Ferryhill move above Horden

Shildon B recorded their first win in the league when they beat the visiting Bishop Auckland by four points. There were two wins each for Shildon from Ian Sanderson, Malcolm Aldworth, Dominic Hannon and Nigel Hall, whilst Peter Fodden added the other. The Bishops replied with two wins from Mal Parry and one each from David Jacomb, Kevin Watson and Ron Wright.

The high standard of the league is shown in the record of individual wins for no player has won all eight of his frames from the four matches played. However, James Evans (Horden), Gavin Witton (Crook B), Steve Webster and Chris Murray (Ferryhill) and Paul Shutt (Durham A) are setting the standard with seven wins each. Johnny Mason (Crook B), Dave Hodgson and Andy Seal (Durham B), John Bourne (Horden), Steve Wray (Ferryhill) and Andrew Morley (Durham A) are close behind with six wins each.

Results: Shildon B 9 Bishop Auckland 5; Spennymoor 5 Ferryhill 9.

P W D L Pts

Ferryhill 4 4 0 0 37

Horden 4 3 1 0 36

Shildon A 4 2 2 0 34

Durham B 4 4 0 0 33

Crook Town A 4 3 0 1 32

Crook Town B 4 1 1 2 31

Durham A 4 2 1 1 28

Tow Law 4 1 0 3 26

Shildon B 4 1 0 3 22

Spennymoor 4 0 1 3 22

Bishop Auckland 4 0 0 4 20

Newton Aycliffe 4 0 0 4 15

Fixtures for Sunday: Crook Town A v Durham A; Tow Law v Shildon B; Bishop Auckland v Spennymoor; Ferryhill v Newton Aycliffe; Shildon A v Crook Town B. Horden v Durham B postponed with new date to be arranged.

Durham Ranking Tournament: The Top Twenty places in the ranking lists, issued before the next event to be held in Durham Snooker Club on Sunday, 30 March, are 1st Steve Thompson 10 ranking points, 23 merit points; 2nd Chris Bowran 9, 25; 3 Darren Grainger 8, 19; 4th Graham Comerford 8, 18; 5th Steven Webb 7, 19; 6th Stephen Jones 7, 15; 7th equal Gary Carr and Andy Seal 6, 12; 9th Michael Rhodes 6, 10; 10th equal Kevin Allison and Alan Hogarth 6, 7; 12th equal Mal Clarke, Dave Hodgson and Colin Hutchinson 5, 10; 15th equal Robert Hogarth and Dave Lowery 5,9; 17th Tim Aberdeen 5, 6; 18th Helen Sharpe 5, 3; 19th Stuart Green 4, 12; Kevin Rainbow 4, 9.

New players can join in the ranking tournaments and anyone interested should report to Durham Snooker Club by 12 noon on Sunday, 30 March. The top 32 players in the list at the end of the year will qualify for the 'Big Money' final tournament.

Bishop Auckland Area League: After a 6-4 win in the singles it was still possible for the Voltigeur to be caught and a play-off would then be required to decide the title. However the Manor were unable to manage a whitewash singles win against the Grand B and will have to settle for runners-up spot instead. The B Doubles will be a play-off between the Manor, Grand 'B' and the King's Head. With a score sheet from the game against the Wheatsheaf, which is not yet in, it's possible for the Hillingdon to also join these teams on thirteen points and be in the play-off.

Results: Bishop Auckland Bay Horse 6 (4) Bishop Auckland Derby 7 (6); Bishop Auckland Grand 'A' 13 (10) Spennymoor Victoria 0 (0); Bishop Auckland Green Tree 8 (6) Bishop Auckland King's Head 5 (4); Spennymoor Hillingdon 4 (1) Spennymoor Wheatsheaf 9 (9); Bishop Auckland Manor 8 (6) Bishop Auckland Grand 'B' 5 (4).

Spennymoor League: Spennymoor Voltigeur leapt to the top of the table after they only dropped one point to the visiting Coxhoe Red Lion. Spennymoor Football Club are in second place after being held to a draw at Spennymoor Victoria but they only hold a one point lead over Spennymoor Black Horse, who won by four points at Spennymoor Pit Laddie. Spennymoor Salvin Arms are in fourth place, but suffered a loss of two points for failing to send in their scorecard. The other teams to suffer a similar penalty are Spennymoor Crown, Spennymoor Railway B and Low Spennymoor Victoria.

The Spennymoor Hillingdon derby hinged on the captain's game but eventiually the B team beat the A team by two points. The A team had singles wins from Paul Fox, John Spowart and Curtis Simpson, whilst Gary Smith and Steven Burgess won for the B team. The B team moved into the lead when they took both doubles through John Balmer with Gary Smith and Mark Frizzell with Steven Burgess. The A team failed to force the draw when Barry Walton beat Curtis Simpson in the captain's game.

Results: Spennymoor Pit Laddie 2 Spennymoor Black Horse 6; Spennymoor Half Moon 7 Spennymoor Ash Tree 1; Spennymoor Victoria 4 Spennymoor Football Club 4; Spennymoor Hillingdon A 3 Spennymoor Hillingdon B 5; Spennymoor Voltigeur 7 Coxhoe Red Lion 1. Spennymoor Crown v Spennymoor North Eastern, Spennymoor Salvin Arms v Ferryhill White Horse, Spennymoor Railway B v Spennymoor Quinns Inn and Low Spennymoor Victoria v Spennymoor Railway A no results - home teams deducted two points each.

Crook Town League: The league has extended both its divisions up to 12 teams in each.

The fixtures for the first week of the new season are Division One: Crook Coach and Horses A v Crook Olde Horse Shoe B; Crook Queen's Head A v Crook Travellers Rest A; Crook Belle Vue v Crook White Swan; Crook Jelly's Bar A v Crook Mill House; Crook Travellers Rest B v Willington Market; Crook Olde Horse Shoe A v Crook Royal Sun.

Division Two: Howden Australian v Crook Spitfire Club; Willington Brewer's Droop v Crook King's Head; Crook Golden Fleece A v Crook Jelly's Bar B; Crook Surtees v Crook Golden Fleece B; Hunwick Club v Crook Queen's Head B; Croft Social Club v Crook Coach and Horses B.

Durham County: Durham visited Humberside in the Region One Inter-Counties League and produced three very good results but pride of place must go the Ladies team who beat the current league leaders by four points.

The Ladies had three frames each for Helen Sharp (Durham), who was returning to play against her former team for the first time since her move to the Durham, Sue Seal (Sherburn Hill), Allison Harrop (Consett), Helen Littlewood (Langley Moor) and lady of the match, Diane Littlewood (Langley Moor). Melissa Ball, Vicky Fleming, and Clare Tritton made massive contributions with two frames each, whilst Lyndsey Short, Dawn Small and Natasha Mitchenson were able to add one each to complete this great victory.

The Men's A team recorded a twelve points victory with Lee Holdsworth of Burnmoor scoring his first maximum four points. The very confident, Trevor Walton of Washington also won his four games. Andrew Morley of Langley Park, the newly appointed men's captain, was joined by Ian Staines of Chester-le-Street with three wins each.

The remaining points came from Andrew Brunton, Darren Jones, Steve Thompson, Alan Daniels and Chris Bowran with two points each, whilst Paul Armstrong of Shildon added one and his first time substitute, Kevin Rainbow won his only frame of the day.

The Men's B team looked to be in for a hammering as the early luck went against them but they recovered extremely well and only lost by two points. Simon Baker of Lumley, Shaun Williams of Horden and Dave Ferguson of Sacriston all scored three points each and were really unlucky not to finish with an unbeaten run.

The reserves who came into the match late proved their worth as Dave Castledene and Chris Murray both won two points and Alan Hogarth one.

The next certain fixture for the three Durham side is away to East Yorkshire on Sunday, 18 May, although the home match against North Yorkshire is still to be arranged.

Results: Humberside 16 Durham A 28; Humberside 23 Durham B 21; Humberside Ladies 20 Durham Ladies 24.

Willington League: Willington Brewer's Droop completed the season unbeaten and took the Championship by 24 points when they only dropped one point to the visiting Sunnybrow Brown Trout. The Brewer's took all the singles with wins from Tony Atkinson, Phil Blyth, Steve Wayman, Steven Britton, Billy Wragg and Jimmy Gallagher. The only point for the Trout came when Michael Pickles and Carol Hawkins won their doubles.

Hunwick Club made certain of the runners-up spot when they only dropped two points on their visit to Hunwick Quarry. The Quarry had singles wins from Dave Robson and Andy Dobson, whilst the Club's winners were Alan Carr, Nigel Laws, Geoff Moore and Ian Richardson. The Club went on to win all three doubles to finish in second place, seven points ahead of Willington Lion and Unicorn.

Results: Hunwick Quarry 2 Hunwick Club 7; Willington Lion and Unicorn 7 Willington Cottles B 2; Willington Brewers Droop A 8 Sunnybrow Brown Trout 1.

Bishop Auckland and District League: Crook Coach and Horses A won a tough home match against Spennymoor Weardale by three points to stay in third place in the table. The home side had two points from David Haygarth, Neil Campbell and Les Scott, with Michael Burke adding one. The visitors replied with two points from Shaun Archer and one from Martin Short. The Coach took the doubles through Neil Campbell with Aaron Cowan, but Shaun Archer closed the gap when he beat Les Scott in both captain's games.

Spennymoor Ash Tree held on to the lead in the table with a nine points home win over Crook Coach and Horses B, whilst second placed Tow Law Station's three-point win at Bishop Auckland Snooker Club A kept them three points ahead of Crook Coach and Horses A.

Results: Witton Park Rose and Crown 1 Bishop Auckland Snooker Club B 12; Henknowle Manor House B 5 Bishop Auckland RAFA Club 8; Spennymoor Ash Tree 11 Crook Coach and Horses B 2; Willington Brewer's Droop 3 Henknowle Manor House A 10; Crook White Swan 4 Crook Olde Horse Shoe 9; Bishop Auckland Snooker Club A 5 Tow Law Station 8; Crook Coach and Horses A 8 Spennymoor Weardale 5; Toft Hill Three Tuns 5 Bishop Auckland Derby 8. Bishop Auckland Cumberland Arms v Bishop Auckland Football Club postponed.