The first report this week starts with fifth placed LDS A who played the Shifnal F team, at Shifnal. John Briscoe opened the match playing Lee Elcock, and it was Lee who raced away with this one, to put the first point of the evening on the Little Dawley score card. Rob Wright for Shifnal was next up, and Rob had a good frame against Graham Wiley, recording a 33 break during his win over Graham. Spencer Rowley came close to adding a second for Shifnal, but just lost out to Phil Cottey, 55-48 in this frame. Another close game next, and this was between Chris Painter and Stu Russell. That score line was 49 to Chris and 42 to Stu. The deciding frame for the match win was played between Chris Petford and Ade Henry, and although it was a well fought frame, it went to Chris, giving Shifnal the 3-2 win.

Maddocks C have done well this season, and this week saw them entertain the Bayley A side at the Maddocks club. Steve Hassack got the Maddocks side off to a good start with an easy win over Arthur Burrows, and the next frame went much the same way for Mick Wincott who played Steve Nichols, although it has been quite a while since Steve has played a competitive frame. So, 2-0 up, and next to play was Graham Hoof and Maxwell Hodson. It was Maxwell who gained the win in this frame to pull one back for the Bayley side. Darren Wilkie then came up against Steve Fletcher, and Steve levelled the match to set up a deciding frame between Ian Cleary and Chris Morgan-Adams. Chris had been playing quite well in some of the frames that I have seen recently, however, it wasn’t his night on this evening, as Ian, making a 29 break during the frame, claimed the match for the Maddocks side. Maddocks C finish their campaign at Shifnal next week playing the reigning champions, one to look forward to!

Bayley E were at home this week to the Coddon A side, and both teams needed a good result to get them away from a possible play off position. Andy Obrien got the home side off to a flyer with a good win over Dave Lloyd, also having a 39 break during the frame. D. Beyer couldn’t add to that, although he put up a good fight in a high scoring frame with Tony Garmson. Next to play was Ali Jones against Andy Jones, but it was Andy for the Coddon side who won this one and put the Coddon side 2-1 up. John Squire was next to the table to compete with Steve Downes, and it was John who had the edge in this frame, and consequently set up a deciding frame. Anchor man for Bayley, Dave France met Mark Wall in this one, and it turned out to be a well contested frame, with Dave winning it 43-39. A 3-2 win for the Bayley side, but still not out of the woods with their last match being against the Anstice A team, at the Bayley club.

Second Division

Maddocks D were the home side in the match with Bayley F, and the match started with Graham Arnold playing Phil Whitby. Graham played very well and put himself into a good lead, but Phil stayed on to the end, and it turned out to be one of those frames where you wonder how you lost it. The only answer to that really, was that Phil did pot three difficult balls to win the frame! Ian Courtney then came up against Andy Kendrick, with Andy playing well as always, winning this frame, and probably the averages this season in the second division. Cheryl Caswell was next to the table, and she played Graham Darrell, who after missing last weeks frame, was a little ring rusty. Take nothing from Cheryl though; she potted some nice balls playing with a cue which would have been more suited to having a brush head on the end of it! Roy Lowe, against Alan Turner turned out to be another win for the Bayley side, and amazing after all these years, Alan had never realised that Roy was the brother of Jesse, an ex team mate of Alan’s in the old Dawley side of years gone by. That frame set up a pint and a nice chat with Roy after the frame. Once again, the Bayley side couldn’t make a full team as one of the players dropped out at the last minute, ill.

Little Dawley G fulfilled their fixtures, perhaps not in the way they would have liked, and having a bye in the last match of the season must sit it out to see what the future holds concerning promotion. Little Dawley were playing the Shifnal A side, at little Dawley, and the opening frame saw Rob Withington against Chris Bristow. That one went to the Shifnal side, but in the next, when Graham Copson played Mark Wordsell, it couldn’t have been much closer than this, with Mark beating Graham by two points. A great start for the Shifnal side, whose form had not been too good this season! Roy Levenue was next to the table to see if he could alter the proceedings, but this one got away too, in another close frame, this time it was Steve Jones who won the frame. Stu Ross who held the highest break last week, albeit briefly, was drawn to play Ian Postins. Ian, a very capable player, met Stu playing some great snooker, as he did last week. Stu went one better this week and recaptured the highest break with a great 64, giving Ian little or no chance to compete in this frame. That was a much needed point for the Dawley side, but they couldn’t improve on it as the next frame went to Mark Jones, who beat Tommy Bell comfortably to gain a 4-1 win for the Shifnal side. This result also leaves Shifnal depending on the next week’s results to see where their season will finish.

Bayley B, apart from last weeks result haven’t really re-captured their early season form, and this week they were the home side playing the Second Club Trench A side. Dan Oliver opened the match, taking on Paul Crooks, but Danny also having lost his early season form, lost this one to Paul for the Trench side to go one up. Craig Baugh then played Ian Ferriday, with Ian showing good form to take his side into a 2-0 lead, and having a 30 break whilst doing so. The Bayley side then came to life with Tom Mulholland beating Bob Lane to pull one back for the home side. Kev West continued the revival with a win over Toby Welsh, which set up a decider between Dick Oliver and Neil Robinson. Dick didn’t let the side down as he gained a comfortable win over Neil to win frame and match. Bayley B are still in with a shout, and it’s amazing that with play offs being introduced this season, how many teams are so closely involved coming to the last match.

Coddon C have come with a late sail towards the end of this season, and are probably just out of the top end now to do much about promotion, and this week they played Maddocks B, who are relegated. Maddocks suffered a sad blow earlier this season with the demise of Les Hicks, and this must have taken it’s toll on the team spirit; lets hope they can bounce back in the future.

In the match, it was Josh Wall who came to the table first, and Josh was up against Wally Harper. Wally was in good form and took the opener to give Maddocks the lead. Garry Owen didn’t fare any better when he played Doug Morrey, and Doug made it 2-0. Matt Bothwell was then drawn to play Geoff Tudor, and in this frame Matt had a 22 clearance, although he had won the frame by this time. Ollie Wall was not to be outdone, and during his frame with John Archer, Ollie had a 25 break too. With that win over John, the decider was played out between Daniel Ballard and Roy Adams. Daniel who has been in scintillating form over his last few frames won this one to take the match win for the Coddon side.

Dawley B also depend on the last game of the season to see if they can make the play offs to remain in this division. This week the Dawley side took on mid table LDS C. Grant Heighway was the first casualty for the home side when he played Jon Calvert. Jon looked to have won this one comfortably, but then Grants team mate, Nigel Brazenall won a very close frame when he came up against Pete Randall, that score, Nigel 55 and Pete 46. An old friend, and team mate of mine then made his debut for the Dawley B side, Mick Reynolds. Can’t remember the last time I saw Mick pick up his cue, but he certainly has not forgot how to use it, as he beat Joe Rixom 74-26. Barry Roden was hoping to keep things going for his side, but Carl Kesterton had different ideas, and it was Carl who levelled the match and set up a decider. Liam Goodman took the honours for the Dawley B side with a victory over Colin Soltys.

Third Division

Hadley B met their Hadley A side in this local derby match, and no surprises here. Jon Wright who played Roy Francis won this frame 81-5 to put the B side one up. Matt Bailey then beat Tony Morgan, followed by Ken Booty beating Dan Francis. The next frame also went to the B side, this time it was Dave Smout who beat Allen Francis. Darren Pountney completed the rout against Richard Benting, and this Hadley team will have probably won this division by its biggest ever margin.

LDS B are also in the second division next season, and in this weeks fixtures the Dawley side were at home to Coddon B. This was one of the few fixtures this week which went true to form. The Dawley side opened with Richie Heighway playing Brian McMillan, with Richie putting his side into a 1-0 lead. Mark Randall didn’t have the same margin of points in his frame, but won well against Dean Harris. Chris Lawson then pitted against Mokesh Mehmi, took the third frame to make it 3-0. The next two frames were easily won, Colin Gittus beating Rob Kirkpatrick, and Sam Drake beating Will Kirkpatrick. The last two Coddon players beaten were making a rare appearance in this league to be fair, so let’s hope we see more of them next season.

Allscott have made a great start to their first campaign, and they played away at Shifnal D. Terry Askew lost the first frame to Allscott player Steve Powell, but Pete Wharton replied to that frame with a win over N. Gwynne, making a 32 break on the way to the win. Arthur Aston for Shifnal lost his frame to Kev Welland in the closest of frames, 56-54, thereby Allscott going 2-1 into the lead. Geoff French got the better of Jason Allen in one of the lowest scoring frames this season, when he won by 27 – 18. Barrie Easthope played the last frame against Dave Finney, but this one went to the Allscott side, and gave them a fighting chance to make the play offs with just one match left to play.

With their result just received from the week earlier and a convincing win against Bayley Q last week, Anstice B move into third place knowing that third position is the best the team can achieve. Anstice won the game 4-1 and Noel Stones has returned to the top of the most wins table after beating Chris Durham. Mick Cahill beat Chris Fletcher, John Darrock beat Chris Bates, and Billy Watson beat Lee Newton. Steve Weatherall was the only winner for the 'Q' team, beating George Hammond.

The Second Club B side will not be able to improve their position this season, but who knows next season? The Trench side were at home to mid table Newport B, and in the opening frame Alan Kynaston met up with Allan Davies. In a high scoring frame it was Allan who took the lead for Newport in this one. Nick Holmes for the Trench side, levelled the match playing Richard Goldie in a very close frame. Chris Coterill was next to the table, and he drew Keith Gardener. Chris had no trouble winning that frame, but his team mate, Keith Mears came as close as he could to beating Steve Speake, but the final score was 48-42 to Steve. The deciding frame was contested between Roger Smith and Les Stirling. Les who has had a good season won the decider, but a good performance from the Second Club made it an enjoyable evening.

Alan Turner    

Alan.Turner@telfordsnooker.com