Worthington Durham County CIU Summer League: Willington and Brandon maintained their early unbeaten runs to move to the top of the First Division with wins against Witton Gilbert and Newton Aycliffe respectively.
Ian Renwick put Witton Gilbert ahead on their trip to Willington but Arthur Goldsborough and Tom Parkin took the next two frames to establish a lead. John Rooney senior made that short-lived as he levelled the match. In the decider Gordon Parkin edged through to beat the visiting Willis Joynes on the black.
Newton Aycliffe went one up against the visiting Brandon when Ronnie Hall won. However Brandon put themselves in a winning position with three in a row from Graeme Jackson, Brian Graham and Owen Howarth. The home side fought back with Michael Hewitt taking the final frame.
Winter League champions, Spennymoor A received a shock when they went down at Shotton Palms. John Wilson put the Moors ahead but the home side ran off three in a row with wins from John Armstrong, Dave Swindle and Jimmy Evans, who put in a 44 break. Paul Biddle took the last point for the Moors by beating Paul Hickman on the black.
The local derby between Wheatley Hill A and the visiting Fishburn A proved as close as ever with the Hill winning by the odd point. Dave Walker, Dennis Clish and Ronnie Peacock won for the Hill with Charlie Hirst and John Griffin replying.
Newhouse came close to making their first win in the First Division but the visiting Sherburn Village recovered to win in the decider. Jimmy Hassen put the home side ahead but Scott Mallaburn levelled. Ronnie Pearson restored the Newhouse lead only to see John Bower equalise. In the decider the visiting Michael Crisp beat Steve Mountain on the black.
Meadowfield and Langley Park share a one lead at the top of the Second Division after both made good wins. Crook Belle Vue entertained Meadowfield but only managed to take one point when ken Rider won. The winners for the visitors were Norman Smith, John Jackson, Ian Hodgson and Malcolm Hughes.
Langley Park went one better when they whitewashed the visiting Durham City with wins from Robert Roche, Ray Coates, Peter Morgan, Kevin Keers and Stephen Coates.
Ferryhill looked to going very well on their visit to Spennymoor B when they took the first two points through Mark Wilson and Steve Wray. However the home side levelled with wins from Micky Anderson and Alan Clarke, who put in a 39 break. In the decider the Moors went to victory when Wayne Parry beat Glyn Toas on the black.
Only Tony Ellison managed to take a point for Wheatley Hill A on their visit to Crowtrees. The home side had wins from Kith McLauchlan, Colin Barron, Sonny Hann and new signing, Steve Armstrong, who put in a 37 break.
Wingate looked to be on their way to a whitewash defeat when they visited Stanley Central and saw the home side have wins from Frank Foster, Harry Grimes, Jim Dufton with a 31 break and Walter Cornell. However Jimmy Mason saved the duck by taking the last frame in style.
Bearpark were twice behind on their visit to Sacriston but recovered to win in the decider. Mark Appleby put the home side ahead with Alex Donaldson equalising. Gary Barton restored Sacriston's lead bur Glen Morton levelled. In the decider Shaun Easter took Bearpark to victory by beating Willy Nixon. This victory established Bearpark as the early leaders of the Third Division.
Lawrence Jones put Leeholme A ahead when they visited Coundon. However the home side raced to certain victory with wins from Steven Bennett, Mally Ryder and John Paul Wringe only to see Barry Shaw narrow the winning margin when he took the final frame.
New team, Tow Law B sent shock waves through the Third Division when they only dropped one point to the visiting strong side from New Durham. The Lawyers went four up with wins from John Wilson, Paul Chollerton, Lee Stockdale and Malcolm Umpelby. The visitors new signing, Neil Phillips prevented the whitewash by taking the final frame.
Mark Brown and Lee Todd took the first and last frames for Leeholme B against the visiting Hunwick, who went to victory with wins from Des Mason, Barry Fleming and Norman Kirkley. Tow Law A went ahead at Fishburn B with a win from Heppell Hodgson but George Whitelock squared the match when he put in a 44 break. Jamie Hodgson moved Fishburn in front only to see Stephen Laing level. In the decider Fishburn's Dave Wilson beat Doug Watson.
Results: Tow Law B 4 New Durham 1; Langley Park 5 Durham City 0;Willington 3 Witton Gilbert 2; Coundon 3 Leeholme A 2; Spennymoor B 3 Ferryhill 2; Newhouse 2 Sherburn Village 3; Fishburn B 3 Tow Law A 2; Crowtrees 4 Wheatley Hill B 1; Shotton Palms 3 Spennymoor A 3; Sacriston 2 Bearpark 3; Crook Belle Vue 1 Meadowfield 4; Wheatley Hill A 3 Fishburn A 2; Leeholme B 2 Hunwick 3; Stanley Central 4 Wingate 1; Newton Aycliffe 2 Brandon 3.
Worthington CIU Second Division play-off
The play-off for the Second Division Championship produced a first class match at Crowtrees, where Bearpark just edged through against Wingate on the final pink of the final frame.
In the first frame Alan Smith of Bearpark and Dave Hammond of Wingate opened out with some good safety play with the scores moving along equally at a steady rate. However the frame was taken when Smith put in a decisive 22 break and, despite Hammonds attempts at laying a snooker to get back into the frame, Smith held out to win 69-29.
In the second frame David Jackson of Bearpark went into an early lead against Wingate's John Bourne. However Bourne cam back in great style and ran in a magnificent 45 break, which was ended when his attempt at the final pink took a tremendous kick and, despite the slow roll in, missed the pocket whilst the cue ball finished perfectly on the black. However Bourne still took the point with a 68-36 win.
Jimmy Mason of Wingate never found his true form in the third frame against Shaun Easter of Bearpark. Easter steadily built up a lead and then killed the frame with a 21 break, which took him to a 58-26 victory.
Steve Allen of Wingate squared the match when he beat Alex Donaldson of Bearpark in a very tight match. Donaldson looked to have taken command of the frame as he built up an early lead and Allen was well below his best. However as the frame wore on Allen gained his confidence and steadily overhauled the deficit until he went ahead and took the late high colours to win 58-43.
In the decider Glen Morton of Bearpark faced Geoff Howe of Wingate and took advantage of a slack safety shot early in the frame to knock in a 24 break and then played some of the tightest safety seen during the evening. Morton steadily picked off a red and a colour before running back to the top cushion and built up a forty-seven points lead. However Howe was too good a player to keep out of the frame completely and when he got chances he pulled back the deficit. He went for a complete clearance and took the colours to the blue, but missed the pink, which he needed. Morton's safety shot was not the best and Howe attempted to pot a tough pink whilst screwing the cue ball back round the table for perfect position on the black. He achieved the position but rattled the pink, which seemed to have gone safe. However from the opposite end of the table, Morton made the finest of cuts to put the pink into the corner pocket and give Bearpark the Second Division Championship with a frame win of 58-40.
Worthington CIU Team Knock Cup
The draw for the First Round to be played on Tuesday, 17 June is Crowtrees v Fishburn B; Ferryhill v Brandon; Crook Belle Vue bye; Wingate v Spennymoor A; Hunwick v Coundon; Leeholme A v Witton Gilbert; Wheatley Hill B v Shotton Palms; Newhouse v Tow Law A; Sacriston v Bearpark; Newton Aycliffe v New Durham; Durham City bye; Tow Law B v Willington; Fishburn A v Meadowfield; Langley Park v Leeholme B; Spennymoor B v Wheatley Hill A; Sherburn Village v Stanley Central.
South West Durham Association
Bishop Auckland Golf Club hit their best form in the top of the table clash against the visiting Darlington Cricket Club to retain their unbeaten record and move four points clear at the top following their whitewash success. Charlie Blake put in a 39 break for the golfers.
Darlington Cricket Club A slipped to second place, four points ahead of their B team. Darlington Snooker Club A's administration cost them two points when they failed to put in their result against the visiting Darling Riley's and this pushed them to the foot of the First Division.
Barnard Castle Glaxo took over the top spot of the Second Division after whitewashing their hosts at Tindale Crescent. The unbeaten Northgate are a point behind Glaxo and a point in front of third placed Bishop Auckland Gents A.
Results: Newton Aycliffe Southerne Club 3 Hopetown 1; Bishop Auckland Golf Club 3 Darlington Cricket Club A 0; Darlington Cricket Club B 3 Bishop Auckland Cricket Club 1; Northgate 3 Old Shildon 1; Shildon Elm Road 2 Bishop Auckland Gents A 2; Bishop Auckland Gents B 1 Darlington Snooker B 3; Tindale Crescent 0 Barnard Castle Glaxo 4.
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