2014-15: Week 16

Owen Jones writes for the Just Wood Premier Division
Ashby Ivanhoe A won a close match away at struggling Stapenhill A. Andy Gretton was first up against Ian Rennocks and it was the visiting player who took both frames. Ant Moore soon followed that up by defeating Chris Sheldrake, despite his opponent having chances in both frames. Steve Ford and Mick Kirk played out a scrappy draw and Carl Jeffcoate also shared the frames with Daniel Blunn to complete a 6-2 victory for the title contenders.
Belmont A picked up a 6-2 victory away at Alrewas B. Carl Poulton was unlucky against talisman Ian Archer as the visiting player won both frames. Colin Kinsella knocked in a 35 in sharing the frames with Shaun Gebbie. Ian Hiley had no answer to Josh Gebbie who fired in a 30 break on his way to victory. Finally, Dave Trueman shared the frames with Wayne Brewin to close out the match.
Champions Burton Cons A also won 6-2 at home to Tutbury A. Matt Milnes was first up against Steve Mabbott. Milnes knocked in a 31 break and continued his fine form to take both frames. Owen Jones played Dave Mabbott on the other table. In a close first frame, Jones went for a long brown that rattled and hung over the pocket for his opponent to pinch the frame by clearing the remaining colours. The second was more straight forward as Jones clinched it with a 30 break. John Shilton proved to be too strong for Steve Hathaway as he made a break of 39 and a string of 20 breaks to win both frames. Darren Coady played Chris Mabbott with both players potting well to share the frames.
Belmont B hosted Rileys A in what turned out to be a close match on the night. Michael Lomas was first up against Ade Harper and it took two brilliant pots to clinch the frames for Lomas as he put the Swadlincote side ahead. Zaheer Hussain is slowly getting back to form but Tom Elliott put him to the sword as he took both frames, aided by a 27 break. Miffa Smith and Mark Stirling shared two even frames. Arron Vaughan sealed the victory as he won both frames against Andy Spiers, despite the visiting player playing with finesse, he missed a couple of loose shots that handed the incentive to Vaughan.
Ivanhoe B played very well in dispatch Alrewas A. John Skellett played his best snooker of the season to date in winning both frames against John Sharpe. Ivan Birkin was trailing in the first frame to Will Sherratt but came back strongly to win it and then easily won the second frame. Stu Tagg played Alan Wilson with both players winning a frame each with a fair share of luck. Jason Pickering finished off the night by potting well against Roy Sherratt including a 37 break.
Tony Coleman Reporting on the David Wain Insurance Division 1
Burton Cons B had a very good away win against the in-form Ivanhoe C where they won 5-3.  Dave Plunkett got the Cons off to great start as he took both frames off Gaz Dolman who has been in fine form this year.  Dave won it with a good mixture of safety play and potting which made it difficult for Gaz to get any continuity into his play. Jerry Cook played some great snooker as he beat Jason Anguish with some good potting which kept Jason on the back foot in both frames.  Jason managed to get some good pots but with no colours.  This put the match score at 2-2 with all to play for.  Graham Measures and Dave Shipton shared an honourable draw with both players making vital contributions to an entertaining match.  The match deciding frames were played between George Cawkwell of Ivanhoe and Simon Smith for the Cons with both players trying not to lose the match.  The game became very tactical with each player waiting for the other to make a mistake and unfortunately it was George who let Simon in and he took full advantage with some good long pots.
Newhall A must fancy their chances of promotion after they did a demolition job on second placed Burton Cons C winning 7-1 and inflicting the Cons worst defeat of the season.  On first for Newhall was Martin Hicks against the Cons master break builder Mick Buckland who for once this season was not at his best.  Martin played very well in the first to win it on the low colours.  In the second frame Mick came back well only to lose it on the blue.  Steady Eddie Glover gave Newhall the perfect start as he beat the Cons skipper Ian Shrieve.  Ian started off well with a number of good pots but Carl came back at him with a fine array of pots to win it on the blue.  Lee Sherratt and old new boy Mick Hickebottom shared the frames.  Lee was in good form in the first with a number of small breaks.  Mike played well in the second to win it on the blue and this turned out to be their only frame of the night.  Just to put the icing on the cake Callum Grey took both frames against Jim Jennings.  Callum won the first after being more than 20 points behind.  Callum took the second frame fairly comfortably.  This was a great result for Newhall putting them in the melting pot for promotion.  
Willington C had a fine away win at SDSC E winning 5-3.  The first match on was between Nick Harcombe and Willington’s Loz Kennerson this was a quality match with both players quite happy to go for the pots when the opportunities arose.  This made for a very open match with both players getting some excellent pots with Loz having the better of the potting exchanges.  Ray Stretton and Lee Cooke’s game ended all square with neither player being able to stamp their authority on it.  Steve Lane got the two frames that Willington required for the win with a solid performance against Nick Walsh who made valuable contributions to an entertaining match with nice long pots. The reliable Ray Bancroft was again at his best as he took both frames off Steve Butterworth with some fine safety play which eventually wore Steve down.
Rolleston A kept up their winning streak with a tight 5-3 win against struggling SDSC D.  Andrew Bloor was in superb potting form for the snooker club as he beat Richard O’Dell fairly easily in both frames this was an excellent start for them.  Andrew knocked in a well made 25 break.  Rolleston were soon back on level terms thanks to Bobby Cliff taking both frames off Brian Bloor.  Both players seemed to be struggling in the first frame when Bobby won it on the black.  In the second frame both players started to get into their stride with some good pots by both players with Bobby having the edge to win the second on the colours. Anthony Rushton was again playing some very good snooker which has helped Rolleston immensely over the last few weeks to regain their impetus.  This time he comfortably beat Garton Bloor which included a 24 break.  The Rolleston skipper Joe Docksey got the all important frame for the win as he shared the frames with John Chambers.  After a scratchy start Joe started to find the pockets rather easily to comfortably take the first frame.  John came back very well with aid of a number good pots to take the second.  
Woodville S&S A stopped their slide down the table with a much needed victory against a struggling Willington D who have not been able to field a settled side this season. Woodville won 6-2.  Jim Marcer managed to find some good form as he showed off his silky skills in two very good frames of snooker with Adi Millington.  Jim took both frames but their was some good potting by both players.  In the battle between the two captains Dave Budworth and Tony Coleman they battled it out for an honourable draw with Dave taking the first frame fairly comfortably which included a 22 break.  Tony did the same to Dave in the second frame.  This put Woodville 3-1 ahead at the turn.  Alan Orpwood was almost unplayable in the first frame against Andy Holloway as he did not miss any potting opportunities and some of his pots were exceptional with Andy conceding after Alan potted the final red.  In the second frame Andy started to gain in confidence and made more of a game of it with some nice pots although Alan still won both frames.  Bill Davidson and Pat Ryan shared a well deserved draw.  The first frame was a very tactical game with little chances to make any breaks.  Pat was 15 points in front on the blue and he gave Bill an opportunity to clear up.  He potted the blue and a cracking pink but lost position on the black after a bout of safety play Pat managed to pot the black.  The second frame was a more open affair with Bill potting some lovely balls to win the frame.  Much to the delight of Dave’s dogs who barked with delight.
Alrewas C drew with the draw specialists Swad Cons A.  The first match on was between John Richardson and Mark Hadley where we saw two highly competitive frames of snooker which lasted a total of 100 minutes for two frames – obviously plenty of safety!!  On the other table Andy Grainger carried on with his great spell of high breaks as he demolished Tommy Wright with some lovely potting which included breaks of 46 and 32 in the second frame.  Andy knocked in a 70 plus break earlier in the week in one of the leagues competitions.  This put the Cons 3-1 ahead at the turn but not for the first time this season they have lost this advantage.  Colin Wood and Simon Mansfield shared their frames in what was a tight match and both frames could have been won by either player.  Karl Hancox was Alrewas’ star player as he earned his team a well deserved draw in beating Paul Slater with quite a bit to spare making a 32 break in the first frame and played even better in the next frame by making a well worked 44 break in the second.
Mark Vaughan writes for Forever Mobility Division 2
Woodville S&S B hosted league leaders Stapenhill B and were beaten 6-2 Wayne Allen taking two for the home team off Stan Piechowicz a man who has proved hard to beat this season, after this it was all one way traffic with Brian Sharratt, John Sheriff and Tim Knopik winning all there frames, please note stray Stapenhill B players can be seen wandering the streets looking for team mates, for next season sat navs should be fitted.
Belmont D are still struggling to get rid of the Christmas blues but managed a draw against a spirited Burton Cons D team display, Micky Morris played well to put the away team in front winning two against Ian Protheroe and with Mark Vaughan and Paul Brooks sharing two frames the visitors lead 3-1, Burtons versatile veteran Mick Hickebottom  made a rare appearance and potted solidly to beat Tom Holland to level the match, this brought Al Munnien  on to face Belmont floating player Shaun Gebbie, the first went to Al who played well and made the most of his chances, but it was Shaun who came back in the second frame making a 40 break to earn his team a draw. 
Stablemates Belmont C are having a brilliant season and reached the grand final of the President’s cup with a close victory away to league leaders Stapenhill B, back in league action they were at home to Alrewas D, Brian Cutting who has played brilliantly this season got Belmont off to a great start against Brian Aldridge winning two close frames, on the other table Glen Mathews took on Alrewas skipper Tony Trueman winning the first with a 28 break and losing the second on a black game. Terry Bosworth yet again played well defeating Brian Eccleston and the emphatic 7-1 win was finished by Belmont captain Dave Press who took both frames with good potting. 
A derby took place at Swad Cons between the clubs C and D teams, John Griffin got the C team off to a good start taking the first frame but that was as good as it got for them as the D team hit back, Dave Bodie won the second frame, Andy Boam, Bob Birch and Gaz Ward won all there frames, Gaz making another decent break with a 37 and Bob finishing a frame with an amazing long pot down the rail on the pink to hold position on the black. 
Rolleston B played a side who at the moment can’t stop winning, Ashby Ivanhoe D have been moving up the table largely unnoticed and recorded another good away win 5-3, Jason Collins took one off Rolleston’s Neil Cheadle as did Jack and Keith Bale against Aaron Doyle and Steve Atkin, the difference was Ashby’s Tim Bale who took two frames off Dave Bentley to secure the win.
Swad Cons B hosted Riley’s B and went a frame behind as Marie Bridges took a frame off the Swad captain Paul Hollis, Bob McInulty then took two frames off Kate Stirling which was matched by team mates Jake Mole and Vince Draper who defeated Yvonne Spendlove and Claire Roulstone, Claire potting well including an 18 break.
A promotion clash took place at Tutbury between second placed Tutbury B and third placed Rolleston C, the away team took immediate control with Lionel Lewis and Rob Tubey winning all there frames before Jeff Siddalls and Paul Atterbury drew to end the match 6-2 to Rolleston. This loss drops Tutbury out of the promotion places to fourth in the league.