Pool News

There were two singles points for Ian Smith, Mark Frizzell and John Bulmer with Kevin Waterhouse adding one for the Hillingdon, while the visitors replied with two from Peter Mernor and one from John Tomlinson.

Bob Chambers then joined John Tomlinson to take the doubles for the Manor House and Peter Mernor finished in style by taking both captain's points against the Hillingdon's Ian Smith.

Crook Olde Horse Shoe suffered their first defeat of the season at Bishop Auckland King's Head but still lead the table by nine points from Spennymoor Ashtree with the King's a further two behind.

Results: Bishop Auckland King's Head 9, Crook Olde Horse Shoe 4; St Helens Wheatsheaf 5, Bishop Auckland Football Club 8; Bishop Auckland King's Head 5, Spennymoor Ashtree 8; Spennymoor Weardale 7, Bishop Auckland Cumberland Arms 6; Spennymoor Hillingdon 7, Henknowle Manor House 6. Bishop Auckland Derby v Spennymoor Ashtree no result.

Crook League

CROOK Spitfire Club opened a three point lead at the top of the Second Division after beating the visiting Croft Social Club by four points.

The home side had two points from Keith Dixon and Ronnie Rinaldi and one each from Mark Callaghan, David Sneath and Neil Stoker, before adding the two doubles points.

David Parkin and Derek Bell took two points each for Croft with Derek Witton adding one.

Crook Surtees are in second place, three behind the Spitfire Club and four ahead of Crook Golden Fleece. The First Division already has the familiar look of last season with Crook Olde Horse Shoe A leading Crook Travellers Rest B by two points. Third place is shared by Crook Coach and Horses A and Crook Olde Horse Shoe B, who are seven points behind the Travellers.

Results: Crook Royal Sun 6, Crook Olde Horse Shoe B 8; Crook Crown 9, Crook Jelly's Bar B 5; Crook Spitfire Club 9, Croft Social Club 5; Crook Surtees 9, Crook Coach and Horses B 5; Crook White Swan 8, Crook Golden Fleece 6; Crook Travellers Rest A 9, Crook Mill House 5; Crook Olde Horse Shoe A 10, Crook Queen's Head A 4; Crook Jelly's Bar A 8, Crook Belle Vue 6; Crook Coach and Horses A 7, Crook Travellers Rest B 7.

Willington League

Ia vital top of the table clash, Willington Black Horse Tavern pulled off an odd-point victory on their visit to champions Oakenshaw Club.

The Horse set up their success in the singles where they had wins from Craig Eales, Andrew Irwin, Donald Young and Andrew Featherstone.

The home side replied with wins from Jason Walton and Tony Leighton.

The winning doubles point for the Black Horse came from Neville Ridley and Tommy Parkin.

Howden Australian B moved to the top when they took the first four points at the Prospect Club with wins from Steven Burke, Michael Burke, Andrew Smith and Paul Davidson. Adrian Peacock and Ernie Sample replied by taking the last two singles for the Club, who also took the first doubles.

The Aussie completed a good victory by taking the last two doubles points.

The Australian B now lead Oakenshaw Club, who have a match in hand, by three points, while the Black Horse Tavern trail Oakenshaw by four points.

Results: Prospect Club 3 Howden Australian B 6; Hunwick Club 9 Willington Brewer's Droop B 0; Willington Burn 5 Willington Market 4; Oakenshaw Club 4 Willington Black Horse Tavern 5; Hunwick Quarry Burn 7 Willington Commercial 2; Willington Brewer's Droop A 4 Willington Football Club 5.

Durham Ranking Tournament

The fourth Durham Ranking event will be held at Durham Snooker Club on Sunday, April 15 with players having to register by noon. The event is sponsored by Cue Craft Ltd., who have donated a hand-spliced ash/ebony cue with a screw-in extension to raise further funds for the Final Event at the end of the year.

Each event allows players to score ranking and merit points with the top 32 going forward to finals day where cash prizes will be substantial.

There is still plenty of events left for players, who have not yet played, to get on to the final day selection.

Rankings: 1st Michael Rhodes 16 points, 40 merit points; 2nd Andy Seal 13, 27; 3rd Colin Hutchinson and Gavin West 12, 24; 5th Dave Harrop 12, 21; 6th Phil Brockway 11, 21; 7th David Wilkinson 10,20; 8th Dave Harrison 10, 15; 9th Alan McCluskey 10,14; 10th David Jackson 10,13; 11th Chris Bowran 9,18; 12th Gee Cheng 9, 16; 13th Adrian Kavanagh 9, 12; 14th Darren Grainger 8, 13; 15th Gavin Hudspith 8, 11; 16th John Mavin 8, 9; 17th Terry Barker 7, 10; 18th Ian Bertram 7, 9; 19th Wayne Watson 7, 7; 20th Andrew Morley 6, 10; 21st Jason Johnson and Frasier Powell 6, 8; 23rd Shahin Hussain and Helen Littlewood 6, 4; 25th Dave Lowery 6, 1; 26th Leigh Patterson 5, 3; 27th Leigh Mavin 4, 7; 28th Sue Seal 4, 6; 29th Peter Jackson 4, 2; 30th Kevin Allison 4, 1; 31st Claire Tritton 4, 0; 32nd Michael Burke 3, 7; 33rd Johnny Bainbridge and Dave Baines 3, 3; 35th Ankur Nangpal, Johnny Rowland and Kevin Wilkinson 2, 2; 38th JP Clarke, Matt Hillier and B. Smith 2, 1; 41st D. Anderson, B. Dunn, A. Grant, G. Henderson, I. King, J. Owens and T. Snowden 2, 0; 48th Neil Campbell 1, 1; 49th Gary Emerson and Derek Perry 1, 0.

Spennymoor League

SPENNYMOOR North Eastern pulled off a good away win over Spennymoor Ashtree with singles wins from Stephen Davison, Ian Thomas and Lee Atkinson while the home side had points from Paul Young and Gareth Jackson.

The visitors took both doubles but their lead was cut when Ashtree captain, Andrew Thompson beat Richard Davis in the captain's game.

Spennymoor Pit Laddie hold top place, seven points ahead of the Black Horse with Spennymoor Quinns Inn eight points adrift of second place but hold an unbeaten record and have two matches in hand.

Results: Spennymoor Football Club 4, Spennymoor Black Horse 4; Spennymoor Quinns Inn 5, Spennymoor Hillingdon 3; Spennymoor Pit Laddie 6, Spennymoor Half Moon 2; Spennymoor Penny Gill 3, Coxhoe Kicking Cuddy 5; Spennymoor Ashtree 3, Spennymoor North Eastern 5; Spennymoor Wheatsheaf 5, Coxhoe Red Lion 3; Spennymoor Salvin Arms 3, Spennymoor Quinns Inn 5