Dawley A seem intent on making their stay in Division 2 of the Telford Snooker League (sponsored by Romeo and Juliets) a short one as the team relegated from the top flight at the end of last season now head the race for promotion back to the first division.

A resounding 4-1 win away at Maddocks C saw Dawley increase their lead over second-placed Bayley A to three points after the Wellington side fell to only their fourth defeat at home to Coddon C.

Maddocks C started the day just seven points behind their opponents but they soon found themselves with a mountain to climb as Mark Jones won his twelfth game of the season with a 72-23 victory over Graham Hoof.

Wins from Sean Nolan over Dave Thomas and Pete Nolan who beat Nev Whitehead 68-23 made it 3-0 to the visitors and things continued to go Dawley’s way in the fourth frame which saw Rick Bailey triumph over Colin Smith.

Joe Oliver’s 23 break proved to be crucial as he salvaged the final frame for Maddocks with a 64-26 success over Chris Woods but their single point was not sufficient to halt Dawley’s march on the title.

Dawley’s result was made all the more impressive by Bayley A’s failure at home to Coddon C.

Don Bayliss retrieved a 20-point deficit in the opening frame to pip Steve Nicholls on the final black.

A brilliant double on the blue left the Coddon man requiring just the pink but after failing to negotiate a snooker Don had to pot a cracking pink before clipping the black into the corner pocket to give Coddon the lead.

John Whitehouse followed in similar style, sinking the final black to defeat Spencer Rowley 43-31 and before the home side knew it they were 3-0 down after Alan Hedgecock’s fine potting display against Arthur Burrows.

However Steve Fletcher and Chris Morgan-Adams made the scoreline more respectable for the home side by taking the last two frames to leave the Bayley still in second place – three points behind the leaders.

Coddon B closed the gap between themselves and the Bayley to two points when they took four points from their visit to Wellington Billiard Hall C who for the second week running had Wayne Weeks as their only winner.

Andy Jones took the first frame for Coddon against Chris Morris and the visitors went two up courtesy of Simon Yeats’ 52-27 success over Graham Curton.

Home captain Wayne Weeks reduced the deficit, notching a 30 break in his 77-53 win over Mark Wall but it was to be his side’s only bright spot as Steve Down’s made it 3-1 to Coddon with a close 55-41 win over Sean Parks and Nick Pearce beat Aaron O’Donnell 46-30.

Coddon’s win sets up their encounter with Bayley A next week as third entertain second in the second division’s match of the day.

Minnesota Fats B now have the same number of points as Maddocks B after a 3-2 win over Anstice C sees their total rise to 36 points.

Although they had to rely on Neil Pearson’s 54-34 final frame win over Frank Williams to secure their eighth win of the season after surrendering a 2-0 lead.

Kirk Stephenson and Mick Person gave Minnesota the perfect start with wins over Colin Westwood and Mike Musgrave respectively but Steve Camp’s 57-43 success over Mick Egan reduced the deficit and the Anstice drew level when Dave Harper got the better of Rob Palin in another close frame, 61-41.

Anstice’s defeat leaves them precariously placed just one place off the bottom and they lost ground on the two teams immediately above them as both Little Dawley C and Dawley B recorded 3-2 wins.

The Dawley side had to come from behind though to record their seventh win of the season after veteran Les Hicks had given Maddocks B the lead against Alex Smith whose 22 break proved to be in vane.

The visitors went further ahead when Wally Harper claimed another close frame 61-52 against Kev Jones but any thoughts Maddocks had of catching up with the leaders soon disappeared as Barry Roden set the ball rolling on a remarkable comeback with a 56-41 success over Doug Morrey.

Don Pugh’s win over Steve Pritchard then set up the decider and Steve Hewitt made no mistake, defeating Nigel White by 62 points to 24 to complete the turnaround.

Little Dawley C also won by the odd frame when they “visited” their G side in a keenly contested local derby.

John Bowen continued his fine season with a 63-30 opening frame win over Chris Leneveu and the C side then doubled their advantage when Colin Gittus took the next on the black to deny Roy Leneveu 50-42.

Graham Copson replied by taking the next, also on the black, against Graham Wiley and although Rob Withington restored the C team’s two-frame lead with yet another black ball finish against Roy Vickery, Dave Leneveu saved another point for the G team with a 52-35 success over Steve Farrington in the last.

DIVISION 1

The title race in division 1 looks to be over before it’s started as leaders Anstice A now head the table by a whopping nine points after taking all five points against their D side.

Neil Price took the first with a 27 break against Darren Wilkie and when Keith Price made it 2-0 with a 58-37 win over Andy Elliott the writing was beginning to appear on the wall.

A 37 break from Ian Duffy further emphasised the A team’s credentials and they were soon 4-0 in front as Noel Stones turned on the style with a superb display against Phil Reynolds which included a run of 32.

And although Nigel Wallcroft did his best to salvage a point for the D string his effort’s proved in vane as Nick Oakley squeezed home in the final frame by 68 points to 55.

Maddocks A’s failure to take all five points against Shifnal E means they drop a point further behind the Anstice but nonetheless a 4-1 win keeps them well placed to attain the runners-up spot.

The frame they did lose was no disgrace though as former English Amateur champion Matt Davies was back for Shifnal and following his recent century breaks was again in potting mood notching a run of 69 on the way to giving Shifnal the lead against Ian Eldridge.

Darren Wincott drew Maddocks level – but only just – as he took the second frame on the black against young Arron Sparkes.

Ian Skelton’s 62-28 success over Arron’s dad Jeff then gave Maddocks the lead – and they never looked back as Phil Davies took another frame on the black to deny Chris Petford and Lee France wrapped up a 4-1 win with a 66-36 triumph over Dave Peplow.

Shifnal A were hoping to get off to a quick start as they travelled to lowly Wellington Billiard Hall A but any hopes John Fallows had of putting on a fast show for the visitors were soon dampened as John Rawlins claimed the opener for the home side with a 68-29 win over the popular Shifnal player.

Graham Darrell’s fine win over Angus Way in the next slowed the visitors down even further and although Linsay Knox took the next on the black against League Secretary Alan Turner the Billiard Hall’s two-frame lead was restored when Andy Kendrick got the better of Andy Easthope.

The Billiard Hall were now certain of recording their fifth win of the season so not even Simon Biddulph’s 51-39 win over Alex Turnbull could stop their celebrations after a fine all round team performance.

Little Dawley were also in celebratory mood as they produced a fine display of snooker to beat last year’s runners-up Broseley by four frame to one.

Lee Elcock set them on their way with a 65-26 win over John Shepherd. Richie Hulme then took an early lead over Darren Pountney as Broseley looked for an early reply – but Darren never gave up and a brilliant 37 clearance saw him pinch the frame on the black to win Little Dawley’s second frame of the evening.

Carl Walker’s 55-31 win over Ade Henry reduced the deficit for Broseley but it proved to be only a temporary respite as Richie Heighway potted them off the lampshades to defeat Mick Brezwyn 70-47 and Jesse Lowe got the better of Simon McLeod by 66 points to 25.

Bayley E were also in fine form as they took all but one of the points on offer when they travelled to Minnesota Fats A.

This must go down as something of a shock result as Minnesota are formidable opponents at home – however it took a last frame win from Paul Devey to prevent the Bayley walking away with all five points.

Andy O’Brien gave the visitors the lead with a 65-36 defeat of Jon Wright.

Martin Watkin’s close 59-48 win over Steve Collins made it 2-0 and further wins for Steve Hoof over Jamie Morris and Ali Jones who beat Kev West made it 4-0.

Thankfully for the home side Paul Devey was able to weigh in with a 22 break to defeat Carl Owen to rescue a point.

DIVISION 3

It was a case of top versus bottom in Division 3 this week as leaders Maddocks A took on league newcomers Hadley A and came away with a 4-1 win.

The formbook never really looked like being upset as Mick Wincott gave Maddocks the lead with a fine win over Dave Barnett Junior.

Ken Davies then made it 2-0 by beating Shane Dicken and although Steve Dicken put up a brave fight against Mick Lucas the Maddocks man eventually took the third frame 41-31 to give the home side an unassailable lead.

Rich Goldie’s 61-49 win over Fred Spragg halted Maddock’s progress somewhat as the Hadley player salvaged a well-earned point for his team – but any hopes the visitors had of a mini-revival were soon dashed as Brendan Wincott took the last frame of the evening with a 62-25 success over Dave Barnett Senior.

Maddock’s thirteenth win of the season sees them five points ahead of second-placed Bayley F who fell to a surprise defeat at home to Wellington Billiard Hall F.

Two breaks of 24 ensured Eddie Whitehead of the first frame as Bayley F took an early and emphatic lead. However the visitors were undaunted and hit back through Pete Smith’s 67-43 win over Tom Maxfield and Chris Fletcher’s victory against Chris Shaw.

A 28 break secured the next frame for the visitors as well as Richard Tranter won a high-scoring frame 73-42 against Paul Maxfield but with Andy Summers taking the final frame for the home side against Martin Chapman the Bayley side are still well placed to challenge for promotion.

Indeed they still lie second in the table – four points ahead of third-placed Bayley D who showed no signs of missing former captain Steve Lane with a thumping 4-1 win over Little Dawley B.

Brian Aberdeen’s black ball finish against James Evans added to the Bayley’s tally after captain Darren Rhoades had given them the lead with a fine opening frame win over Gary Clements.

Dave Williams made it 3-0 by beating Tom Wotherspoon and things continued to go the home side’s way when Craig Whitehead came out on top against Rob Barlow.

However the Bayley were prevented from claiming all five frames by a determined Phil Cottey who produced a brilliant display to deny the in-form Dave Dudley and leave Little Dawley with a consolation point.

It wasn’t such a good night for Bayley B though and they drop down one place to fourth after slipping to a 3-2 defeat at Shifnal D.

Terry Askew and Sanjay Chauhan were the men in form for Shifnal early on as they accounted for Bob Tracy and Chris Haycox respectively.

Danny Oliver replied for the Bayley by snatching the next on the black against Geoff French and things looked to be going the visitor’s way when Danny’s dad Dickie drew the Bayley level with a fine win over George Nelson.

However Shifnal’s Barrie Easthope stemmed the tide by taking the decider with a solid display against Dickie Beddall to secure his side’s fifth win of the season.

Anstice B are now on the fringes of the promotion race after a 4-1 win over Minnesota Fats C sees them move up to fifth place – some six points off the promotion places.

Danny Weaver’s narrow 43-36 win over Tom Firmstone gave the Madeley side the fillip they needed to press forward and Mick Cahill duly doubled their advantage when he took the next frame by just a single point to deny the unlucky Bob Lane.

Mike Thompson did pull one frame back for Minnesota when he beat John Darrock 56-28 but further wins for George Hammond against Dave Welsh and Stew Wimbush who beat Toby Welsh, ensured Anstice of four valuable points to take back to Madeley.

Newport British Legion B are enjoying their best season for some time and they came close to taking all five points when they entertained Wellington Billiard Hall B.

As it was they had to settle for a 3-2 win as the Wellington side stole two frames on the black after Alan Davies had given Newport the lead with a 59-20 success over Dave Francis.

John Thornhill’s 50-43 defeat of Manjit Gidda drew the Billiard Hall level and they then took the lead as Kevin Whitehead took the next frame against Keith Gardner by 43 points to 40.

Mike Doverskog’s win over Alan Francis once again restored parity and Newport duly secured their eighth win of the campaign when Les Stirling got the better of Iain Atkinson in the decider.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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