Before I start the first report of the New Year, my thanks to all the committee for their hard work through out the season, and many thanks to John Tranter for his support with the adding of reports etc. to the website. Happy New Year to you all, and hope you enjoy the rest of the season.

We are short of a few results this week, but we will put that down to the weather!

Bayley A were the home side in the fixture between themselves and Shifnal this week, and not an easy ride for the Shifnal lads. Aaron Sparkes got the visiting team off to a winning start with a comfortable win over Maxwell Hodson. Matt Davies made it two against Arthur Burrows, but then in the next, a very tight frame, Bob Mason beat Angus Way to pull one back for the Bayley club. That score, 47 to Bob , and 36 to Angus. The next frame also went to the Bayley, and this time it was Chris Morgan-Adams who inflicted defeat on Lindsay Knox. This set up an exciting finale for the match with two top players to contest it. In the end it was John Fallows who proved to be the stronger on the evening, and he took the final frame from Steve Fletcher to give his team the match win. This puts the Shifnal side at the top of the table for now, with no result in from Maddocks A who led the table last week.

Broseley A will remain in fourth place this week in spite of results not coming in, after their home match with LDS A. Graeme Long opened the match with a win over Phil Cottey, and having a 38 break during the frame. Neil Caswell added the next point to the tally with an easy win over Graham Wiley. Next up was Simon McLeod, and he took on Jesse Lowe. This one also went to Broseley to make it 3-0. Mick Brezwyn got his team the fourth point when he played Stu Russell, and Mick also had a 37 break in his frame with Stu. In the last frame of the evening, Ade Henry got a point back for the Dawley lads with a good win over John Banks.

Bayley E are two points behind LDS A, with Dawley A sandwiched between them. Unfortunately there are two cards missing from the Dawley A side, so final positions cannot be determined until the Dawley side send me the results! However, back to the report, and this week Shifnal F played hosts to the Bayley E side. A very high scoring frame in the opening game, and this one went to the away side with Andy Obrien beating Chris Painter, 73-56. Andy made a 34 break on his way to the first win of the evening. Next to play Rob Wright, came up against Dave Beyer, and this frame also went to the Bayley side. So two up, and going well, but the next frame looked to be a cracker with Dave Peplow playing Ali Jones. The final score in this frame was Dave 56, and Ali 48. Chris Petford won the next playing Dave France to set up a decider between Spencer Rowley and John Squire. Another very close frame this, but it was the Bayley side that secured the match win, on what could have been a black ball finish, although not stated!

Second Division

No changes at the top of the table this week, and with the Bayley F teams match postponed due to inclement weather, this report starts with joint second placed Bayley B. A great battle is going on for this title at the moment, and this week the Bayley side made the short trip to Dawley B. Nigel Brazenall for Dawley was first to the table, and he came up against the very useful Tom Mulholland. Tom had a 22 break in his comfortable win over Nigel. Wayne Weeks who had previously only lost one frame since his return to snooker, took on steady Kev West, always a hard player to overcome. This proved to be the case once again, as Kev took this frame, 62-41.The next frame was an unbelievably low scoring frame, and I can’t remember a similar score ever! This frame was contested between Liam Goodman and Craig Baugh. The final score in this frame was 29 to Craig and 24 to Liam. So 3-0 up and cruising, the next frame indeed was the easiest win of the evening. Barry Roden came up against Dan Oliver in the next frame, and Barry found Dan on fire! According to the score. That frame was 105 to Dan, 15 to Barry. Grant Heighway was matched with Kevin McLeod in the last, and Grant had a cracking frame also, as he beat Kevin 104-25 to rescue a point for his team.

Minn Fats A, also chasing promotion, were the home side in a local derby match with the Maddocks B side this week, and it was the Min Fats side who kept the pressure on the leaders, but also increased the pressure on the bottom of the table too. A great opening frame was played between Aaron O’Donnell and Wally Harper, with Wally taking the frame 70-66. Dale Blagborough was also involved in a good tussle with Doug Morrey, but it was Dale who levelled the scores. Mick Egan edged his team into a 2-1 lead with a narrow win over John Archer, but in the next frame, Neil Pearson for the Min Fats side had a 28 break in an easy win over Geoff Tudor. Mick Pearson concluded the evening by taking the fourth point of the night beating Roy Adams.

The next two fixtures in the program will be quite exciting, with Bayley B and Min Fatts pitched together next week, and Bayley B against LDS G the following week!

LDS G are not out of the equation just yet, and they did gain a little ground on their team mates, LDS C in this week’s fixture. Tommy Bell gained the first point for LDS G in a close frame with Joe Rixom. Stu Ross, a comparatively new signing for the LDS G side, put the second point of the evening on the board when he beat Gary Walls. The next, a very high scoring frame was a nail biter, but it was Jon Calvert who just got the better of Graham Copson 65-60. Just as close in the next frame, but it was Roy Levenue for LDS G who took this one from Carl Kesterton to win the match. In the last Rob Withington succumbed to Pete Randall 67-33.

Third Division

The favourites for the third division title travelled to Newport this week and came back with a 3-2 victory. Kev Whitehead, only losing one frame so far this campaign, got the first point on the board when he beat Allan Davies. Will be nice to see Kevin move up to a division which will give him more of a challenge now that he has finished his training with Hadley A. Ken Booty had breaks of 29 and 22 in his victory over Keith Gardener, and in the next, like wise, D. Smout had a 22 break as he beat Richard Goldie. Steve Speake hit back for Newport with a narrow win over John Wright, and in the last, campaigner Les Stirling beat Darren Pountney to make the final score as stated.

LDS B maintained their position in the division, but had a well contested match with the new team this season, Alscott. Richie Heighway took the first beating Les Pritchard, with Chris Lawson adding the next when he beat Jason Allen. Steve Powell for Allscott turned the tide by getting the better of Sam Drake, and then Steve’s team mate, Kev Welland won a tight frame with Colin Gittus 61-55 to set up a deciding frame. Mark Randall for the LDS B side was matched with Dave Finney, and it was the Little Dawley man who took frame and match.

Anstice B, although gaining a home win when they played the Second Club B side, made no headway on the leaders. Steve Smallwood played Chris Coterhill in the first, and this one went to Chris to give his side the lead. Noel Stones made it ten wins from twelve games when he beat Alan Kynaston 68-5. Team mate John Darrock added to the tally by beating Nick Holmes, and then George Hammond got the match win with a victory over Keith Mears. Doesn’t time fly? it doesn’t seem that long ago that I was playing against Noel, John and George in the first division? In the last frame of the evening, Roger Smith for the Trench side made it 3-2 by wining his frame with Billy Watson.

Bayley Q are having a good season so far, and this week they were away to the Shifnal D side. Terry Askew got the home side off to a good start by defeating Rob Cook, but that was as far as it went as the Bayley side proved too be too good on this occasion. Sanjay Chauhan gave Lee Newton a run for his money, but lost out 55-42. Arthur Aston for the home side then lost to Chris Bates for Bayley to go 2-1 up. Geoff French followed the same route, this time the frame went to Richard Tranter. In the final frame Steve Weatherall gave his side a resounding victory when he beat Barrie Easthope, 68-26.

Alan Turner    

Alan.Turner@telfordsnooker.com