By: Chris Gill
1st Division
Birkdale Cons held the league leaders Tarleton BC to a 3-3 draw with both sides rueing missed chances in trying to get the win. Phil Fitzgerald beat Ste Harrison 77-36 helped along with a 27 break, his eighth break in the twenties now this season, as John Nelson made the best of his chances to beat John Melvin 82-41. Chris Hoare made this week’s highest break in the league, a 48, in his 88-17 win over Les Sullivan with Ricky Webb dishing up from the brown to snatch an unlikely win over Rob Iddon. Ronnie Brooks beat Chris Gill in a very scrappy frame, fluking the brown to finish perfect on the blue, with Andy Bolton beating Tony Roberts 65-35 to earn the draw. Next week see’s the top two fight it out in what might be a title decider with only four games left after that game.
Fleetwood Hesketh beat Mere Brow 4-2 to give the Brew boys their third defeat of the season, but it still only leaves them two points behind Tarleton. Dean Oliver got the better of Andy O’Hara in one of the opening frames, beating him 61-32 as Martin Brown edged out Stuart Evans on the final black 57-50. The middle frames both went the way of the home side as Gareth Hibbott shut out Alan Wareing 67-7 with Gavin Douglas doing the same to Andy Booth, limiting him to only three points in a 57-3 victory. Daniel Murphy continued the misery for Danny Jassi recently, beating him 60-38, as John Greenwood came out the winner over Neil Rimmer in a low scoring frame 39-15. Avoid defeat to Tarleton next week and Mere Brow are very much still in the mix for the title with the four matches left.
Waddington Cons smacked Tarleton C for 6 and so handed them back-to-back 6-0 defeats in the league this year. This is the Waddy’s best result on the road this year, and see’s them close in on third placed Fleetwood Hesketh. Tarleton’s Jimmy Jones first ‘real’ win eluded him for another week as Ali Iddon beat him 70-30 with Alan Tomlin handing Peter Haslam a 73-25 thumping. Things didn’t improve much in the middle pairings as Billy Evans and Gary Flynn beat Shaun Fisher and Russ Rigby, leaving Phil Keep and Mark Rollins trying to stop the rot. But the Waddy side where in no mood to be charitable to their hosts as Paul Wilson and Paul Taylor completed the rout beating the Tarleton pair with a bit to spare.
Tarleton B couldn’t stop their close rivals Banks A from walking away with a 4-2 win and so keeping them perilously near the bottom of the table. Ian Gautrey notched his 11th win of the season when beating Andy Bridge 65-43 as Andy Hardisty got the better of Neil Rigden, gaining a 52-25 win over his opponent. The middle pairings saw Al Sutton beat Sugar Ray Forshaw 58-37 with Jason Swarbrick getting his first league win of the season when he beat Matthew Wetton on the final black 69-63. Phew. With the score at two apiece it was Banks who ran off with the win after Trevor Wetton only just beat Ste Gautrey on the final black 40-37, with Andy Bintcliffe getting the better of John Gautrey on the final colours 47-32.
Churchtowns travel woes continued as they were thumped 5-1 by a Cricket club side that had lost their last six in the league. Paul Parker started well against Dan Matthews, running out a 48-19 winner with Dave Palmer getting back to winning ways, beating Craig Rice in a close frame 44-35. Two nil became three nil as Tony Milner beat Dave Harwood 58-43 making a 22 break in the process. Just like Dave Palmer, Russ Thornley also got back to winning ways claiming the scalp of Colin Boston, beating the Churchtown player 69-54. Mick Coxon got the first point on the board for the Con club when beating ole Barney Newton 58-12 but that would be it in terms of points as Tom Palmer walked away with a win after the Con club came one player short.
Mere Brow B v Argyle – Argyle won 5-1. The card has not been sent in yet.
2nd Division
Waddington Cons could only draw 3-3 with Our Lady’s despite the league leaders holding a 3-1 lead at one time. Keith Percival stayed unbeaten for 2015 beating Tommy Tick 82-21, making a useful 25 along the way as Keith Turner got the better of Andy Linaker 67-43 aided by a 27 break. With the opening frames shared, Waddy then took control of the match as Dennis Woodward and Steve Cobb both won their games against Michael Houghton and Phil Fellows respectively. But Our Lady’s stormed back to snatch the draw from their hosts as Paul Heery beat Ray Highton 60-15 and Luke Marshall doing likewise against Phil Gaskell winning 62-17. It was the second match on the trot that the Formby side had come back from a 3-1 deficit, showing there’s life in the old boys yet.
Banks C were turned over by St.Teresa’s A 4-2, but hold on to their position of 2nd in the table despite this result. Banks started off very slowly as Stephen and John Cromwell gave Teresa’s a great start beating Martin Sephton and Arthur Wareing to gain a 2-0 lead. Martin Jones beat Billy Cummings on the colours 61-49, as Trevor Ford went down 61-23 to Alan Johnson to share the middle frames. John Prescott made it four wins on the bounce recently after beating Craig Jones 58-21. But a hat trick of wins for the Cromwell’s saw the visitors walk away with the points as Lee Cromwell snatched the frame away from Cliff Arnold on the black 49-46 giving Teresa’s the win and double over Banks this year.
Les Dodd’s B keep up the pressure on Banks and Teresa’s after their 4-2 win over Bretherton A, who have now slipped to fifth in the table. Lee Holmes continues to impress this year after beating Bretherton’s top stick Dave Cottam 56-46, as Gordon Russell beat Peter Parkinson in the battle of the pensioners 67-45. Andy Reynolds played well to beat Ron Dickinson by 50 clear points 69-19 as Harry Haslam took the final black against Joe Wade to square the match up 2 apiece. But home advantage was made to pay in the last two frames as Paul Rogers made his best score at home this year in a 69-15 win over Kevin Wigely with a equally impressive frame from Dave Brown, nearly saw him break the 100 point mark beating Jim Holden 95-25. Doddy’s play Teresa’s next in a match that might decide who gets the best shot of claiming any honours this year.
British Rail v Scarisbrick – Result not yet received.
Banks B won on the road for the second successive match when beating Churchtown B 4-2, and made it a third away win on the bounce this year. Banks started the better on the night with good wins for Bob Ashcroft, who comfortably beat Jamie Barton 78-15, with Mike Marsh getting one over Paul Connor in a low scoring frame 43-5. Two nil fast became 4-0 as Banks took the middle pairings thanks to wins from Andy Griffiths and Dave Turner. Leaving it to Churchtowns Lawrence Richards and Guy Hudson to try and get the last two frames and some points on the board for the Cons club. This they did when beating Ray Swailes and John E Gearie. Churchtown go to Banks next week to play the C team as the B team travel to play Doddy’s A team.
3rd Division
Southport Cons have opened up a handy six point lead at the top of the table over Bretherton B after thumping Birkdale Cons C team 6-0. This was the fourth 6-0 whitewash of the season for the team from Bath street, their third at home, with the away whitewash at the expense of this Birkdale side back in October. Larry Swindells moved to 10 wins for the season beating Phil Green 64-40 as John Blackhurst beat Ted Coghlan 63-28 to open a 2-0 lead. Two became four after Matty Pollock and Steve Mawdsley both won on the final colours, and by the same 10 point difference, over Martin Calvert and Paul Rimmer. It was left to Andy Day and Eddie Tennant to try and claim anything out of the two fixtures these sides have played this year, but ultimately they both failed. Colin Paul earned his 14th win of the season with Jeff Wainwright getting to the 10 wins mark to get to 70 points from their 17 matches played this year.
Bretherton B and Les Dodd’s C played out a hard fought 3-3 draw to stay keep the battle for the title honours going for now any way. Bretherton, who were top not so long ago, seem to be stuttering coming into the final games of the season. The Moulton pair of Simon and William, so reliable earlier on in the season, both lost again in as many weeks, going down to Doddy’s top man, Martin Cusack and Anthony Dodd. Harry Wilby scrat passed Alan Venables on the final black 33-29 as Phil Iddon replied for Bretherton to avert a 4-0 disaster. Bretherton then had the last say on the night when Stephen Fiddler and Nev Marsden beat the Woodfull pair of Kevin and Kyle to snatch the draw and keep the finishing positions in the league table up for grabs.
Scarisbrick B and Fleetwood Hesketh B played out a 3-3 draw, leaving Scarisbrick still waiting for their first home win of the season. John Brown got the home side up and running when beating Brian Kimberly 45-20, giving John his 10th win of the season so far, as Ian Brownhill replied for Fleetwood beating Eric Stockley 61-33. Ian Lowery completely dominated his frame beating Mick Orme 77-8 as Lawrence Renshaw made a similar effort in beating Billy Wilson 61-16. Two a piece with the last pairings to go, Scarisbrick were pinning their hopes on Peter Simpson and John Hardisty to gain their first home victory, but the victory eluded them. Peter Simpson beat Phil Marrow 50-32 but John went down to Mark Beaver 57-21. Honours shared, as Scarisbrick go to play Birkdale C next while Fleetwood stay on the road with a trip to play Churchtown C.
Waddy C v St.Teresa’s B – Result not received yet.
Banks D v Churchtown Cons C – Result not received yet
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