With the new Telford Snooker League season just four weeks old, second division Coddon C are now the only team with four wins out of four as they lead the race for promotion to division one on "goal difference" ahead of Bayley E.

The Donnington side's 3-2 victory over Wellington Billiard Hall C sees them on fourteen points - the same as Bayley E who lie second by virtue of having won three of their opening four matches.

But the Coddon had to come from behind after Alex Turnbull had given the Billiard Hall the lead with a 52-31 win over Don Bayliss.

Frazer MacKinnon levelled for the home side soon afterwards though with a close 56-43 defeat of Dave Cartledge and although the visitors took the lead again through captain John Rawlins it was the Donnington side who claimed the final two frames through Sef Tusel and Ray Whitehead to maintain the only hundred percent record left in the entire league.

Bayley E continued their promising start to the season with a thumping 5-0 home win over newly promoted Little Dawley C, who despite this result still lie third - a point adrift of the leaders.

Martin Watkins set the scene with a 29 break against Byron Mitchell and the Wellington side were assured of their third win of the season when Andy O'Brien and Steve Hoof took the next two frames as well against Mike King and Lee Drinkwater respectively.

Ali Jones then weighed in with a 47 break to deny Lee Elcock leaving John Squire to finish with a flourish as he compiled a run of 33 against Rob Withington.

That win sets the E side up nicely for next week's derby clash with Bayley A who returned home from Little Dawley G with a creditable 3-2 win.

Steve Nicholls was in devastating form to deny Pat Frost in the opening frame and the visitors increased their lead when Steve Fletcher took the next on the brown against Daz Leneveu.

Bob Mason then made it 3-0 with an assured display against Chris Leneveu only for the home side to reply through Graham Copson's victory over Arthur Burrows and Roy Leneveu's fine comeback against Chris Morgan-Adams.

The Bayley man knocked in a beautiful 34 break only to lose out on the final black as the home side rallied by taking the last two frames of the evening.

Maddocks C's 5-0 away win at Audco A sees them move swiftly up to joint third place with thirteen points from four games. Dave Thomas and Graham Hoof took the first two frames for the Oakengates club and they never looked back as Jim Hill made it 3-0 with a 53-43 success over Pete Smith.

Bill Rushton made it four in a row with another close finish against Mark Matthews to leave Joe Oliver to put the icing on the cake with a 55-32 final frame win over Chris Austin.

Shifnal E also have thirteen points following on from their 4-1 triumph at Anstice B.

Father and son Arron and Jeff Sparkes led the way with opening frame victories over Stewart Wimbush and Steve Smallwood and although Danny Weaver replied for the home side with a 21 break it wasn't sufficient to prevent Chris Petford making it 3-0 to the visitors.

Rob Wright's 20 break extended Shifnal's lead still further as he got the better of John Darrock and only George Hammond's last gasp victory over Fred Harper saved the home side from the whitewash.

Coddon B celebrated their first win of the new season with a well-earned 4-1 home success over Minnesota Fats B.

Kirk Stephenson gave the visitors the lead with a fine win over Mark Wall but it was all downhill for Minnesota from then on as Andy Jones levelled with a 62-30 win over Harry Jones.

Steve Downs gave the home side the lead with a narrow 56-42 win over Mike Egan before Bob Dando secured victory with a 29 break against Rob Palin.

That left Nick Pearce to round things off nicely for the home side by taking the final frame with a 46-35 win over Neil Pearson.

DIVISION 1

Anstice A head division 1 by just a single point after being pushed all the way by Minnesota Fats A.

Steve Colins gave the home side the perfect start as a 28 break secured the opening frame against Keith Price.

And although Shaun Harris drew the visitors level it was Minnesota who took the lead once more courtesy of Kevin West's 50-28 defeat of Neil Price.

However the visitor's title aspirations were kept on track as Ian Duffy took the next on the black against Paul Devey and Noel Stones defeated Keith Blackham to complete a 3-2 win for the Madeley side.

Broseley A share second spot with Shifnal A following a fine 4-1 away win at Dawley Social.

Richie Hulme set the target for the division's highest break when he knocked in a superb run of 75 to give the visitors the early lead. Carl Walker then doubled that advantage with an excellent 58-35 win over Mark Jones before Tim Hicks joined in the fun with a 40 break to deny Pete Nolan.

Simon Mcleod then made it 4-0 by defeating Rick Bailey only for Simon Vines to steal a point for Dawley with a super 67-38 success over Mick Brezwyn.

Shifnal A share second spot with Broseley after they too won 4-1 away to Wellington Billiard Hall E.

Simon Biddulph gave them the lead with a 66-41 victory over Amjit Ali and further wins from John Fallows and Andy Easthope put them into a commanding 3-0 lead.

Phil Whitby gave the home side some hope with a fine win over Roy Martin only for Linsay Knox to take the last frame for Shifnal with a good win over Mike Dabbs.

Coddon A lie just a point further back after also coming out 4-1 winners against Maddocks A.

A 50 break saw Paul Harper home and dry against Phil Davis as Coddon took the lead and although they were pegged back when Mark Finucane got the better of Zenon Lembicz 63-34 it was the Donnington side who took all three of he remaining frames for a fine victory.

Darren Weston defeated Leigh France with the aid of a 38 break before Ian Ferriday won a close fourth frame by 44 points to 30 against Darren Wincott.

A high quality final frame also went Coddon's way as Dave Lloyd replied to Ian Skelton's 32 break with a run of 30 of his own to take the frame 55-47 to leave the final score 4-1 in favour of the visitors.

Ade Henry's black ball win over John Jones was all Little Dawley A had to show despite some brave performances against an in-form Anstice D.

Adam Moore took the opening frame for the Madeley side on the black against Graham Wiley and the visitors fell further behind when Darren Stevens got the better of Richie Heighway.

Nigel Wallcroft then came out on top against Jesse Lowe before Ade Henry pulled one back for the visitors.

And with Phil Reynolds producing a fine display of potting to deny Darren Pountney in the final frame of the evening, the Anstice boys were left to celebrate four valuable points.

Shifnal F are certainly not letting the top teams have it all their own way this season as they were again just pipped at the post by visitors Wellington Billiard Hall A by the odd frame.

Old rivals Wally Harper and Graham Darrell opened the show with the latter taking the first frame 66-37.

The youngster of the Shifnal team Chris Painter then squared matters with a convincing win over veteran Alan Turner 69-35 before Nev Whitehead chalked up his fourth win in a row over Steve Minshall - in a high scoring frame, Nev sewed up the second point for the Islanders on the blue at 71-52.

The home team then looked home and dry as Spencer Rowley notched up a 30 lead on the colours against Andy Kendrick but the Wellington man forced the points needed and then picked off all the colours to pip Spencer 53-52.

Wellington's Nigel Fletcher then wrapped up the 3 points after defeating a stubborn Brian Painter who was only 12 points down on the yellow but went out 74-42

DIVISION 3

Anstice C are the early pace-setters in division three after a 4-1 win at Little Dawley B sees them head the table with twelve points from their opening four games.

Jason Mills and Steve Camp led the way as they took the first two frames from Steve Ward and Phil Cottey respectively.

Further wins from Darren Wilkie and Dave Harper - on the black against Craig Darrock gave them a 4-0 lead and only Ray Clemence's 73-43 success over Frank Williams prevented the Madeley side from claiming all five points.

Shifnal D also have twelve points - but have won one less match - following a 4-1 win at home to Bayley B.

Mick Guest gave them just the start they were hoping for as he took the opening frame against Danny Oliver. Terry Askew's 58-24 defeat of Bob Tracy made it 2-0 and Sanjay Chauhan continued in the same vane by taking the next frame too from Dickie Oliver.

Geoff French made it 4-0 before Robin Sturmey saved a point for the visitors with a fine 45-20 success over George Nelson.

Wellington Billiard Hall F's 3-2 win over Bayley C sees them move into third spot but they had to come from behind after Craig Whitehead had given the visitors the lead with a black ball triumph over Chris Durham.

Richard Tranter won the next for the Billiard Hall, also on the black against Craig Johnson only for Mark Taras to restore the Bayley's lead with a 57-37 win over Rob Cook.

However with Chris Fletcher and Steve Williams claiming the last two frames, the Billiard Hall were able to celebrate their second win of the season to leave them well placed in the early running.

Newport British Legion B's fine start to the season continued with a good 4-1 win at home to Minnesota Fats C.

Darren Edwards gave them the lead with a narrow 51-43 success over Toby Welsh and although Neil Robinson drew Minnesota level with a 54-19 win over Alan Munn it was the Newport side who took the initiative by taking all three of the remaining frames.

First Alan Davies defeated Tom Firmstone 38-26 before John Yapp and Manjit Gidda took the last two games to complete an excellent 4-1 win for the Legion.

Having just missed out on promotion last term, Bayley D will be sorely disappointed with their start to the season, as a 4-1 defeat at home to Wellington Billiard Hall B left the Bayley side still looking for their first win.

However they can consider themselves a little unfortunate as two of their games were lost on the final black. First Alan Francis defeated Ice Man Bill France on the final ball and later Iain Francis came out on top against Dave Williams by 49 points to 42.

In between, Bayley captain Darren Rhoades salvaged a point for his team with a fine win over Gareth Hughes and Kevin Whitehead posted another point for the Billiard Hall with a 53-30 defeat of Brian Aberdeen.

And with Roy Francis taking the final frame in some style against Dave Dudley, the Billiard Hall side completed a 4-1 win to leave them just two points off the leaders.

JOHN HIGGINS VISITS TELFORD

Former World Snooker Champion John Higgins was in Telford last week to promote next month's British Open tournament which takes place at the Telford International Centre between 9th and 17th November.

The defending champion met up with reporters from both the BBC and ITV at Minnesota Fats in Oakengates before taking on some of the local players from the club.

The former World number one has some happy memories of Telford having remained unbeaten in his last visit when the International Centre hosted the Grand Prix, although he had to withdraw from that event at the quarter-final stages as it clashed with his brother's wedding.

He almost lost that unbeaten tag though as he came up against 26 year old Mark Worsdell from Bridgnorth. The Minnesota player, who has only been playing the game for a couple of months, came to within a whisker of defeating his illustrious opponent, just losing out on the final black by 58 points to 49.

He then played a frame of doubles before trying his luck at American pool.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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