Ivanhoe A were looking for a solid win to keep the race for second place in the league in their hands and they got it but it could have been different. Ian Hiley, for Alrewas, was very unfortunate not to draw with Ian Rennocks. Whilst Rennocks took the first comfortably Hiley was never behind in the second until the final black ball that Rennocks potted after an excellent brown to pink. Daniel Blunn got the better of Dave Trueman in both frames. The first Trueman should have taken, making a mess of a simple chance that would have seen him 35 ahead but Blunn fought back to take it. Trueman was broken after that and Blunn stormed home for the second. Ant Moore found it a frustrating night against Adam Walton, the first frame going down to the final black that Walton sank. The second seemed to be going Walton’s way again but a fiendishly difficult snooker was laid by Moore and 20 penalty points later Walton was behind and never recovered. Mick Kirk and Carl Poulton played out a close first frame. Poulton missing some simple colours off their spots to gift it to Kirk but the second saw Poulton always ahead and a nice final yellow to pink made it a comfortable draw.

Tony Clements extended his winning run to 8 matches as Chimneys C look towards promotion this season after missing out by just one point last term.He included a lovely 36 on the way to defeating Alan Wilson of Alrewas B-this was the division’s high break of the week. Steve Gaunt and John Hardy also recorded wins and Andy Jenkins was the only man to drop a frame as Will Sherratt provided the only bright spot for the home side as the Legionnaires suffered a 7-1  mauling which has left them rock bottom.

The other Alrewas side, the C, returned to winning ways after their shock defeat the week before.Their 5-3 win though over Stapenhill B was only sufficient to push them towards second place. John Richardson and Karl Hancox beat Tim Knopik and John Sherriff respectively with Colin Wood providing the winning frame worth 2 of course by drawing with Greg Britton. Jon Swift had earlier kept the tie in the balance by winning 2-0 over Rob McMeecham.

Rolleston A kept their momentum going with a hard fought win over Newhall A.Rich O’Dell was fortunate enough to steal two frames with blacks left over the pocket against Mark Anslow. James Wilkinson had some run to win the first against Carl Glover but Carl gave an assured performance to win the second. Bobby Cliff and Martin Hicks shared two frames with both deserving of at least something from their evening’s efforts.The R’s captain Joe Docksey struggled a little on the night but in the end nicked the first against Martin Hurdman before potting the black to win the second only to follow in leaving the score at 5-3 instead of 6-2. It does leave the Rolleston side in third only  3 points off of the top.

Ivanhoe C kicked started their promotion challenge with a good 6-2 win away at SDSC C to leave the two sides level in fourth but still in a position to move into the top 3 in the last 7 weeks. Henry Tomas and Ben Davies were able to win a frame each against Daz Wilson and Jerry Cook of Ivanhoe. Winners on the evening were Gaz Dolman and Steve Cockeram who saw off Pete Maguire and Simon Shilton.

At the bottom end of the table, Tutbury B have given themselves a lifeline with a great 5-3 win over Burton Cons C whose minds must be on their cup exploits. Cons’ captain Ian Shrive was the away side’s only winner as he defeated the Tutters’ Paul Atterbury. For the home team both Colin Bell and Jeff Siddalls scored impressive wins over Tom Egginton and Matt Hucker. The game between Dave Brady and Lee Louch ended in a draw. Tutbury are now only 5 points from safety having looked doomed a few weeks ago.

The mid-table clash between  Rolleston B and Belmont D perhaps predictably ended in a 4-4 stalemate. Kev Norris and Lionel Lewis were the winners for the home side whilst Mick Morris and Brett Craddock turned it on for The Servicemen as the two men firmed up their positions in the top ten of the division’s averages.

Mark Press was unable to provide his usual two frames in Belmont C’s match at home to fellow strugglers SDSC B. He was held to a draw by Ray Stretton whilst Dave Press provided the only other highlight as he drew with Ray Bancroft. Nick Harcombe and Andy Jeffries scored good wins over Brian Cutting and Doug Lees to leave the Swad Snooker Centre side 5 points above the drop zone.

Spot On C beat Ivanhoe C 5-3 in the Divisional final.  Jack Bale played well to take both frames off a slightly out of touch Sean Bates.  Billy Newman then redressed the situation as he beat Jack’s elder brother Keith in two tight frames with Billy making the most of his chances when they came up.  The highlight of the evening was a superb 56 break in the second frame by Brad Williams which included a number of quality pots as he beat Tony Tredger fairly easily in both frames.  The Spots almost had one foot in the final as they led 4-2 before the last match of the evening between Jared Cronje and the Ivanhoe captain Jason Collins.  Jason was in front until half way through the frame then Jared took control of the frame with a 20 plus break and won the frame to put the Spots into the league final.  Jason won the second frame on the black but it was too late.

On to the league – Baulkline A managed to put a difficult week behind them as they beat the inconsistent Burton Cons D on their home turf 5-3.  Tom Lucas got the ball rolling very nicely for the league leaders as he won both frames fairly comfortably against the ‘wily old fox’ Jim Jennings who apparently had a bit of an off night.  Tom made a 25 break to win his second frame.  Al Munnion had the difficult task of trying to prevent the Baulkline potting machine Wayne Smith from taking his expected two frames.  In the first frame Wayne was in complete control of the table.  His potting was so good that Al conceded with one red still left on the table but the second frame was a lot closer after Wayne opened up the pack when potting a red but struggled to make anything of it thus leaving Al the opportunity to get into the match which he did before losing to Wayne on the pink.  With the Baulkline 4-0 ahead at the turn round and probably expecting an easy second half but the Cons lads tightened up their game to such a degree that they won the second half 3-1.  By all accounts Nathan Brooks and Jon Sully shared two poor frames of snooker with Jon helping his cause making a clumsy foul on the pink in the first frame.  Nathan did get one or two good pots.  Ian Protheroe continued his good season as he won both frames against Mick Taylor who potted well in patches and got one or two unlucky breaks but overall Ian deserved to win both frames just by his quality of potting.

Crikey what a funny side Rolleston C are the previous week they got whitewashed at the hands of Swad Cons D and then this week they put a bit of a dent in Spot On C title aspirations with a superb win at home 5-3.  Aaron Doyle got the home team off to a great start by taking both frames against Billy Newman in two very close frames with both being decided on the high colours with Aaron making the most of his potting opportunities.  Jared Cronje got the Spots back on level terms with a solid potting display in beating Steve Atkin who made some nice pots but Jared is a difficult player to get the better of when he is potting well.  John Ward played very well to get a deserved draw against the Spots skipper Ben Menzies.  Some of John’s safety play in both frames was top draw allied to some good potting and he was well worth the draw.  Well done to the flamboyant potter David Bentley who plays snooker his way and it certainly paid off as he beat Matt Keays with some lovely potting and steady safety play.  Matt made some valuable contributions to an entertaining match and l hope David’s team mates treated him to a few beers for helping to pull off this surprise result.  Despite this result the Spots are only four points behind the Baulkline and are just two points ahead of Swad Cons B.

Swad Cons C put their reasonable performance the previous week behind them as they lost fairly easily to SDSC D 7-1 as they regained fourth place from Woodville S&S A.  John Griffin lost both frames to the very consistent Andrew Bloor.  Andy always had the upper hand in this match thanks mainly to his quality potting that never elaborated into anything significant. Peter ‘the shorts’ Fearn back to wearing his lucky pants played some great snooker in drawing with Brian Bloor in a couple of tight frames which could have gone either way.  Garton Bloor was back to his steady best taking few chances but made the most of them when they arose in beating John Petcher who probably deserved better luck than he had especially potting a number of fine reds.  Paul Griffin unfortunately could not build on his fine performance the previous week as he took on a determined David Wain who put in a very assured performance to take both frames.  Both players made a couple of nice small breaks.

Woodville S&S B lost at home to a team that have found the winning spirit of late and not the drawing one and that team is Swad Cons D who are putting in a late surge getting into the top six and maybe a little higher if they can keep this winning run going.  As l have said before the Cons team always seems to perform better when they have Gaz Ward in the team and this match was no different.  Gaz was the only player on both sides to win both frames as he beat Mark Gallagher in two very close frames with neither frame being decided until the final few balls.  Wayne Allen again played pretty well as he drew with Paul Dickinson who is really starting to play well as he is getting a longer run in the team because he has not been on holiday for a few weeks!  Both players hit top form in patches in both frames but could not carry it through.  Denis Moore and Kieron Dadley shared the frames in a bit of a scrappy affair with neither player being able to stamp their authority on the game.  Terry Eyley took on Bob Birch in a battle of the safety games with both players digging deep to use their vast experience to get their respective sides the result.  Both players got a number of good snookers and also managed to get out of them.  The draw between them was an honourable result but not for Woodville.

Swad Cons B have closed the gap between them and second placed Spot On C to two points after a fine win away at Spot On B winning 6-2.  The evergreen Bob McNulty was at it again winning another two frames this time at the expense of Claire Roulstone.  I think Bob is like a fine bottle of wine he seems to improve with age.  He certainly potted well at times especially in the first frame.  The second frame was a little closer with Claire gradually getting herself into the game only for Bob to win it on the colours.  Kate Stirling despite starting brightly struggled to contain the potting skills of Paul Hollis who managed to make a magical 33 break to take a frame.  The Cons 4-0 ahead at the interval struggled a little in the second half as the Snookerettes drew the second half.  Marie Bridges potted well to take her frame with Ross Hollis who struggled at times with Marie’s safety play but came back well to take his frame to ensure the win for the Cons.  Claire Peaty showed her determination to win at least a frame with her silky potting skills in the first frame against Vince Draper.  In the second frame Vince played a more cagey game with a fine mix of safety and potting which resulted in him drawing the match with Claire.  Vince made a difficult 19 break which helped also to win the frame.

The Chimneys D recent up-turn in form has slipped over the last couple games as they lost at the Willington Bowl to Woodville S&S A who won 5-3.  Bill Davidson the master of the safety game drew with Pat Ryan in a very good game of snooker.  Bill took the lead early on in the first frame and managed to hold on to it with the help of one or two nicely laid snookers.  In the second frame Pat started to play with more confidence and was able to string a couple of small breaks together.  On the other table Adi Millington took on and lost to Alan Orpwood who is currently playing some excellent snooker.  The first frame was a tight affair up to the colours before Alan knocked in a couple of cracking pots to win it.  The second frame saw both players making some fine pots but it was Alan who was always in control of the frame.  With the score level at the turn it was anybody’s game.  Andy Holloway drew with Tony Coleman in two contrasting frames.  Tony won the first fairly easily with Andy conceding on the yellow.  In the second frame Andy was always the more dominate player and his confidence was very high as he knocked in a lovely 24 break to win on the blue.  Brian Alford took on Jim Marcer in a very tight first frame.  It was nip and tuck up to the last red left on the table which got stuck in a cluster of colours with both players trying to snooker one another and this ultimately decided the frame with Brian being the more successful in getting the snookers and also to win the frame.  Brian playing with confidence and Jim struggling a little went 20 plus points in front.  Until Jim found his potting eye making a lovely 21 break and confidence started to flow through his cue and there was only going to be one winner which was Jim.  A draw was an honourable result with neither player deserving to go home empty handed.  Despite this win Woodville drop down a place to fifth.

Ivanhoe D struggled against Alrewas D and being rather fortunate to get the draw thanks to their talisman player Jason Collins.  Tony Tredger did very well to take a frame off Tom Smith who is in the top six of the divisions averages.  Tony played solid snooker throughout the match with some fine pots but Tom played his part in an entertaining match.  The A38 boys skipper Brian Eccleston led by example with a cracking display of potting and safety play as he beat Jack Bale in some style.  Elder brother Keith got the home side back into the game as he draw a scrappy match with the rapidly improving Shaun Tubbert.  Alrewas must have fancied their chances of the win with one of their star players on last which was Dave Riley but unfortunately he came up against the in-form and on fire Jason Collins who seems to enjoy his role in the team as the anchor man which he does very well.  This match was no different as he out potted Dave to get the two frames they needed for a share of the spoils.