Dudley claiming the last frame with a 64-31 win over Rob Barlow.

CUE ZONE

Visitors to the British Open Snooker Championships at the Telford Exhibition Centre this week have been given the rare opportunity to have a go themselves by trying their luck at one of the competitions or coaching sessions on offer in the World Snooker Association's Cue Zone.

Professional player and coach Andrew Highfield says the CueZone is a great opportunity for people to come and play the game and receive free advice and coaching.

Throughout this week Andrew has been giving free coaching sessions to aspiring players of all ages and abilities as well as running the twice-daily "Red Hot Potting" competition where the aim is to pot as many reds as possible in 60 seconds.

American and English pool is also available along with a computerized snooker game for the more technical players amongst us.

Some of the professional players often drop in to sign autographs and it has been a great place for the youngsters to learn more about the game - although it's not only the younger players who have benefited from coaching as the coaching sessions are open to all ages.

The Cue Zone is open from 1,00pm till 7.00pm on Friday and from approximately 11.30am till 6.00pm on Saturday and on Sunday when the competition finishes - so why not pop along for some free advice on improving your potting skills. Coaching sessions last for 20 minutes at a time and can be booked by simply asking Andrew for a time slot.

Andrew is pictured giving some tips to Tom Maxfield who, at nine years old is the youngest player playing in the Telford League.

Tom is a pupil at Ketley Junior School and plays for the Sir John Bayley Club in Wellington. He has been playing snooker for about 2 ½ years and hopes to one day play professionally.

STEVE DAVIS AT THE BRITISH OPEN

Six-times World Snooker Champion Steve Davis was delighted with his performance in the first round of the British Open being staged at the Telford International Centre this week after coming from behind to defeat Northern Ireland's Gerard Greene.

The drama continued in the final frame as the 45 year-old again found himself behind and having to take all the colours balls for victory.

Inevitably it all came down to the final ball - and to the delight of the spectators Davis rolled back the years with what he later described as a "great black" by rolling in a long black from tight under the cushion to clinch the match by five frames to three.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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