Worthington CIU Summer League: Stanley Central opened out a two points gap at the top of the Second Division when they beat the visiting fellow title contenders from Coundon A for the loss of only one point.

The Central started in fine form when they took the first four points through Jack Musgrave, Jimmy Dufton, Harry Grimes and Michael Vickary. However Dennis Payne, a former player for the central, saved the Coundon whitewash when eh won the final frame.

New Durham, freshly promoted from the Third Division, strengthened their case for further promotion when they beat the visiting Old Shildon for the loss of only one point. The Shildon team began in good form when Mal Parsley took the first point but then the home side took over with wins from Paul Garr, Thomas Cairns with a 33 break, Neil Phillips and Tony Thompson. This puts the Durham side in equal second place with Bearpark A.

Glyn Toas was the only winner for Ferryhill A when they hosted Bearpark A, who moved to share second place with wins from John Jackson, Steve Gott, Shaun Easter and Alex Donaldson.

Langley Park moved a point behind the joint second placed teams following their odd point home win over Durham City. Lenny Thompson, Robert Roche and Lawrence Jones won for the Park with Kevin Smith and Michael Pratt replying.

Spennymoor B were never headed when they visited Wheatley Hill B with Micky Anderson putting them ahead. Steve Cave levelled but Alan Clarke restored the Moors lead. Kevin Connor squared the match but then Wayne Parry beat the Hill's Tony Ellison in the decider.

Wheatley Hill A took over the top spot in the First Division with a maximum win at Newton Aycliffe, where they had points from Ronnie Peacock, Jack Wright, Dave Walker, Dean Bryden and Alan Hall.

Fishburn slipped a point behind Wheatley Hill A despite their unbeaten record when they dropped a frame at home to Sherburn Village, who had Adrian Twist as their only winner. The home side had points from Brian Quest, John Griffin, Alan Buist and John Carter.

Willington are in third place in the First Division, five points behind Fishburn after they only dropped one point at Meadowfield. Jeremy Martin, Stan Bennett, Tom Parkin and Gordon Parkin won for the visitors, whilst Martin Halliday took the only point for the home side.

Witton Gilbert took the first three points at Brandon with wins from Ian Renwick, Malcolm Peart and John Rooney junior before Brandon fought back to take the last two frames through Graeme Jackson and Colin Goodrick.

Newhouse made a good win at Shotton Palms when Graeme Thompson beat Colin Jones in the decider. Earlier John Armstrong and Jimmy Evans won for the Palms with Paul Wright and John Maddox levelling.

Spennymoor A were taken to the decider before edging through against the visiting Crowtrees A. Ronnie Bateman put the Moors ahead but then Keith McLaughlan and Steve Armstrong won for the visitors. Paul Biddle squared the match before Paul Atkinson took the Moors to victory by beating Sonny Hann in the decider.

Sacriston maintained their command of the Third Division when they travelled to Leeholme A and only dropped one point, when Andrew Roe won for the home side. The visiting winners were Alan Richardson, Willy Nixon, Jeff Evans and Mark Appleby.

Ferryhill B made a fine comeback after trailing by two points at Coundon B, who opened with wins from Darren Lidster and Steve Bainbridge. Mark Wilson and Billy Roddam pulled the visitors level before Stuart Roddam took them to victory by beating George Duff in the decider.

Hunwick held the pace with Ferryhill B when they won by the odd point at Tow Law A. The Lawyers had wins from Stephen Laing and Tommy Williams, whilst Barry Fleming, Trevor Lomax and John Bate took the visitors to victory.

Ronnie Murray put the Victoria ahead against the visiting Fishburn B. However the visitors then took over with wins from Michael bell, George Whitelock, Paul Nicks and Dave Thomas.

Bearpark B moved two points behind the joint second placed teams when they only dropped one point to the visiting Leeholme B, who had Christopher Davison as their only winner. The home points came from Paul Wilson, Les Dobbin, Anthony Cooper and Dave Evans.

Darren Hopps was the Tow Law B hero when his steadily improving form took him to his first victory of the season in the decider at Crowtrees B, where he beat Chris Welsh. Paul Moralee and Terry Gibson had put the home side ahead twice but Lee Stockdale and John Wilson levelled.

Results: Crowtrees B 2 Tow Law B 3; Newton Aycliffe 0 Wheatley Hill A 5; Wheatley Hill B 2 Spennymoor B 3; Leeholme A 1 Sacriston 4; Brandon 2 Witton Gilbert 3; Langley Park 3 Durham City 2; Bearpark B 4 Leeholme B 1; Shotton Palms 2 Newhouse 3; Ferryhill A 1 Bearpark A 4; Coundon B 2 Ferryhill B 3; Spennymoor A 3 Crowtrees A 2; New Durham 4 Old Shildon 1; Victoria 1 Fishburn B 4; Meadowfield 1 Willington 4; Stanley Central 4 Coundon A 1; Tow Law A 2 Hunwick 3; Fishburn A 4 Sherburn Village 1.

Worthington CIU Team Knockout

Crowtrees A from the First Division only had to concede ten points start to their Second Division hosts at Ferryhill A and this was wiped out in the first frame, which Peter Laverick won for Crowtrees by 58 points. Glyn Toas came back strongly in the second with a good win to close the gap to 26 points.

The third frame went to Crowtrees through Dave Lowery, who won by twelve points and the visitors went further ahead when Sonny Hann won by twenty-six points. This left Bernie Jones of Ferryhill 64 points when he went into the final frame against Keith McLaughlan. Despite a sterling effort to do the impossible Jones failed and Crowtrees won by 300 points to 229.

SWD Individual Handicap Championship

First round results: Alec Appleby (Darlington Snooker A) lost to John Ferguson (Darlington Snooker A); Carl Johnson (Darlington Snooker A) lost to Steve Healey (Darlington Cricket Club); Steve Hooper (Barnard Castle Glaxo) lost to Peter Mernor (Bishop Auckland Cricket Club); Peter Gaffney (Barnard Castle Glaxo) lost to Phil McMasters (Darlington Cricket Club); Paul Towers (Darlington Snooker A) beat Paul Harland (Darlington Snooker A); Gavin Robinson (Bishop Auckland Cricket Club) beat Ian Halford (Southerne Club); Tony Atkin (Barnard Castle Glaxo) beat Graham Isaacs (Southerne Club); John Collingwood (Barnard Castle Glaxo) lost to Peter Grove (Barnard Castle Glaxo).

Second round draw: Gavin Robinson (Bishop Auckland Cricket Club) v Paul Towers (Darlington Snooker A); John Ferguson (Darlington Snooker A) v Phil McMasters (Darlington Cricket Club); Tony Atkin (Barnard Castle Glaxo) v Steve Healey (Darlington Cricket Club); Peter Mernor (Bishop Auckland Cricket Club) v Peter Grove (Barnard Castle Glaxo).

SWD Association

Hopetown moved one point clear at the top of the First Division after playing Bishop Auckland Golf Club twice, with both teams winning one of the matches by two points. The golfers now share second place with Darlington Cricket Club, who were held to a draw at Barnard Castle Glaxo.

Only Keith Bailey managed to take a point for Hopetown when they visited Bishop Auckland Golf Club, who had wins from Andrew Aisbitt with a 48 break, Paul Weighill and Dave Oughton.

In the Second Division Darlington Snooker B moved four points ahead after beating their C team by a maximum. Northgate, who had a bye, are in second place with third place shared by Shildon Elm Road and Bishop Auckland Kingsway Club. The successful players, who moved Darlington Snooker B to the top of the table with their wins over the C team were Kevin Robinson, Chris Hewitt, Shaun Rodgers and Ian Gourlay.

Results: Hopetown 3 Bishop Auckland Golf Club 1; Darlington Snooker A 2 Bishop Auckland Cricket Club 2; Barnard Castle Glaxo 2 Darlington Cricket Club 2; Bishop Auckland Golf Club 3 Hopetown 1; Shildon Elm Road 3 Tindale Crescent 1; Darlington Snooker B 4 Darlington Snooker C 0; Rise Carr 2 Bishop Auckland Kingsway Club 2.