Shildon A went to the top of the table with a great recovery to force a draw when they visited fellow championship challengers, Crook B in a re-arranged match. Gerald Parkin and Darren Tinkler put the home side ahead before Rance Richardson scored the first point for Shildon.

Johnny Mason and Gavin Witton then move Crook further ahead before Peter Coates pulled one back. John Warriner stepped up to put Crook into a commanding 5-2 lead. Shildon showed their fighting qualities when Kevin Stewart, Peter Coates and Paul Willey levelled the match.

Wins from Johnny Mason and David Stephenson put Crook on the hill but again the visitors produced another recovery with Paul Armstrong beating Les Scott and Martin Taylor beating Gavin Witton to earn the draw.

P W D L PTS

Shildon A 14 7 5 2 113

Spennymoor 13 7 2 4 107

Crook Town B 13 7 3 3 106

Crook Town A 12 10 0 2 104

Horden 13 7 3 3 102

Ferryhill 13 7 3 3 102

Durham A 13 5 3 5 88

Durham B 12 6 2 4 84

Tow Law 13 3 2 8 79

Shildon B 13 2 2 9 72

Bishop Auckland 13 1 1 11 65

Newton Aycliffe 12 1 2 9 56.

Bishop Auckland and District League

Crook Coach and Horses A held on to third place in the table after they came away from Spennymoor Weardale with a three points victory. The home side had singles wins from Tommy Irvin, Shaun Archer, Martin Short and Shane Casen, whilst the visitors went ahead with two points from Aaron Cowan and one each from Michael Burke, David Haygarth, Lee Scott and Les Scott. The home side took the doubles through Shane Casen and Gordon Williams but Michael Burke completed a good win for the Coach when he beat Shaun Archer in both captain's games.

Bishop Auckland Derby made a three points home win over Toft Hill Three Tuns when they had two singles points from Stephen Lowther and Andrew Delve and one from Colin Gash. The Tuns levelled with two points from Vince Hunt and Steve Thompson with John Harvey one. The Derby went ahead when Chris Bell and Stephen Lowther took the doubles and completed their victory when Chris peacock beat Steve Thompson in both captain's games.

Tow Law Station's game against Bishop Auckland Snooker Club A was postponed when the visitors were involved in a road accident. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt but were unable to fulfil the fixture.

Spennymoor Ash Tree lead the table by two points from Crook Olde Horse Shoe, who are fifteen points ahead of Crook Coach and Horses A.

Results: Bishop Auckland Football Club 12 Bishop Auckland Cumberland Arms 1; Bishop Auckland RAFA Club 4 Henknowle Manor B 9; Henknowle Manor A 10 Willington Brewer's Droop 3; Crook Olde Horse Shoe 12 Crook White Swan 1; Bishop Auckland Snooker Club B 9 Witton Park Rose and Crown 4; Spennymoor Weardale 5 Crook Coach and Horses A 8; Bishop Auckland Derby 8 Toft Hill Three Tuns 5. Crook Coach and Horses B v Spennymoor Ash Tree no result. Tow Law Station v Bishop Auckland Snooker Club A postponed.

Crook League

Crook Travellers Rest B strengthened their hopes of landing at least the runners-up spot in the First Division after they won a tight encounter at Crook Belle Vue. This result pushed the Travellers twelve points ahead of their hosts, whilst still trailing the leading Olde Horse Shoe A by twelve points.

Belle Vue had two points from Ian Hodkinson and Paul Morgan with Arthur Hope adding one to go with the doubles from Pip Samson and Ian Hodkinson. The Travellers moved 7-6 ahead with two points from Michael Burke and Doug Bowey and one each from Jimmy Singlewood and Neil Campbell with Burke and Campbell adding a doubles. Victory for the visitors was clinched when Aaron Cowan beat Arthur Hope in the final frame.

Crook King's Head are hoping to land promotion by taking second place in the Second Division behind Crook Coach and Horses B, who lead by a massive forty-two points. The King's moved ten points ahead of Howden Australian after they beat the visiting Crook Queen's Head B by four points.

The King's Head had two points from Stephen Dawson and one each from Stuart Miller, Andy Palmer, Carl Maddison, Steph Gill and Dave Brown to add to the two doubles from Maddison with Miller and Dawson with Palmer. The Queen's made a good recovery from being 9-1 down to take the last four points. The visitors' points came from Stephen Gibson, Dave Heslop, Anthony Palin, Malcolm Gibson and John Ferens.

Results: Crook Belle Vue 6 Crook Travellers Rest B 8; Crook White Swan 6 Crook Mill House 8; Crook Queen's Head A 4 Crook Olde Horse Shoe A 10; Crook Olde Horse Shoe B 8 Crook Jelly's Bar A 6; Crook Coach and Horses A 9 Crook Royal Sun 5; Crook Travellers Rest A 7 Willington Market 7; Crook Spitfire Club 6 Crook Surtees 8; Crook Jelly's Bar B 2 Crook Golden Fleece B 12; Crook Golden Fleece A 3 Hunwick Club 11; Willington Brewer's Droop 10 Croft Social Club 4; Howden Australian 2 Crook Coach and Horses B 12; Crook King's Head 9 Crook Queen's Head B 5.

Tow Law Scottish Courage League

The leading teams suffered defeats last week with only Newhouse Club, who now share third place, recording a victory. Tow Law Football Club lead the table by four points from Tow Law Dan's Castle A, with Sunniside Comedian and Newhouse Club sharing third place.

Sunniside Comedian were looking for a good win on their trip to Tow Law Rose and Crown but they only had singles wins from Morgan Errington and John Conley, whilst the home side went ahead with wins from Steven Todd, Adam Orton, John Mudd and Lee Mowbray. The home side completed their win by taking two of the three doubles.

There was a major surprise for Tow Law Dan's Castle A team in the Castle derby for the B team took five of the six singles with wins from Wayne Johnson, Lester Stevenson, Paul Murray, David Murray and Angela Suddes, whilst Lee Furber took the A team's lone point. The tables were completely turned in the doubles where the A team won all three to make the final score respectable.

results: Tow Law New Market B 6

Durham Ranking Tournament

Tony Kay, the triple Durham Branch CIU champion, made his first appearance in the tournament and comfortably went through to the final, where he was well beaten by Chris Bowran. However Kay did enough in his first outing to almost reach the top thirty-two, a place in which would qualify him for the big money tournament at the end of the year.

There was an early surprise as Michael Rhodes, the top ranked player, went out to Consett's Dave Harrop in the last sixteen and then failed to take the Plate winners prize when he went down to Andy Seal in the final of that competition. However Rhodes still leads the rankings but the gap has been closed by Chris Bowran and Steve Thompson, who missed this month's event, to just three points.

The results of the last sixteen were Dave Harrop 3 Michael Rhodes 1; Chris Bowran 3 Andy Seal 1; Andrew Mole 1 Gee Cheng 3; Kevin Rainbow 3 Ian Laycock 1; Graham Comerford 1 Tony Kay 3; Ian Staines 3 Ron Hogarth 2; Helen Littlewood 2 Dave Lowery 3; Alan Hogarth 3 Ian Dinsdale 2.

The quarterfinals results were Dave Harrop 0 Chris Bowran 4; Gee Cheng 2 Kevin Rainbow 4; Tony Kay 4 Ian Staines 1; Dave Lowery 4 Alan Hogarth 3.

In the semi finals Chris Bowran beat Kevin Rainbow 4-2, whilst Tony Kay beat Dave Lowery 4-1. The beaten semi-finalists both took £15 prize money. In the final Chris Bowran beat Tony Kay 5-1 to take the £65 first prize, whilst Tony Kay took £35 as the runners-up prize.

In the final of the Plate Andy Seal made a 3-1 victory over Michael Rhodes.

The next Ranking Tournament will be held on Sunday, 31 August in Durham Snooker Club.