This coming weekend Warwickshire will be playing at home at the Bishopsgate Club, Foleshill Road, Coventry, CV1 4JJ against Essex a game that could see them close the 20 points gap between the two teams as Essex in third place in the table are on 157 points and Warwickshire who are fifth have 137. A win would see them consolidate their position in the table and possibly see them overtake fourth placed Cambridgeshire who are just one point ahead of them.
Lining up for Warwickshire will be Men’s ‘A’:- Noel Grant, Jamie Hughes, Tom Aldridge, Jamie Atkins, Bob Nixon, Mark Westgarth, Mark Carter, William Naylor, Dean Stewart, Richard Foster, Mark Strong, Antony Allen, Men’s ‘B’:- Simon Power, Luke Kennedy, Matt Edgar, Tom Ryan, Rob Hawker, Carl Green, Mangal Singh, Peter Hughes, James Hykin, Ted Evetts, Ian Shaw, Prakash Jiwa, Reserves:- Tom Martin, Simon Fairbrother, Dan Green, Tom McGlone, Paul Deslandes, Women’s ‘A’:- Trina Gulliver, Sue Gulliver, Melanie Hill, Wendy Adams, Donna Pinch, Kerry Bambridge, Women’s ‘B’:- Lisa Deslandes, Angela Jones, Marian Conway, Helen Rigg, Nina Bolt, Denise Keyte, Reserves:- Kat Spanswick, Lucy Keyte.
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In week seventeen there were big wins for the top two teams in the premier division of the Sheldon and District Winter League as leaders Crown at Shard End won their home tie with Castle Vale Residents 7-2 and second placed Crown at Olton handed out a 9-0 whitewash to their visitors The Pirates leaving them two points off the top with two games in hand.
The gap between the two bottom teams in division one widened to four points as next to bottom Yardley Ex Colts beat bottom team Sheldon Social 8-1.
No Change at the top of division two as leaders Crown Arrows and second placed Highwood Arrows both won 5-4 in turn against Shirley RBL Misfits and Small Heath Amateur Gardeners, both of the top two teams have played 13 games with just two points separating them.
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It was cup semi finals week in the Four Oaks and District League and in the Brian Goodman Cup division one leaders Boldmere St Mikes were awarded a walk over against Pint Pot Flights while second in division one The Beehive ran out 7-2 winners against The Lions to make the final a battle between the league’s top two teams.
In the Ken Rust semi finals Bishop Vesey were handed a heavy 8-1 defeat by second division rivals Erdington Arrows who will take on The Boot in the final after their comfortable 7-2 win against The Fox.
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The divisional cup finals were on the agenda for the Forest of Arden Winter League the division one game seeing leaders Olton Crown winning 6-3 against next to bottom of the table Greville Arrows. The division two final saw the top two teams square up to each other the outcome a surprisingly one sided 9-0 result in favour of leaders Highwood KB with Sheldon Marlborough Flights runners up.
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With Mackadown Social already acclaimed winners of division one in the South Birmingham League the race is still on for the division two title as current leaders The Dog won 5-4 at Kingfisher to give them 22 points from 13 games and second placed Banbury Club had a convincing 8-1 win away to Toby Jug to put them on the same 22 points with two to play whereas The Dog only have one remaining fixture.
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Week ten in the Shirley Red Lion Premier League and Mick Gorst and Mick Bown are both on 48 points at the top of the table with Bown having played two games more than Gorst.
There was just one result from the top two in the latest round of fixtures which saw Bown beat Paul Higgins 3-1 leaving Higgins in third place just one point behind the top two and with a game in hand on Bown.
Adam Stuart and Dave Hesketh are fourth and fifth respectively and are both on 45 points, Stuart having games in hand on both Bown and Higgins.
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Cotterills Lane Club knocked Grange Social Club down one place in the Camp Hill League table to fourth when they beat them 6-1 to take their own unbeaten run to seven games and at the same time extend their lead to four points as second in the table Holy Gulp lost 4-3 away to bottom of the table Station Flights who previously had lost all six of the their games.
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Week two of the new season in the Small Heath League and only three of the eight teams remain undefeated. After handing out a 9-0 whitewash to their hosts Emerald Flights Gulp Tribe lead the field on average from both East Birmingham Allotment Holders Association and Mitre who in turn won 8-1 at Moseley All Service and 6-3 away to Cob’s Bar.
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The Royal, Albrighton staged the third of their increasingly popular knockouts and taking the top prize of £110 was Wolverhampton league player John Evans who beat Montgomery and Radnor county player Mark Jones 6-4 in the final. Jones who won against Shropshire county player Matt Williams in the semi’s collected £50. Another Shropshire county man Clive Lucking lost to Evans in the semis.
Winner John Evans (Left) and Runner Up Mark Jones
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The Cradley Tuesday Night League have begun a new 3 A-Side Round Robin in their league this season and have played off the first round, winning through were Members Club ‘A’, Crown (Station Road) ‘A’, Hawne Lane Tavern ‘B’, Bulls Head ‘B’, Crown ‘AA’ (Netherton), Gate Hangs Well ‘A’, Bulls Head ‘A’, White Swan ‘A’, Wheatsheaf ‘A’, White Horse, White Horse ‘B’, Members Club ‘B’, Brickmakers Arms ‘A’ and White Horse ‘C’.
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Two Gates Club recorded their first win in ten games in division one of the Pip Club League when they beat next to bottom Wigginton Arms 6-3, despite the win Two Gate remain at the foot of the table two points adrift of Wigginton. Prince of Wales hold on to the top spot with a 5-4 win over third placed Birchmoor Club.
In division two with second in the table Globe Trotters having a bye top side Winning Post opened up a two points lead over them when they won 12-8 away to Old Liberal.
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The Bell were the only losers in the top five teams in the Brierley Hill Monday Night League, their 7-2 home defeat by The Bridge sees them drop from second to fifth in the table while their victors move up one place to third. Pensnett Liberal Club take over the number two spot, their 6-3 home win over Blue Brick giving them16 points from ten games and leaves them trailing leaders Dudley Sports ‘C’, who won 8-1 against Old Star, by four points. Dudley Sports ‘B’ were also 8-1 winners in their game at home against Griffin, Dudley Sports ‘A’ were unable to match their ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams as they lost 6-3 at Bulls Head (Netherton).
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The Harborne and District League were involved in cup semi finals, the League Cup games saw 6-3 wins for both of the league’s top two teams, leaders Court Oak beating Hillyfields ‘B’ and second placed Hillyfields ‘A’ winning against Smethwick Labour Club.
The Plate Cup games went to form as Avenue Flights beat Weoley Castle WMC 5-4 and Crazy Horse took out Sportsman with an emphatic 9-0 scoreline.
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Just one leg of average is the difference between the top two teams in the Brierley Hill Friday Night League Brickamkers Arms with a 7-2 win at The Cross (Oldswinford) leading the way over Miners (Wollescote) who were 8-1 winners at Roebuck. Third placed Netherton Cricket Club lost ground as they went down 5-4 away to Pensnett Welfare Club and although that leaves them six points adrift of the two teams above them with two games in hand they could reduce that deficit to just two points.
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The Untouchables have extended their lead at the top of the Winmau Centre Monday Night League to 22 points after only two games into the new season, they followed up their opening 46-2 win against Double Trouble with a 45-3 success against Here For The Beer. Second placed 3 Yam Yams and A.Stokie were 29-19 winners against What’s The Point, Euan McGovern hitting no fewer than three maximums for Yam Yams plus there was one each for Owen Maiden and Mark Daniels who also recorded a 118 finish, Bob Lockley notched two and Simon Ward one for What’s The Point.
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The Winmau Centre Thursday Night Champions League is fast drawing to an end and the battle for the title is being fought out between Mick Baker and Kevin Harris who have pulled away from the rest of the field. Both players played one game in week fifteen Baker beat Tam Singh 5-2 but it’s so close at the top that the win was not enough to keep him in pole position as Harris won 7-0 against Phil Summers which saw him replace Baker at the top of the table with 119 points two more than Baker but Baker does have a game in hand.
Harris now has two to play and Baker three all of which could be title deciders for both players.
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A 6-3 win over Bird ‘A’ (Stourbridge) has seen Britannia replace their opponents in second place in the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League table, Bird ‘A’ drop down to fourth, level on 36 points with Britannia and Brickmakers Arms but trailing on average, however they do have a game in hand on their rivals. Brickmakers did their average a power of good with a 9-0 win over The Fox (Lye). Ten Arches ‘A’ remain in pole position their 7-2 home win over New Inns giving them a four point’s buffer over the rest of the field.
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After six games in the Halesowen Monday Night Ladies League three teams are on 10 points at the top of the table, Spring Meadow and White Horse share the number one spot level on both points and average and third placed The Bell are just two legs of average short of the top two. In the latest round of fixture Spring Meadow won 4-3 at Round of Beef, White Horse and Bell were 5-2 winners against respective opponents Townsend ‘B’ and The Widders.
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Island Inn and The Vine, after playing each other have swapped places in the Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League table, the former losing 5-2. The two teams are now on 12 points as are fourth placed Old Hop Pole, all three of them two points behind leaders Dewdrop who won 6-1 against Jolly Collier. Old Hop Pole were 5-2 winners at home against Sportsman.
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The local derby in the Rowley Monday Night League between second in the table Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’ and second from bottom Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘B’ ended in a 7-2 win for the ‘A’ team to keep them within two points of leaders Springfield Social Club who had a considerable 9-0 win over Haden Cross ‘A’.
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T & R Bar made it four wins in as many games in the Wednesbury and Darlaston Wednesday Night League when they won their home fixture against Staffordshire Knot 5-4. Horse and Jockey are second in the table their 6-3 win at Red Lion leaving them just two points behind the leaders. Biggest win of the week went to third placed St Mary’s ‘A’ who won 8-1 away to Civil Defence to keep them also just two points off the top.
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The Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League have got their new season underway and in division one there were 5-2 wins for Ashmore Inn, Bradmore ‘B’, Riley’s ‘C’ and Roebuck, while in the second division two teams Bull and Dog and Partridge both won 6-1.
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Claregate have taken over third place in the Tettenhall Wednesday Night League from Whitmore Reans WMC after they won 5-2 at home to The Pheasant and Whitmore lost by the same margin at home to Cleveland Arms. Riley’s ‘A’ and Riley’s ‘B’ are the top two teams both on 12 points after in turn beating ECC 5-2 and Otter and Vixen 4-3, Claregate and Whitmore are both two points behind the leading pair but Cleveland Arms who have only played three games are the only undefeated team in the league.
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