Fishburn A pulled off a good odd point home success over last season's champions, Old Shildon.
The visitors looked to be in for a hiding when they went down in the first three frames as Brian Quest, Wayne Oliver with a 34 break and John Carter put the home side ahead. However Michael Pratt broke the Shildon duck and then Charlie Blake snatched the final black to beat John Griffin by seven points in the final frame.
The Shildon defeat allowed the leaders, Spennymoor A to extend their lead at the top to three points after they won in the decider at fourth-placed Cockton Hill. Eddie Rhodes put in a 51 break to put the Moors ahead and Paul Biddle extended their lead by taking the second frame. Andrew Aisbitt put in a 34 break to win for the home side and his captain, George Chapman followed up to level the match. In the decider the Moors, Paul Atkinson had a 48 break to beat Harold Lomax.
Wheatley Hill A moved up to join Old Shildon in second place, three points behind Spennymoor and two ahead of Cockton Hill, after they won by the odd point at Newton Aycliffe. The home side had wins from Stuart Neil and Marc Howe but the Hill went to victory with wins from Ronnie Peacock, Dave Walker and Jack Wright.
Witton Gilbert slipped into the bottom spot of the First Division when they only picked up only one point from their home match against Willington. Ian Renwick scored the only home point whilst Stan Bennett, Arthur Goldsborough, Jeremy Martin and Gordon Parkin took Willington to a victory that moves them away from the relegation area.
Meadowfield are just above Witton Gilbert after they went down in the decider at home to Brandon. The visitors went ahead with wins by Graeme Jackson and Brian Graham but Malcolm Hughes and John Jackson with a 44 break squared the match. In the decider Brandon's John hall beat Norman Smith.
Shotton Palms left the bottom two in the First Division after beating the visiting Sherburn Village in the decider. Scott Mallaburn and Adrian Twist scored for Sherburn whilst John Armstrong and Colin Jobes levelled. In the decider Barry Hall of Shotton beat Alan Greener.
In the Second Division, Bearpark shook off their first defeat of last week with a three points home win over the visiting Belmont, who had Billy McGrath as their only winner. Alan Donaldson, Shaun Easter, Glen Morton and David Jackson won for Bearpark to lift them back level with Wingate, who have a match in hand.
Newhouse crashed badly in their hopes for promotion to the First Division when they were whitewashed at Spennymoor B, who had wins from Micky Anderson, Dennis Dodd, Alan Rowell, Wayne Parry and David Louth. This result leaves Newhouse eight points behind the joint leaders but still two ahead of Ferryhill and Crowtrees A.
Langley Park only took one point out of the visiting Ferryhill when Stephen Coates won. The visitors had wins from Adrian Jones, Mark Wilson, Gyn Toas and Ian Roddam. Crowtrees A managed to stay level with Ferryhill when they only dropped one point to the visiting Hunwick A, who had Neville Blenkinsopp as their only winner. The home points came from Sean Johnston, Sonny Hann, Colin Barron and Keith McLauchlan.
Wheatley Hill B managed to move up to share bottom place in the Second Division with Hunwick A after they took two points out of the visiting Stanley Central, who are only three points clear of the relegation zone. The Central moved into a winning lead with victories from Frank Foster, Jim Dufton and Harry Grimes, but the Hill fought back by taking the last two frames through Jock Frost and Tony Ellison.
In the top of the table clash at Sacriston they entertained joint leaders, Coundon, who got away to a good start when Gary Goulbourn took the first frame. Steve Bradley levelled the match but then the visitors took over with wins from Ross Hardacre, Frank Nicholson and Mally Ryder to go thee points clear at the top.
Durham City moved three points behind Sacriston despite losing by the odd point to the visiting Leeholme A, who were never headed in the match. Karl Thompson put the visitors ahead with John Davies levelling. Lawrence Jones restored the Leeholme lead only to see Gary ward equalise. In the decider Leeholme's Barry Shaw beat Michael Pratt.
Crook Belle Vue slipped in their aim for promotion when they went down by the odd point at Tow Law. Ken Rider and John Warriner took points for the visitors whilst the Lawyers victory came via wins from Heppell Hodgson, Doug Watson and Tommy Williams.
Hunwick B recovered some of their recent lost points when they only dropped one to the visiting Crowtrees B. The visitors went ahead when William Edwards won the first frame but from there Hunwick took over with wins from Trevor Lomax, Tom Ward, Barry Fleming and David Penman.
In the battle of the bottom teams Leeholme B entertained Fishburn B. The home side took the lead through Brian Harrison but then Fishburn took the remaining points through Alan Wilson, Michael Bell, Keith Binks and John Hodgson.
Results: Tow Law 3 Crook Belle Vue 2; Fishburn A 3 Old Shildon 2; Sacriston 1 Coundon 4; Spennymoor B 5 Newhouse 0; Cockton Hill 2 Spennymoor A 3; Hunwick B 4 Crowtrees B 1; Wheatley Hill B 2 Stanley Central 3; Newton Aycliffe 2 Wheatley Hill A 3; Durham City 2 Leeholme A 3; Crowtrees A 4 Hunwick A 1; Meadowfield 2 Brandon 3; Leeholme B 1 Fishburn 4; Langley Park 1 Ferryhill 4; Shotton Palms 3 Sherburn Village 2; Bearpark 4 Belmont 1; Witton Gilbert 1 Willington 4.
CIU Individual Championship
Quarter final results: A. Aisbitt (Old Shildon) beat J. Franklin (Rise Carr); M. Pratt (Chilton & Windlestone) beat A. Twist (Sherburn Village); M. Bower (Sherburn Village) beat P. Dawson (Rise Carr); B. Shaw (Chilton & Windlestone) beat M. Green (Grange Villa).
Curry Cup
Quarter final results: Kevin Mordica (Cockton Hill) lost to Jimmy Evans (Shotton Palms); Alan Hall (Wheatley Hill A) lost to Michael Pratt (Old Shildon); Brian Graham (Brandon) lost to Dave Walker (Wheatley Hill A); Andrew Aisbitt (Cockton Hill) lost to Ian Renwick (Witton Gilbert).
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