Chelmarsh bag a tight win to close the gap

With table-topping Ballpoint enjoying a week off, Chelmarsh closed the gap on their title rivals by battling their way to victory against Woodfield.

However, the two frames dropped by Chelmarsh means that they still trail the league leaders by three points, making the showdown between the teams so much more important when they meet in a week’s time.

Woodfield gave their all in a very tight match that could have gone either way.

In fact, after three frames Woodfield were leading. Managing to get over the line for Chelmarsh were Simon Thomas, Chris Lewis and Mike Rogers, while battling performances from Scott Tapper and Chris Jones ensured Woodfield of two well deserved points.

Although starting the season in the mire, Broseley B can now boast of having won more games than the have lost.

The team’s fourth win on the bounce came at the expense of their A team, whom they beat 4-1 thanks to comfortable wins from Mick Brezwyn, Andy Carson and Eddie Mullard.

Challenging

Owen Hughes found the going more challenging when beating Gary Watson, while Neil Caswell earned the A team their consolation by beating Nick Carson.

St John’s A consolidated their third-placed position with a 5-0 whitewash of Alveley C.

Tim Steele, Josh Summers, Simon Manning, Martin Lippitt and Ash Ward were never troubled, with Manning knocking in a 39 break.

It was a similar story on the other side of the River Severn where Shifnal B did a 5-0 hatchet job on Chelmarsh A.

There were excellent wins from Chris Petford, Lee Elcock, Matt Bailey and Matt Judd but the pick of the night’s performances was provided by Ian Postans. He rattled in breaks of 40 and 25 when playing against the luckless Pete Skidmore.

In a yo-yo of a game, Alveley B managed to get the better of St John’s B to earn their third win of the season.

Kevin Smith had given the home team the early lead but wins from Neil Williams and Arek Ziemkiewicz turned the match in Alveley’s favour.

An excellent result from Mark Jones, who beat Dave Jones, then levelled the game. But, with his eighth win from nine matches played, Martin Coffey Jnr completed Alveley’s victory by beating Pete Williams.

Only two players have a better League win record than Coffey Jnr this season to date, with both Ballpoint’s Paul Harper and Simon Thomas, from Chelmarsh, still unbeaten.

Match Results

Alveley C 0, St. John’s A 5: N. Jones 27, T. Steele 51; R. Burton 25, J. Summers 55; S. Coldecott, 11 S. Manning 70; B. Arnold 15, M. Lippitt 66; C. Jepson 16, A. Ward 54. Broseley A 1, Broseley B 4: C. Barden 28, M. Brezwyn 54; A. Lawrence 7, A. Carson 60; N. Caswell 48, N. Carson 24; G. Watson 36, O. Hughes 50; M. Smout 13, E. Mullard 60. Chelmarsh A 0, Shifnal B 5: B. Dobson 12, C. Petford 49; R. Price 27, L. Elcock 51; P. Skidmore 23, I. Postans 94; R. Lewis 34, M. Bailey 53; W. Fensome 26, M. Judd 51. St. John’s B 2, Alveley B 3: K. Smith 52, J. Beddoes 29; M. Crawley 15, N. Williams 56; J. Brown 35, A. Ziemkiewicz 51; M. Jones 49, D. Jones 22; Pete Williams 17, M. Coffey Jnr 63. Woodfield 2, Chelmarsh B 3: N. Drewett 34, S. Thomas 58; S. Tapper 59, G. Smith 24; C. Jones 54, P. Manning 33; C. Drewett 33, C. Lewis 69; J. Morris 51, M. Rogers 59.