2006-07: Week 6

In Just Wood Premier Division Burton Cons A have taken full advantage of Swad SC A’s rest week by giving Swad Cons A no chance and taking 8pts. Jonathan Fletcher dropped the Burton sides frame when Vince Draper proved he could match Burton’s best. The unluckiest player on the night was Swad’s Mick Abbott who, even after a 38 break couldn’t get Mick Simpkins to falter. Ivanhoe B were also struggling against Belvedere Park A. Alan Davies is in great form this season and took both frames from Darren Wilson. Craig Keen is also getting back on track after a poor start this year by his standards. He too made sure of both frames leaving Owen Jones and Daz Lester to draw with Gaz Dolman and Graham Measures respectively. Spot On A is moving up the table as expected. This week their fortune came from Trevor Heath as he successfully got the 4 snookers he required in the first frame and then won the respotted black against Ivanhoe A’s Simon Kilmister. If the game needed to be any harder, John Hardy drew with Richard Bithell when he too had to obtain 2 snookers in his second frame. This gave Ivanhoe their first defeat. Swad SC B couldn’t dent Newhall A’s armour and only came away with 4pts. The highlight was an excellent 40 break by Swad’s John Taylor. This however was matched by the determination and effort of Newhall’s skipper Lee Sherratt and Fran McNulty to ensure a share of the spoils. Willington A is really suffering so far this season. They travelled to Rolleston A and started confidently as Lee Cooke put in a solid performance for his two and then the wheels came off. Rob Sanders and Kev Norris punished the visitors leaving Danny Thomson to take the win in his shared game with Jan Pawlazych. You can’t help but feel sorry for Belmont A who are sitting at the bottom of the table. Since the league began Belmont have always had a team in the top division. This season it seems that achievement will end as they slumped to a fifth consecutive defeat, this time to Burton Cons B. With the score at 3-3 Steve Burton must have thought they were about to take their first win. He had been matched against the Con’s Zaheer Hussain who he had beaten at the end of last season. Zaheer however showed his resolve and took both for the win. In Presidents Division 1 Woodville WMC A were held to a draw by Ivanhoe C. Mark Satchwell lost his first frame of the season to Tony Davey and Martin Smith also halved with Steve Cockeram. Phil Wright then produced the goods to take both and put Woodville on a familiar track, but Ivanhoe were not going to go away and Dave Marriott took both for the draw. Swad SC C could not take advantage of Woodville’s score when they went down to Tutbury B. Chris Dewey took two off Greg Read with some immaculate potting but Tutbury’s win hinged on a missed black off the spot by Steve Ayre. Russ Banner put the final nail in Swad’s coffin by beating John Davis. Belmont B were not able to break the deadlock against Stapenhill A. Rich Goldby, playing with a badly cut hand, failed to shine against Rob Kent as Mark Vaughan levelled by taking two easy frames off the normally steady Paul Smith on the other table. Paul Twigg then gave Belmont the advantage but in the final game Pete Birkin missed the last pink by a large margin leaving Colin Britton the frame and match draw. Drakelow A took their first victory over Stapenhill B. Simon Orpwood and Pat Ryan took all frames as Alan Orpwood and Tony Coleman took one a piece. The highest break of the match was a 35 clearance made by Ivor Rees. Unfortunately he was 74 behind at the start of the break but great practice for next week. In Furniture King Division 2 Ivanhoe D let pole position go when they lost to Swad SC F. Ivanhoe’s Dave Watson produced the snooker that is giving him wins this season but the rest of the team were unable to copy Watson’s result and lost 5 out of the remaining 6 frames. Alrewas B are having the best start for some time. The visited Newhall C where Brian Ecleston set the team up with a win only to see Newhall’s Rob Press level on table 2. Tony Truman (20 break) then shared his games with Gordon Smith but Mick Morris took both off David Wain for the win. Newhall B claimed their first victory. Alrewas A shared all the games bar the one between John Laud and Alan Wilson. Measham WMC A continues to climb up the division and have two games in hand. This week they punished John Carr B. Measham’s Paul Eaton and Paul Boyle were in an unforgiving mood, taking all frames. Only Dan Bramall and John Peto managed any points for John Carr. David Wain Insurance Division 3 has a slightly different look to it this week as John Carr D sit out. Stapenhill D have gone top but didn’t maximise their points when they were held to a draw at Woodville S&S A. John Richardson lost his first frame of the season at the hands of Jim Gardner but he did have a 44 break which is the highest in the division so far. Rolleston D thrashed Newhall D including a 40 break by Paul Fox. This team is surely going to play in a higher division in the near future. Belmont C came out on top in the match against Stapenhill C thanks to Arron Vaughan and Doug Lees. Glynn Holland and Gaz Ward also adding to the tally. John Carr C picked up win number 1 over Swad Cons D. In an otherwise drawn match it was John Smout that took the all important win.