Worthington Durham County CIU Summer League: Spennymoor A completed their first Summer League Championship title success with a three-point home win over Fishburn A, who finished in a possible relegation spot.
John Griffin took the only point for the visitors, whilst Karl Welsh, Paul Biddle, John Wilson and Paul Atkinson scored for the Moors.
Sherburn Village beat the visiting runners-up, Wheatley Hill A in the decider to prevent them being involved in a relegation play-off. Dave Walker put the Hill ahead but Scott Mallaburn and Peter McGowan moved the home side ahead. Ronnie Peacock levelled the match but Sherburn's captain, John Bower retained their First Division status in style when he put in a 54 break to beat Alan Hall.
Newton Aycliffe made their best finish for some years when they ended in third spot in the First Division despite taking only one point from their visit to Newhouse. The home side had wins from Harry Dinsdale, John Maddox, Paul Wright and Ian Dinsdale with Michael Hewitt taking the Aycliffe point.
Brandon entertained Willington in a match where the losers were doomed to relegation. Nest season Willington will be in the Second Division after they failed to score at Brandon. The home saviours were John Middleton, Brian Graham, Kevin sample, Graeme Jackson and John Hall.
Witton Gilbert avoided a certain drop to the Second Division when they beat the visiting Shotton Palms by the odd point. This leaves Witton involved in a play-off against Fishburn A to avoid the drop. Witton had wins from John Rooney senior, Ian Renwick with a 36 break and Willis Joynes. The Palms points came from John Armstrong and Barry Hall.
Meadowfield entertained Crowtrees with the winner taking the Second Division Championship and the loser being promoted as well. Keith McLauchlan gave the visitors a good star but that proved to be their only points as Malcolm Hughes, Martin Halliday, Stephen Hughes and John Jackson all won for Meadowfield, who dedicated their title victory to the late Fred Hodgson, their number one supporter.
Stanley Central finished in third place in the Second Division seven points off promotion when they beat the visiting Crook Belle Vue in the decider. John Warriner put the visitors ahead but Harry Grimes and Walter Cornell them moved Stanley ahead. Harold Lomax grabbed the equaliser for Crook but Jimmy Dufton beat Crook's Kenny Rider in the decider.
Wingate ended in fourth place after they were never headed on their trip to Langley Park. Paul Harrison put the visitors ahead bur Robert Roche levelled. Dean Jones restored the Wingate lead only to see Stephen Coates equalise. In the decider, Wingate's Jimmy Mason beat Peter Morgan.
Durham City finished at the foot of the Second Division after they only had Brian Dunn as a home winner against Ferryhill. The visitors had wins from Glyn Toas, Dave Robson, Mark Wilson and Ian Fawcett.
Spennymoor B just failed to finish in the Second Division's top four when they won by the odd point at Wheatley Hill B. the home side had wins from Tony Ellison and Jock Frost, whilst the Moors points came from Gary Easen, Phil Wilson and Micky Anderson.
Bearpark took the Third Division title with a whitewash victory at Fishburn B. the visiting winners were Steve Gott, Glen Morton, Alex Donaldson, Alan Smith and Shaun Easter.
A play-off for the runners-up spot in necessary after Coundon only edged to an odd point victory at Tow Law A. The Lawyers took the first and last frames through Tommy Williams and Heppell Hodgson whilst Coundon had wins from Graham Goulbourn, Willy Shoulder with a 51 break and Frank Nicholson.
New Durham will meet Coundon in the play-off after they only dropped one point to the visiting Leeholme A, who had Barry Shaw as their only winner. The home winners were Neil Phillips, Brian Birks, Thomas Cairns and Kevin Scullion.
Leeholme B finished in the wooden spoon spot after they only took one point from their home match against Sacriston. Ray Gill was the only home winner, whilst Sacriston had wins from Neil Burn, Alan Richardson, Kevin Laing and Gary Surtees.
Tow Law B finished in second bottom spot after they failed to score at Hunwick, who had wins from Barry Fleming, Des Mason, Tom Ward, John Bate and Trevor Lomax.
* The League Presentation Evening will be held at Spennymoor on Saturday, 15 November. Tickets must be collected and paid for at the league meeting in Meadowfield Club on Thursday, October 30. All trophies must be returned to that meeting.
Results: Tow Law 2 Coundon 3; Wheatley Hill B 2 Spennymoor B 3; Spennymoor A 4 Fishburn A 1; New Durham 4 Leeholme A 1; Stanley Central 3 Crook Belle Vue 2; Brandon 5 Willington 0; Hunwick 5 Tow Law B 0; Durham City 1 Ferryhill 4; Witton Gilbert 3 Shotton Palms 2; Fishburn B 0 Bearpark 5; Meadowfield 4 Crowtrees 1; Newhouse 4 Newton Aycliffe 1; Leeholme B 1 Sacriston 4; Langley Park 2 Wingate 3; Sherburn Village 3 Wheatley Hill B 2.
Worthington CIU Winter League
The new season will begin on Tuesday, October 14 with three divisions made up as follows:
Division One: Spennymoor A, Old Shildon, Wheatley Hill A, Cockton Hill, Fishburn A, Newton Aycliffe, Brandon, Sherburn Village, Shotton Palms, Witton Gilbert, Bearpark and Wingate.
Division Two: Meadowfield, Willington, Newhouse, Ferryhill A, Crowtrees A, Stanley Central, Spennymoor B, Belmont, Langley Park, Wheatley Hill B, Coundon and Sacriston.
Division Three: Hunwick A, New Durham, Durham City, Hunwick B, Tow Law A, Fishburn B, Crowtrees B, Leeholme A, Tow Law B, Leeholme B, Ferryhill B and Bearpark B.
* Entries to the Singles Championship, Pairs Championship, Handicap Singles, Curry Cup and Billiards should now have been made but if any team needs to add any names they should get in touch with the secretary immediately, particularly the player who left an answer machine message saying he wished to be in the Handicap Singles but left no name or even club.
Jack Jobson Memorial Singles Handicap
The first semi final will be Alan Rouell (28) of Spennymoor B v Lee Todd (50) of Leeholme B to be played at Brandon on Monday, October 6 with Charlie Donaghy of Tow Law the referee. The second semi-final will be Brian Quest (16) of Fishburn A v Paul Nord (14) of Witton Gilbert at Durham City on Wednesday, 15 October with Alan Greener of Sherburn Village the referee.
The final will be played at Tow Law on Monday, November 3 when Mrs Joan Jobson, widow of Jack Jobson, who was the CIU snooker secretary for many years, will present the memorial trophy to the winner. All the matches are the best of five frames.
Worthington CIU Summer Singles Championship
Quarter finals results: Willis Joynes (Witton Gilbert) beat Tom Parkin (Willington); Dave Walker (Wheatley Hill A) beat George Whitelock (Fishburn B); Gordon Bowes (New Durham) beat Barry Shaw (Leeholme A); Keith McLauchlan (Crowtrees) lost to Scott Mallaburn (Sherburn Village).
Worthington CIU Summer Pairs Championship
The first semi-final is Gordon Bowes & Thomas Cairns (New Durham) v Bob Reay and Ronnie Peacock (Wheatley Hill A) to be played at Crowtrees on Thursday, 9 October (7.30 pm), with Peter Laverick of Crowtrees the referee. The second semi-final is Stephen Bennett & Stuart Neil (Coundon) v John Bower & Alan Greener (Sherburn Village) at Stanley Central on Monday, 20 October (7.30 pm) with Charlie Donaghy of Tow Law the referee.
The final will be played at Langley Park on Monday, October 27. All matches are over the aggregate score from three frames.
Kingsway Krugerrand Competition
Ithe only match played there was a remarkable finish in the deciding frame when an attempted double on the pink ended up as a treble, which just crawled into the corner pocket. The match was between Alan Grieve of Darlington and Paul Hickman of Shotton, with the other scheduled game between Ronnie Peacock of Wheatley Hill and John Armstrong of Shotton being cancelled because of a back injury to Armstrong.
In the first frame Hickman put in a decisive 31 break to take the first point at 60-25. However the match was squared when Grieve took the second frame by steadily taking opportunities and playing some tight safety and making a vital 18 break to take the frame at 59-18.
The third frame was a very low scoring affair with neither player ever giving his opponent a chance to build a sizeable break. Hickman managed to gain a slender lead and never lost it as he won the frame at 48-35. Grieve hit much better forming the fourth and an early run of 21 put him ahead. Hickman made an immediate reply of 15 but missed an easy red to allow Grieve back to the table to increase his lead even further. Hickman needed snookers on the final red, which he potted but missed the black and conceded at 51-19.
The final frame was a cliffhanger. Hickman smashed the reds open by potting one and went on to make 21 before missing an easy red. Grieve should have capitalised on the error but went in-off. With only one red remaining Hickman led by 17 points. Grieve attempted to slam in this ball but it wobbled with Hickman missing a good chance but was fortunate to get a snooker. Grieve hit the black and left red over pocket. Hickman should have clinched the match but missed a straight blue. Grieve took the yellow and green with Hickman taking the brown to go 20 ahead. Grieve took the blue and laid a very good snooker on the pink. Hickman missed and so Grieve put him back in. Hickman tried a double, which turned into a winning treble as he took the frame 64-45.
On Thursday, October 9 Robert Bowman of Bishop Auckland plays Sean Johnston of Crowtrees Club and Andrew Aisbitt of Cockton Hill Club meets Mark Appleby of Sacriston Club. Matches begin at 7.30 pm in the Kingsway Club, which is upstairs above the Lightfoot Institute in Kingsway, Bishop Auckland. There is free entry for spectators.
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