In the last two weeks there has been more twists in the race for second place. In a rearranged game Shildon entertained Bishop Auckland and were eight points behind Crook B with this game in hand, however it was the visitors who stormed to a 10-4 win. This left Shildon trailing Crook B by four points with only two games left in the league.

In the second twist of the week Crook B entertained Aycliffe A and it was the visitors once again who had a surprise win beating their hosts 9-5. Aycliffe A had two wins from Dave Bromley and Eddie Mackay, one win each from Johnny Mason, Craig Poskett, Steven Bainbridge, Gary Bromley and Kevin Stewart. Crook B replied with Two wins from Gerald Parkin and Gavin Witton, Les Scott added the other with an eight ball clearance from the break.

With Crook B slipping up this allowed Shildon to draw level when they beat the visiting Crook A 9-5 and make the last game of the season very interesting with Shildon also having two frames to play against Durham A from the first half of the season. Shildon's winners with two wins were Rance Richardson, Martin Taylor and David Waites, one win each for Paul Armstrong, Steve Phillips and Dominic Hannon. Crook A had two wins from Dougy Bowey and one win each from Jim Ainsley, Michael Burke and Stephen Heyes.

Runaway leaders and winners of the league Horden went down to only their second defeat of the season on their visit to Bishop Auckland and lost 8-6.

The player of the year standings is also very close when John Bourne (29 wins) of Horden failed to win at Bishop, Dave Bromley (28 wins) moved to within one point of him when he won both his games against Crook B. Darren Jones (27 wins) of Horden is a further point behind.

The remaining fixtures in the final week (November 17) are: Durham A v Shildon, Aycliffe B v Crook B, Horden v Ferryhill, Aycliffe A v Durham B and Consett v Bishop Auckland.

The annual meeting will be held at Ferryhill WMC on December 15 at 6pm. There are vacancies in the league next year for any league in County Durham who wish to enter a team. Leagues should make their intentions known in writing to the secretary Mr J Mason, 61 West Chilton Ter, Chilton, Co Durham, DL17 0HJ before December 1.