Snooker

Third Division Tow Law lived up to their giant killer tag as they beat the visiting Shotton Palms who are third in the First Division.

The Lawyers had 100 start with Malcolm Umpelby doing well in the first frame to keep Paul Hickman down to just a nine points win. John Armstrong went second for Shotton and won by 22 and was followed by Jimmy Evans who won by 38. In the fourth frame Barry Hall edged Shotton into a one point lead with a 32 points victory.

Dave Swindle of Shotton went into the final frame against Charlie Donaghy with the one point start but never managed to get ahead and needed the last four colours to win however, Donaghy grabbed the brown, blue and pink to keep up the Lawyers giant killing reputation.

Second Division Wingate also managed to oust First Division opponents when they visited Newton Aycliffe. The visitors received an eighteen points start but lost sixteen of them when John Briddick took the first frame for Newton Aycliffe.

Dave Hammond came with a fine frame for Wingate to win by 27 and Dean Jones followed to further extend the Wingate lead with a 20 points win. Michael Hewitt then pulled Newton Aycliffe back into the game with a 30 points win despite a 30 break from opponent Pat McCoy. In the decider Wingate's Jim Alcock made the most of his 21 start and extended it to win by 32 points.

Third Division Fishburn B travelled to First Division Spennymoor A and despite a 38 points start they took the match to a decider. The Moors knocked the Fishburn lead down to only three points after Dennis Dodd won the first frame. Eddie Rhodes then pushed the Moors ahead with a 21 points win. Darren Nicholson and Winston Hodgson then won for the visitors to restore their lead to seven points going into the final frame.

In an all-First Division clash Wheatley Hill A had 34 start when they visited Old Shildon with Charlie Blake taking the first frame for Shildon by one point but Dean Bryden took the second for the Hill to put them 49 ahead. In the third frame Michael Pratt put in a 67 break to push Old Shildon into a 25 points lead with Bob Reay taking the fourth for the visitors to reduce the deficit to 20. Dave Walker of Wheatley Hill closed the gap and actually went ahead of Frank Nicholson of Shildon in the final frame but then Frank took the blue and pink to win the match for the home side.

Second Division leaders Willington travelled to Fishburn A and received eight points start but lost these in the first frame when John Carter won by 46 points. Colin Lomax then won by 24 and Paul Atkinson followed with a 14 points win for Willington to put the teams level. John Griffin took the fourth for Fishburn by twenty and Brian Quest raced away with the final frame to give Fishburn a 72 points victory.

Newhouse A received four points start from the visiting Sherburn Village and dropped 43 behind after Alan Greener and Adrian Twist took the first two frames for the visitors. Steve Mountain took a 25 points win for Newhouse but Scott Mallaburn and John Bower won the final frames to take Sherburn to victory.

Crook Belle Vue had a 57 start when they entertained Brandon and things looked good for them as Harold Lomax and John Warriner increased their lead to 85 after the first two frames. Brandon's Kevin Sample closed the gap when he put in a 32 break to win by 44 points. The match was then killed when Brandon captain Brian Graham ran in breaks of 29 and 27 to win by 76, allowing John Middleton the luxury of a 35 start into the final frame which he also won.

Witton Gilbert travelled to Langley Park and gave away a 16 points start but never got into the match as Stephen Coates, Kevin Keers, Ray Coates and Paul Nord took the first four frames for the home side to build up a 102 lead. Ray Coatman won the final frame by 32 but never threatened the home side's move to the next round.

Results: Spennymoor A 267, Fishburn B 203; Fishburn A 320, Willington 243; Newton Aycliffe 277, Wingate 328; Newhouse A 207, Sherburn Village 274; Tow Law 308, Shotton Palms 289; Old Shildon 296, Wheatley Hill A 266; Langley Park 280, Witton Gilbert 210; Crook Belle Vue 280, Brandon 345

CIU Worthington TKO Plate

I the First Round of the new competition Leeholme visited Hunwick and made full use of their 83 start to record a good win. The visitors started with a 26 points win for Ian North but then Arnold Fleming and Trevor Lomax cut the visitors lead by 52 points. Ray Gill scored a 20 points win for Leeholme leaving an impossible task for Barry Fleming, who won the final frame for Hunwick but was so far behind at the start that he never had a chance of closing the gap.

Durham City never dropped a frame to the visiting Meadowfield as they cruised through to the next round with wins from Eric Wright, Gary Ward, Michael Pratt, Hamaed Choudhury and Barry Stoddart.

Results: Durham City 326, Meadowfield 196; Hunwick 268, Leeholme 326; Stanley Central walk over Ferryhill.

South West Durham Association

Albert Hill, second in the First Division, picked up one point at home to third placed West Auckland and so fell five behind the leading Hopetown, while West Auckland are now just one behind.

Old Shildon's poor run in the Second Division continued and now they have to share second place with Harrowgate Hill, while Darlington Cricket Club lead by three points.

The gaps at the top of the Third Division are widening as Barnard Castle Folly's A lead by ten points from Carpies with Bishop Auckland Kingsway A a further six points adrift.

Results: Hopetown 2, Darlington Snooker Club A 2; Southerne Club 4, Bishop Auckland Cricket Club 0; West Auckland 3, Albert Hill 1; Darlington Cricket Club 3, Old Shildon 1; Darlington Snooker Club B 1, Northgate 3; Shildon Elm Road 1, Harrowgate Hill 3; Tindale Crescent 3, Bishop Auckland Kingsway A 1; Bishop Auckland Kingsway B 2, Carpies 2; Barnard Castle Folly's B 0, Barnard Castle Folly's A 4

Worthington CIU Summer League

First Division: Top ten players 1 Michael Pratt (Old Shildon), 2 Dave Walker (Wheatley Hill A), 3Charlie Blake (Old Shildon), 4 Jimmy Evans (Shotton Palms), 5 Paul Hickman (Shotton Palms), 6 Peter Davison (Fishburn A), 7 John Carter (Fishburn A), 8 Willis Joynes (Witton Gilbert), 9 Ian Renwick (Witton Gilbert), 10 John Griffin (Fishburn A).

Top five breaks 1 Dave Walker (Wheatley Hill A) 78; 2 Michael Pratt (Old Shildon) 67; 3 Alan Hall (Wheatley Hill A) and Michael Pratt (Old Shildon) 52 each; 5 Billy Goggins (Old Shildon) 51.

P W L Pts

Old Shildon 8 7 1 27

Fishburn A 8 5 3 25

Shotton Palms 8 5 3 22

Spennymoor A 8 4 4 20

Witton Gilbert 8 4 4 20

Wheatley Hill A 8 3 5 19

Stanley Central 8 4 4 18

Newton Aycliffe 8 2 6 17

Sherburn Vill. 8 2 6 12

Second Division: Top ten players 1 Jeremy Martin (Willington); 2 Paul Atkinson (Willington); 3 Harold Lomax (Crook Belle Vue); 4 Derek Potts (Crook Belle Vue); 5 Dean Jones (Wingate); 6 John Hall (Brandon); 7 Peter Howe (Wheatley Hill B); 8 Ray Coates (Langley Park); 9 Kevin Sample (Brandon); 10 Tom Parkin (Willington)

Top five breaks 1 Steven Armstrong (Langley Park) 47; 2 Jeremy Martin (Willington) 42; 3 Dean Jones (Wingate) 37; 4 Norman Slack (Crook Belle Vue) 36; 5 John Veitch (Ferryhill) 30.

P W L Pts

Willington 8 7 1 28

Crook Belle Vue 8 6 2 25

Brandon 8 5 3 22

Wingate 8 5 3 21

Langley Park 8 3 5 20

Wheatley Hill B 8 3 5 20

Durham City 8 3 5 18

Newhouse A 8 3 5 15

Ferryhill 8 1 7 11

Third Division: Top ten players 1 Ken Robinson (Tow Law); 2 Wayne Parry (Spennymoor B); 3 Craig Hughes (Meadowfield); 4 Alan Hodgson (Billy Row); 5 Alan McCluskey (Newhouse B); 6 George Whitelock (Fishburn B); 7 Tom Ward (Hunwick); 8 Keith McLaughlan (Crowtrees); 9 Sonny Hann (Crowtrees); 10 Winston Hodgson (Fishburn B).

Top five breaks 1 and 2 Brian Eltringham (Newhouse B) 48 and 39; 3 Alan McCluskey (Newhouse B) 37; 4 Sonny Hann (Crowtrees) and Alan McCluskey (Newhouse B) 35 each.

P W L Pts

Newhouse B 8 5 3 23

Meadowfield 8 4 4 23

Spennymoor B 8 6 2 22

Hunwick 8 4 4 21

Fishburn B 8 5 3 20

Crowtrees 8 5 3 20

Tow Law 8 3 5 19

Billy Row 8 3 5 19

Leeholme 8 1 7 13

Cleveland League

The close season competition got under way with three clubs winning 3-0 including last years' champions Carlin How A who won at home to Lakes SC.

Eric Wheatman gave John Bell little opportunity in his 150-50 win and Mark Earl turned in a similar score line at 150-49 to put the home side two up before Brian Magor completed the rout 150-74 against league newcomer John Hartley.

Gary Beckett was in good form for Redcar WMC at home to Saltburn Cons.' Ian Walton. He made a 42 break in his 150-39 win but Dave Beckett had a much harder match against the visitors' Mike King and scraped a 150-142 victory.

Richard Beckham continued his form as the leagues' outstanding player, running up breaks of 44 and 74 unfinished in his 150-79 win over John McCabe.

Lune Street SC did not make a very auspicious start to their season, turning out only two players at home to Marske WMC and failing to get a point. Michael Collantine came closest before succumbing 111-150 to Geoff Unthank and the visitors' Andy Mackay had little difficulty in winning 150-32.

Reg Boyle Cup Final

Mick McDermott of Redcar Cons. won his first league title, winning 3-1 against teammate Ian Whittle at their home club, despite losing the first frame 22-59

The second frame saw McDermott keeping the game tighter and eventually winning 58-21 on the pink. McDermott dominated the next frame, helped by inexplicable fouls by his opponent, and a 37 clearance to win 93-25.

Whittle fell behind early in the last frame, with his opponent taking advantage of his errors and, with neither player showing their true ability, conceded on the pink to give the individual handicap championship to McDermott