Langley Hall Sports and Social Arrows suffered a setback to their premier division title hopes in the Sheldon and District Winter League when they were held to a 4-4 draw away to Castle Vale Residents who are currently fifth in the table. Langley who drop one place to third are now three points behind leaders Crown at Olton who added a convincing 7-1 win over Harvester to their account. Taking over in second place is Mackadown Social whose 5-3 win at Saltley Amateur Gardeners puts them on the same ten points as Langley but with a slightly better average.
Week seven was a good week for The Pirates who moved off the foot of the table with a 5-3 win at Pavilions they are replaced at the bottom by Saltley.
Willclare Sports and Social have lost their number one spot in division one after going down 5-3 at home to Iron Horse, the win giving Iron Horse nine points just one fewer than their hosts. Crown Arrows with a 5-3 win away to George ‘V’ move up into pole position with eleven points, one more than Willclare.
Second division’s Shirley RBL Misfits remain the only team in the league with a 100% win record their latest success being a 5-3 win away to bottom of the division Langley Hall Sports and Social Flights. Second in the table Ridgemere Flights finished all square at 4-4 with fourth in the table Lyndon Old Boys which leaves them three points behind Shirley.
The Meadway Sports and Social Club will be the setting for the league’s secretaries meeting this coming Sunday (29th January) at 10.30am this is the final date for entries to the singles and doubles which will cost £2.50 per player.
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In week eleven of the Four Oaks and District League division one leaders The Boat had a bye, second placed Boldmere St Mikes took the opportunity to reduce the arrears on The Boat to four points with an 8-1 win at Bishop Vesey, Boldmere also have a game in hand on the leaders.
In the local derby between Old Oscott WMC and Old Oscott Arrows the lead changed four times before WMC clinched the 5-4 result in the final game. Third placed Golden Hind remain in contention after a 6-3 win over Plough and Arrows, however they have played one game more than Boldmere and trail them by four points.
Similar to division one division two leader’s St Thomas’s Social Club had a bye and they are on 14 points from nine games, joining them on the same 14 points are The Fox, The Boot and Erdington Club, who in turn won 5-4 against Red Lion, 6-3 against Boldmere Tap and with the biggest win of the week Edington Club beat Rosey Mac’s 9-0.
There was just one maximum in the league this week which was supplied by T.Evans (Plough & Arrows).
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Erdington Members Club did their title hopes in division one of the South Birmingham League no harm at all in week eight as they chalked up an 8-1 win over Coleshill Social to put them on 14 points from eight games and gives them a four points lead over Mackadown Social, Crown at Shard End and Raven who all have games in hand on the leaders.
In division two The Dog were ousted from the top of the table as they suffered a 5-4 defeat away to The Gate, while a similar 5-4 win for Toby Jug at The Kingfisher sees them take over the top spot with 12 points, The Dog, The Gate and The Bell are all on 10 points.
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Leaders of division one of the Forest of Arden Winter League Journeys End were involved in a top of the table clash with second placed Highwood KB, the 6-3 result going in favour of Highwood. This was Journeys first defeat in seven games, however they hold on to the number one position but their advantage has now been reduced to just two points.
No such problem for Journeys End Flights in division two as they romped to a 9-0 win over Inn on the Green to keep them four points ahead of the rest of the field. Second placed Crown Arrows remain hot on the heels of Journeys recording an 8-1 win at Chelmsley Town and with a game in hand could reduce the arrears to just two points.
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A 3-0 win over Mark Gwalchmai and two 2-2 draws with Steve Sidwell and Ken Hopton keeps Mick Gorst in pole position in the Shirley Red Lion Premier League with a total of 81 points. In second place Paul Higgins lost a little ground as he lost his first game of the night 3-0 to Mark Cater, he did then share a 2-2 draw with Adam Stuart to leaves him eight points behind Gorst and having played one game more than his rival.
In addition to his draw with Mick Gorst Steve Sidwell had a 3-0 win over Jack Nason and beat Dave Hesketh and Tony Daly 3-1 to see him leap up the table from tenth to fourth with 70 points plus Sidwell has games in hand on all three players above him.
There were three ton plus finishes this week Paul Higgins 106, Mick Gorst 115 and Mark Gwalchmai 106, but only one 180 which was supplied by Tom Bent.
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An 8-1 win at Belgrave Club keeps Bulls Head ‘A’ (Polesworth) top of both division one and the Master League in the Pip Club League. In division one they and Queens Head, who beat Wining Post 5-4 are the only two teams to remain undefeated, Bulls Head having played four games to Queens Head’s three and holding a two points lead over them.
In division two leaders Globe (Wilnecote) lost their home tie with Royal Oak 6-3 but hang on to the number one spot with five points from four games, one more point than their nearest rivals Progressive Club whose 6-3 win against Old Liberal gives them a total of four points from three games.
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With 5-2 wins for the top four teams in the Kings Norton League there is no change at the top of the table, leaders Stirchley United beat fifth placed The Coppice to put them on 12 points while second, third and fourth placed Hillyfields ‘B’, West Heath and Hillyfields ‘A’ who are all on 10 points, in turn accounted for Rubery RBL, Kings Norton Ex Serviceman’s Club and Grant Arms.
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The Camp Hill League have completed their domestic programme and winning the league with an eight points advantage were Cotterills Lane Club who brought the curtain down with a 5-2 win at Hay Mills Social Club their nearest rivals who finished as runners up with 26 points.
Eagle and Ball took third place their 4-3 defeat by New Inn ending any hopes they had of finishing as runners up, and with the same ten points as Eagle and Ball were Holy Gulp who also lost their final game at Emerald Club 4-3.
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Winners of the Small Heath League East Birmingham Allotment Holders Association won their final game of the season at Wagon and Horses 5-4 the win seeing them go through the ten games season undefeated. Mitre also ended the campaign on a high as they won 7-2 at Gulp Tribe to see them finish as runners up with 14 points, six behind the champions.
Emerald Club took the wooden spoon completing the ten matches without a single win.
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Week two in the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League and after just two fixtures only five of the twenty four teams are undefeated and one of those The Cross (Oldswinford) have only played one game so far.
The early pacesetters are last season’s runners up Ten Arches ‘A’ who made it two wins in a row when they beat High Acres 8-1 to give them a lead of average over Gate ‘B’, Ten Arches ‘B’ and Kingswinford Conservative Club. Gate ‘B’ went one better than the leaders when they handed out a 9-0 whitewash to their hosts Quarry Bank Conservative Club while reigning champions Ten Arches ‘B’ won 6-3 away to Brickmakers Arms the same scoreline by which Kingswinford Conservative Club won at The Bridge (Kingswinford).
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The Brierley Hill Friday Night League played the first leg of the first round of their League Cup which saw Dudley Sports gain an emphatic lead of 7-0 to take into the second leg against The Bridge. There were 6-1 wins for Netherton Cricket Club ‘B’ and Netherton Cricket Club ‘A’ who in turn accounted for Fox Inn (Lye) and The Gate.
Other teams taking a lead into round two were Britannia 4-3 against Miners (Wollescote), Samson and Lion 5-2 over Ten Arches and Brickmakers Arms who won 4-3 at Pensnett Welfare Club ‘A’. The Bell and Pensnett Welfare Club ‘B’ both had a bye.
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With games running out in the Stourbridge and District Wednesday Night League Ashwood ‘A’ moved another step nearer the title with a 6-1 home win over Netherton Cricket Club to keep intact their six points lead over second placed Brickmakers Arms who won by the same 6-1 margin at Hare and Hounds. Third in the table Miners Welfare are on the same 40 points as Brickmakers but with a 4-3 win over Britannia fell further behind their rivals on average.
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In the opening games of the Rowley Monday Night League’s new season no fewer than five teams share the number one spot with a 7-2 win. Chalking up that league topping win were The Bell, Ex Serviceman’s ‘A’, The Roost, Springfield Social Club and Whiteheath Tavern who in turn defeated Three Diamonds, Ivy Bush, Yeltz Bar, Haden Cross and Loyal Lodge. The Cottage were not far behind the leading quintet with their 6-3 victory at home to Fairfield.
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The Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League played off the finals of their Burrell Shield in which the top two teams from the two divisions did battle against each other. The semi finals produced a local derby between Riley’s ‘A’ and Riley’s ‘C’ in which the ‘A’ team won 4-3 in a very closely fought game. The other semi saw Gilberts Bar win 4-2 against Sunbeam.
The final saw Riley’s ‘A’ win by a convincing 4-1 scoreline with Gilberts Bar finishing as runners up.
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There were straight 5-0 wins for the top two teams in the West Midlands Men’s Super League. Leaders and reigning champions Crown ‘A’ won at home against Allens Sports Bar ‘B’ while second in the table Landywood ‘A’, who also played at home beat Duke of York.
Bottom half Pensnett Welfare Club handed out a somewhat surprising 3-2 defeat to Chillington who are fifth in the league. In the tie between the bottom two teams Rowley Bar and Grill and White Swan it was the latter who got the 3-2 result to open a gap of 16 points between themselves and bottom team Rowley.
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The Wednesbury and Darlaston Wednesday Night League got their campaign underway and Staffordshire Knot began where they left off with a win as they kicked off with a 7-2 success away to newcomers Churchills ‘B’. It was a better night for Churchills ‘A’ as with a 142 finish and a nine darts game for Tony Jones they began the season with a 5-4 win at Black Horse.
Cav Timmins recorded a 160 break for Nutan but it was not enough for his team to avoid a 5-4 defeat at English Oak..
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