Anstice A took another step towards retaining their league title when they played host to second-placed Maddocks A in the clash of the day in the Telford Snooker League (sponsored by Romeo & Juliets).

However the champions will have to wait another week until they can be officially be crowned as top dogs once more as the Oakengates side became only the third team this season to beat the Anstice high-flyers.

Things started brightly for the Madeley side with Ian Duffy rattling in a 57 break on the way taking the opening frame from Darren Wincott.

Maddocks roared back though with Ian Eldridge winning the next 64-37 against Neil Price and Ian Skelton edging out Neil’s brother Keith by 13 points.

Nick Oakley’s fine season continued as he drew Anstice level at two-all by beating reigning individual champion Phil Davies 51-37 but any hopes the Madeley side had of claiming the one extra frame which would have confirmed their second successive title soon faded as Leigh France made no mistake against Noel Stones to secure Maddocks’ sixteenth win in 20 outings.

Leigh’s final frame win means that Maddocks can still mathematically catch Anstice – but to claim the title they would have to win both their remaining games 5-0 with Anstice losing their two remaining fixtures by the same score.

Nonetheless Maddocks have now ensured themselves of at least the runners-up spot as their lead over last season’s runners-up Broseley A is now 16 points.

Broseley have leapt up the table in recent weeks and now occupy third spot following a 4-1 win away to bottom-of-the-table Shifnal B.

Carl Walker and Richie Hulme put Broseley in the driving seat early on with respective victories over Ray Evans and John Powell.

Paul Humphries wasted no time in making it 3-0 against A Ali before Nigel Stallard rescued a point for the former Billiard Hall side with an excellent 63-49 success over Mick Brezwyn.

However with Simon McLeod taking the final frame for Broseley against M Shadab, the Shifnal boys were left to contemplate second division snooker next term as their position at the bottom is now untenable.

Anstice D also look likely to join Shifnal B in the second division next term as they are now five points adrift of third-from-bottom Wellington Billiard Hall A after falling to a 3-2 defeat at Little Dawley A.

The home side soon found themselves two frames up courtesy of Darren Pountney’s win over Adam Moore and potting machine Lee Elcock’s fine performance against Andy Elliott.

However the Madeley side kept alive their hopes of top flight snooker next season when Nigel Wallcroft defeated Richie Heighway 65-23 and Darren Wilkie got the better of Ade Henry.

But the deciding frame went the way of Little Dawley when veteran Jesse Lowe fended off a strong challenge from Phil Reynolds to secure the frame and match by 59 points to 43.

Wellington Billiard Hall A’s season looked to be heading for disaster only a few weeks ago – but they have fought hard to revive their fortunes and now look certain to stave off relegation following a 4-1 win at home to Shifnal A in a warm up for when the two teams meet in the semi-final of the consolation cup next week.

Alan Turner, who won the league’s individual title in the very first season of competition, rolled back the years to produce a brilliant performance against former English Amateur Champion Matthew Davies.

Alan’s 63-47 victory not only gave the Billiard Hall their lead it also inspired his teammates to a terrific performance which saw them go two up through John Rawlins’ 63-45 defeat of Jeff Sparkes.

Andy Kendrick looked set to make it three frames in a row when he knocked in a 23 break in the next only for Shifnal’s boy wonder Aaron Sparkes to reply with a 30 break to take the third frame 66-55 for what was to be his side’s only point.

Alex Turnbull’s 52-41 victory over Chris Petford restored the home side’s two-point advantage and Graham Darrall completed the scoring with a solid 56-32 win over Dave Peplow to leave the Billiard Hall five points above the drop zone with two matches to play.

Bayley E also dropped just one frame when they made the trip to play Shifnal A with Andy O’Brien proving their star man in what was one of their best performances of the season.

Andy took on the in form and highly talented Angus Way in the opening frame and soon put the Bayley’s first point on the board when a long pot on his opening red preceded a delightful 60 break.

Andy Easthope drew Shifnal level when he took the next with a 33 break against Steve Hoof but it was to be his side’s only win as the Bayley took all three of the remaining frames in some style.

Karl Owen’s 58-39 defeat of Linsay Knox was followed by David France who played some excellent snooker on the way to beating Roy Martin.

And with the ever-dependable John Squire rounding things off with a 65-29 success over Simon Biddulph the Bayley were left to celebrate a fine 4-1 win which sees them draw level with Shifnal in the table with both sides now having 51 points.

Minnesota Fats have three points less with 48 following their 3-2 win at Coddon A who swap places with their opponents.

John Wright set Minnesota on the way to their tenth win of the season when he took the opening frame by 58 points to 45 against Lee Szklarzewicz.

A 31 break from Steve Collins accounted for Ian Ferriday in the next and the visitors looked set to go three frames up when Jamie Morris rattled in a 40 break in the next.

However Zenon Lembicz had other ideas and slotted home the final black to take the frame by just a single point to bring Coddon back into contention.

However Minnesota didn’t have to wait long to clinch the match – Paul Devey’s 63-48 triumph over Adrian Smith doing the trick as the visitors moved into a 3-1 lead.

Another close finish went the home side’s way in the last frame of the evening when Dave Lloyd edged out Kev West 55-45 to leave the final frames score 3-2 to Minnesota.

DIVISION 2

In division two, second-from-bottom Anstice C put the cat amongst the pigeons when they produced one of their best displays of the season to defeat title-chasing Bayley A 3-2.

Mike Musgrave came from behind to defeat home captain Steve Fletcher 52-44 to take the deciding frame with an inch-perfect 20 clearance from yellow to pink as the Madeley side produced a performance for their captain Frank Williams to be proud of.

Frank had earlier lost out to Steve Nicholls who was in fine form in the opening frame for the Bayley but Kev Smith’s 57-34 win over Spencer Rowley levelled the frame scores at one apiece.

Chris Morgan-Adams replied for the Bayley with a 57-32 success over Steve Camp only for Colin Westwood to force the decider with a solid win over Arthur Burrows.

Anstice’s win still leaves them perilously close to dropping back into the third division as they are still six points adrift of Minnesota Fats B who are third from bottom whilst at the other end of the table Bayley A’s hopes of returning to the top division after a gap of two years now looks remote as their closest rivals both won 4-1.

Dawley A head the table with 62 points – one more than Coddon B who in turn have two more points than the Bayley.

Dawley’s victory over Little Dawley C leaves them favourites to lift the title and return to division one at the first attempt.

Sean Nolan won a tight opening frame against Colin Gittus by 57 points to 43 and the home side went two up courtesy of Chris Woods’ 51-37 victory over Graham Wiley.

John Bowen won another close frame 57-48 against Pete Nolan to put Little Dawley’s first point on the board – but it was to be their only success as further wins for Mark Jones, who beat Steve Farrington, and Rick Bailey over Rob Withington completed a good win for Dawley.

Coddon B also lost just the one point when they entertained their C side in the Donnington Derby.

Simon Yeats edged out Don Bayliss 65-55 to take the opening frame and Steve Downs made it 2-0 with a 69-46 success against Matt Bothwell.

Andy Jones then weighed in with a good win over Alan Hedgecock before the C string got their just rewards through Fraser MacKinnon’s 68-44 win over Mark Wall.

However with Phil Szklarzewicz in inspired form against Ray Whitehead in the last frame of the evening the B side now look likely to be joining Dawley in the second division barring any slip-ups.

Little Dawley G’s hopes of moving up a flight were dashed when they lost 3-2 at bottom-of-the-table Wellington Billiard Hall C.

The Billiard Hall have rallied somewhat in recent weeks but still look to be heading to division 3 as despite recording their fifth win of the season they are now nine points from safety with just two games to go.

Graham Copson gave Little Dawley the early advantage by beating Craig Davies in the opening frame but captain Wayne Weeks drew the Billiard Hall level with an excellent display of potting against Tommy Hill and when Sean Parks got the better of Roy Leneveu by 62 points to 49 the Billiard Hall found themselves within one point of clinching the match.

And although Richard Vicker’s 55-41 win over James Price meant they had to wait a little longer for their victory – the vital third frame duly arrived when Arron O’Donnell took the decider for the Billiard Hall 57-31 against Darren Leneveu.

Dawley B were well pleased with their visit to Maddocks C where they collected three points all of which came from the first half of the match.

Steve Hewitt opened their account by taking the first from home skipper Graham Hoof 66-28. Don Pugh then did the double over Nev Whitehead 57-32 before Barry Roden clinched the match with a 54-23 victory over Bill Rushton.

Jim Hill retaliated for the Ironmen with a 21 break in his 82-35 triumph over Alex Jones which paved the way for the ever dependable Joe Oliver to rescue another point beating Kev Jones 51-17.

DIVISION 3

Bayley F closed the gap on third division leaders Maddocks D to just a single point when the Wellington side took maximum points from their home clash with Minnesota Fats C.

A close opening frame saw young tom Maxfield hold his nerve to defeat Bob Lane 58-49. Tom’s dad Paul duly made it 2-0 with a good performance against Tom Firmstone and further wins from Chris Shaw over Toby Welsh and Eddie Whitehead, who narrowly beat Dave Welsh 60-52, put the home side 4-0 up.

And they duly completed the whitewash when Andy Summers took the final frame against Neil Robinson to leave the Bayley side some nine points ahead of third-placed Bayley D – and just a point adrift of the leaders.

Interestingly enough the top two teams meet in what will almost certainly prove to be the title decider in the final match of the season – so Maddocks will need to keep on their toes if they are to maintain the one point advantage they currently hold following their 4-1 win over Newport British Legion B.

Mick Wincott led the way with a 47-18 opening frame success over Darren Edwards and further wins for Ken Davies over John Yapp and Mick Lucas who beat Manjit Gidda left the Newport side staring defeat in the face.

Things got better still for Maddocks when Brendan Wincott took the fourth frame as well against Keith Gardner but they were unable to complete the whitewash as Newport’s Alan Davies came to his side’s rescue with a 45-32 final frame win over Fred Spragg.

Bayley D now find themselves having to make up nine points in just two games if they are to overtake Bayley F into one of the two promotion places after dropping two vital points at home to Shifnal D.

Things looked good early on for the Wellington side as captain Darren Rhoades took the first frame 50-23 against Ivor Peplow.

An excellent pink and black saw Sanjay Chauhan defeat Craig Whitehead by the narrowest of margins – his 37-36 victory drawing Shifnal level – and they then took the lead through Terry Askew's 45-30 success against Dave Williams.

Brian Aberdeen was in no mood to see his side slip to defeat and rallied superbly to take the next against Arthur Aston 53-40 to leave Dave Dudley to clinch the decider with a fine win over Geoff French.

Anstice B stay fourth following a fine 4-1 victory at home to Wellington Billiard Hall B.

Stew Wimbush was once again on the mark for the Madeley side as he claimed the first frame against Gareth Hughes.

Kev Whitehead’s 56-26 defeat of Steve Smallwood saw the Billiard Hall post their first and only point of the night as wins from Mick Cahill, George Hammond and Billy Watson completed a fine 4-1 win for the Anstice.

Wellington Billiard Hall F are wishing they had started the season in the same form as they appear to be finishing it after they won again – this time by the odd frame – against Little Dawley B.

They had to come from behind though as Garry Clements gave the home side the lead with a 54-30 win over Pete Smith.

Steve Weatherall levelled for the Wellington side and Rob Cook then put them in front with a black ball finish against Tom Wotherspoon.

Chris Fletcher’s 46-32 win over Craig Darrock ensured the Billiard Hall of a twelfth win of the season but they were unable to extend their winning margin as Rob Barlow claimed the final frame for Little Dawley with a 47-28 defeat of Richard Tranter.

Bayley B also won by the odd frame in five when they visited Hadley A with Dickie Oliver taking the deciding frame 63-29 against Dave Barnett Senior.

Chris Haycox had earlier given the Bayley the lead only for Stuart Dicken to level matters with a 53-31 success over Bob Tracy.

Rich Goldie’s close 46-38 win over Alan Wheatley put Hadley in touch of their fourth win of the season – but it wasn’t to be as Kelvin McLeod drew the Bayley level by beating Andy Barnett leaving Dickie Beddall to wrap up the points for the visitors.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

Return To Top