Stew Wimbush’s nail-biting final frame win for Anstice B condemned title favourites Maddocks D to only their second defeat of the season as the Madeley side joined the promotion race in the third division of the Telford Snooker League (sponsored by Romeo and Juliets).

Maddocks started the day five points ahead of second-placed Bayley F and will be pleased to have maintained that advantage after the Bayley side also lost 3-2 away at Little Dawley B.

Martin Wincott’s opening frame success over Danny Weaver gave Maddocks the lead but a 50-41 win for Mick Cahill made it all square.

Maddocks restored their lead through Fred Spragg’s 51-37 defeat of George Hammond as they searched for a fourteenth win of the season.

However it wasn’t to be as Billy Watson’s 67-38 win over Mick Lucas forced the match into a nerve-wracking deciding frame in which Anstice captain Stew Wimbush edged out Ken Davies 55-45 to inflict only a second defeat of the season on the Oakengates club.

Bayley F failed to take advantage of Maddock’s rare slip as they too fell to a 3-2 defeat against Little Dawley B.

However they will perhaps be pleased to have come away with two points after finding themselves two frames down early on after Gary Clements had taken the opener with a 30 break against Tom Maxfield and Phil Cottey got the better of Tom’s dad Paul.

Eddie Whitehead’s 64-31 result over Mike Rhoades reduced the deficit and the Wellington side drew level when Chris Shaw beat Tom Wotherspoon 51-35.

Any hopes the Bayley had of completing a remarkable comeback were dashed by Rob Barlow in the deciding frame – but only just as the Little Dawley man had to pot a re-spotted black to overcome a determined challenge from Andy Summers to secure a seventh win for his side.

Bayley D did take advantage of the F side’s defeat as they took all but one of the points on offer away to bottom of the table Hadley A.

They came from behind too after Dave Barnett Senior took the first frame for Hadley against Bayley captain Darren Rhoades.

A 22 break from Craig Whitehead made it all square and the Bayley took the lead when Dave Williams beat Steve Dicken.

There was a welcome return to the fold for former captain Steve Lane who showed he’d lost none of his steely determination by taking the next against Shane Dicken leaving the ever-dependable Dave Dudley to wrap up a comfortable win with a 34-26 final frame success over Rich Goldie.

There was no such good news for Bayley B though as they drop down to fifth following a 3-2 reverse at home to Newport British Legion B.

Alan Davies gave Newport the start they were looking for with a 62-46 defeat of Kelvin McLeod and although Danny Oliver levelled for the Bayley the visitors were back in front thanks to Dave Edward’s 73-39 win over Alan Wheatley.

Dickie Oliver followed in son Danny’s steps by levelling things up once more but his 53-34 success over Keith Gardner proved to be the last of the Bayley’s victories as Les Stirling claimed the deciding frame for Newport against Dickie Beddall.

Toby Welsh was Minnesota Fats C’s hero as he claimed the deciding frame of their match with Wellington Billiard Hall B with the aid of a 33 break.

Toby’s final frame win over Iain Atkinson saw Minnesota come from behind to record their seventh win of the season after Dave Welsh had made it all square at two frames all by beating Alan Francis.

Gareth Morris’ 50-39 defeat of Bob Lane had given the Billiard Hall the lead and although Neil Robinson drew the visitors level Kev Whitehead's thirteenth win in fourteen games had given the Wellington side a 2-1 lead.

Wellington Billiard Hall F fared slightly better than their C side as they just managed to pip Shifnal D by the odd frame.

Pete Smith set them on their way with a 51-31 success over Terry Askew only for Sanjay Chauhan to get the better of Rob Cook as Shifnal drew level.

A 23 break from Chris Fletcher restored the home side’s lead and they made sure of victory when Steve Weatherall defeated Arthur Aston by 67 points to 24.

However any hopes of a more comprehensive win were soon dashed as Shifnal captain Barrie Easthope took the final frame for the visitors with a 57-24 over Richard Tranter.

DIVISION 1

It’s unlikely the bookies will be taking any more bets on the outcome of the first division title race after Anstice A raced to yet another comprehensive victory – this time at home to Wellington Billiard Hall A who had Alan Turner as their only winner on the night.

Ian Duffy set the scene with a 32 break in his opening frame win over Graham Darrall.

Neil Price followed with a 58-25 win over John Rawlins and although Alex Turnbull came close in the next, Keith Price’s 37 break secured the third frame for Anstice by 60 points to 46.

Noel Stones’ made it four with a good win over Andy Kendrick and only a final frame win for League Secretary Alan Turner saved the whitewash – a 72-44 success against Nick Oakley doing the trick for the Billiard Hall captain.

With Maddocks A’s result not yet in Anstice A look set to retain the title they won last year as their lead over the second-placed club is now some 13 points. Maddocks do however look set to claim the runners-up spot as their lead over third-placed Shifnal A is still 8 points.

The Shifnal side picked up a very useful four points though when they entertained Coddon A.

Simon Biddulph led the way with a close 48-38 first frame win over Adrian Smith.

Angus Way made it 2-0 with a delightful 45 break against Lee Szklarzewicz and although Zenon Lembicz pulled a frame back for Coddon with a black ball win over Andy Easthope it was Shifnal who pulled away again by winning the last two frames.

John Fallows was in brilliant potting form to deny Ian Ferriday 74-35 before Linsay Knox put the icing on the cake with a 68-32 win over Donnington captain Dave Lloyd.

Little Dawley A also won by four frames to one when they visited Shifnal B. Lee Elcock gave John Powell little chance as he took the first frame with a 49 break. Jesse Lowe’s 68-59 win over Ray Evans doubled the visitor’s lead and Shifnal’s troubles deepened when Ade Henry took the third frame as well against Nigel Stallard.

Rich Heighway’s 67-44 defeat of A Ali made it 4-0 but fortunately for the home side M Shadab was able to claim a consolation point for Shifnal with a 22 break in his 60-48 final frame win over Darren Pountney.

Shifnal E also took the last frame of their game with Bayley E – as they eased their relegation worries with an excellent 3-2 win.

Jeff Sparkes’ fine opening frame win over Andy O’Brien proved the catalyst to a fine result for the Shifnal team who are now five points above the drop zone.

Steve Hoof’s 68-23 defeat of Rob Edmunds levelled matters for the Bayley only for Shifnal to take the lead again courtesy of a brilliant yellow to black clearance from Matthew Davies who came from behind to edge out Martin Watkins on the final black.

Ali Jones’ 31 break against Rob Wright restored parity once more but it was to be Shifnal’s night as Dave Peplow secured the deciding frame with a 71-38 success over John Squire.

DIVISION 2

The match of the day in Division 2 saw Bayley A, who started the day in second place, travel to play a Coddon B side eager to make up the two-points difference between the two sides.

Indeed make up the difference they did – with a superb 4-1 win which sees them leapfrog over the Bayley into second place.

However things didn’t go all their way early on as Bayley captain Steve Fletcher took the opening frame with a 62 break against Andy Jones.

A close second frame saw Steve Nicholls surrender a one-point lead on the pink when he went in-off into the middle pocket to leave Simon Yeats requiring just one of the last two balls. One chance was all Simon needed as he coolly potted an excellent long pink to draw Coddon level.

And the Donnington side never looked back with Mark Wall in devastating form against Bob Mason and Steve Downs equally impressive in his 65-32 victory over Spencer Rowley.

The Wellington side looked to have salvaged another point though as Chris Morgan-Adams potted the blue to leave Nick Pearce requiring a snooker.

However, in doing so, the Bayley man snookered himself on the pink and his attempted escape ended in disaster when he not only missed the pink but went in-off as well leaving Nick the opportunity he required to smash home a long pink and sink the black into the middle.

Their 4-1 win leaves Coddon just three points behind the team they play next week, Dawley A, who dropped two vital points at home to struggling Wellington Billiard Hall C.

Sean Nolan gave the title favourites the lead against James Price and things continued to look good for Dawley when Chris Woods took the next frame too with breaks of 20 and 25.

Mark Jones made it 3-0 by defeating Wayne Weeks before the visitors made something of a comeback.

Craig Davies and Aaron O’Donnell were the Billiard Hall’s heroes as they took the last two frames against Pete Nolan and Rick Bailey respectively to claim a vital two points for their side.

Maddocks C also took two points from their clash with Minnesota Fats B.

The Maddocks side’s recent form is dwindling slightly and they found themselves behind as Neil Pearson led the way for the home side with a fine win 61-21 at the expense of Jim Hill.

Joe Oliver levelled the frames score with another solid performance against Kirk Stevenson, albeit a black ball game, before Nev Whitehead put the Ironmen 2-1 up winning another last ball frame against Mick Pearson 50-45.

Rob Palin then squared the match at 2-2 by defeating Dave Thomas 53-28 only for Mick Egan to seal the match with a 53-25 victory over Bill Rushton leaving the visitors much to do if they want to stay in the upper echelons of their division.

Maddocks B are still in the promotion frame however following a 3-2 home win over Anstice C although they had to come from behind after Jason White had given Anstice the lead with a fine win over John Archer.

Wally Harper’s 62-40 success over Kev Smith put Maddocks’ first point on the board only for them to fall behind again to Steve Camp’s 61-32 defeat of Nigel White.

However the home side kept their promotion hopes alive – and moved to within six points of second place – by taking the last two frames through Doug Morrey who beat Dave Harper and Les Hicks who edged out Frank Williams 66-55 in a close deciding frame.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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