Gary Wilson of Wallsend got another great boost to his confidence both for a high finish in the first Planet Premier League and for his chances of landing the International Billiards and Snooker Federation World Under 21's Championship later this month in Carlow, Ireland, when he travelled to Hartlepool Snooker Club and whitewashed his host, Michael Rudd.

Rudd was expecting a tough match as he had lost 5-2 on his visit to Wallsend and his fears were confirmed when Wilson took the first frame at 62-20. Worse was to follow for Rudd in the second, where a slack safety shot left Wilson an opening, which turned into a classic 100 break without the home player scoring.

The third did not contain any fireworks but went to Wilson at 86-41, whilst the fourth saw Wilson knock in a 40 break to lead 4-0 at the interval, having scored 314 points against Rudd's 61. Things did not improve for the host after the interval for he found Wilson cueing smoothly and potting fluently as the visitor knocked in breaks of 40, 61 and 71 to complete his maximum victory.

David Craggs entertained Anthony Parsons of Guisborough at Tow law Workingmen's Club hoping for at least a repeat of his 6-1 victory at Ormesby to boost his chance of a top four finish. After some early tight safety, Craggs opened the pack of reds with Parsons making 21 but slipped out of position. Craggs only replied in the teens before Parsons knocked in 40, leaving Craggs needing a snooker on the colours, which he never achieved.

After going down to the final red Parsons failed to lay an easy snooker, eventually losing when he went in-off the yellow.

The third frame saw Parsons in an early lead but Craggs got in to take the frame with a 67 break, just failing in his bid for a century when he missed a black off the spot. Parsons levelled at two each with runs of 25 and 21 before the interval.

Craggs opened the sixth with a 49 and Parsons replied with 31 but missed the final blue, which Craggs doubled and added the pink to go two ahead. In the final frame Craggs put in a 48 break but missed a blue off the spot. Parsons needed a snooker from the final red but Craggs took the final blue to clinch a 5-2 victory and a move back to second place in the table.

David Lilley of Hebburn was looking for a good win at home to John McCallum of Ashington in his hope for a top four finish in the league. He opened pout confidently with a 68 break to take the first but the steady McCallum levelled by taking the second. The next two frames were shared going into the interval level.

The first frame after the interval saw McCallum put in a 52 break but Lilley replied with 58, missing the decisive black. However after a series of safety shots, Lilley downed the black to go ahead. McCallum cane back to equalise again with a faultless break of 118 and take the match to a decider. The final frame was cagey and tight but eventually Lilley clinched it on the final black.

Newly crowned England international, Paul Davison of Spennymoor visited Andy Craig of Stanley at Stanley Central Club. In the first half the game swung from one to the other as Davison opened the scoring but Craig then went two-one up only to see the visitor level going into the interval. There were no significant breaks in these frames but they featured a mixture of tight safety and missed chances.

Nothing changed except the score after the interval, where Davison managed to ensure certain victory when he took the first two frame, but the fighting qualities of former professional, Andy Craig were shown as he came back to take the final frame to keep his defeat to a minimum.

Fixtures: Monday: Michael Rhodes v David Craggs at Durham Snooker Club; Mike Dunn v David Lilley at Hartlepool Snooker Centre. Tuesday: Anthony Parson v Michael Rudd at Ormesby Institute. Wednesday: John McCallum v Andy Craig at Ashington Northern Social Club.

All matches begin at 7.30 p.m. Anyone wishing to watch any matches should check with the respective venue that the matches are going ahead as scheduled. Additional information can be obtained by calling 07830 101228 or 07830 101186.

P W L F A PTS

Michael Rhodes 13 11 2 60 31 60

David Craggs 15 10 5 57 48 57

Mike Dunn 12 10 2 52 32 52

David Lilley 13 9 4 52 39 52

John McCallum 13 4 9 46 45 46

Anthony Parsons 14 5 9 44 54 44

Gary Wilson 10 7 3 43 27 43

Paul Davison 12 5 7 40 44 40

Andy Craig 14 2 12 30 68 30

Michael Rudd 12 1 11 24 60 24.

Planet Players League

The younger players are dominating the Players Leagues at this stage with 14-year-old Stephen Craigie holding a four points lead at the top of Group C, 15 year old John Astley has a similar lead at the top of Group A, whilst 16 year old Gavin Robinson is only one point behind the Group B leader, Geoff Robinson but has two matches in hand.

The best performance of the week came from Tony Short in the Raglan Club at Hartlepool, where he beat Steve Armstrong by the odd point in a display which included breaks of 102 and 70.

Results: Group A: John Watson 3 Carl Johnson 4; Tony Short 4 Steven Armstrong 3; Paul Brash 2 John Astley 5; John Bourne 5 John Shipley 2; Richie Stannes v Steve Orr postponed; Paul Brash 6 John Watson 1.

Group B: Scott Railton 2 Paul Garvin 5; Phil Carr 3 Geoff Campbell 4; Darren Storey 0 Gavin Robinson 7; Phil McMasters 1 Michael Grey 6; Steve Healey 3 Gary Parkin 4.

Group C: David Rippon 5 Mark Livingstone 2; Stan Buckle v Phil Curry postponed; Michael Barsanti 0 Stephen Craigie 7; Colin Harrison 3 Jimmy Evans 4; Craig Brown 3 Robin Wilson 4.