As the season draws to an end, all three titles are decided with just one game to play. Minnesota B were away to Shifnal B and secured the title of champions, with a 4-1 defeat of the Shifnal lads. Matt Davies won comfortably enough beating Simon Yeates 71-28 with a break of 64. Apart from new signing for Minnesota B, Darren Weston, who had a magnificent 126 break earlier in the season, Matt now has eight recorded breaks in the highest breaks column. The Minnesota team took three frames without much ado, excepting Rob Wright, who pushed Ian Duffy all the way, only to lose out 67-62.

Broseley A were away to LDS A, who have had a good run in yet again this season, but found Broseley pipping them to the winning post 3-2 in this match. Jesse Lowe started well when he played Carl Walker, and won that frame 60-46. Lee Elcock continued to add the second with a narrow victory over Simon Mcloud. At this point Graeme Long started the comeback for Broseley, when he defeated Stu Russell. Mick Brezwyn then got the better of Ade Henry, and finally in the closest of games Simon Thomas beat Byron Mitchell 56-54.

Dawley A were at home to Shifnal A, and lost the match 3-2. Even with the one result missing from Anstice, it’s almost certain that the Dawley lads will be joining the second division. Rick Bailey will be disappointed with his season, and this match proved to be no exception as Rick lost the opening frame to Angus Way 80-31. Sean Nolan beat new signing for Shifnal, Tony Hollinshead, and in the third frame Andy Easthope made it 2-1 to Shifnal beating Alex Nolan. Mark Jones levelled the scores gaining a win over Roy Martin, and the decider between Pete Nolan and John fallows went to John, to give Shifnal the 3-2 win.

Maddocks A are tied in third spot with Shifnal A, and the Maddocks side produced a 4-1 victory over Bayley E, who will be joining Dawley A in the second division. Dave France in a scrappy game beat Andy O’Brien who retired on the yellow. Daves lad, Leigh with a little run of the ball went 40 points up on Steve Hoof, but Steve found he could still win coming to the brown ball, until Leigh fluked an horrible snooker; end of game! Ian Skelton was far too strong for the second Dave France of the evening, the one for Bayley E, and Ian ran out a comfortable winner, 82-19. In a close fourth frame Ali Jones was going well until he played a bad shot, and Ian Eldridge cashed in to take the frame. In the last frame of the evening Les Stirling was never at the races and John Squire took the only point for Bayley E.

Bayley A have dragged themselves clear of relegation over the last few weeks and in their local derby match with Bayley F the A team came out 4-1 winners. Chris Morgan Adams lost the opener against Tom Maxfield but that’s where the Bayley F sides challenge stopped. Young Tom made a 41 break during the game to win 86-17. Steve Nichols, playing only his sixth frame of the season took the next frame from Mike Healey 83-30 followed by M. Hodson adding the second point for Bayley when he beat Paul Maxfield. Spencer Rowley had a close game with Chris Shaw but took it 43-41. Save the best till the last as Steve Fletcher, a very capable player, made a superb 80 break and went on to win against Eddie whitehead 126-1. So with one match to go this division is all wrapped up for this season, holiday for the author next week!!!

Second Division

Champions of division two Maddocks C travelled to Bayley and got hammered 5-0 with an outstanding performance from the Wellington side. Kev West continued his great form to outplay Darren Wincott. Kev just missed out on a great clearance to take the first frame and also become leader of the “most wins” table. Next up was the first of three black ball finishes. Craig Baugh potted some good pots against Graham Hoof and took a slight advantage onto the colours. A fluke by the visitor on the blue and a good pink gave Maddocks their first chance of a frame but the black missed and young Craig took advantage. Dickie Beddall took control of an out of sorts Jimmy Hill to take the match for Bayley. With some good safety and potting from Dickie, and Jims in-offs, the likable home man won comfortably on the blue.

Steve Hassack tried to pull back a frame for the Oakengates side but came up against Danny Oliver. After an earlier miss, Steve found it hard to regain his form and Danny took advantage. Some great snooker was played on the brown when from nowhere Steve fluked it and took the frame to the black. Steve had first attempt but Danny potted a fantastic black to take the game. “Shocked” Maddocks watched to see if their anchorman, Joe Oliver, could beat Uncle Dickie to save a whitewash. The match between these men has always been entertaining and it delivered again. With a little banter and snookers by “Miscues” the frame eventually went to the black ball. Joe settled on his shot and played a great double into the middle only to watch the white spin back and drop agonisingly into the pocket. A well deserved win for the likable lads from Bayley B and a bit of a kick up the backside for the runaway champions.

Audco A, the only team to have turned the champions over twice this season (sorry Jim, had to throw that one in) were at home to Shifnal F and recorded only their second 5-0 victory off the season. Super sub Anthony Heathcote gave a fine performance against Dave Chapman. Some of Daves potting would have frightened most players to death, but Anthony did the business in the end. Next up saw Graham Darrall play Chris Painter. Graham played his best frame of the season with a fine clearance of 41, and was going so well, pity there weren’t more balls left! Andy Kendrick made it 3-0 and also knocked in a 37 break in his win over Fred Harper. Mick Hughes, also cueing well of late, ran out a 54-46 winner over Simon Dyal. In the last frame Alan Turner, bittered up, was struggling to beat John Briscoe until a very handy fluke on the green left him to take brown and blue for frame win.

Second place is not decided yet as Coddon B are still chasing Audco, although this weeks result from Coddon gives Audco an edge in the race for promotion. Coddon B were away to Minnesota Fats G and raced into an early 3-0 lead. Dave Lloyd convincingly beat Nick Turner 67-8, but the next frame was closer with Andy Jones beating Wayne Weeks 51-45. In the third, Dave Holmes beat James Price, but then Craig Davies took the frame between him and Steve Downes, that score, 56-34. In the last game Mark Wall beat Aaron O’Donnell to keep Coddons hopes alive.

Coddon C, at home to Minnesota A, won this match 3-2. Daniel Ballard got the first point on the board for Coddon defeating Mick Pearson, before Mick Egan levelled, getting the better of Josh Wall. The next frame also went to Min A with Phil Bufton winning a close frame against Ray Whitehead, 70-65. Another close frame followed with Matt Bothwell just getting ahead of Kirk Stevenson 57-54. Frazier McKinnon took the decider easily enough beating Neil Pearson 53-12. This leaves Min fats with just one point difference between the bottom three teams, who will have to battle it out next week to see who remains in this division.

LDS G did themselves a power of good in the relegation battle with a fine 4-1 win over Bayley D. Ian Fleming got the better of Darren Rhodes in the opener, with Roy Levenue having a 23 break in his win over Brian Aberdeen. The next saw Graham Copson beat Jim Lewis 65-24. Rob Withington will be pleased with his win over Dave Dudley in a close frame, 54-40. A whitewash could have been on as the last frame looked to be on the black, but that one went to Dave Williams when he beat Graham Wiley 41-37.

Second Club teams, A, and B, saw the A side lose to their B-side 4-1 in this local derby match. Bob Lane lost the first frame narrowly to Karl Owen 59-51, but that was their only loss of the evening. Paul Crooks took the next against Lloyd Giles followed by Tom Firmstones defeat of Ian Ferriday. In another close frame between Mike Thompson and Keith Mears, Mike came out the winner 57-51. The last frame of the evening, also a close affair went to Toby Welsh, beating Graham Arnold 49-40. That leaves these two teams mid table with just three points the difference between them.

Third Division

Dawley B have won the third division title with a game to go, and this week they played at Newport Legion. Paul Harper took the opening frame off Ian Stevenson before Allan Davies won a tight frame against Ian ward, 51-43. Kev Jones then put the Dawley side one up after beating Richard Goldie. Alex Jones secured the match win when he defeated Nigel Simpson, and in the last John Yapp had a comfortable win over Barry Roden.

No easy ride for Anstice B this week as they met an inspired performance from Audco B, who must have had there best win of the season. Chris Hughes started the ball rolling, getting Audco off to a good start, beating Darren Shaw. In the next Gary Grocott saw off John Darrock, only just! 55-47. The next frame would have pleased Alex Turnbull immensely after taking out one of the top two players in this division, Noel Stones, that score line, 53-47. Mick Cahill stopped the rot for Anstice by taking a frame off Andy Yates, but in the final frame Pete Smith wasn’t to be outdone and gained a fine victory over George Hammond to complete the rout.

This result gives campaigners Maddocks B one last chance to fight for promotion. Maddocks B were involved in a local derby match with their D side, but found themselves on the end of a 3-2 defeat. They may have thought this result had blown their chances, but Audco have given them a lifeline with their result over Anstice B. In the match Fred Spragg took the first point beating Wally Harper but then Les Hicks replied with an emphatic win over Roy Lowe 76-2. The next saw Ken Davies redress the balance with a win over Doug Morrey. The match looked to be slipping away from the B-side, as Ian Courtney bagged the match win when he beat Steve Pritchard. However in the last frame John Archer came good to beat Mick Wainwright Jnr. 65-45.

Bayley Q were at home to LDS B, and won this match 3-2. Chris Durham just beat Phil Cottey 55-49 in the first frame, before a rare appearance from Spencer Clarke playing only his second game of the season, had a comfortable win over Snowy Darrock. Colin Gittus pulled one back for LDS B taking the frame from Rob Cook. Chris Fletcher get the better of Tom Wotherspoon in a close frame, 53-50. In a high scoring frame the last went to Luke Woods against Richard Tranter 72-59.

Shifnal D, at home to LDS C started with a win in the first frame when Terrie Askew beat Paul Randall 60-31. Sanjay Chauhan made it two, with a 20 break in his 63-36 win over C, Kesterton. G. Walls pulled one back for LDS C beating Arthur Aston before Peter Wharton secured the match with the narrowest of wins over A. Garbett, 38-37. In the last frame S. Hamilton for LDS C beat Geoff French to leave the score 3-2 to Shifnal D.

Sadly, no report from the Hadley bard this week, so I will have to do it myself! Hadley A made the long trip to Comrades A this week and without their star player, only managed to take one point. R. Davies won the first frame beating Gaz Hughes followed by C, Bristow sinking tugboat R. Benting by 63-12. S. Jones then made it 3-0 with a victory over Al Francis. Iain Atkinson then won his fifth frame of the season beating C. Crook. In the last Roy Francis making only his sixth appearance for the team beat M. Jones 54-42 to record his third win of the season. So with one game to play, Hadley with nowhere to go, will look forward to the next campaign with renewed vigour and determination. I look forward to joining them in their last match of the season where we will be partaking in an eating and drinking contest :o)

Alan Turner    

Alan.Turner@telfordsnooker.com

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