Anstice A’s Ian Duffy has hit form early this season as he set about maintaining Anstice A’s unbeaten start to the season by scoring 105 points in just two visits to the table as the reigning champions won the derby match with their D side by four frames to one in the Telford Snooker League sponsored by Romeo and Juliets.

A run of 38 followed an earlier break of 67 – the highest in the league so far this season – as Ian secured the opening frame. Neil Price made it 2-0 with a 55-31 win over last season’s John Bethell Trophy winner Darren Wilkie and Keith Price added to the D side’s woes with a 46 break in the next to deny Phil Reynolds.

Nigel Wallcroft’s 46-25 success over Tim Hicks did stem the tide only for the “home” side to wrap things up courtesy of Nick Oakley’s final frame win over John Jones.

Despite only dropping one frame the Madeley side find themselves relegated to second place in the table after Coddon A took all five points from their away tie at Shifnal B.

The Shifnal side are currently enjoying their second season in the top flight having previously played under the guise of Wellington Billiard Hall E. Enjoy wasn’t exactly the word they would have used though to describe their encounter with the high-flying Donnington team as Ian Ferriday took the opening frame from John Powell 63-23 with runs of 22 and 24.

Lee Szklarzewicz followed suit with a cool 28 break to take the second frame from last season’s Chris Ward runner-up Steve Minshall before Zenon Lembicz made it 3-0 against Ray Evans.

Home captain Nigel Stallard was next to fall by the wayside as his opposite number Dave Lloyd made no mistake leaving Darren Weston to complete the whitewash with a 66-46 final frame win over M Shadab.

Coddon’s win sees them sitting pretty at the top of the league, a point ahead of Anstice A and three points ahead of Bayley E who continued their good start to the campaign with a 4-1 home win over Minnesota Fats A.

Martin Watkins led the way with a 31 break on the way to defeating John Wright 63-32.

Andy O’Brien doubled their advantage with a 57-21 win over Steve Collins and things continued to go the home side’s way when Carl Owen took the next with a close 58-47 success over Paul Devey.

Ali Jones then stole the limelight with a superb run of 54 to make it 4-0 but just when it looked as though last season’s Division 2 champions would complete a nap hand up stepped Kev West to steal the final frame of the evening on the black against home captain David France with the aid of a 29 break.

Maddocks A completed their third 3-2 win on the trot to leave newly promoted Shifnal E still looking for their first win.

Ian Eldridge completed the most unlikely of clearances by sinking the last five colours, several of which were fantastic long shots, to snatch the first frame on the black against young Arron Sparkes to give the Oakengates side the lead.

Shifnal hit back as the in-form Chris Petford saw off the challenge of Leigh France and the visitors then went in front as Jeff Sparkes played superbly to take the next 58-25 against Ian Skelton.

Reigning individual champion Phil Davis made no mistake for Maddocks as he claimed frame four against super-ref Rob Wright before a rejuvenated Dave France returned from his holidays to claim the deciding frame of the evening against Dave Peplow.

Last season’s runners-up fell to their second defeat when they entertained a Little Dawley side who started the day at the foot of the table.

Ade Henry was in fine potting form early on to take the opener 63-55 against Paul Humphries by finally doubling the pink to put the visitors one up.

Mick Brezwyn’s 60-26 defeat of Darren Pountney levelled things up again and the home side went ahead when Carl Walker beat Jesse Lowe.

However Rick Cousin’s side were not to be denied and Richie Heighway drew them level again when he pulled off a tremendous win against Graham Long after trailing for much of the frame.

Richie cleared the colours off one by one to make it 2-2 before the in form Lee Elcock destroyed any hopes of a Broseley win with a fine display of potting against Simon Mcleod to give Little Dawley their first win of the season.

Shifnal A have started the new season in steady if not spectacular form as they too recorded a 3-2 win at home to Wellington Billiard Hall A.

This was Shifnal’s third consecutive 3-2 victory and they maintained their unbeaten start courtesy of Angus Way’s 64-36 deciding frame win over League Secretary Alan Turner.

John Fallows had earlier been in devastating form to claim the opening frame against Az Khan only to see Graham Darrell draw the Billiard Hall level with a 63-34 win over Linsay Knox.

Andy Easthope restored the home side’s lead with victory over John Rawlins in the next before Andy Kendrick restored parity again with a fine win over Roy Martin.

DIVISION 2

Maddocks C head the second division table by a single point ahead of two Coddon teams following a 4-1 win over Dawley A.

Graham Hoof set them on the way to a third successive victory as he took the opening frame from Nigel Brenthall.

The home side replied through Mark Jones’ 64-31 defeat of Dave Thomas – but it was to be his side’s only success as the Oakengates side claimed all three of the remaining frames.

First Jim Hill weighed in with a 20 break and further wins from Colin Smith, against David Hampton, and Joe Oliver with a 51-31 defeat of Rick Bailey completed a fine 4-1 win for Maddocks.

Coddon C drop one place to second – but will have been well pleased to come through a tough home tie with Bayley A unscathed as they claimed a 3-2 victory to keep them amongst the early front-runners.

A 23 break from Barry Naylor saw him edge out Spencer Rowley to take the opening frame on the pink before Steve Nicholls levelled for the Bayley with a solid performance in his first game of the season against Don Bayliss.

Alan Hedgecock restored the home side’s lead before a see-saw fourth frame saw Coddon’s Matt Bothwell come out on top against visiting captain Steve Fletcher.

The Bayley player started the frame brightly with a 32 break but Matt responded magnificently with a run of 26 and he held his nerve to sink the brown, blue and pink before eventually clinching a well-deserved win with a long black after a nerve-wracking dual on the final ball.

Chris Morgan-Adams was then in unstoppable form for the Bayley as he wrapped up the final frame of the evening with some typical quick-fire potting to leave the Coddon victorious by a single frame.

Coddon B are also well placed in the table – level on points with their C team but having won one match fewer – following a 4-1 home win over Wellington Billiard Hall C.

Simon Yeats’ 66-35 win over Aaron O’Donnell saw the Donnington side take the initiative but they were soon pegged back as Craig Davies replied for the visitors with a 59-24 success over Andy Jones.

With the visitors unable to field a third man the momentum swung back Coddon’s way and they took full advantage with Steve Downs winning 55-26 against Wayne Weeks.

Home captain Phil Szklarzewicz wasn’t phased to see that his opponent in the final frame was one “S Hendry” as he claimed the last frame of the evening 51-34 over the Billiards Hall’s Simon Hendry to secure a 4-1 win for the Coddon.

The derby game at Little Dawley saw the C and G side’s come face to face for the first time this season – and it was almost honours even as the G team just edged out their opponents by the odd frame.

A 27 break from Terry Hill wasn’t enough to prevent Graham Wiley from giving the C string the lead but Roy Vickery made amends as an excellent 67-30 win over Mike King drew the G team level.

John Bowen’s 63-32 victory over Roy Leneveu put the C team ahead once more but they were destined not to win any more frames as Graham Copson took the next with a 27 break against Colin Gittus and Dave Leneveu defeated Steve Farrington to leave the two teams level on points with eight points each from their three matches so far.

Maddocks B also have eight points from three games following a 3-2 home win over Dawley B.

Wally Harper’s 46-26 win over Don Pugh set them on their way but their progress was halted temporarily when Barry Roden got the better of Steve Pritchard to draw Dawley level.

The visitors then took the lead through Kev Jones’ 59-48 victory over Nigel White before the home side clicked into gear again with captain John Archer leading the way with a 55-22 success against Gareth Jones.

And with veteran Les Hicks securing the deciding frame for Maddocks, 55-27 against Derek Carr, the visitors were left still searching for their first win.

Newly promoted Anstice C did claim their first win when they returned from their travels with a useful 3-2 win over Minnesota Fats B.

They fell behind early on though as Mick Pearson got the better of M Musgrove to open the scoring for the home side.

Jason Mills replied for the Anstice with a narrow 58-48 defeat of Kirk Stephenson and the Madeley side took the lead when K Smith beat Harry Jones 61-31.

J Smith’s black ball finish against Rob Palin then made it 3-1 to the Anstice before Neil Pearson salvaged another point for Minnesota with a 61-34 final frame win over Steve Camp.

DIVISION 3

Maddocks D are the early pace-setters in Division 3 having dropped just three points so far this season to leave them two points ahead of their closest rivals Billiard Hall B and Bayley B.

Hadley A were their opponents this week as Maddocks hit peak form to take all five frames.

Martin Wincott’s 57-39 win over Dave Barnett set the scene for a comfortable victory.

Ken Davis soon doubled their advantage against Lee Hayes before Mike Lucas and Fred Spragg made it 4-0 with victories over Alan Barnett and Steve Dicken respectively.

That just left Brendan Wincott to round things off nicely with a final frame win over Ray Goldie to leave Hadley still looking for their first win.

Wellington Billiard Hall B and Newport B went into their match at the Billiard Hall level on points – but come the end of the evening it was the Wellington side who had opened up a three point gap over their opponents with a 4-1 win.

Dan Francis and Kevin Whitehead set the scene by taking the first two frames from John Yapp and Nigel Simpson respectively and the writing was on the wall when Roy Francis made it 3-0 against Minjit Gidda.

The visitors came close to nicking the fourth frame only for Keith Gardner to lose out to Alan Francis on the final black but they did manage to salvage a point courtesy of Alan Davies’ final frame defeat of Iain Atkinson.

Bayley B move up to third spot – level on points with Billiard Hall B after taking all five points on offer against Shifnal D.

Young Danny Oliver took the opening frame with some excellent potting and dad Dickie Oliver followed suit soon afterwards when he posted a 52-39 win over Sanjay Chauhan.

Kelvin McLeod’s narrow 53-43 win over Arthur Aston continued the Bayley’s progress and things got worse for the visitors when captain Bob Tracy defeated Ivor Peplow 49-27.

And with Dickie Beddall taking the final frame too for the Bayley the home side were able to celebrate their second win of the season in comprehensive style.

Minnesota Fats C kept themselves amongst the early pace-setters with a 3-2 win away to Anstice C.

Paul Crooks set them on their way with victory over John Darrock in the opening frame.

Fiona Jennings, currently the only lady player in the league, then suffered a bout of bad luck as she gave away some 27 points in foul strokes which ultimately proved the difference as Tom Firmstone took the second frame for Minnesota by 48 points to 18.

Mick Cahill’s 65-19 success over Russ Adams pulled a frame back for the Anstice only for Dave Welsh to claim the next for the visitors against Chris Ward.

However home captain Stew Wimbush was in no mood to see his side slip to a heavy defeat and he ensured there was only one frame in it at the end by taking the final frame from Toby Welsh 56-27.

Little Dawley B head a list of six teams all on seven points following their 3-2 win over Bayley D.

Phil Cottey opened the scoring with a good win over visiting captain Darren Rhoades and things continued to look promising for Little Dawley when Rob Barlow got the better of Dave Williams.

Craig Whitehead then set the target for the division’s highest break prize when he knocked in a delightful run of 43 to pull a frame back for the visitors and the match then swung the Bayley’s way when Jim Lewis got the better of debutante Dave Neal to make it two all.

However the visitors were unable to complete their comeback as Gary Clements took the crucial fifth frame on the pink to deny Dave Dudley and secure his side’s second win of the season and leave them level on points with the Bayley, each team having seven points.

Two other teams level on seven points are Bayley F and Wellington Billiard Hall F after the Bayley made the short trip across town and came away with a good 3-2 win.

Chris Durham gave the home side the lead with a fine win over Chris Shaw but the visitors soon levelled through Andy Summers’ 60-37 triumph over Richard Tranter.

The league’s youngest player Tom Maxfield, who last week received a special achievement award at the League’s annual presentation night, then gave the Bayley the lead with a 69-33 success over Pete Smith and the visitors extended their lead when Eddie Whitehead took the next on the black against Steve Weatherall.

However Rob cook salvaged a second point for the Billiard Hall when he took the last frame from Paul Maxfield to leave the Bayley victorious by three frames to two.

STEVE FLETCHER    

Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com

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