Worthington CIU Winter League - Cockton Hill and Fishburn A face a play-off for the First Division runners-up trophies after both came through their final matches of the season with an odd point victory. Cockton Hill entertained Witton Gilbert, who were fighting to stave off relegation. Willis Joynes put Witton ahead but then the home side took three in a row through Kevin Mordica, Lee Taylor and Harold Lomax. Ian Renwick took the final point for the visitors.
Newton Aycliffe applied heavy early pressure on the visiting Fishburn A by taking the first two points through Steve Neil and John Briddick. However the visitors got back on course with wins from Peter Davison and John Carter to square the match. In the decider Fishburn went to victory when John Griffin beat Bill Barrigan to force the runners-up play-off. A play-off for the Third Division Championship and the runners-up spot is necessary after Sacriston and Spennymoor B finished level on points. Sacriston were firm favourites to land the title when they entertained Tow Law B and raced away to a 3-0 lead with wins from Steve Bradley, Willy Nixon and Ronnie Bradley. However the surprise came when Alex Ogilvie and David Corrigan came through to take the last two points.
Spennymoor B knew they needed a good win over the visiting Hunwick B to stand any chance of landing the title. Things looked bad for the Moors when Stan Bennett took the first frame for Hunwick. However, the Moors picked themselves up and went on to take the remaining frames through Stu Ball, Karl McCormack, Micky Anderson and Wayne Parry.
Witton Gilbert hoped that they had solved their First Division relegation problems when they had taken two points at Cockton Hill but they reckoned without the great home win by Stanley Central over the champions, Old Shildon. Stanley made a great start against the visitors with wins from Walter Cornell and Jim Dufton before Billy Goggins reduced the arrears.
A home win was assured when Dennis Payne, fresh from his Australian trip, took the third frame, while Jossie Aldworth took the final frame for Shildon to force Stanley into a play-off to avoid relegation with Witton Gilbert.
The Second Division champions, Willington condemned the visiting Durham City to relegation with Hunwick A when they only dropped one point Barry Stoddart took the visitors only point while Colin Lomax, Jeremy Martin, Arthur Goldsborough and Tommy Parkin won for Willington.
Ferryhill came close to letting the Second Division runners-up spot escape them when they only won by the odd point at Crowtrees, while an extra point for Newhouse A would have forced another play-off. Crowtrees had wins from Keith McLauchlan and Sean Johnston, while Ian Roddam, Glyn Toas and Bernie Jones took Ferryhill into the trophy spot.
Newhouse A entertained a weakened Wingate side and could have made a play-off situation if Jimmy Alcock had not taken the final frame for Wingate. Earlier Steve Mountain, Ian Dinsdale, Kevin Allison and John Maddox took points for Newhouse.
Spennymoor A blew away their relegation worries after they travelled to Brandon and only lost one point, when Colin Goodrick won for the home side. The Moors points came from Eddie Rhodes with a 39 break, Jim Wilson, Paul Biddle and Ronnie Bateman. In the Wheatley Hill derby the A team won by the odd point. The B team, who were already doomed to relegation, took points through Tony Ellison and Dave Blyth, while Dennis Clish, Dean Bryden and Ronnie Peacock won for the A team. Langley Park took the first three points at home to Belmont with wins from Ray Coates, Dixon Turnbull and Kevin Keers. However the visitors came back to take the last two frames through Michael Short and Steven Armstrong. Scott Mallaburn took the first point for Sherburn Village against the visiting Meadowfield but from that point the visitors took over with victories for Stephen Hughes, Malcolm Hughes, Bob Stout and Norman Smith. Newhouse B had remote hopes of being among the Third Division trophies when they visited Tow Law but they only managed points in the first and final frames when Glen Morton and David Jackson won. The Lawyers points came from Doug Watson, Charlie Donaghy and Ken Robinson.
West Auckland completed their first season back in the league with a convincing home win over Billy Row, who had Ken Rider as their only winner.
West's points came from Chris Kitch, David Geraty, Andrew Sugden and Tommy Woods. In the Leeholme derby only Mark Brown took a point for the B team, while Barry Shaw with a 40 break, Lawrence Jones, Carl Brown and Tony Clish won for the A team.
l Very few tickets now remain for the Presentation Evening at Spennymoor on Saturday, May 19. Any players or their friends requiring tickets should telephone Ronnie Bateman on (01388) 817645 and reserve them for collection at the next league meeting on Thursday, April 26 at Meadowfield.
Results: Stanley Central 3, Old Shildon 2; Leeholme A 4, Leeholme B 1; Tow Law A 3, Newhouse B 2; Sacriston 3, Tow Law B 2; Willington 4, Durham City 1; Brandon 1, Spennymoor A 4; Cockton Hill 3, Witton Gilbert 2; Newhouse A 4, Wingate 1; Langley Park 3, Belmont 2; Sherburn Village 1, Meadowfield 4; Newton Aycliffe 2, Fishburn A 3; Spennymoor B 4, Hunwick B 1; Crowtrees 2, Ferryhill 3; Wheatley Hill A 3, Wheatley Hill B 2; West Auckland 4, Billy Row 1.
South West Durham Association
The matches for the first week of the new season, to be played on Tuesday, April 17, are as follows. First Division: Old Shildon v Darlington Cricket Club; Hopetown v Harrowgate Hill; Albert Hill v Bishop Auckland Cricket Club, Barnard Castle Folly's v Darlington Snooker Club A.
Second Division: Darlington Snooker Club B v Northgate; Bishop Auckland Gents A v Shildon Elm Road; Barnard Castle Glaxo v Bishop Auckland Gents B, Darlington East End v Ferryhill.
All results to be telephoned to the secretary between 6pm and 7pm on Wednesday evening.
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