Snooker; Palms lose in semi

A late recovery in the final frame saw Newhouse B of the Third Division move into the final after they beat First Division, Shotton Palms on the black in the semi-final played at Sherburn Village. They will meet Second Division champions, Willington, who had a comfortable victory over Belmont at Old Shildon.

Tony Hall gave Shotton a great opening when he not only wiped out the 22 point start, which Newhouse received, but he established a 23 point lead. In the second frame, Alan McCluskey of Newhouse cut the lead by 18 points but then Dave Swindle won by nine points to keep Shotton safely in front.

The fourth frame was again very close but Paul Hickman edged through to win by six points to take Shotton into the final frame with a 20 points lead. John Armstrong started the final frame for Shotton in good form and opened a 44 points lead over David Jackson with four reds left. Jackson however, steadily picked up his game and closed the gap until he was two points ahead with only the last black on the table. The atmosphere could be cut with a knife but it was Jackson who made the final pot to take Newhouse B to the final by nine points.

The other semi final at Old Shildon was completely the opposite as Willington took the first four frames after giving Belmont 56 points start. Jeremy Martin closed the gap in the first frame with a win by 20 points with Paul Atkinson moving Willington 38 points ahead after the second frame. Tommy Parkin won the third by 90 points and Arthur Goldsborough followed with a 25 points win to push Willington over 150 ahead. Belmont's Steven Armstrong won the last frame but never had a hope of closing such a massive gap as his team went down by 125 points.

Worthington CIU Summer League

THE closure of Billy Row Club and the surprise resignation of Wingate because of lack of interest from players has created two vacancies in the league, which will begin matches on Tuesday, May 1. Any team from CIU premises interested in joining the league which plays its matches as the best of five singles should telephone (01388) 730444.

The proposed league make-up is in three divisions as follows, Division One: Old Shildon, Fishburn A, Wheatley Hill A, Witton Gilbert, Shotton Palms, Newton Aycliffe, Spennymoor A, Stanley Central, Willington and Wheatley Hill B.

Division Two: Sherburn Village, Crook Belle Vue, Brandon, Langley Park, Newhouse A, Durham City, Ferryhill, Newhouse B and Meadowfield.

Division Three: Hunwick, Spennymoor B, Tow Law, Crowtrees, Fishburn B, Leeholme A, Sacriston, West Auckland and Leeholme B.

Worthington CIU Team Plate

The quarter-finals produced two very tight matches and two where the winners went through with comparative comfort. Cockton Hill and Crowtrees both just managed to edge through on the final pink, while Stanley Central and Fishburn B had mush easier passages.

Tow Law A entertained First Division Cockton Hill who still have to play-off for the runners-up position and received 110 points start. This advantage was eroded in the first frame when George Chapman won by 48 points. The Lawyers looked to be back in with a chance when Doug Watson potted extremely well to win by 24 points.

In the third frame, Tow Law's Bill McCluskey was holding Andrew Aisbitt until the visiting star hit breaks of 31 and 27 to cut the Lawyers lead to 27 points. Ken Robinson restored home hopes with a 16 points victory, leaving Tommy Williams 39 start against Lee Taylor. Everything seemed to be going well for the Lawyers until Taylor took the last red and.cleared the colours down to the pink, which he needed to complete the victory.

Crowtrees had a 55 start of the visiting First Division, Witton Gilbert and were delighted to see Keith McLauchlan put in a 34-break to move the home side 98 points ahead after the first frame. Sean Johnston then increased the lead by three points in the second frame. Ian Renwick and John Rooney senior both won for Witton to leave Crowtrees 40 ahead going into the final frame. Ian Kerr steadily cut back the lead and put himself in a possible winning position when he needed both pink and black for victory. However, he missed a comparatively easy pink and Peter Laverick carefully manoeuvred the long gear to knock it into the corner pocket for victory.

Third Division, Fishburn B had eight points start when they visited Hunwick A and were able to move the lead to 36 after George Whitelock won the first frame. Trevor Lomax pulled Hunwick back into the match when he cut the visitors' lead to five points. However, Wayne Oliver and Winston Hodgson both won for Fishburn to move their lead up to 58 points. Tom Ward managed to win the final frame by 14 points for Hunwick but Fishburn went through with a comfortable margin.

Leeholme A travelled to Stanley Central and never really got into the match as the home players all won their frames by comfortable margins to take them to the semi-final. The Central's winners were Michael Vicary, Walter Cornell, Harold Graimes, Jim Dufton and Dennis Payne.

Semi-final: Crowtrees v Cockton Hill and Spennymoor and Fishburn B v Stanley Central at Sherburn Village.

l The final is played at Willington on Tuesday, April 24.

Worthington Handicap Individual Championship

THE semi-finals produced two vastly different games with Sonny Hann of Crowtrees getting through a tight match at Fishburn, while Paul Atkinson (Willington) had a comfortable passage at Hunwick.

Brian Graham (Brandon), coming back to competitive snooker after a long lay-off, played Hann at Fishburn and kept the first frame very tight. Both players needed the black but it was Hann, who tried a double to the middle pocket and was fortunate to see the ball go three times across the table before dropping to give him the first point.

In the second frame Graham knocked in a 31 break to level the match. The third frame saw Hann run in a 37 break to move back one ahead. The fourth frame again went down to the final black. After numerous safety shots, Graham took it on, potted it but agonisingly watched as the white crawled into the pocket to give Hann victory.

At Hunwick, Atkinson knocked in a 53 break in the first frame against Robert Roche of Langley Park to take the first frame. He then completed his victory by edging through to take the next two frames.

Hann meets Atkinson in the final at Durham City on Wednesday, April 25.

Cleveland League

THE final of the Peter Craig Trophy Pairs Handicap took place at the Grinkle Park Hotel between Geoff Unthank and Ted Walker (Marske WMC +15) and Ken Heywood and Gordon Matthews (New Marske IC +15) who hit back to register a 3-2 win. Unthank and Walker took an early 2-0 lead with game scores of 55-21 and 71-40. Both frames were won with their opponents conceding both frames on the colours. The luck was certainly not on Matthews' side as he conceded several fouls in these first two frames while Heywood was left nothing following Unthank's tight safety game. The third frame was a dour struggle but the New Marske pair hung in to the last and won the crucial game by the skin of their teeth by a black ball fight.

The win rocked Walker and Unthank as they couldn't repeat their earlier form of the first two games. The struggle continued in the fourth frame which was also decided by another black ball fight. The points score ended 43-40 in the New Marske pair's favour. The frame score was now locked at two each with one game remaining. The final frame saw New Marske establish a 34-5 points early lead. However, Unthank caught up while his partner Walker was frozen out of the game. Heywood had the last say when potting a vital blue and pink to win by 57-36, giving the New Marske duo a 3-2 victory.

Meanwhile, the semi-finals dates and venues have now been decided for the Reg Boyle Individual Handicap competition. Both matches are the best of five frames and commence at 7pm. Neil Grey (Lakes SC +5) plays Richard Beckham (Redcar WMC -40) at the Carlin How WMC on Monday, April 23. The match referee is Brian Magor.