2014-15: Week 18

Owen Jones writes for the Just Wood Premier Division.
Burton Cons A won 7-1 at home to Alrewas A to further cement their position at the top of the table. Matt Milnes was first up against Will Sherratt. Milnes was not his usual self on the night but still earned a draw. Darren Coady knocked in a 30 break in winning both frames against John Sharpe. Mick Simpkins also played well and won both frames, aided by a 35 break. Finally John Shilton defeated Roy Sherratt to complete the scoring.
Alrewas B shared the spoils with Swadlincote Snooker Centre A at the Royal British Legion in an excellent and close encounter. Mark Satchwell took both frames from Ian Hiley, but on another night Hiley could have won both. Both frames went to the final colours with Satchwell potting the crucial, final balls. Dave Trueman got back to winning ways taking two frames off John Davis. The first was relatively comfortable but the second finished on a tense final black that Trueman potted from distance. Steve Ayre played excellently in the first against Carl Poulton to take it easily but Poulton should have taken the second with a golden opportunity but fluffed his lines and handed it on a plate to Ayre on the final black. Last up was Colin Kinsella versus Chris Dewey. Kinsella was on excellent form again with a superb 45 in the first and a relatively comfortable second to give the Legionnaires a deserved draw. 
Belmont A picked up a good 7-1 victory at Stapenhill A. Steve Ford was the only Stapenhill player to register a frame as he drew with Josh Gebbie. Wayne Brewin knocked in breaks of 32 and 31 in winning both frames against Chris Sheldrake. Fran McInulty also knocked in a 30+ break in taking the frames against Andy Gretton. Finally, Ian Archer defeated Carl Jeffcoate to close out the match.
Ivanhoe A hosted Willington A in what turned out to be a one sided encounter. Andy Marriott made a break of 47 to take the first against Alan Davies. The second saw a string of 20+ breaks to take the victory. Ian Rennocks started off strongly on the other table, knocking in a 42 break to win the first frame. Captain Bill Stewart responded well in the second and won it on the final pink to force a draw. Daniel Blunn won two scrappy frames against Dean Johnston which could have gone either way. Finally, Ant Moore dug in to win both frames as his opponent Daz Lester was on the verge of snookers in both.
Belmont B won a close match at home against Ivanhoe B. Shaun Gebbie was first up but he had no answer to Ivan Birkin who won both frames. Miffa Smith responded for the hosts as he knocked in a 32 break to beat Bren Mattley. Michael Lomas made a 30 break in winning both frames against Jason Pickering and finally Arron Vaughan continued his good form as he won both against Stuart Tagg. 
Tony Coleman Reporting on the David Wain Insurance Division 1
In the top of the table clash between the two teams from Burton Cons it was the current league leaders the B team who got one over the C team winning 6-2.  The first match on was between the respective captains Ian Shrieve and Dave Plunkett this was a high quality match with both players in good form.  Dave won the first despite suffering a lot with man flu.  In the second frame Ian came back to take a well deserved frame with the help of a nice 22 break.  Simon Smith for the B team played Mike Buckland who earlier in the week knocked a cracking 60 break in one of the leagues doubles competition but was not able to prevent Simon winning two close frames with breaks of 29 and 31.  This put the B team 3-1 ahead at the break – a lead they never lost.  Dave Shipton was playing some of the best snooker of the season as he comfortably beat Craig Finch to take the first.  The second frame was going the same way as the first as Dave built up a commanding lead only for Craig to come back well and with the aid of a nice clearance managed to win the frame on the black.  Black ball finishes are not Dave’s favourite as this is the twelfth black ball loss this season.  In the battle of the two elder statesmen of the club that is Tom Egginton and the wily old fox Jim Jennings it was the younger elder statesman that won the two frames in the shape of Tom Egginton.  Both frames were of a scrappy nature with Tom just about having the edge although Jim did a bit of spluttering thro’ the match. This win puts the Cons B team in a strong position for the title providing they don’t slip up.
Alrewas C put in a great display in beating SDSC E 5-3 who have had a great season so far following last years promotion.  John Richardson for Alrewas and Ray Bancroft started off the proceedings but unfortunately Ray seemed more interested in playing Billiards judging by the amount of times he kept going in-off.  John certainly made the most of these opportunities in beating Ray fairly easily in both frames which included a well made 37 break.  Colin Wood and Phil Maddock’s first frame was very tight in which both players made some good pots which ended with Colin winning on the black.  The second frame was completely different with Colin doing a numbers job on Phil by beating him by more than 60 points.  Andy Jefferies for SDSC was in superb potting form despite not making any large breaks he was able to beat a faltering Karl Hancox with something to spare that has been a rare occurrence this season.  The deciding two frames of the evening was between Tom Wright and Ray Stretton and it finished as an honourable draw.  Ray won a tight first frame when Tom went in-off the black.  The second frame was just as close with Tom making a brown to black clearance to give the home side the win and moving them up the table.
Rolleston A drew with the draw specialists Swad Cons A.  If the Cons could only turn some of the draws into wins they would certainly be challenging for a promotion slot. Mark Hadley for the Cons who is in some good form of late won two scrappy frames against James Wilkinson with neither player being able to get going.  Mark came back well in the second frame to win it on the black.  The best two frames of the night by a long way was between Tony Rushton and Andy Grainger where both players showed off their talents in the potting department with some great safety play.  Andy made a superb 38 break but this was still not good enough to win the frame as Tony knocked in breaks of 35 and 22 respectively.  This match showed what talented players we have in this division.  Andy also lost his record for the season of not dropping two frames in a match.  Bobby Cliff and Paul Slater shared their two frames with neither player being at their best.  Richard O’Dell and Lee Wood also shared their frames in two evenly matched games with both players getting some good pots but neither player being able to make the most of their chances when they arose.  This was a well deserved draw for both teams.
In another inter-club derby this time between the two Willington teams B & C at the Arena it was the C team who came away with the bragging rights with a 5-3 victory which keeps them nicely in second place.  Steve Lane got the C team off to a good start as he beat John Hardy in two tight frames with both frames being decided on the high colours.  Steve’s win was rather important as all the other players drew.  Trevor Heath then got the home team onto the scoreboard as he drew with Lee Cooke in a couple of quality frames with both players making some nice pots.  Tony Clements also drew his match with Tim Hodgkinson which turned out to be two scrappy frames with neither player being able to get going.  Steve Butterworth got the all important winning frame as he also drew with Steve Gaunt in an entertaining two frames with both players going for their shots.
Woodville S&S A had a fine away win at promotion seeking Newhall A winning 5-3.  This was Newhall’s first home defeat of the season.  The first game on was between the captains Carl Glover (not Steady Eddie) and Tony Coleman the first frame was a bit of a mixture with Tony leading into the colours thanks to a good 27 break but Carl came back strongly to need only one of the last two balls but Tony knocked in a nice long pink and the black for the frame.  Tony would be first person to admit that he had some good running of the balls.  Once Carl got himself in front in the second frame there was only going to be one winner as he made a number of nice points.  It was a most entertaining match.  On the other table the match between Mark Anslow and Pat Ryan was an honourable draw and also a game of two halves.  The first frame Pat was the more dominant player getting some lovely pots and good snookers.  The second frame Mark grabbed the frame by the scruff of the neck and potted exceptionally well and before Pat new it he required snookers.  Although he made a gallant attempt Mark’s lead was tool great.  Woodville’s Jim Marcer played some beautiful snooker especially in the first frame against Callum Gray who did not have the best of starts when his tip came off and he had to borrow Carl’s cue.  Jim won the frame on the blue which included a nice 22 break.  The second frame was a very close with both players getting some good pots and some good snookers.  Callum potted a good blue which left him on the pink but was hampered by being close to the black and missed the pot.  Jim potted the pink and had an outrageous bit of good fortune as he potted the black.  Jim tried to pot the black into the yellow pocket and missed by a long way but as it was coming back it hit the cue and somehow went into the middle bag meaning Jim won both frames.  Callum most certainly deserved a draw.  Sam Hicks and Alan Orpwood shared two very good frames of snooker with honours being shared.  Sam started off well making some of his trade mark long pots and making it difficult for Alan to get into some form of rhythm then Alan managed to get a bit of a foot hold in the game and clawed his way back into the frame and winning it by taking the last three colours.  The black was especially difficult with the cue ball being about eighteen inches away from the black but he managed to roll the black along the top cushion.  The second frame was also close but with Sam always being a few points ahead all the time thanks again to some great safety play and potting.  It was a most enjoyable night out.
In the battle between the two basement teams Willington D and SDSC D it was the away team that came away from the Willington Arena the happier with a fine 5-3 win. Adi Millington and Brian Bloor shared the frames in two uninspiring games with neither player being able to get into the frames.  SDSC’s floating player the dangerous Ryan Gilmore was the difference between the two sides as he was the only player to win both frames in beating Steve Williams.  Both players were in fine form with Ryan having sufficient experience to close out both frames.  Dave Budworth was not at his best as he drew with the talented John Chambers both players did not make the most of the chances when they arose to take both frames.  David Wain was the snooker club star player as he got the winning frame in an honourable draw with Bill Davidson who yet again showed his tactical know how.  This defeat makes Willington’s survival a very difficult task.
Mark Vaughan writes for Forever Mobility Division Two
Stapenhill B put a marker down to keep top spot in the division defeating Swad Cons C 7-1 away, Brian Sharratt, Greg Britton and Andy Tomlinson won all there frames with John Sherriff winning one against the ever improving Dan Petcher.
Second placed Belmont C hosted Swad Cons D in a tricky fixture, the match was started by two of the longest serving players In the league Belmont’s Terry Bosworth against Swad’s Bob Birch, in a close encounter it was Bob who took both frames against the normally reliable Terry, on the other table Doug Lees took on Gaz Ward in another close match which ended drawn, Mark Press then faced Dave Bodie and won both to get his team back in the match, Swad’s Kieran Dadley then took the next frame to pile the pressure on Belmont but as so often this season Brian Cutting came to the rescue to take the last frame and earn his team a valuable draw which even so drops them to third place.
Riley’s B are still playing with a smile on their faces despite suffering a 7-1 defeat to Rolleston C, Yvonne Spendlove earned woman of the match for the frame she won against the talented Kev Norris, for Rolleston Lionel Lewis, Rob Sanders and Rob Tubey won all their frames in a match that could have been a little closer which moves Rolleston back up to second place.
Fourth place played Fifth with Tutbury B at home to Ashby Ivanhoe D, Paul Atterbury got Tutbury off the mark by defeating Keith Bale, Ashby’s Jason Collins got them back in the match by beating Dave Brady, the sides after this could not be separated, Colin Bell drew with Jack Bale and Jeff Siddalls drew with Tim Bale for a 4-4 result.
The other Rolleston team the B are at the wrong end of the division and Neil Cheadle can feel very unlucky to have lost two frames to Mark Vaughan who had all the run through both frames, Belmont stand in player Glyn Holland made his second appearance of the season and earned his team what proved to be a valuable frame against Dave Bentley, Steve Atkin potted well to win two frames against Tom Holland, but the match of the night was between Rolleston’s John Ward who is always hard to beat and Micky Morris, Micky went in front late in the first frame and took it and then went to town making a 24 break then a 48 which should have been more to take the highest break of the division so far this season, winning both and also taking top spot in the averages to give his team a 5-3 away win.
Woodville S&S B team had a great match against Burton Cons D, Mark Gallagher got the Woodville team off to a good start defeating Simon Malpass which was matched by team mate Wayne Allen who overcame Paul Brooks for a 4-0 lead, Ian Protheroe put Burton Cons back in the match winning both frames against Bill Hunt, the fight back was short lived though, Jim Gardner defeating Nathan Brooks to give his side a 6-2 win.  
Swad Cons B were at home to Alrewas D and Vince Draper put them in front by beating Shaun Tubbert and making a 31 break, Swad’s Jake Mole drew with Brian Aldridge, Alrewas hit back in the second half, Tony Trueman beating Swad captain Paul Hollis, the Alrewas 5-3 win was wrapped up by Tom Smith who took two off Bob McInulty.