Owen Jones writes for the David Wain Insurance Premier Division

Alrewas A picked up a good 6-2 victory at home against Belmont B. Colin Kinsella went up against Graham Bailey and it was the Alrewas man who had too much on the night for his opponent, winning both frames. Dave Trueman was also in good form as he won both frames against Zaheer Hussain. James Edwards and Rich Goldby shared two competitive frames. Adam Walton and Arron Vaughan tidied things up as they also won a frame each to complete the scoring.

Chimneys A welcomed Ivanhoe A to Willington and were hoping to cause an upset. Unfortunately, the visitors had other ideas as they put in a great performance to win 8-0. Ian Rennocks knocked in a 35 break in defeating Jan Pawlazych and Ant Moore made a 38 as he won both frames against Karl Faulkener. Mick Kirk kept the ball rolling by beating Dean Johnston and finally, Daniel Blunn showed a nice bit of form as he made breaks of 58 and 35 to defeat Bill Stewart.

Burton Cons B were on the receiving end of a heavy defeat by Chimneys B. Mike Buckland was the only player to register a frame against Lee Cooke. Dave Plunkett, Dave Shipton and Kieran Harlow found Tim Hodgkinson, Loz Kennerson and Steve Butterworth to be too strong on the night as the visitors recorded a 7-1 victory.

Three-man Ivanhoe B lost 5-3 at home against Swadlincote Snooker Centre A. Andy Goldingay and Mark Satchwell did the damage as Goldingay defeated Brendon Mattley and Satchwell was the beneficiary of the claimed frames for the missing player. Jason Pickering knocked in a 38 break against John Davis and Stuart Tagg made a draw with Chris Dewey.

Spot On A had a good win at home against Swad Cons A. Ade Harper defeated Simon Orpwood and Nigel Tomlinson beat Paul Slater to put the hosts in command. Andy Grainger battled back for the visitors as he beat Mark Stirling, aided by a 33 break. Tom Elliott grabbed the winning frame as he drew with Simon Mansfield.

Burton Cons A won a close match at Tutbury A. Graham Stevens knocked in breaks of 32 and 52 in seeing off the challenge of Dave Powell. John Shilton then followed that up by winning two scrappy frames against Steve Hathaway. Dave Mabbott potted well to beat Stuart Roberts, which included a 57 break. Chris Mabbott needed to win both frames against Darren Coady to force a draw but he could only manage one frame and it was the visitors left with the win.

Belmont A recovered from the previous week’s set back by winning at home against Stapenhill A. Fran McInulty was in good form as he won both against Andy Gretton, aided by a 31 break. Wayne Brewin knocked in breaks of 36 and 34 to win both frames against Steve Ford. The two other games ended in draws which left the final score at 6-2 to the hosts.
Mike Buckland writes for Division 1

Chimneys C were the only big winners of the week with a 7-1 thumping of Belmont D. Mark Vaughan was the only man to stem the flow for Belmont as he took a frame from Tony Clements. Trevor Heath, John Hardy and scored wins over Tom Holland and Brett Craddock whilst Steve Gaunt played nicely to defeat the usually reliable Micky Morris. This leaves Chimneys (who now play out of Spot On, Burton) some 8 points clear at the top and effectively ends any outside shot at promotion for Belmont.

In second and looking good for promotion are Rolleston A. They had a comfortable 6-2 win over Alrewas B. Alan Wilson scored a good win over Rich O’Dell for the Legionnaires but that was as good as it got. Joe Docksey kept up his long unbeaten run in beating Roy Sherratt whilst Bobby Cliff beat John Sharpe. Ant Rushton, fresh from his tremendous win over Fran McNulty in the Jason Hyde final, had the highlight of the evening again with a good 31 in his win over Will Sherratt.

The third promotion spot at the moment is going the way of former leaders Alrewas C. However they were surprisingly beaten by relegation threatened Belmont C. Karl Hancox was again on fire as he rammed in the division’s high break of the season with a splendid 67 in his match versus Dave Press. For good measure he followed it up with a 38 as well. John Richardson was a little off sorts as he dropped a frame to draw with Terry Bosworth of Belmont. Mark Press and Doug Lees were the starmen for The Servicemen as they scored wins over Tom Wright and Colin Wood respectively.

With the defeat for Alrewas, Ivanhoe C failed to take advantage as they were held 4-4 at home to Newhall A. This leaves them 8 points adrift of promotion now. Gaz Dolman was beaten by an in form Carl Glover but Steve Cockeram was on form as he included a nice 32 on the way to defeating Sam Hicks so all square at the break. Nothing could separate the teams in the second half either as Newhall’s two Martins, Hicks and Hurdman both drew with Darren Wilson and Graham Measures.

The division’s draw specialists Burton Cons C were at it again although maybe tiredness was a factor as they were playing their second game in two days. They have drawn 11 out of 22 fixtures and this time it was against SDSC C, the early season leaders. Lee Louch was in good form as he included a good 32 on the way to beating Simon Shilton. Tom Egginton and Henry Tomas drew to leave it 3-1 to the Cons at half time. After the break Pete Maguire and Matt Hucker shared before Ben Davies played well to beat the home captain Ian Shrive to force the overall draw.

The midtable clash between the B teams of Stapenhill and Rolleston ended up with a 6-2 win for the home side Stapenhill. Greg Britton and Jon Swift won for the home side -Jon having a 24 in beating Lionel Lewis.John Harvey and Rob Tubey scored a frame each for the visitors against Brian Sherratt and Tim Knopik – John including a 23.

The relegation scrap at the bottom this week went the way of SDSC B over Tutbury B. Nick Harcombe beat Colin Bell in the top match before Paul Atterbury squared with a win over Andy Stimson. Mike Staley then beat Dave Brady as Ray Stretton scored the all important winner by drawing with Jeff Siddalls. This pulls SDSC out of the relegation zone at the expense of the opponents as the battle to stay up looks like going down to the wire.

Tony Coleman your on the spot reporter reporting on the weekly adventurers in Division 2

Life is full of surprises and snooker is no exception. In what was going to be a really interesting and competitive evening in the first team final of the season it was completely ruined by the non arrival of one of the teams in the Triangular Final of the Presidents cup.

There was a breakdown in communication between the Spot On C side who had messaged the League Secretary via Facebook that their team was unable to complete the fixture. However the Secretary had not received the information and so was unaware of the problem. It highlights that a conversation needs to take place and confirmation of the situation established. Rule 9a would indicate that a new arrangement would need to have been made which clearly did not happen. A note for all teams….The Secretary’s number is all over the place and if a fixture cannot be completed for whatever reason then he needs to be informed with the new arrangement. The Committee will look further into this at the next meeting addressing the consequences for the competition’s venue, referees and the best way to ensure there is no repeat of this unfortunate situation. Anyway the two teams that did turn up Ivanhoe A beat Burton Cons C 3-1 which shows that the handicap on Ivanhoe was just about right. Lee Louch knocked in a lovely 30 plus break to take the Cons only frame in beating Ant Moore. Ian Rennocks beat Tom Egginton fairly comfortably with Tom conceding on the green. Ivanhoe captain Mick Kirk won a very tight match with Matt Hucker winning it on the black. Daniel Blunn with his own style of snooker beat Ian Shrive on the high colours. An enjoyable evening but short giving everybody the chance to go home early and watch Leicester City.

Well done to Woodville S&S B for a superb win away to runaway leaders The Baulkline A winning 5-3. This surprise win has put a bit of a dent in their title aspirations and gives Swad Cons B a good chance to close the gap. This was the Baulkline’s only second defeat of the season so far but fair play to the Woodville Warriors. Tom Lucas and Terry Eyley shared their frames in two close games. Tom took the first frame despite not being at his best. Terry settled down nicely in the second to knock in a number of fine pots to take it with a lovely pot on the black. Denis Moore for the Warriors won both frames against Jon Sully who by all accounts made some poor potting choices. Jon was struggling at times but went into a 15 point lead on the brown and then the blue but tried to make some difficult pots which failed leaving them in an ideal position for Denis to win the first frame. The second frame followed a similar pattern to the first with Jon leading by 12 points on the colours only to give away 11 points on fouls and also to lose the frame. Some of Denis’s potting was first class at times which helped him keep Jon under pressure. This put the home team in unfamiliar territory of late 3-1 down at the turn. Wayne Smith despite not firing on all cylinders managed to win both frames against Mark Gallagher. Wayne showed why he is not top of the averages for nothing as he overcame a thirty point deficit to win the frame on the black. In this frame Mark had missed very little and had been potting well but at times he was not always able to contain Wayne. The second frame was a very messy and scrappy affair with neither player being able to get going with Wayne winning on the blue. Could Mick Taylor save the Baulkline from a defeat as he battled with Wayne Allen? The answer was no with Mick struggling with the quality of Wayne’s safety play and potting and lost the first frame on the black. Wayne increased the pressure on Mick with one or two small breaks which left Mick struggling. Woodville left the Sapperton Arena feeling pretty pleased with their nights work. Is the pressure getting to the Baulkline boys?!

Swad Cons B increased the pressure on the Baulkline boys as they beat Chimneys D 6-2. Young at heart Bob McNulty drew with the ever improving Adam Holloway in two entertaining frames with Bob winning his frame with the help of some very good safety play but with Adam taking his frame with a number of cracking long pots which seem to be one of his favourite shots. Paul Hollis put the Cons in a great position in taking both frames against Steve Williams who despite not playing too badly he was not able to prevent Paul from playing well. Gerald White is having a great season so far as he beat one of the master tacticians in this division Bill Davidson. Gerald has been potting pretty well all season as he did again in this match. Ross Hollis who was not always at his best did enough to share the frames with Adi Millington in a couple of entertaining frames. With the defeat of the Baulkline this win puts the Cons only five points behind them with all to play for.

SDSC D just scrapped home against Ivanhoe D winning 5-3 as they try to close the gap on third placed Spot On C. John Chambers got the home team off to a good start in winning both frames in a very competitive match with Keith Bale with both players having good chances to win the frames but it was John who was able to close out both frames. Brian Bloor was as competitive as ever in drawing his match with the talented Jason Collins although his dancing is not as good as his father’s. Brian looked at one time as if he was going to win both frames but Jason’s battling and potting qualities came through for the draw. Andy Bloor very rarely looses a match on his home table and tonight was no exception as he won both frames with Jack Bale. Despite losing both frames Jack made Andy battle all the way in both games. Warner ‘King of the Dance Floor – yes sir l can boogie’ showed he is not a bad snooker player either as he won both frames with Garton Bloor. Warner was able to control both frames from the front thanks to some lovely potting early on in both games.

Woodville S&S A let slip a 3-1 lead at home to the inconsistent Rolleston C only to lose 5-3. Gentleman Jim Marcer won both frames against Steve Atkin. In the first frame Steve started off the better of the two and gradually built up a nice lead of 20 plus points but gradually Jim got himself back into the frame thanks to some nice bits of potting and canny safety play to win it on the high colours. The second frame Jim was always in control despite Steve knocking in some good pots but not enough to stop Jim. Alan Orpwood was in superb form in the first frame with Dave Bentley missing very little but ended with Dave conceding early on the colours. The second frame seemed to be following a similar pattern to the first with Alan 14 points ahead on the colours but on the colours Dave seemed to spring into life. Dave took most of the colours but not in one break. He had an outrageous fluke on the pink going at speed into the middle bag which still left him a difficult black from distance into the left hand black bag which he just calmly stroked in. Aaron Doyle was in very good form in the two frames against Pat Ryan. Pat didn’t play badly but he was unable to contain Aaron who made a lovely 33 break which helped him take the first frame. The second frame was a lot tighter with Pat potting some balls but Aaron won it on the blue. Neil Cheadle won both frames with Tony Coleman to pull off a remarkable away win. The first frame was a close affair with very little between them until Neil had an identical fluke to his teammate Dave into the middle bag for the frame. The second frame Neil was always in front. Tony had along thin cut on the blue but left it in the jaws for Neil to pot and also the pink for a terrific comeback by the Rolleston boys.

Spot On C closed the gap on Swad Cons B to just three points with an emphatic win against Swad Cons D winning 7-1. Billy Newman probably had the hardest task on the night in playing Gaz Ward but Billy managed to out-pot one of the best potters in the division. Billy knocked in a number of fine pots on his way to a solid 31 break. The second frame was pretty competitive but Billy was always in control. Jared Cronje was back to his best as he took both frames against Kieron Dadley winning the first frame in some style. Newcomer to the team Kieron Carr seemed to enjoy himself as he took both frames off Dave Bodie. Carl Pitcher prevented the whitewash by sharing the frames with Jordan Watts.

Alrewas D got back to winning ways with a fine win against the Snookerettes aka Spot On B beating them 7-1 at the A38 Arena. Brian Aldridge got the home boys off to a winning start as he beat Gilda Horvath. The first frame was a rather close affair with both players playing some good snooker but with Brian just having the more experience to pull him through. The second frame Brian got his potting shoes on to win fairly comfortably. Tom Smith played very well missing very little in both frames in beating Marie Bridges. Kate Stirling carried on her excellent pool form into the snooker as she drew two close frames with Brian Eccleston with the draw being a fair result. Dave Riley continued his fine run of form as he beat Yvonne Spendlove in two entertaining frames. Congratulations to the Snookerettes for doing very well in the recent Pool team championships. These young ladies have managed to work the pool and snooker situations well without making either of the games suffer.

Swad Cons C had a very close match with Burton Cons D drawing 4-4 with the match result only being decided on the final re-spotted black. Dan Petcher played very well to draw with the wily old fox Jim Jennings with both players making a number of fine pots especially Dan. Paul Griffin again looked the talented player he could be as he drew with Al Munnion in two tight frames which were decided on the last few colours. Jon Petcher went one better than his son in beating Paul Brooks in a couple of scrappy frames with Jon being the better potter on the night. This put Swad Cons 4-2 ahead and sensing the first victory of the season only to see it snatched away at the very last moment. Nathan Brooks was Burton Cons star player as he beat Ron Kendrick for the draw. The first was a battle for both players with neither of them being allowed to get into their stride with Nathan just edging out Ron in the potting department. The second frame was rather tough going for both players with both wanting to win for different reasons. It was nip and tuck throughout the frame with good safety play by both players. By the time we got down to the last few colours there was very little in it with Ron trying to close out the frame he left Nathan a chance to pot the black which he did for the re-spot. After a little safety battle Nathan potted a lovely long black to earn his side a hard fought draw. You have to feel sorry for the Swad boys who had victory snatched away from them on the last ball – better luck next time boys.