Spennymoor B land a Knockout victory

The Moors received 57 points start and left Wingate a mountain to climb after the lead was increased to one hundred and 20 points after the first frame.

Gary Easen proved the destroyer in the first frame when he capitalised on an early miss from Paul Harrison and then rarely missed a pot as he flamboyantly knocked everything in, including a large number of doubles. Easen won the frame at 94-29.

The second frame between Wingate's Dean Jones and Alan Rouell of the Moors was very close with both players potting and running safe to the baulk cushion. Rouell potted the final red but saw the cue ball drift into the pocket leaving Jones to take the colours to the pink, which he missed. Rouell potted the pink but then left the black for Jones to go out the 61-39 frame winner.

John Bourne of Wingate moved into the lead against Wayne Parry after a long bout of tight safety play. Parry steadily stuck to his task and was able to level at forty-three points each with the colours remaining. It was at this point that Parry peaked to take all twenty-seven points to win 70-43 and push the Moors into a lead of 125 points.

Jimmy Mason of Wingate put in a 26 break against Micky Anderson, who had been extremely unlucky to hit the pink whilst attempting an escape from a tight snooker. Anderson however fought his way back into the frame and only lost by 59-55 to leave Spennymoor with a start of 121 going into the last frame.

Dave Hammond of Wingate realised that he had no chance of overhauling Alan Clarke but sportingly played out the frame. He made a 22 break but finished it by going in-off a difficult red with Clarke closing the gap. Hammond won the frame at 61-48 but this left Spennymoor B as the 361 points to 253 winners.

Worthington Durham County CIU

Summer League

Coundon won a place in the Second Division next season after they beat New Durham in a play-off for the runners-up spot in the Third Division. In the first frame Coundon's Graham Goulbourne played Neil Phillips of New Durham. The Coundon player settled better in front of the large crowd and, despite missing some good opportunities was able to move into a lead. A fluked green by Goulbourn and a costly in-off the blue by Phillips put Coundon one up with a 57-30 win.

Brian Birks of New Durham put up a good performance against Frank Nicholson and was always in with a chance. Neither player was able to put in a big break from good chances but Nicholson's 13, when he ran out of position, was matched by 12 with a similar ending from Birks. A vital miss on the green left Nicholson with the colours to the blue to take the frame at 55-32.

Stuart Neil of Coundon clinched the victory when he commanded the third frame against Kevin Scullion to go through to a 63-32 victory with a 25 break being the main factor in opening the gap. This gave Coundon a 3-0 victory and left Stephen Bennett and Willy Shoulder of Coundon and Thomas Cairns and Gordon Bowes of New Durham without the chance to play.

Worthington CIU

Team Plate Final

Spennymoor A won the Team Plate to add to their League Championship victory after they beat Stanley Central in the final at Willington with a victory clinched on the last brown and blue in the last frame.

Stanley Central received 122 points start but this was cut to fifty when Michael Pratt of Spennymoor ran in a series of breaks in the teens to beat Frank Foster. Paul Biddle of Spennymoor, with a 31 break, maintained his unbeaten record throughout the season when he beat Jim Dufton, who kept Stanley eight points ahead when he took the last three colours.

Norman Rimmington proved the surprise package for Stanley when he met Paul Atkinson, who put in a 28 break. However Rimmington steadily pulled back into the frame until he went ahead but only lost after he went in-off and left Atkinson the pink and black to win by twenty-one points.

The fourth frame between John Wilson of Spennymoor and Harry Grimes of Stanley was dominated by very tight and accurate safety play. However Wilson edged his way into a twenty-one points lead with three balls remaining. Grimes pulled off a damage limitation run by taking the three balls to only lose by three points.

Eddie Rhodes took a 16 points start into the final frame against Stanley's Walter Cornell, the hero of their semi-final victory over Witton Gilbert. Rhodes strengthened the Moors position with a nineteen break but Cornell maintained the Stanley chance with some small breaks. However Rhodes potted an excellent brown and blue to force the concession of the match at 322 points against 281.

Kingsway Krugerrand Competition

There was a good crowd at the Kingsway Club in Bishop Auckland to see local favourite, Andrew Aisbitt of Cockton Hill Club beat Mark Appleby of Sacriston in one of the last two first round matches. The pattern was set with Aisbitt's second visit to the table when he put in a break of 20 and left Appleby tight against the baulk cushion. The Sacriston player replied with some tight safety but the small breaks, which were made, always saw Aisbitt slightly outscore his opponent. The lead was steadily extended until Aisbitt went out as the 62-35 winner.

In the second frame Appleby made a determined effort to keep Aisbitt out of the balls but found that, whilst he was successful, he never managed to force Aisbitt to concede a clear-cut chance. Once again it was Aisbitt with a series of small breaks followed by tight safety, who went into a good lead. With the last red on the table, Appleby needed four snookers but his valiant efforts failed and he conceded at 76-29.

The third frame proved Aisbitt's superiority as once again he steadily moved into an unassailable lead with Appleby eventually conceding the match at 66-15, with Aisbitt establishing himself as the player to be beaten in this competition.

On the other table Sean Johnston of Crowtrees Club met the Kingsway Club star, Robert Bowman. The familiar sound of balls crashing into the back of pockets in quick succession soon showed that Johnston was in his usual form and quickly took the first frame at 60-18.

However in the second frame Bowman slowed down the Crowtrees player with an early 16 break but Johnston replied with a 22 break to take the frame at 44-38. Johnston's 20 break in the third was very slowly overhauled by Bowman who made runs of 16 and 17 to win 63-30. The long drawn out fourth frame, where Johnston looked more and more frustrated as he was unable to get the usual speed going, ended on the black, which Bowman took to win 51-50 and square the match.

The final frame was very slow with Bowman getting into a lead that left Johnston needing the final three balls for victory. He potted a good blue and finished in style by taking the pink and black to win 52-42.

Second round draw: Clyde Pearson (Darlington) v Alec Appleby (Darlington); Jimmy Evans (Shotton) v Stuart MacKenzie (Darlington); Mike Thornton (Darlington) v Ronnie Peacock (Wheatley Hill); Paul Harland (Darlington) v Sean Johnston (Crowtrees); Steven Armstrong (Crowtrees) v Thomas Cairns (New Durham); Charlie Blake (Middleton-in-Teesdale) v Sonny Hann (Crowtrees); John Bourne (Horden) v Paul Hickman (Shotton); Jimmy Dufton (Stanley Central) v Andrew Aisbitt (Cockton Hill).

The matches to be played on Thursday, October 23 at 7.30pm are Jimmy Evans v Stuart MacKenzie and Charlie Blake v Sonny Hann. Spectators are welcome, free of charge at the Kingsway Club, above the Lightfoot Institute, Kingsway, Bishop Auckland.

Crook League

Ithe first game of the new season the rivals for the Championship for the past few years met with Crook Travellers Rest B pulling off an odd point victory over when they travelled to the reigning champions, Crook Olde Horse Shoe A. The home side had singles wins from Chris Peacock and Richard Walker with Gavin Witton and Brian Johnson adding the doubles. The Travellers went to victory with singles points from Michael Burke, Jim Ainsley, Jimmy Singlewood and Doug Bowey.

David Craggs made his debut in the Second Division for Crook Coach and Horses B and made an immediate impression when he put in a 57 break at home against the visiting Crook White Swan B. He was joined as singles winners by David Stephenson and Gerald Parkin whilst Stephen Murphy, Stuart Miller and Steff Gill won for the Swan to send the match to a doubles decider. The Coach went to victory when David Stephenson and Gerald Parkin beat Stuart Miller and Stephen Davison.

* The communications problems that the league secretary had with Stanley Earl Derby meant that Willington Brewer's Droop were admitted into position 5 on the published fixture list. When the Derby confirmed their entry they had to be moved into position 12. Second Division teams are asked to note these changes, although a new fixture list will be issued shortly.

Results: Crook Royal Sun 5 Crook Mill House 2; Crook Travellers Rest A 3 Crook Coach and Horses A 4; Crook Surtees 2 Crook Belle Vue 5; Crook Golden Fleece B 5 Crook Spitfire Club 2; Howden Australian 6 Crook Jelly's Bar B 1; Crook White Swan A 4 Crook Olde Horse Shoe B 3; Crook Jelly's Bar A 3 Stanley Earl Derby 4; Willington Brewer's Droop 3 Crook Queen's Head B 4; Crook Olde Horse Shoe A 3 Crook Travellers Rest B 4; Crook Coach and Horses B 4 Crook White Swan B 3. Crook Queen's Head A v Crook Golden Fleece A no result.

Jack Jobson Memorial Singles Handicap

Lee Todd of Leeholme received 22 points start in each of the five frame semi-final against Alan Rouell of Spennymoor B in the match played at Brandon. In the first frame Todd steadily built on his lead but a late revival from Rouell with a 15 break took the frame to a black ball fight, which the Spennymoor player took to win 54-51.

In the second frame Rouell completely lost his touch and Todd steadily opened the gap until the Spennymoor player conceded at 5-15. Todd was able to go 2-1 up when he took the third frame at 65-39. Rouell had put in a 15 break but Todd replied with 18 to win.

Rouell managed to pull level by winning the fourth frame when he put in a 17 break to clinch a 68-54 victory. The deciding frame was a long drawn out safety battle, which was high lighted by 16 and 24 breaks from Rouell, who managed to ease into a late lead. Todd needed the pink and black for victory but missed the pink and left Rouell with a very thin cut into the middle. He took it on and put it into the pocket to go to his first final, where he will meet the winner of the match between Brian Quest of Fishburn and Paul Nord of Witton Gilbert at Tow Law on Monday, 3 November.

Worthington CIU

Summer League

Top Ten Breaks in the First Division: 1st Paul Atkinson (Spennymoor A) 84; 2 Pual Hickman (Shotton Palms) 58; 3 John Bower (Sherburn Village) 54; 4 equal Paul Atkinson and Michael Pratt (Spennymoor A) 52 each; 6 John Briddick (Newton Aycliffe) 47; 7 Paul Hickman (Shotton Palms) 46; 8 Ronnie Peacock (Wheatley Hill A) 45; 9 Jimmy Evans (Shotton Palms) 44; 10 equal Ronnie Peacock and Paul Atkinson 42 each.

Top Ten Breaks in the Second Division: 1st, 2nd and 3rd John Bourne (Wingate) with two 52's and 47; 4th equal Steven Armstrong (Crowtrees) with three 45's and John Bourne with 45; 8th Micky Anderson (Spennymoor B) 44; 9th Ray Coates (Langley Park) 43; 10th Micky Anderson 42.

Top Ten Breaks in the Third Division: 1 Shaun Easter (Bearpark) 56; 2 Willy Shoulder (Coundon) 51; 3 George Whitelock (Fishburn B) 44; 4 Alan Smith (Bearpark) 42; 5 Shaun Easter (Bearpark) 41; 6 Shaun Easter (Bearpark) 40; 7 Mark Appleby (Sacriston) 39; 8 equal Barry Fleming (Hunwick) and Gordon Bowes (New Durham) 38 each; 10 George Whitelock (Fishburn B) 36.