Hadley B were pitched against club mates Hadley A in this weeks fixtures, and this match went to Hadley B 5-0. There were no close frames during the match, and Hadley B are now a full nine points clear.

Second placed LDS B were away to the Coddon B side, and although on the end of a 3-2 defeat, are still four points in front of their nearest rivals Dawley C. The Dawley side took an early lead, courtesy of Richie Heighway beating Dean Hatton, but in the next, although a very tight frame looking at the scores, Brian McMillan, who has settled very well into our league, came up with another win when he got the better of Colin Gittus. The Dawley side hit back with Chris Lawson having an easy victory over Dave Lloyd, and in the next it could have gone either way when Mark Ebdon was pitched against Mark Randall. The outcome of this was 57 to Mark Ebdon, and 41 to Mark Randall. The decider was won by Mokesh Lal, and this frame was also a nail biter with Mokesh beating Sam Drake 57-47.

Bayley D are not out of the picture, and in this weeks fixtures they came up against Dawley C. at the Wellington club. A hard fought frame in the first, with a very high scoring frame in which Dave Dudley for Bayley, lost out to Chris Gifford, 69-58. Jim Lewis made amends, and restored equal footing with his win over Lee Cross. Couldn’t get much closer in the third frame with Dave Williams beating Sean Cross by a solitary point. Mark Bedall also won a close frame. This could have been on the black ball, although not stated, but Mark had the win over Luke Edwards to give the match win to Bayley. Brian Aberdeen lost out to Andy Shaw, so the final result was a 3-2 win for the Bayley side.

With a difficult task to climb into the second division, Anstice B are slipping slightly in third division, although still in touch with the promotion stakes. This week saw the Anstice at home to Bayley Q who are second from bottom. Anstice opened the match, and it was John Darrock playing Chris Bates. It was Chris who won this one to take Bayley into the lead. That vein continued with Lee Newton securing the next point for Bayley when he beat Mick Cahill. Noel Stones got a point back for the Anstice team with a win over Andy Fletcher, but in the next the decider was set up when George Hammond defeated Rob Cook. It was Richard Tranter who took the spoils for the Bayley side as he cruised to a 64-31 score line over Billy Watson.

Newport legion were playing the Second Club Trench, who are still waiting for their first match win of the season. Unfortunately, it didn’t come this week as this match went to the Newport side, also struggling, and winning this match by the odd point in five. Allan Davies won the first for the Newport club with a win over Nick Holmes, but Chris Cotterhil for the Trench side won the second when he played Richard Goldie, and having a 28 break during the frame. Colin Farge went oh so close to winning the next for the Newport side , but Keith Mears won this one, 68-62. Steve Speake made the match go into a decider with his win over Roger Smith, and this left the decider played between John Yapp and Alan kynaston. Although a very close frame it was John for the Newport side who won the frame and the match for Newport.

First Division

With no card in this last week from Audco, therefore no Shifnal result! it is Maddocks A, and Anstice A, who top the table on equal points. Maddocks were the home team in this fixture, and in the opening frame, Ian Eldridge lost his first frame of the season to Ian Duffy. Ian Duffy had breaks of 27 and 25 in his demolition of Ian, who only managed to get two points on the board. Phil Davis did well in his game with Adam Moore, and levelled the match. Next up it was Ian Skelton to play Keith Price. Although “Skelly” scored first in the frame, it was one way traffic after that with Keith having breaks of 46 and 31 to give the Anstice side a 2-1 lead. Leigh France then came to the table, and Leigh had a well deserved victory over Neil Price, that score line, 62-34 to Leigh. In the last frame of the evening Dave France found Simon Yeates off form, and in a scrappy game, Dave had a comfortable win over Simon.

Shifnal B were at home to Broseley A, who have also savoured winning the championship before, however, in this match with the reigning champions, Broseley were beaten 4-1. Matt Davies, always a good start for his team, got Shifnal's first point of the evening with a win over Simon McLeod. Aaron Sparkes was next up, and he played against Rob Dubiki. Rob had a fine break of 68 during this frame to level the match. It was Darren Weston, a former Min Fats A player, who came to the table next, and in a high scoring frame with Neil Caswell. Darren took this frame, 78-52. Lindsay Knox for Shifnal then played Graeme Long, and according to the score card, this may have been a black ball finish as the score was 56 to Lindsay, and 50 to Graeme. Last but not least, Angus Way stepped up to do battle with John Banks. Angus made the score line 4-1 for the Shifnal team defeating John, and to keep his team in the hunt to retain their status as champions.

Maddocks C slipped a few spaces this week after they visited the Bayley club to play the Bayley A team. From what I saw from the next table, Chris Morgan-Adams, who opened for the Bayley side, potted like a demon, with good positioning as he beat Steve Hassack to give Bayley the lead. Steve Nichols didn’t fare so well against Darren Wilkie, and lost the frame 54-15. Bob Mason had a good frame with Joe Oliver, and in a high scoring frame Bob came out the victor in what may have been a black ball finish. So, 2-1 to the Bayley, and next up was Steve Fletcher, who gave his opponent, Darren wincott, little or no chance to win this frame! A good result from Steve up against a formidable opponent. The next and final frame between Maxwell Hodson and Ian Cleary, also went to the Bayley player, Maxwell, and this gave the Bayley team a 4-1 win.

LDS A was at home to the Shifnal F side, with Lee Elcock taking the first frame playing Chris Painter, for the home side. John Briscoe replied for Shifnal when he beat Jesse Lowe to level things up. The match was to and froing, and in the next one, the match swung to the Dawley side with a win from Graham Wiley, as he defeated Spencer Rowley, Spencer having a tough time to date this season. Ade Henry secured the match win in the penultimate frame with Dave Peplow on the receiving end of this defeat. In the last frame of the evening, Rob Wright made the score line respectable with a win over Stu Russell.

Coddon A cant seem to get away from the bottom of the division, but in this weeks match at the Donnington club, they were drawn against Bayley E and had a favourable result. Although Dave Lloyd lost the first frame marginally to Andy O’Brien, Mark Wall pulled the next frame back for Coddon with a victory over D. Beyer. Steve Downes performed well against his adversary, Dave France to put the Coddon side 2-1 in front. Andy Jones put the icing on the cake by winning the match for Coddon in his frame with namesake, Andy Jones. That doesn’t happen too often in the league! In the final frame Tony Garmson lost to John Squire, but winning the match is a step in the right direction for Coddon, and with plenty of games left can still move up the table.

Second Division

Bayley F were at home to the Maddocks D side this week, and it was the Maddocks side who took an early lead when Roy Lowe beat Phil Whitby, who is struggling to find his previous form at the moment. Mick Hughes then played Ian Courtney and levelled the match having a 25 break during the proceedings. Andy Kendrick added the second point to the Bayley total beating Cheryl Caswell, before Graham Darrell added the third, playing Maj Ilyas. This frame saw Graham make a 34 break on his way to winning the frame. The last frame was played between Fred spragg of Maddocks and Alan turner. This was a good frame with Fred, an experienced snooker player, pushing Alan all the way, and Alan was relieved to win this one, so, the final score, 4-1 to Bayley, but what a tough match.

LDS C, in a local derby match, Met at the Little Dawley club, and as in most local derby matches there was only the odd frame between the teams. Joe Rixom won the first for the home side, against the in-form Wayne Weeks. Carl Kesterton increased the lead with a win over Nigel Brazenhall. The match was won in the third frame when Gary Wall beat Grant Heighway, but then the match turned in favour of the Dawley social club. It was Barry Roden who struck back for the away side in a close fought frame with John Calvert to pull a point back, and in the next, another close frame with LiaM Goodman taking the frame from Pete Randall. This leaves Dawley social at the joint bottom of the division, and Little Dawley C joint third.

Shifnal A, the other side at the bottom, were up against LDS G at the Shifnal club. The opening frame saw Ian Postins get the home side off to a great start when he had a comfortable win over Rob Withington. A close frame followed, but this one went to the Dawley side with Stu Ross beating G. Lloyd. T. Lloyd form Shifnal also lost the next frame to Graham Copson, and the Dawley side went into a 2-1 lead. next up was M. Ainsworth against Dave levenue, and this one was also won by the Dawley man, although, once again a very close frame. The last frame also went to the Dawley side with Roy Levenue getting the better of Mark Jones.

Coddon C are mid table, but only five points between them and the bottom of the table. Coddon C were away to Maddocks B, and it turned out that Maddocks were the stronger side. Wally Harper started the ball rolling, so to speak, and Wally put the home side 1-0 up when he played Garry Owen. Very close the next, with Doug Morrey defeating Ollie Wall. In the next frame Daniel Ballard started a revival, but it didn’t last long, although he won his frame with John Archer. Geoff Tudor won the next for Maddocks beating Matt Bothwell, and in the last it was Roy Adams who made the score line 4-1 when he beat Mark Tusel. Overall, a very close match, points wise, but the Maddocks side will be well pleased with this result.

Alan Turner    

Alan.Turner@telfordsnooker.com