Report submitted by Stourbridge & District Snooker League

Stourbridge & District Snooker League Report 12-13 February 2020

Premier Division results:

Brandhall Labour 3 (S.Perry, A.Round, P.Caldeira) Hotshots SC A 2 (J.Brown, R.Stokes)

Baggeridge Social A 3 (W.Humphries 112, D.Hall 50, J.Donoghue 45) Pockets SC A 2 (R.Pepperall, A.Smith)

Townsend Social 4 (P.Thompson, K.Ashmore 88, D.Thompson, D.Payne) West Midlands Police 1 (M.Sheehan 55)

Hotshots SC B 1 (M.Kelly) Amblecote Inst A 4 (A.Sidaway, D.Oakes, M.Ganderton, R.Wooldridge)

Norton Social A v Bearwood Cons postponed

Kingswinford Cons C bye

First Division results:

Pockets SC B 3 (G.Evans, A.Kidd, J.Shuck) Kinver Constitutional A 2 (J.Woodhouse, D.Banks 38)

S/b Old Edwardians A 2 (P.Garbett 31, C.Cowley) Baggeridge Social B 3 (D.Whale, N.Fellows, L.Whale)

Moor Pool & Snooker 3 (W.Knight, N.Gennard, I.Priest) Amblecote Inst D 2 (M.Robson, C.Butcher)

Kinver Constitutional C 2 (A.Sprague, T.Postings) Norton Social B 3 (P.Bowen, T.Brown, A.Brown)

Bahia’s SC A 2 (C.Whitehouse, Reece Bahia 50) Kinver Constitutional B 3 (N.Jennings 33, R.Smith, M.Dowler 41)

Amblecote Institute C 0 Amblecote Inst B 5 (C.Tromans, M.Cook, A.Moore, S.Harrison, M.Colbourne)

Dudley Ex-Servicemen 1 (R.Thompson) Kingswinford Cons A 4 (J.Rees, J.Cowan, J.Byng, T.Carter)

Second Division results:

Amblecote Inst E 2 (L.Hackett, S.Mattocks) Amblecote RBL A 3 (Ben Green, Bill Green 31, S.Norton)

S/b Old Edwardians B 5 (J.Ball, Steve & Sam Ball, B.Ball, T.Purslow) Kinver Constitutional D 0

Stourbridge Institute B 2 (L.Ward, H.Jones) Wombourne 3 (J.Wooldridge, D.Flavell 31, C.Pirnie)

Kingswinford SC 2 (S.Ballinger, P.Curry) Stourbridge Inst D 3 (Dom & Dino Bacciocchi, T.Game)

Amblecote RBL B 3 (M.Lees, W.Crowther, A.Bull) Bahia’s SC B 2 (M.Reece, N.Harrison)

Premier Division report: Baggeridge Social A inched a little closer to the Premier Division championship with a 3-2 win at home to 4th placed Pockets SC A, taking advantage of a slip by the joint leaders, Hotshots SC A. Wes Humphries made a break of 112 against Gary Smith in the opening frame, a great effort which now ranks as the second highest break this season, and Dave Hall’s 50 break helped to make it 2-0. Justin Donoghue made it 3-0 in a rapid frame, bouncing back with 45 then clearing from the last red after John Betton had opened with visit of 54. Rich Pepperall and Andy Smith ensured that Pockets took some consolation from a well-spirited, entertaining match.

Hotshots lost a very close match 3-2 away to Brandhall Labour, for whom Stuart Perry, Andy Round and Paul Caldeira, on the black in the decider against Bal Sembi, took the honours. Frames won by Jamie Brown and Roy Stokes ensured that Hotshots dropped no more than two points off the pace.

They have to be content with 3rd place, however, as Amblecote Institute A won 4-1 on the tables of Hotshots B, to enable them to draw level with Baggeridge. Ash Sidaway, Dave Oakes, Mark Ganderton and Rick Wooldridge all won comfortably but Rob Clark lost on the black to Mark Kelly, to end a great run of ten successive wins, a sequence which began in the reverse fixture, against Mark!

Baggeridge have to play away to Hotshots A, one of four matches they both have left to play, whereas Amblecote Institute have three matches remaining.

The defending champions, Townsend Social beat West Midlands Police 4-1, Karl Ashmore on target again with a clearance of 88, while Mark Sheehan secured the Police’s frame with a break of 55.

First Division report: The top two in the First Division clashed with Norton Social B winning a tight match away to Kinver Constitutional C 3-2 to give themselves a four point cushion. Adam Sprague, with a good win against Luke Grosvenor, and Tom Postings won for Kinver, but Norton secured the vital win thanks to Paul Bowen, Tony Brown and Andrew Brown, who inflicted only the second defeat of the season on Gregg Reece, his former teammate for over 20 years, in the deciding frame.

The teams contesting third place also faced each other, with Pockets SC B just edging another tight affair 3-2 against Kinver’s A team. Gavin Evans and Dean Banks, who had a 38 break, won quite comfortably, but the other frames were decided on the black, against the general run of play in each case, including Jay Shuck’s 17th successive victory against Rob Jeffries to clinch the match for Pockets, who have drawn level with Kinver C. Kinver A are just two points away in 4th position.

Five consecutive 3-2 wins had carried Dudley Ex-Servicemen into 5th place, but they lost ground on the leaders when Kingswinford Cons A paid them a visit and won 4-1 to keep themselves four points clear of the relegation zone, a really good result for the away team to win on those difficult tables.

Bahia’s SC A also slipped to a 3-2 defeat at home to Kinver’s B team despite Reece Bahia making a break of 50, the second best in the division; Ron Smith, Norman Jennings, who had a 33 break, and Mark Dowler, with 41, secured the win for the visitors, who are only 10 points off second spot.

Old Edwardians A went 2-0 up at home to Baggeridge Social B, but Neil Fellows, with a welcome return to the team, Dave Whale, and his son, Luke produced a fine recovery for the visitors.

Similarly, Moor Pool & Snooker went 2-0 ahead at home to Amblecote Institute D, but Mark Robson and Carl Butcher made it 2-2 before Ian Priest, as he’s done so often before, took the decider for the hosts.

Amblecote Institute B exacted revenge upon their C team, who had beaten them earlier in the season, by taking all five frames in the reverse fixture, thanks to Cyril Tromans, Mick Cook, Alan Moore, Sam Harrison and Mark Colbourne.

Second Division report: There are new leaders in the Second Division as Old Edwardians B took full advantage of another slip by the former long-time leaders, Kingswinford Snooker Centre. The Ball family, Steve and his sons, Jack, Sam and Brett put Old Eds 4-0 ahead at home to Kinver Const D before club steward, Tim Purslow swapped pulling pints for potting balls to beat the leading Kinver player, Dan Barker, to make it 5-0 which enabled his team to take a single point lead at the top.

Kingswinford SC faltered at home against Stourbridge Institute D even though Steve Ballinger made it 19/19 for himself with a narrow win against Chris Crumpton. Tom Game and brothers, Dominic and Dino Bacciocchi took the honours for the visitors. Paul Curry also won for KSC, but their lead over the 3rd placed team has dwindled to just the one point from Amblecote RBL B.

The Legion B team won a very tight match against Bahia’s SC B 3-2, thanks to Mark Lees, Bill Crowther and Alex Bull. Mark Reece and Neil Harrison replied but there was little between the sides in terms of points scored.

Two other teams maintained their challenge for promotion with narrow but important wins: the Legion’s A travelled around the corner to Amblecote Institute where Billy Green, Ben Green and Steve Norton combined to defeat the E team 3-2. They remain in 4th place, just 7 points off the top, two points clear of Wombourne, who avenged the narrowest possible cup defeat on the tables of Stourbridge Institute B, by winning there 3-2, thanks to John Wooldridge, Dave Flavell and Colin Pirnie.