South West

Durham Association

Hopetown need just one point from their final match to clinch the League Championship after they beat the visiting Southern Club for the loss of only one point.

West Auckland and Albert Hill go into their last game level and the runners-up spot might well go to a play off.

Darlington Cricket Club ensured promotion for the Second Division when they only dropped one point to the visiting Darlington Snooker Club B. In the chase for the second place Harrogate Hill made themselves favourites when they beat their challenging hosts at Old Shildon by two points to go three clear.

Barnard Castle are a massive sixteen points clear in the Third Division, but the second spot is tighter for Bishop Auckland Kingsway A only lead Carpies by two points.

Results: Darlington Snooker Club A 1, Albert Hill 3; West Auckland 3, Bishop Auckland Cricket Club 1; Hopetown 3, Southerne Club 1; Old Shildon 1, Harrowgate Hill 3; Shildon Elm Road 3, Northgate 1; Darlington Cricket Club 3, Darlington Snooker Club B 1; Bishop Auckland Kingsway 2, Barnard Castle Folly's A 2; Barnard Castle Folly's B 2, Carpies 2; Tindale Crescent 3, Bishop Auckland Kingsway B 1

Worthington CIU

Team Knock Out

The final pink wobbled in the corner pocket and it cost Langley Park a semi final spot when they lost at home to Fishburn A. The Park received 22 points start but wins by Charlie Hirst and Peter Davison in the first two frames cut the gap to only twelve points. Paul Nord gave the home side a boost when he won by 24 points but immediately saw the Fishburn team come right back as John Griffin won by 27 points. In the deciding frame Kevin Keers went in for the Park with nine start against John Carter and managed to move almost thirty ahead. However, Carter clawed his way back into the game until he needed just the pink to win, but with the black sitting over the pocket the pink would almost have clinched the match for the Park. Kevin Keers tried a very fine cut and was devastated when the ball wobbled and left John Carter the easiest of tasks to clinch victory. Later, Langley Park were fined for failing to deliver the scorecard on time.

Wingate proved giant killers when they put out the visiting First Division leaders, Old Shildon. The home side had 95 start but this was cut to only seven when Michael Pratt won the first frame. Jossie Aldworth push Shildon ahead by one point after the second frame and Stephen Bennett extended the lead to fifteen after the third frame. Geoff Howe proved to be the Wingate hero when he completely upturned the scores with a forty points win over Frank Nicholson. This left Dean Jones of Wingate a 25 points start against Charlie Blake and he carefully negotiated Wingate to a 305-262 victory.

Tow Law maintained their giant-killing in the competition by travelling to Brandon and pulling off another unexpected victory. The Lawyers had 81 points start but a first frame win of 48 points by Malcolm Umpelby put Brandon under severe pressure. Charlie Donaghy won the second frame on the black for the Lawyers but then Brian Graham won by 52 and Graham Jackson by 26 to give the home side a remote chance but John Hall needed everything to go right for him as he was giving Stephen Laing 53 start. John opened out with four reds and three blacks but then he wobbled a relatively easy fourth black, leaving Stephen Laing to take advantage and cause an early resignation with Tow Law winning 315 - 252.

Sherburn Village had only thirteen start when they entertained Spennymoor A but this was turned over in the first frame when Paul Biddle hit a 50 break to win by 54 points. Alan Greener won the second for Sherburn by 16 points but then Peter McGowan stepped to move Sherburn ahead with a 60 points win. Gary Eason managed to close the home lead down with a two points win but this left Scott Mallaburn 28 points start against Eddie Rhodes. Scott came out on top to take Sherburn Village to the semi final with a 279-208 victory.

Norman Fowler Memorial

This year's competition, the winner of which will be awarded £100, got off to a slow start when Ken Robinson of Witton Gilbert played Vickers Bell of Bishop Auckland. Both men proved to be fine safety players and so scoring was slow.

In the early stages of the first frame Robinson edged into a 22 point lead but as Bell closed the gap he cannoned the blue in while potting the green, leaving his opponent to take green and brown. Bell needed the three remaining colours and took blue and pink to set up a series of safety shots on the black. Bell went to a 67-63 victory when Robinson's safety went wrong and the black was hanging over the pocket.

In the second frame Bell steadily built up a lead which had reached 28 at the start of the colours. Robinson managed the lay three tight snookers on the brown after taking the yellow and green but each time Bell produced a fine escape shot. When Robinson went in off the brown in trying another snooker he resigned at 51-20.

Fixtures: Saturday, August 19, Ken Campbell (Crook) v Ian Dinsdale (Esh Winning) and Vickers Bell (Bishop Auckland) v Robert Roche (Langley Park)

Thursday, 24 August, Alf Edwards (Tow Law) v Edward Umpelby (Tow Law) and Ken Rider (Billy Row) v Tom Parkin (Willington)

Worthington CIU

Summer League

Division One

P W L Pts

Old Shildon 13 11 2 42

Fishburn A 13 9 4 41

Wheatley Hill A 14 7 7 36

Shotton Palms 13 7 6 35

Witton Gilbert 13 5 8 33

Newton Aycliffe 13 5 8 32

Spennymoor A 14 7 7 31

Stanley Central 14 6 8 30

Sherburn Vill. 13 3 10 20

Top break: M Pratt (Old Shildon) 87

Division Two

Willington 13 10 3 44

Wingate 14 10 4 39

Crook Belle Vue 13 9 4 37

Wheatley Hill B 14 8 6 37

Brandon 13 6 7 33

Langley Park 13 5 8 32

Durham City 14 4 10 29

Newhouse A 13 5 8 28

Ferryhill 13 3 10 21

Top break: S Armstrong (Langley Park) 47

Dision Three

Meadowfield 14 9 5 45

Newhouse B 13 10 3 39

Hunwick 13 7 6 36

Spennymoor B 13 8 5 34

Tow Law 14 6 8 34

Crowtrees 13 7 6 33

Fishburn B 13 8 5 32

Billy Row 13 3 10 25

Leeholme 14 2 12 22

Top break: B Eltringham (Newhouse B) 48

CIU Team Plate

Newhouse B reached the semi finals of this new competition by the narrow margin of eighteen points when they visited Crowtrees. Crowtrees started very well with Phil Whitfield taking the first frame by nine points and Keith McLaughlan following up with a 68 points win. Richard Bell then laid the foundation for a Newhouse victory when he won by 46 points. Sonny Hann closed the gap with a win on the black. In the final frame Peter Laverick of Crowtrees managed to beat David Jackson, but his ten points success was not enough for his team, who went down by 292-274.

Wheatley Hill B faced the task of giving away 134 points start when they visited Leeholme. Their situation was made worse when Anthony Foster extended their lead with a 21 points win. The Wheatley Hill fight back began when Stephen cave won by thirty points with John Frost following with a 98 points win. Ray Gill steadied the home ship with a two points win with Mark Brown clinching victory when he took the final frame by eight points. The final result was Leeholme 343, Wheatley Hill B 306.

Stanley Central moved into the semi finals when they never dropped a frame on their visit to Billy Row. Dennis Payne, Alan Todd, Walter Cornell, Harold Grimes and Jim Dufton took the Central to a 315-225 victory.

Micky Anderson showed his match play skills when he pulled Spennymoor B out of a fourteen points deficit going into the final frame against the visiting Durham City to move the scores to 234-215 in favour of the Moors. Durham City had won the first three frames through Barry Stoddart, Gary Ward and Michael Pratt to go 29 ahead. Alan Rowell then cut this lead with a win by fifteen points to give Micky Anderson his chance.