It’s Anstice A who head division one this week after a 4-1 win at home to the Bayley A side. Although Chris Morgan-Adams took the first frame for the Bayley side, Anstice took the next four points. Shaun Harris had a 42 clearance against Maxwell Hodson in the last frame of the evening.

Maddocks A bounced back this week to record a 4-1 win when Dawley A visited them. Ian Eldrdrige was close, but three in offs cost him dearly, and he lost on the pink to Carl Walker. Phil Davies was not at the races against Pete Nolan, but after Pete missed a reasonable yellow, Phil eventually cleared the table with a 25 break. Ian Skelton beat Mark Jones and then Leigh France took no chances as he beat Alex Nolan. In the last frame Dave France was always in front and Rick Bailey needed snookers from the brown onwards.

Shifnal B didn’t have an easy ride at the Bayley club when they played the Bayley E team. Andy Obrien beat Aaron sparkes in the first, but Matt Davies drew the match level with a win over Dave Beyer. John Fallows followed suit for Shifnal with an easy win over Ali Jones, with Lindsay Knox adding another playing John Squire. In the last frame Dave France had a good win over Angus Way to get a second point for the Bayley side. We now have three teams on equal points vying for the title during the last few games of the season, and it’s anybody’s guess!

This week saw Maddock's C visit Shifnal F in what so far has been a disappointing second half of the season, and they were well pleased to come away with a 4-1 victory. The 1st frame matched home captain Chris Painter against Darren Wilkie and it was Darren who got out of the blocks very quickly, taking a 20 odd point lead. However, he got frustrated with himself in the middle of the game and allowed Chris to nick it on the black ball 48-45. Up next Mick Wincott again played his normal steady frame against Roy Martin and levelled the match by taking the frame 56-23. Joe Oliver next against Rob Wright and although Rob started the game well Joe managed to grind out another win for his side by 60-40. On the other table Dave Peplow took an early lead but Graham Hoof took advantage of some chances left by Dave and Graham ran out 61-39. The final frame was between Spencer Rowley for the home side and Ian Cleary .Ian started the game well and built up a good lead with Spencer struggling to make any headway. However, all of a sudden fortunes changed and "Six-pence”, as the Shifnal lads referred to him, got back in to the frame, potted some good balls and left the frame to be decided on the black. Ian then attempted to play a safety up and down the table but on the way back the black flicked off the cue ball and gradually rolled in to the middle pocket. A much better result for the visitors but it leaves Shifnal F in big relegation trouble.

This report courtesy of Joe Oliver.

Second Division

Bayley F managed a 3-2 win at the Coddon club this week but were given a torrid time at Donnington. Andy Kendrick, in spite of a 27 break couldn’t shake off Matt Bothwell, and, an in off from Andy on the last red turned out to be very costly, although in the end Matt potted a superb black to take that frame. Ollie Wall lost to Mick Hughes who enjoyed the run of the ball on this evening, and Phil Whitby won easily against Mark Tusel. Chris Latham was no match for the in form Graham Darrell, but in the last Daniel Ballard had a great frame of snooker playing Alan Turner, with breaks of 22 and 30, and this frame was cut and dried quite early in the frame.

Min Fats A came up against their main rivals for second division promotion, LDS G at the Oakengates venue. Neil Pearson took the first from Min Fats beating D. Levenue, with Mick Pearson adding the second in a close frame with Rob Withington. Tommy Bell pulled one back for Little Dawley beating Mick Egan, and team mate Stu Ross, having a fine season so far, set up a decider after he beat Dale Blagborough. It was Roy Levenue for LDS G who claimed the match win with a victory over Phil Bufton. This puts one point between these teams now, with the Bayley B result still to come in.

Dawley B towards the bottom of the table played the Maddocks D side this week at Dawley. The visitors went into a 3-0 lead with Graham Arnold defeating Tom White, Roy Lowe getting the better of Grant Heighway, and Ian Courtney beating Nigel Brazenall. A closer frame ensued between Barry Roden and Maj Ilyass, but it was Barry who pulled a point back for the Dawley side. Liam Goodman added to that by taking the last frame from Fred Spragg.

LDS C and the Second Club Trench played their match at the Dawley venue, and this match went to the Trench side 4-1, which puts these two teams on equal points now. Gert Singh opened for the little Dawley side, and he played Ian Ferriday who was in good form, with Ian winning this one 79-4. Very close the next, but this frame also went to Second Club with Paul Crooks defeating Jon Calvert 61-56. Next up Dave Welsh had an easy win over Pete Randall, and the next frame, although much closer also went to the Second Club courtesy of Toby Welsh just getting the better of Carl Kesterton. Mike Rhodes making a rare appearance salvaged a point for his side when he beat Mike Thompson in the last.

Third Division

Shifnal D, at the bottom end of the table were the home side in their encounter with Dawley C. Shifnal took an early lead when Terrie Askew took the frame from Chris Gifford, with team mate Pete Wharton following suit, beating Jamie Mills in a very closely fought frame. The impetus then went to Dawley C as Andy Shaw just beat Arthur Aston to get Dawley on the score card. Luke Edwards from Dawley then beat Geoff French to set up a decider which was played between Barrie Easthope and Sean Cross. It was the Dawley man who won this one to give his side the match win.

Allscott met promotion hopefuls, Anstice B, at the Allscott club. Kev Welland started for the home side, but met with formidable opposition from Noel Stones who won the opener very comfortably. Dave Finney levelled matters with his win over John Darrock, and then Mick Cahill regained the lead for the visitors by beating Carl Starling. Stew Wimbush gained the match win when he played Lee Harris, but in the last frame, Steve Powell who is enjoying a good season, had a 25 break on his way to an easy victory over S. Smallwood.

The Second Club B side were at home to the Bayley D side this week, and it was the Bayley side who won through in the match. Nick Holmes was first up and he played Jim Lewis, and it was Jim who won the first point of the evening for the Bayley side. Mark Bedall added the second in the closest of wins, 60-59 playing Alan Kynaston. In the next, a high scoring frame, Chris Coterill made it 2-1 with a win over Dave Williams. Jim Hayward then lost to Dave Dudley, with Dave's win giving his side the match win. Yet another close frame followed between Roger Smith and Brian Aberdeen, but it was Roger who gained this win,

Newport B took on the Hadley A side at the Newport club, and the opening frame saw Allan Davies playing Richard Benting. It was Richard who secured the first point for Hadley, only just! That score, 48 to Richard and 44 to Allan. Keith Gardener levelled the match beating Dan Francis, and then the match swung back in Hadley’s favour when Tony Morgan for the Hadley side got the better of Richard Goldie. Campaigner, Les Stirling made no mistake against Allen Francis, and this meant Steve Speake and Iain Atkinson had to play for the match win. Iain never really got going, and it was Steve who ended up taking the spoils for his team to make it a 3-2 win.

Bayley Q were the home side when they played the Coddon B side this week. Rob Cook started for the home side playing Brian McMillan, and it was Brian who won this one to take a point for the visitors. Chris Durham stepped up next, and he was too good on the evening for Mokesh Lal, and levelled the scores. Steven Weatherall then put his side into the lead by beating Dean Harris, and although very close, the following frame between Andrew Fletcher and Rob Kirkpatrick went to the Coddon side. So, another deciding frame, this time played between Richard Tranter and Mark Ebdon. This one went to Mark giving the Coddon side the 3-2 victory.

Alan Turner    

Alan.Turner@telfordsnooker.com