Leaders of the first division, Maddocks A, were the home side playing the Bayley A side this week, and the match opened with Ian Skelton playing Steve Fletcher. Wary tactics from both players at the beginning, but it was Ian who took the frame giving his side an early lead. Phil Davies increased the lead when he beat Arthur Burrows, and Ian Eldridge, although starting slowly beat Bob Mason. This frame should have been much closer as in the early stages, Bob missed a really easy black when he was amongst the balls! Darren Millward was the next to the table to play Chris Morgan- Adams. This was a great battle with Chris doubling the pink the length of the table to almost snatch the frame, but alas, the white ball went in off which turned the tables in favour of Darren. Darren then won this frame on the pink to make it 4-0. Last match of the evening featured Leigh France and Maxwell Hodson. In a low scoring frame it was Maxwell who rescued a point for the Bayley lads. Bayley are joint third at the bottom of the table after this result.

Apologies for last weeks hiccup reporting no card from Maddocks A. I had a report from Joe Oliver concerning the match via email, and cut and pasted it without reading its content! Thanks to Joe for sending the report, at least he helps to make the reports more realistic, even if he is the only one to bother!

Shifnal B’s title challenge took a little nose dive this week, as they suffered defeat at the hands of LDS A at the Little Dawley club. Shifnal started well enough with Aaron Sparkes taking the first frame from home player Lee Elcock, and then Matt Davies having yet another break in his frame with Graham Wiley. This time it was a 64, which took Matt to a comfortable win. And that was where the match ended for Shifnal, as Jesse Lowe, in a very close frame with Angus Way won this one 64-50 to reply for the Dawley side. Another close frame ensued, and again it was the Little Dawley side taking the point with Stu Russell’s victory over Lindsay Knox. The decider was played between Ade Henry and John Fallows, with Ade having an inspired win over John, that score, 81-35 to Ade.

Anstice are currently in second spot, with a result missing, but in this weeks match with Broseley, at the Madeley club, Anstice suffered a little setback also. This match followed the same trend as Shifnal B, with Anstice taking the first two frames, courtesy of Ian Duffy winning a close frame with Simon McLeod, and Keith Price then beating Graeme Long. The frame between Neil Price and Neil Caswell, saw the Broseley side pull a frame back. Craig Reynolds, only playing his second frame in seven weeks, was drawn against Mick Brezwyn, and it was Mick who succeeded in winning this frame. So to a decider, which saw Shawn Harris back on the scene, and Shawn played John Banks. This looked to be a nail biter with John winning the frame 54-51 to give his side the match win.

With cards missing from as far back as the 13th of Jan, it’s a little difficult to finalize table positions each week, but in this weeks fixtures, Bayley E who were at home, find themselves fourth from the bottom of the division, but not really knowing their standing, as teams above and below them have missing results. However, this week Bayley entertained the Maddocks C team at home. Dave France lost the opening frame to Steve Hassock, with Andy O’Brien levelling against Darren Wilkie. D. Beyer was next up, and he was drawn against Darren Wincott. This could have been a black ball finish with D. Beyer winning the frame. The same scenario could also apply to the frame between John Squire and Ian Cleary. This one was 57-54 to Ian. Ali Jones played the decider with Graham Hoof and Ali won this one comfortably.

Second Division

Bayley F remain top of the second division, and maintain their current impetus. This week Bayley took the short trip to Maddocks to play the B side. The Maddocks side started well with Wally Harper taking the first frame from Phil Whitby, but in the second after a slow start Andy Kendrick showed his usual prowess with the cue, knocking in a 33 break with some top class potting. Not to be outdone, although Doug Morrey had lost the frame, Doug cleared the table with a great 35 to illustrate he’s never lost his touch.

Geoff Tudor and Mick Hughes were involved in a scrappy frame, but it was Mick who came out the winner to make it 2-1 to Bayley. The next saw in form Graham Darrell, play John Archer. John is struggling to find his form this season, and it was Graham who took this frame with another good display of snooker. Another scrappy frame in the last, but this also went to the Bayley when Alan Turner beat Roy Adams for a 4-1 overall victory.

Min Fats A are still in second place this week, although they lost their match when they visited Dawley B. Grant Heighway returned to winning form this week, and he beat the useful Aaron O’Donnell to give Dawley the first point of the evening. Nigel Brazenall had an humdinger with Neil Pearson, and Nigel won this frame on the black in a high scoring game. Wayne Weeks made it 2-1 for the home side in yet another high scoring, and a very close frame, in this one it was 75 to Wayne and 66 for his opponent Mick Egan. In the next frame of the evening, Barry Roden took on Mick Pearson, and Mick drew a point back for Min Fats when he beat Barry. Dawley B put up a fine performance in this match, and this result belies their position really! In the last frame of the evening, yet another very close frame, and this one was contested by Liam Goodman and Phil Bufton. The score line in this was 50 to Phil and 47 to Liam, so in spite of a loss for Min Fats A, they still remain in second as mentioned earlier.

Bayley B keep the pressure on for the promotion stakes, and this week they were the home side to Maddocks D. Maddocks took an early lead in the match with Graham Arnold getting the better of Tom Mulholland. Dan Oliver made the match even in a low scoring frame with Maj Ilyas, before Kelvin McLeod restored the lead for Bayley with a win over Roy Lowe. Kev West then played Cheryl Caswell and Cheryl lost her fourth frame in a row giving Bayley the match win. In the last one, it was Fred Spragg defeating Dickie Oliver to leave the score line at 3-2 to the Maddocks side.

Coddon C gave a good account of them selves in their match with LDS G at the Donnington club. Matt Bothwell got the home side off to a good start winning his fourth frame in a row when he beat Rob Withington. Mark Tusel added a second point when he won the frame playing Tommy Bell. Graham Copson hit back for the Little Dawley side in a tight frame with Ollie Wall to get the first point on the board for Dawley. Roy Levenue, also for Dawley set up a deciding frame when he got the better of Garry Owen. It was Stu Ross winning his sixth frame on the reel who took frame and match for the Dawley side when he beat Daniel Ballard.

Meanwhile, team mates, LDS C were at home to Shifnal F, but unfortunately couldn’t make any ground on their LDS G side. Carl Kesterton lost the opener to Mark Wordsell, but Pete Randall levelled against Steve Jones. John Calvert and Ian Postins had a good tussle, but it was Ian who won the frame, 58-54 to give Shifnal a 2-1 lead. New signing, Gert Singh, then beat Mark Ainsworth which meant another deciding frame. This time it was between Colin Soltys and Mark Jones. Colin won this one to keep his side in the hunt.

Third Division

Hadley B are a foregone conclusion to win this division, and this week, although away from home, continued their march towards the third division title. Darren Pountney beat Terry Askew in the first, and the only resistance in this match was in the next frame when Pete Wharton put up a brave fight against Dave Smout, only to see Dave win, 59-57. After that it looked all one way traffic, with Kev Whitehead beating Arthur Aston, Ken Booty winning his frame with Geoff French, and last but not least, Matt Bailey beating Barrie Easthope, 73-22.

Hadley A gained a respectable result from their match with one of the teams chasing promotion this week, Anstice B, were the away side, and they kicked off with a win, courtesy of Noel Stones having a comfortable win over Roy Francis. Tony Morgan, for the Hadley side pulled one back when he beat Mick Cahill. Danny Francis, who has only played an handful of games this season succumbed to John Darrock to take Anstice into the lead. Iain Atkinson was unable to add any points to the Hadley cause as Steve Smallwood won their match. In the last frame, it was (Tugboat), Richard Benting who won a very close frame with Stew Wimbush, that score, 57-45 to Richard.

Newport have found a new lease of life, and this week they were at home to the newly demoted Bayley D. Looks very much like the Bayley side will be spending another season in this division after this result. Newport gained the first win with Allan Davies beating Mark Bedall. Dave Williams for the Bayley side put Bayley back into contention with a fine win over Colin Farge. Campaigner, Les Stirling restored the lead for Newport with a win over Jim Lewis. Brian Aberdeen did his beat to get the Bayley side back into the match, but just lost out to Richard Goldie, 56-45. In the last frame, Steve Speake came up against Dave Dudley, not Dave’s usual position of play, but it was Steve who won this one comfortably to make it a good 4-1 result for the Newport lads.

Allscott were at home to Coddon B in this week fixtures, and they should be pleased with their performances so far, in this their first season back into our league after many years. Kev Welland was first up to play, but didn’t fare too well against Brian McMillan, and so Coddon took an early lead. L. Harris hit back for Allscott beating Mark Ebdon, and then Dave Finney made it 2-1 for Allscott when he narrowly beat Dean Harris. Steve Powell, having a good season so far, made it 3-1 with a win over Mokesh Lal, and in the final frame, Carl Starling was too strong for new signing, Rob Kirkpatrick, and so the match ended 4-1 to Allscott.

Alan Turner    

Alan.Turner@telfordsnooker.com