All change again this week in the first division, as a fine 5-0 win by the Maddocks A side away from home puts them one point clear at the top of the table. Little Dawley A started the match with Phil Cottey playing Ian Eldrdidge. Phil was no match for Ian who made a thirty break winning the opener. A fairly low scoring frame next, but this one also went to Maddocks with Phil Davies taking the frame from Graham Wiley. Jesse Lowe then stepped up to take on Ian Skelton, with this one won by Ian. Stu Russell then played Leigh France, and he went the way of his team mates losing to Leigh. The last frame of the evening was very close, but it was Dave France who completed the white wash by beating Ade Henry.

Nigel Stallard sent in the following report of the match between Shifnal B and Anstice A, at Shifnal.

In the top of the table clash at Shifnal things started nervously in frame 1, as Matt Davies faced N Price, Matty took an early lead, which was followed by some great safety from both players, then Matt knocked in a great long pot and cleared up to the blue to take the frame 63-22, frame 2 saw Darren Weston facing his old team mates from last year as he took on C Reynolds, this time the away player took an early advantage, to which Darren responded brilliantly taking a quick fire 28 then playing safe, and taking the chances left by Craig to secure the frame 72-24, frame 3 saw the old timer Shaun Harris dust down his cue and he started the frame with some sparkling pots, then John Fallows found his potting boots and knocked in a great red to knock in a 42 break to bring himself back into the frame, some safety shots followed from both players, and when Shaun thought he had left the green safe, John stepped up and smacked in fantastic pot to clear up to the pink, winning the frame 72-38, in the next A Sparkes faced K the snatch PRICE, the home player taking an early 19 point lead, then Keith knocked in some fantastic pressure shots to put himself 30 points up, Az tried to respond, but Keith cleared to take the frame 62-22 with some aplomb, the final frame saw Angus Way v Ian Duffy, with Ian potting some fantastic long shots in the early stages to put himself 30 points up, Angus was struggling to get into the frame, then a loose shot from Ian, gave Angus the chance he was looking for, and he took it superbly to put himself back into the frame potting up to the blue to put himself 14 up Ian doubled the blue and was then unlucky not to pot the pink, he left Angus a long shot, which he duly slotted to take the frame 61-46.

Broseley remain in fourth place after their 3-2 away win at Coddon A, and also chopped the lead of Anstice B down to three points. Things didn’t start too well for Broseley as Dave Lloyd for the home side gained the first win for Coddon when he beat John Banks. Andy Jones continued in the same vein by beating Simon McLeod. The match changed for Broseley in the third frame of the evening when Graeme Long had to play Tony Garmson. It was Graeme that pulled the first point of the evening back for the Broseley side. Nick Pearce for Coddon never got into the game at all against Mick Brezwyn, and so the match went all square. The decider was played between Mark Wall and Neil Caswell, with Neil claiming frame and match win for the away side.

Audco C visited Maddocks C this week and came away with a 3-2 victory. Dave Berry took the 1st frame against Graham Hoof 82-27 in a game that was a lot closer than the score line suggests. John Williams then gave Audco a 2-0 lead when taking the next frame from Steve Hassack 50-30. In the 3rd frame Joe Oliver for the home side showed some of his early season good form and ran out a fairly comfortable winner by 47-10 against Mick Pink. Roger Lewis then potted very well against an out of sorts Darren Wilkie and gave the visitors a 3-1 lead, winning by 43-15. In the final frame Ian Cleary continued with his recent good run and played very well again in defeating the Audco captain Andy Heathcote easily by 61-29.

Fifth from bottom, Dawley A, took on the Bayley E side at Dawley this week, and those five placings remain unaltered. Dawley A had a good start in the match with Carl Walker recording a 51 break as he defeated Andy O’Brien. Pete Nolan lost his frame to D. Beyer, and in the next frame John Squire put the Bayley side 2-1 up when he got the better of Andy Garbett. Rick Bailey returned to winning ways, and in a close frame with Andy Jones, Rick levelled the match. It was left to Alex Nolan to play the decider against Dave France, and Alex made no mistake winning the match for the home side, Dawley A. That win puts Dawley three points in front of Bayley E.

The bottom two sides of this division were matched against each other this week, at the Bayley club. Bayley A versus Shifnal F. Arthur Burrows went to the table first and it was Shifnal player, Rob Wright, who secured the first point for Shifnal. That was added to when Chris Painter played, and won against Mike Healey. Chris Morgan-Adams fared no better in his match with Spencer Rowley, and so Shifnal found themselves 3-0 to the good. Bob Mason for Bayley showed more resistance for the home side, and Bob won his frame with John Briscoe. The last frame of the evening played between Steve Fletcher and Chris Petford also went to Shifnal, to give them a 4-1 victory. Although one result is still missing from the Bayley tally, these two teams are currently on the same points!

Second Division

Bayley F entertained Dawley B at the Bayley club, and this result puts Bayley a little further in front this week, so barring a complete collapse, the Bayley side must be favourites for promotion. Alan Turner opened this weeks match and was drawn against Tom White. A very open frame ensued, and in spite of some great potting from Tom it was Alan who took the first frame. Phil Whitby was up next, and Phil was cueing as well as ever in this frame, and although Grant Heighway made a couple of chances to get back in the frame, He didn’t make the most of them and Phil added another point to make it 2-0.Graham Darrel then played Nigel Brazenhall, with Nigel being rather unlucky at times, giving away needless fouls. However, take nothing away from Graham who has played consistently well this season, and once again won this frame, his twelfth in a row. Mick Hughes struggled in his frame with Barry Roden, but kept on in there, until Barry looked like he had potted the black, only to see it rattle the jaws! Mick then potted the black to take Bayley into a 4-0 lead. Andy Kendrick was up last playing Liam Goodman, and not many would have competed with Andy on this evening, as he made no mistake in clinching the last one for a 5-0 win over the Dawley lads.

Maddocks D were pitted against second placed Min Fats A, and in a close match it was the Oakengates side who won through. Graham Arnold lost the first frame to Neil Pearson, and likewise, Roy Lowe from Maddocks also lost to Dale Blagborough. Cheryl Caswell stopped the march with a win over Mick Pearson, and the revival continued when Ian Courtney just beat Mick Egan 52-50 to square the match. In the last frame it fell to Maj Ilyas to play the decider against Phil Bufton. In this frame it was Phil who took frame, and match to keep their promotion hopes well intact.

The Second Club A met LDS G at Trench, LDS also being in the van for promotion. Ian Ferriday started the match, and his opponent, Stu Ross came on the back of winning seven frames in a row. Stu was unable to keep that run going as an in form Ian took the opener comfortably. Paul Crooks for the Trench side had a good tussle with Roy Levenue, but it was Roy who just pinched this frame. Dave Welsh made it 2-1 for Second Club beating Graham Copson, and in the next Toby Welsh secured the match win with a victory over Rob Withington. The last frame of the evening was played between Neil Robinson and Tommy Bell. Tommy, a great potter when he’s on song, looked like he was in form as he took the last frame to gain a second point for LDS G.

Shifnal A are locked in the same position this week after their home match with Coddon C. Richard Davies got the match going, and he was drawn to play Mick Stokes. This was a close frame and it went to the away side, Coddon, with Mick taking the honours. Four of the matches on the card were very close frames it would appear, and that also went for the second frame of the evening with Mick Ainsworth taking on Garry Owen. It was Garry for Coddon who added the second frame to make it 2-0. Ian Postins came up against Daniel Ballard, who potted so well in last weeks match with Bayley F, and although Ian put up a good performance, this one also went to Coddon after another close frame. The next frame saw Mark Tusel having a slightly easier win over Mark Jones, but in the last Steve Jones playing Matt Bothwell lost by just two points. So, in a match which looked so close, Coddon ran out 5-0 winners, and move a couple of places up in the table after this good result.

LDS C remain in the same position after playing the Maddocks B team, at Little Dawley. The first frame went to Maddocks, courtesy of Wally Harpers win over Colin Soltys, but in the next Jon Calvert levelled when he beat Doug Morrey. Carl Kesterton then put the Little Dawley side 2-1 up with a win over John Archer. Geoff Tudor for the Maddocks side then set up a deciding frame after he defeated Pete Randall. The decider saw Mike Rhodes take to the table for the second week in a row, and he duly won frame and match for his Little Dawley side by beating Roy Adams.

Third Division

The first report in the third division has kindly been sent in by Darren Pountney, and Darren has added a few words for one of our former snooker players, Mr. Steve Owen.

It has been a few weeks now since we heard the sad news received that yet another Telford snooker player has passed away. Steve Owen from the infamous Little Dawley outfit of the late 80's - early 90's. Steve was a great friend and colleague to many of us in the league and provided us with some entertaining match reports back in his day. He himself adopted the name Steve "Flowin" Owen and I had the pleasure of playing alongside him for many of his snookering days, also becoming a close friend to me, and on the league's behalf would like to wish all of his friends and family our condolences, Steve you will be sadly missed mate and never forgotten. Ian Duffy and myself have received permission from the league committee to sponsor/donate a cup that will replace the existing Over 40's shield, and will now be played as the Steve Owen "Over 40's" Memorial Trophy.

Hadley B gained promotion to Division 2 this week with a hard fought 4-1 victory against Dawley C, which in itself put a big dent in Dawley's own promotion push. Dawley came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders when Chris Gifford showed an impressive display to clear up at the end of the frame and pinch the 1st from Kevin Whitehead. John Wright quickly levelled matters with a battle of the potters against Sean Cross, this was a great frame to watch and one both players can be proud of their display, but it was John that levelled things up on the night. Darren Pountney then edged over the line against Jamie Mills to put Hadley 2-1 up and with a further win from the in-form Dave Smout against Luke Edwards, ensured Hadley's 17th win of their campaign. The ever impressive Ken Booty then wrapped the evening up with a convincing win against Andy Shaw give the Hadley boys promotion to Division 2.

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.

Anstice B were the home side to the LDS B team, and what an important match for Anstice this was! Anstice are faltering a little in their bid for promotion, and with the Little Dawley side flying, Anstice needed a good result in this match. Anstice started well with Stew Wimbush getting the home side off to a good start when he beat Colin Gittus. Noel Stones added a second by beating Richie Heighway, and things were going well for Anstice. The next frame saw John Darrock take on Mark Randall, but John was never at the races and it was Mark for little Dawley who pulled one back. George Hammond then came up against Sam Drake, and Sam had a 32 break during the frame which gave George hardly any chance of adding to the Anstice score line. Steve Smallwood went on to play the decider with Chris Lawson from Little Dawley, hoping to grab that last point for Anstice. However, it wasn’t to be as it was Chris who won the frame and match for the Little Dawley side.

Bayley D are making no advance up the table, and this week was no different for them as they played host to the Shifnal D team. Dave Dudley started in pole position, and he was drawn to play Terrie Askew. Although a close frame it was the Shifnal player who claimed the first frame. Dave’s team mate, Dave Williams suffer the same fate at the hands of Pete Wharton to give the Shifnal side a 2-0 lead. The next frame between Mark Bedall and Geoff French proved to be the closest, and probably most exciting of the evening, when the frame went to a re-spotted black. It was Mark for the Bayley club who got this one, pulling a point back for his team. Brian Aberdeen gave it his all in the next frame with Andrew Easthope, but again in a very close frame it was Andrew who succeeded, 3-1 to Shifnal. The last frame saw Jim Lewis beat Barrie Easthope comfortably to leave the overall result, 3-2 to the Shifnal side.

Allscott, at home to Newport B this week, leapfrog the Newport side, with a 4-1 victory. Kev Welland was up first and he played Richard Goldie. In a high scoring frame it was Kev who put the home side one up. Jason Allen added the second when he proved to be too good on the night for Keith Gardener. Steve Powell continued his run of form and was far too good for Allan Davies on this occasion, and Steve made it 3-0 to Allscott. It looked plain sailing for the Allscott team, as Dave Finney added yet another point to the evenings score, this time Dave beating Steve Speake. The last frame of the evening saw Lee Harris hoping to make it a clean sweep, and although he did his best Lee found campaigner, Les Stirling to be a worthy opponent, and Les won this frame 51-40.

Hadley A seem to have lost their early season impetus, and this week they were at home to the Bayley Q side. Richard Benting lost the first to Chris Durham, but Roy Francis levelled the match with a win over Chris Bates. Tony Morgan, in good form to date, then put Hadley into the lead taking the frame from Chris Fletcher. In the next frame Al Francis took on Steve Weatherall, but on the night, Steve potted too well for Al and ran out the winner to set up a deciding frame between Iain Atkinson and Lee Newton. This one looked to be a humdinger, and in a very high scoring frame it was Lee for the Bayley who won the match with a score line of 65 to lee and 60 to Iain.

Alan Turner    

Alan.Turner@telfordsnooker.com