Express & Star

Top three setting a blistering pace in Swmbsa

This week in the Swmbsa the league fixtures continued with the top three teams in Division 1 maintaining their 100 percent winning starts to the season. First up are top of the table side Hotshots SC who extended their lead at the top following their 5-0 win away at Sedgley Wmc A. Sedgley were in a great position to take the opener after Stuart Pritchard took a break of 46 but his opponent Callum Downing battled back to take the frame as he replied with a break of 33 before Mark Sutton took the second frame to put them into a 2-0 lead. The hosts again were in a great position to take the next frame as Rich Haney with a 41 break looked to take the win but once again it wasn’t enough as he was eventually beaten by Karl Ashmore to put the visitors into a 3-0 lead. Bal Sembi then took the fourth frame to continue their momentum before Jamie Brown wrapped up the win by taking the final frame with a break of 46. Woodfield A remain in second place after they won 4-1 away at Charlemont BC A. Riley Parsons put Woodfield ahead aided with a break of 38 before the hosts took their only frame of the night through Milan Krstanovic who hit a break of 48. Chris Jones then took a closely fought third frame to restore their lead before Mick Faulkner secured the match win at 3-1 as he took the next frame on the black and that was followed by a win for Jim Woodhouse in the final frame to round off the win. The other team with their 100 percent record intact are Shifnal WM A but they were given a stern test as they picked up a narrow 3-2 win away at Golden Cue A. Mick Brezwyn took a close opener for the visitors but they were pegged back straight away as Wayne Pruden soon levelled the match at 1-1. Matthew Davies then restored their lead in the next frame before they were once again pegged back as Golden Cue’s Tony Kerr took a close fourth frame to level the match to force a decider. The final frame was another close frame but it was eventually taken by Mike Dorey to keep their 100 percent win record intact.

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Landywood SC B made it 6 wins from 6 games to remain top of Division 2 this week as they won 4-1 away at Bloxwich Memorial Club. The scoreline didn’t show how close the match was on the night as there were numerous close frames throughout including the opener that was taken by the Ian Esprey to put the visitors into an early lead. Rob Hayward then took the hosts sole frame of the night to level the match at 1-1 before Michael Hodgkiss took the third frame on the black to restore Landywood’s lead. Frame four also went to the black and it once again went the way of the visitors as Paul Hodgkiss took it to put his side 3-1 up. Those black ball frames proved the difference on the night but things continued to go their way in the final frame as Paul Burgin took it to round off the win for the visitors. Next up saw Sedgley WMC C move to within touching distance of the top three after they picked up a 4-1 home win over Stafford Institute in a high scoring match. Paul Rudge was in good form and as put the hosts into the lead as took the opener aided by a break of 40. Kevin Lockley then made it 2-0 taking a comfortable win before Ashley Wall put them into an unassailable 3-0 lead as he hit breaks of 35 and 34 to take his frame. 3-0 soon became 4-0 as Rhys Lampitt took the next frame as well before Stafford finally managed to get themselves on the board in the final frame with Steve Smart picking up the win as he hit a break of 43 to avoid the whitewash defeat. Elsewhere second placed Bilston BC A picked up a big win as they won 5-0 at home against Bushbury Grid A. They secured the win on the night through wins for Darren Millard, Richard Parker, Matt Caron, Dave Smith and Mark Lloyd. Kingswinford SC remains hot on their heels in third as they too picked up a 5-0 home win against Bilston BC B. They took home the points on the night thanks to wins for Luke Smith, Glen Shakespeare, Jason Colbourne, Alan Moore and Peter Lewis.

In Division 3 Golden Cue B show no signs of slowing down at the top of the table after they kept their 100 percent start to the season intact after a deciding frame win on the last black ensured at 3-2 home win over Fordhouses CC A. They started they match off well with Ryan Hamilton taking the opener but the were pegged back to 1-1 after Tony Grant picked up the second frame for the visitors. Stephen Platt then took a comfortable frame win to put them back ahead before Satish Mahay took a close fourth frame to force a decider. The final frame was tight throughout but it eventually went the way of the hosts as Adrian Holmes potted the final black to get his side the win. Elsewhere Wednesfield RBL A won 3-2 away at Bushbury Grid B to move upto 2nd place in the table. The opening frames were both very close with Daniel Pugh taking the opener for RBL before Nigel Morgan levelled the match at 1-1. Another close frame followed and it eventually went the way of Danny Keating to put the visitors back ahead. The hosts once again battled back to draw level with Nick Hodgkinson picking up a win to force a deciding frame but it wasn’t to be there say as John Pugh played the decider well to give the visitors the win while Bushbury drop out of the top three down to fifth place.

In Division 4 Sedgley WMC C remain top of the table this week again as they picked up a narrow 3-2 win away at RAFA Club. The hosts started the best however and took an early lead as Dave Rees picked up the opening frame before Lee Millington took a close second frame to level the match a one frame each. John Osbourne built on that win for Lee by putting Sedgley into the lead for the first time as he took his frame aided by a break 31 before things got even better for them as Dean Burgess took the next frame on the black to put the visitors into a 3-1 lead. Despite losing the match Terry Guy battled on to take the final frame of the night to refuse the score to just a 3-2 loss. Old Wulfrunians were next up and they have moved upto second place this week following a hard fought 3-2 win away at third placed side JD’s SC A. Carl Dawson-Bannister took the opener for Jd’s before Tom Churm levelled the match up at 1-1. Tim Phillips then put the visitors ahead for the first time by taking frame three after a close frame win. The hosts wouldn’t go away however as Dan Willetts battled away to take a close fourth frame on the black to force a deciding frame. The final frame was another close frame that evident the way of the visitors as Chris Rawlings did enough to see off his opponent to give his side an important win.

In Division 5 Coseley Ex Service B put themselves in position for a promotion push as they moved into second place this week following a 4-1 win away at Essington WMC C. Joshua Carrington got them off to a quick start by taking the opener before Andrew Crowther played an excellent second frame to increase their lead as he hit breaks of 35 and 32 to take his frame. Kevin Lacey managed to pull a frame back for the hosts but it would prove to be just a consolation frame as the visitors took the remaining frames through wins for Michael Rowley and Matthew Davies. Elsewhere saw Forty Four Club got back to winning ways following last weeks loss as they picked up a 3-2 win away at Wednesfield Cons D. The visitors got of to a great start on the night as they raced into a 2-0 lead courtesy of wins for Dave Walker and Darren Baker. Wednesfield proved they were up for the fight though as they responded straight away by taking both the middle frames to level the match up through wins for Shaun Britton and Ben Wright. The comeback wasn’t to be though as Alan Rogers was in good form for Forty Four Club as he wrapped up a comfortable frame win to seal the match victories his side.

The Individual Handicap Cup also started with round one matches that saw some excellent snooker and some high breaks. In the pick of the action first up we saw Lee Thomson get through to the next round after he picked up an impressive 3-1 win against Steve Barton. Despite the score Steve played a good match contributing with breaks of 50, 44 & 30 but it was who Lee made the most out of his 21 handicap start to make it through but the highlight of the match was in the fourth frame as Lee hit an excellent break of 82 to clinch the win and set break benchmark for the competition at this early stage. Mark Sutton was the next man through as he won 3-2 against Darren Weston where he hit a break of 69 to scrape through after the match went all the way to a final frame black ball finish. The next man through was Steve Powell as he overcame his opponent Pete Darby 3-1 aided by a break of 67 during the course of the match. One of the shocks of the round saw Rob Wharne of Stafford Institute beaten at home by Peter Hyland. Peter made the most of his sizeable handicap advantage to take a narrow 3-2 win despite Rob taking a break of 54 during the match. There were no such problems for Richard Davies though as he put in a good performance during his match with breaks of 40 and 31 enough to see him through in a 3-0 win. One of the closest matches of the round saw Ashley Flukes overcome Oliver Spooner 3-2 in close match throughout. Oliver raced into a 2-0 after taking the opener and then taking the second frame on the black before nearly taking the match at 3-0 to go through in the third frame but Ashley wouldn’t give up as he fought away to take the frame which went right to the wire. The next frame was also close but again went Ashley’s way again to force a decider. The decider like all the previous frame was extremely close but it eventually went the way of Ashley as he took the final black to secure his place in the next round.