St John’s still in the mix for the runners-up spot

With Chelmarsh B having already pocketed the title, the main focus at the top end of the table is on who finishes second.

Shifnal B are still in the driving seat but the one frame that they lost in their 4-1 win over Alveley B has left the door open for St John’s A.

And St John’s have Alveley’s young Martin Coffey Jnr to thank for that open door. In the first frame, a 38-break from Coffey Jnr enabled him to beat Ian Postans.

However, after that first frame it became one way traffic with Chris Petford, who rolled in a 46 break, Terry Askew, Beamer Jones and Matt Judd each rolling over their opponents.

St John’s A’s excellent 5-0 win against Alveley C was a major contributory factor that keeps them in the hunt for a first top-two position since joining the league in 2016.

They still trail Shifnal by four points, but unlike their rivals they still have one match left to play. They will take on Alveley B knowing they need to win at least 4-1 to catch Shifnal.

Comfortable wins for Josh and Dave Summers, Kevin Hawkins, Tim Steele and Rob Powell secured the whitewash for St John’s against Alveley.

Chance

Despite Alveley B’s 4-1 defeat at Shifnal, they are now confirmed as Second Division champions.

Broseley A had an outside chance of catching Alveley but a similar 4-1 reverse at Chelmarsh B means that they have to settle for second place.

The match saw another masterful performance, which included a 47-break, from Gary Smith, who like the team has maintained a one hundred percent winning record throughout the league campaign.

One-sided frames were also won by Chris Lewis and Simon Thomas. Andy Garbett provided Broseley with their consolation by comfortably beating Paul Manning and they almost claimed another frame but Chelmarsh’s Mike Rogers just managed to scrape home with the final black when beating Cameron Barden.

To a large degree, the final match of the evening proved to be purely academic although it provided Broseley B with a season-ending 5-0 win over St John’s B.

Broseley B had also been in with a chance of finishing runners-up but were relying on both St John’s A and Shifnal B slipping up. But they signed off their league campaign in style as Nick and Andy Carson, Pete Thompson, Mick Brezwyn and Owen Hughes all came through unscathed against St John’s B.

Match Results

Alveley C 0, St. John’s A 5: S. Coldecott 27, J. Summers 49; B. Arnold 34, K. Hawkins 53; C. Jepson 18, D. Summers 74; N. Jones 6, T. Steele 71; R. Burton 24, R. Powell 73. Broseley A 1, Chelmarsh B 4: N. Caswell 6, G. Smith 85; G. Watson 11, C. Lewis 54; A. Garbett 52, P. Manning 13; C. Barden 48, M. Rogers 53; B. Edwards 8, S. Thomas 81. Shifnal B 4, Alveley B 1: I. Postans 40, M. Coffey Jnr 71; C. Petford 94, J, Wright 6; T. Askew 70, M. Coffey Snr 35; B. Jones 62, C. Thompson 30; M. Judd 59, D. Jones 32. St John’s B 0, Broseley B 5: M. Crawley 27, N. Carson 68; M. Worsdell 26, A. Carson 58; J. Brown 29, P. Thompson 67; R. Dickenson 24, M. Brezwyn 66: M. Jones 18, O. Hughes 51.