The battle for the third division title now looks to be a two-horse race as with just three more games remaining in the Telford Snooker League (sponsored by Romeo & Juliets) the gap between second placed Bayley F and their closest rivals is now seven points.

The Wellington side’s 4-1 win over fourth-placed Anstice D has all-but secured one of the two promotion places available but they will have to make up three points on leader’s Maddocks D if they are to overhaul the Oakengates side and lift the title.

Maddocks took all five points from their trip to play Shifnal D and their lead over the Bayley is now two points but they also have the advantage of having won 16 of their eighteen ties – three more than the Bayley.

Martin Wincott took the first frame against Ivor Peplow and Ken Davies made it 2-0 before the Shifnal boys came close to snatching what would have been a consolation point when Terry Askew lost out on the final black 45-44 to Martin Lucas.

Brendan Wincott’s 44-26 defeat of Geoff French made it 4-0 and a tight final frame also went Maddocks’ way as Fred Spragg got the better of Barrie Easthope by 60 points to 46 to complete the whitewash.

Mick Cahill was Anstice B’s hero in what was to ultimately prove a disappointing night for the Madeley side as they slipped to a 4-1 defeat at home to title-chasing Bayley F.

Mick’s 40 break was just seven points short of the current highest break in this division held by his team-mate George Hammond – but his 71-44 win over Chris Shaw was to be his side’s only consolation as the Bayley never looked back after Eddie Whitehead’s narrow 48-37 opening frame victory over Steve Smallwood.

Eleven-year-old Tom Maxfield, having recently won the plate competition in a youth tournament in Leicester, continued his recent good form with a fine win over home captain Stew Wimbush before Mick Cahill’s heroics salvaged a point for the home side.

Paul Maxfield put the Bayley side back on track with his 57-24 win over Goerge Hammond before Andy Summers rounded things off by taking the final frame from Billy Watson.

Bayley D’s 3-2 defeat away to Wellington Billiard Hall F has all-but condemned them to another season in the third division as their promotion hopes now seem slim as the gap between themselves and their F team is now some seven points.

Pete Smith gave the Billiard Hall the lead with a 50-25 win over visiting captain Darren Rhoades and although the Bayley rallied through Dave Williams’ 53-30 defeat of Rob Cook and Craig Whitehead’s recovery against Richard Tranter, who lost despite notching a 24 break, it was the Billiard Hall who eventually took the match.

Chris Fletcher’s 69-37 success over Brian Aberdeen squared things up leaving home captain Steve Weatherall to take on Dave Dudley in the decider.

And Dave, who has just returned from a night on the tiles in Dublin last weekend, was obviously looking forward to his trip to sample the local beverage and left the way open for Steve to produce a display of pure genius to clinch the frame 59-42 to put the seal on a 3-2 win which moves the Billiard Hall up to fifth spot.

Bayley B, having for so long been up there amongst the title-chasers now find themselves mid-table after a disappointing 3-2 defeat at home to Little Dawley B.

Garry Clements gave the visitors the perfect start when he beat Alan Wheatley 64-30 but the Wellington side replied through Bob Tracey’s 63-37 win over Phil Cottey.

Tom Wotherspoon restored Little Dawley’s lead with a narrow51-40 success over Dickie Beddall and they clinched another close frame when Chris Darrock beat Danny Oliver on the black.

However the Bayley had the final say courtesy of Dickie Oliver’s 56-25 win over Rob Barlow – but it wasn’t enough to deprive Little Dawley of their tenth win of the season.

Bottom-of-the-table Hadley A were also celebrating a 3-2 win as they produced one of their best displays of the season against Wellington Billiard Hall B.

Stuart Dicken set them on their way with a black ball win over Gareth Hughes and they looked as though they might double their advantage when Dave Barnett Junior produced a fine performance against Kev Whitehead only to lose out on the pink.

Danny Francis’ 59-33 success against Shane Dicken made it 2-1 to the Billiard Hall but they were soon pegged back again as Andy Barnett took the next against Alan Francis.

That left Dave Barnett Senior to wrap up a fine win for Hadley by taking the final frame 49-34 from Iain Atkinson.

Newport British Legion have been having a fine season themselves this year and although they narrowly lost out by the odd frame to Minnesota Fats C last week they can take heart from their overall performances this term.

Bob Lane’s 58-30 defeat of Keith Gardner set Minnesota on the way to their tenth win of the campaign and although John Yapp was in inspired form for Newport his victory over Mike Thompson was cancelled out by Toby Welsh’s victory over Alan Davies.

Les Stirling’s fine display of potting secured the next frame for Newport against Dave Welsh but the home side were unable to record their eleventh win of the season as Neil Robinson’s 52-29 success over Mike Doverskog ensured the spoils went to Minnesota.

DIVISION 1

Anstice A look set to retain the first division title next week after a 4-1 win over Little Dawley A left them eleven points clear of second placed Maddocks A who also won 4-1 when they entertained Shifnal A.

The Madeley side need just four points from their remaining three fixtures to lift the title again and who would bet against them after another excellent performance saw them record their seventeenth win of the season at home to Little Dawley A?

There was a welcome return to the snooker scene for Shaun Harris as the Madeley potter claimed the opening frame against Richie Heighway by 58 points to 34.

Neil Price’s close 55-43 success against Jesse Lowe made it 2-0 and although Lee Elcock produced some superb snooker on the way to defeating Keith Price 74-34 it was the champions-elect who took both of the remaining frames.

First Nick Oakley – who is having a super season this year – recorded his sixteenth win against Ade Henry and then Noel Stones rounded things off with a 44 break against Darren Pountney.

Maddocks A only dropped one frame when they entertained a strong Shifnal A team who remain third but are now unable to catch their opponents in the race for runners-up spot.

Shifnal’s Angus Way is in fine form this season and although not in the Telford league, his 98 break the following night in the West Midlands League was nothing short of brilliant – and he only missed out on making a century when he missed a difficult long yellow. Nonetheless Angus’s performance the previous evening gave the visitors the lead as he took the first frame with a close 66-58 win over Ian Eldridge.

But any hopes his side had of making up further ground on Maddocks were soon dashed as Darren Wincott beat Chris Painter 67-34 and Ian Skelton took the next 68-31 over Linsay Knox.

Phil Davis made no mistake either against Roy Martin leaving Leigh France to claim the all-important fourth point for Maddocks to ensure them of at least runners-up spot as they now find themselves fifteen points ahead of Shifnal with just three games left to play.

Shifnal E fared slightly batter than their A side when they entertained Anstice D and came out on top by four frames to one.

Arron Sparkes led the way with a 58-38 win over Darren Wilkie before breaks of 51 and 27 secured the next for the irrepressible Matt Davies against Andy Elliot.

Phil Reynold’s 56-45 defeat of Chris Petford provided some respite for the visitors – but it was only temporary as Jeff Sparkes took the next for Shifnal on the black against Nigel Wallcroft and Dave Peplow beat Adam Moore 58-27.

Defeat leaves the Anstice side perilously close to relegation – as they occupy the second-from-bottom slot and will need to make up three points at least on Wellington Billiard Hall A if they are not to make a swift return to division two.

The Wellington side are enjoying a good run of form at the moment and their team spirit may well just see them through to safety after a good 3-2 win at Minnesota Fats keeps their heads just above water.

Graham Darrell’s close 42-33 win over Phil Devey gave the Billiard Hall just the start they had been hoping for but they were soon pegged back as Steve Collins knocked in a 32 break on the way to beating John Rawlins.

Alex Turnbull restored the visitor’s lead with a good win over Jamie Morris only for the home side to draw level once more through Keith Blackham’s 54-36 win over Alan Turner.

A nail-biting deciding frame was then only settled on the final black as Andy Kendrick sank what could prove to be a crucial final ball to edge out Kev West 50-48 to give the Billiard Hall a 3-2 win which could ultimately see them retain their first division status for another season.

Shifnal B’s hopes of avoiding the drop now look slim though as the former Wellington Billiard Hall side now find themselves eight points adrift of Anstice D and eleven points off safety.

Their 3-2 defeat away to a strong Bayley E team was ironically probably one of their best displays of the season but it will be no comfort to them as their chances of staying up diminish still further.

Andy O’Brien gave the Bayley the lead by beating John Powell in the opener and the Wellington side then doubled their lead when Martin Watkins overcame Ray Evans by the narrowest of margins, slotting home the final black to win by just a single point.

A Ali gave Shifnal hope with a fine 59-30 win over Ali Jones but back came the Bayley as an inspired John Squire knocked in a 32 break to complete an excellent win over Nigel Stallard.

However Shifnal had the final say as M Shadab got the better of home captain David France 57-43 to claim a second point for his side.

Coddon A were unable to claim more than one point though when they visited a Broseley side who managed to find some of the form that took them to runners-up spot last season.

Carl Walker’s 68-37 win over Lee Szklarzewicz was cancelled out when Zenon Lembicz took the next for Coddon against Graham Long with a 48 break.

Paul Humphries restored Broseley’s lead with a black ball finish against Dave Lloyd before a break of 38 secured then next for Mick Brezwyn against Ian Ferriday.

Simon McLeod then weighed in with a 27 break as he successfully fended off the challenge of Terry Brenthall to leave Broseley the winners by four frames to one.

DIVISION 2

Things couldn’t be tighter at the top of Division 2 with all three of the front-runners recording 3-2 wins last week.

Indeed, with the fourth placed team a further eight points adrift of the top three – the battle for the two promotion places looks certain to be between leaders Dawley A, Bayley A and Coddon B as just a single point separates all three sides.

Dawley A had Rick Bailey to thank as they recorded their twelfth win of the campaign as captain courageous once again came to their rescue with a nerve-wracking black ball finish which saw him clinch the deciding frame 58-56 against home skipper John Archer.

Sean Nolan’s 62-46 success over Wally Harper had earlier given the visitors the lead but that lead didn’t last long as Doug Morrey defeated Pete Nolan 60-46 to level things up at one apiece.

Mark Jones put Dawley in front again only for Nigel White to level again by defeating Chris Woods 63-47.

Dawley’s win sees them retain top spot with Bayley A staying second – just a point behind – after they too won by the odd frame – away to Minnesota Fats.

Chris Morgan-Adams’ sixteenth win of the season gave the Bayley the lead and the Wellington side came close to making it 2-0 only for Rob Palin to produce the goods when it mattered as he held his nerve to pot the final black to deny Bob Mason after both players had missed chances to win the frame.

Steve Nicholls then potted blue and pink to secure the next against Mick Pearson as the Bayley went in front for the second time – but once again the home side drew level as Kirk Stephenson produced a 33 break on the way to a good win over Spencer Rowley.

Steve Fletcher was another one of those Bayley players who was off to Dublin at the weekend – and he had a smashing time literally. The Bayley captain, not known for his powers of observation, failed to spot a protruding glass in the Guinness shop and duly knocked it off – to a rapturous round of applause led by former Bayley D captain Steve O’Lane. Fortunately for his teammates Steve was a little more accurate on the table and aided by a 33 break he took the deciding frame from Neil Pearson to complete his side’s fourteenth win this term.

The Wellington side now lie second – a point behind Dawley A and level on points with Coddon B who have won one match fewer.

The Donnington side had to come from behind though to record their thirteenth victory as Graham Wiley took the first frame for Little Dawley C with a super 60-30 success over Andy Jones.

Simon Yeats soon levelled for Coddon with a fine performance against Collin Gittus and they visitors went in front through Mark Wall’s 76-51 win over Steve Farrington.

John Bowen’s excellent season continued when he drew Little Dawley level again by beating Steve Downs but with the home side unable to field a last man the visitors left happy with a 3-2 win.

Little Dawley G’s promotion hopes now look slim as they stay fourth – some nine points adrift of the second and third placed teams – following a 3-2 win over Maddocks C.

Nev Whitehead drew first blood for the visitors by taking the first frame from Roy Leneveu. The league president was again in fine potting form as he followed last week’s 52 break, with a run of 46 only to miss out on the last three colours.

But from then on it became an uphill struggle for the visitors as Darren Leneveu took the next in emphatic style from Colin Smith and a 21 break from Tom Hill over Dave Thomas saw them move 2-1 in front.

Graham Copson then sealed the match with a 62-26 win over Jim Hill before Maddocks’ anchor man, Joe Oliver, in no mood to see his side go another frame down, made breaks of 29 & 21 to clinch the final game from Rob VIckery 68-29.

At the foot of the table Anstice C and Wellington Billiard Hall C look likely to drop down to division three after they both lost out by four frames to one last week.

Steve Hewitt gave Dawley B the lead as they entertained Anstice C. Steve’s 23 break saw him clinch the opening frame against Steve Camp by 62 points to 45 and the home side went two up when captain Barry Roden clinched the second frame by just three points against Mike Musgrave.

A 62-51 win for Derek Carr over Kev Smith put Dawley three frames to the good and they continued to pile on the pressure when Don Pugh took the next frame from Jason Mills.

The visitor’s only reply came from Colin Westwood – his 63-23 final frame defeat of Kelvin Hickman secured Anstice’s only point of the night and leaves them nine points adrift of third-from-bottom Minnesota Fats C.

Wellington Billiard Hall C’s brave fight for survival appears to have been in vane. Having recorded some fine results in recent weeks a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Coddon C leaves them all-but doomed as they are now twelve points away from safety with just three matches to play.

Don Bayliss gave Coddon the lead with a 61-27 success over Sean Parks. Alan Hedgecock then beat Craig Davies before Wayne Weeks provided the one ray of sunshine for his Billiard Hall teammates when he knocked in a 25 break on the way to a 62-30 win over Ray Whitehead.

Matt Bothwell restored Coddon’s two-frame lead when he got the better of James Price 63-32 leaving Fraser MacKinnon to round things off with a 58-51 final frame win over Aaron O’Donnell.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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