There are no changes at the top of the first division table this week, and strangely enough the only results in from this division, are from the top three teams. Maddocks A were the home side in this weeks fixture with Coddon A. The Maddocks side got off to a flyer courtesy of Ian Eldridge who won quite comfortably against Tony Garmson, as did Ian Skelton playing Andy Jones. Two nil up, and next it was Phil Davies who added the third by beating Mick Pearce. Leigh France then had a good win over Dave Lloyd to make it 4-0, but in the last Mark Wall defeated Dave France in a very close frame to take a point for the Coddon side.

Alphabetically second, Shifnal B were in a local derby with their “F” side. These sort of matches are usually a close affair, but not on this occasion as the “B” side put together a great performance. Chris Painter was no match for Aaron Sparkes so the “B” side went one up. The same had to be said for Chris Petford who went the same way against Matt Davies. John Briscoe for the “F” side then took on Angus Way, and it was Angus who added the next frame to the tally. Spencer Rowley was next to the table, and although Spencer has been struggling to find his form this season, he gave Lindsay Knox a good run for his money, although losing 54-48 in that frame. Rob Wright was the last player for Shifnal F to try and rescue a point, but he met up with John Fallows, and John, always a difficult player to beat made no mistake in making it 5-0 to the B side.

Anstice A could do no better than the result that they had, but at least it maintains the impetus they need if they are going to win the title. Anstice were home to Dawley A, who are always a competitive team to try and beat.. Ian Duffy had breaks of 23 and 34 in the first frame as he beat Alex Nolan to put the home side one up. Keith Price added the second playing Andy Garbett, and Keith’s brother Neil then had the win over Pete Nolan. Shawn Harris was too good for Rick Bailey, and that made the score 4-0, and in the last Craig Reynolds had the easiest victory of the evening against out of sorts, Mark Jones.

Second Division

Bayley F made the short trip to Min Fats A this week, and were made to pull out all the stops in this match! Mick Pearson opened, playing Mick Hughes and this was a tough one to win. It was a black ball finish, and Mick Pearson thought he had sunk the black, but it jawed and left Mick Hughes, not an easy black under the circumstances, a length of the table cut, but Mick Hughes took it to give the away side the first point. Neil Pearson didn’t really get going until the latter stages of his frame with Andy Kendrick, by which time it was a little late. Two nil to Bayley. The next frame was close and good to watch, with Dale Blagborough competing against Graham Darrell. Dale won this one on a re-spotted black, and that was Grahams first defeat for twelve games in a row. Phil Whitby cued very well as he played Phil Bufton, and although a close frame, Phil Bufton took some great balls from yellow to pink to win this one. The decider saw Mick Egan take on Alan Turner, and Alan was always chasing the game, but stayed on till the end, and finally potted a good pink to give the Bayley the match win.

LDS G remain well in contention this week when they played hosts to Maddocks D. Rob Withington lost the first frame to Graham Arnold, as did team mate Graham Copson to Ian Courtney. Things not looking too good for Little Dawley, but then in the third frame Stu Ross came back to winning ways when he beat Cheryl Caswell, and set up the revival. In the next frame Tommy Bell defeated Roy Lowe, just! and that set up a deciding frame between Roy Levenue and Tony O’Neil. It was the first frame all season for Tony, but in a low scoring frame, he lost to Roy for LDS G to win the match after a good come back.

Bayley B may be too far off the pace now to make any impression after this result, and they seem to have gone off the boil a little. Their form seems to have dipped a little after a good start to the season, and to date the only team to have won a match against Bayley F! This week the Bayley side were at home to LDS C. The useful Tom Mulholland started in pole position, and this looked to be a good frame according to the score card. Tom was up against Ben Sewell, and it was Ben who took the frame for the Little Dawley side, 62-50. The next frame was even closer, this time Kev West played Joe Rixom, and it was Joe who succeeded, 57-54. Doesn’t get much closer than that! Kevin McLeod was also a loser for the Bayley side as Carl Kesterton won that frame. Never too late to make a come back, and this was started off by Dan Oliver who beat Jon Calvert to get the first point of the evening for his side. Danny’s dad, Dickie, then made a rare appearance, but made it count as he defeated Pete Randall 67-57 to give the home side, although losing, a respectable result.

The Second Club A were away to the Maddocks B side, and they showed no mercy to the struggling Maddocks B team. Wally Harper opened for Maddocks, and he put up a good performance against Ian Ferriday, but it was Ian who took the first frame for the Trench side. The match was not as one sided as the final score indicated, as John Archer also put up a brave display when he played Paul Crooks, but this one also went to Second Club. Geoff Tudor made no impression on the match, and Dave Welsh added another point to the Trench collection. Roy Adams went the same way in his frame with Toby Welsh, but in the last frame of the evening, new signing, John Fletcher beat Mike Thompson to gain a point for the Maddocks side. I may be clutching at straws, but did John used to play for Wellington Billiard Hall?

Dawley B were at home this week to Shifnal A, and their position in the table deteriorated somewhat this week, as they ended up on level points with their adversaries, but have played one frame more. Dawley got the start they needed with Grant Heighway giving the home side the lead beating Mark Wordsell. Tom White for Dawley couldn’t keep it going and he lost out to Steve Jones. The next frame was awfully close, but it looked like Nigel Brazenall played a good frame, only to lose out by two points to Ian Postins. Barry Roden then succumbed to M. Judd, and that gave the match result to Shifnal. In the last frame, Liam Goodman took the frame from Mark Jones to gain the second point of the evening to the Dawley side.

Third Division

Hadley B were the home side in their latest victory against the newly relegated Bayley D. With Bayley D needing a few good results, this was never going to be one of the matches for them to gain points. Kevin Whitehead drew Brian Aberdeen in the first, and Brian did well, but lost to Kevin in the end to give Hadley an early lead. Darren Pountney was too good for Mark Bedall, and Darren made it 2-0. Ken Booty then came up against Dave Williams and the match continued in Hadley’s favour, with Ken adding the third. Jonathan Wright was next to the table, and he was drawn with Dave Dudley. John beat Dave to take the score line to 4-0. It was left to Jim Lewis to rescue a point for his team, and this he did in a very close frame with D. Smout, Jim seems to be making a habit of snatching last frame points these days, let’s hope his side are taking pointers from him!

Little Dawley B increased their lead in second place this week as they entertained local rivals Dawley C. Richie Heighway was the first player to take a point, and this he did by beating Sean Cross from Dawley C. Pete Clarke added the second when he had a comfortable win over Jamie Mills. Mark Randall gained the third point when Andy Shaw went in off the final black, and saw his chance evaporate with that shot. Sam Drake for Little Dawley couldn’t maintain the impetus, and it was Luke Edwards who secured a point for the visiting team. Normal service was resumed in the last, when Chris Lawson took the frame from Chris Gifford.

Anstice B are locked on equal points with Dawley C, and are finding it hard to string a few good results together. This week was no different for the Anstice lads as they were away to Newport B. Colin Farge made a rare appearance for Newport, and had still retained his early season form as he gave his side thr first win of the evening when he beat Mick Cahill. A close frame followed, with Allan Davies just losing out to the capable Noel Stones, and that levelled matters. John Darrock then put Anstice in front with a win over Richard Goldie, before Steve Speake beat Steve Smallwood to set up a deciding frame between Les Stirling and Stew Wimbush. It was Les who took frame and match for Newport.

There is hardly any change in the division this week, and the placings for Bayley Q and Allscott remain the same. Bayley Q were hosts to Allscott this week, and it was Chris Durham for Bayley who started the match off. Chris had a 22 break during the frame which helped to put his side into an early lead when he beat Dave Finney. Steve Weatherall added to the score with his victory over Kev Welland, but Lee Newton was unable to keep the roll going as he was defeated by Jason Allen. Steve Powell for Allscott had an easy win over Robert Cook, which left a decider to be played with Richard Tranter taking on Lee Harris. This one went to Lee, so after a good start, it was Allscott who won through in the end.

Coddon B are on level points with Hadley A after this weeks result in their match with Shifnal D, at Shifnal. Terrie Askew won the opener for Shifnal in a high scoring frame with Brian McMillan, but team mate, Pete Wharton then lost to Mark Ebdon to level the match score. Arthur Aston then lost to Mokesh Memmi for Coddon to take the lead. Geoff French could make no impact on the score for Shifnal, this time the frame going to Dean Harris. Barrie Easthope gave the final score line some credibility when he got the second point of the evening when he beat Roy Kirkpatrick. Final score, 3-2 to Coddon B.

The last report in this division was between the Second Club B side who took on Hadley A at the Trench venue. Chris Coterill was first to the table for the Trench side, and he was pitted against Richard Benting. It was a close frame but it was the Hadley player who took the first point for the away side. Another close frame followed, but this time it was the home side who took the advantage, with Alan Kynaston getting the better of Roy Francis to level the match. The next frame saw Tony Morgan for Hadley put the away side back in front, when he defeated Nick Holmes. Still plenty of life in the Trench side, and in the next frame Keith Mears took the match into a decider by beating Iain Atkinson comfortably. Roger Smith and Allen Francis were left to play the deciding frame, and Allen put up a good show for the Hadley side, but it was Roger who won this frame, 55 -42.

Alan Turner    

Alan.Turner@telfordsnooker.com