The Four Oaks and District League have just one week of fixtures remaining and in division one Boldmere St Mikes have done all they possibly can to keep their title hopes alive by winning their home tie with Old Oscott WMC 9-0. Leaders The Boat had a closer 6-3 win away to Pint Pot Flights to keep them two points to the good on St Mikes but trailing slightly on average, however the title will be decided in the final games of the season as the two teams will square up to each other.
Unbelievably in the second division with one more game to play three teams are tied on the same 22 points at the top of the table. Despite losing 5-4 away to The Fox in their penultimate fixture St Thomas’s Social Club lead the pack and must still remain favourites as their far superior average over both The Boot and Erdington Arrows means a win of any kind would be enough to take the title.
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The Sheldon and District Winter League had round one of their Sheldon Shield on the fixture card which produced a couple of shock results as premier side Saltley Amateur Gardeners went down 4-3 away to Crown-Forget-Me-Not from division one and Sheldon Marlborough Arrows who are second in the division one table lost 4-3 at home to Small Heath Amateur Gardeners who are in the bottom three of division two.
Four of the other six games matched teams from the same division, in the division one games leaders Iron Horse beat third placed Willclare Sports and Social 4-3 and two lower teams in the same division East Birmingham Allotment Holders Association and Holy Souls produced a 5-2 win for the former.
The all division two games saw third in the table Ridgemere Social Flights lose 4-3 to fourth placed Maggies and bottom team Langley Hall Sports and Social Flights lose by the same scoreline to Greville Arms.
In the other two games premier team Highwood KB’s won 5-2 away to division two leaders Shirley RBL Misfits while division one outfit Sheldon Dukes chalked up the biggest win of the round 6-1 away to Meadway Sports and Social from division two.
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It was Presidents Cup semi finals week in the Forest of Arden Winter League the draw bringing together the two Journeys End teams, division one leaders Journeys End, who have lost one of their eight divisional games beat their local rivals Journeys End Flights, who are undefeated in seven in the league, 7-2.
The result from the other last four game was somewhat of a surprise as next to bottom of division one Greville Arrows beat the division’s second placed Highwood KB’s 6-3.
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In division one of the South Birmingham League leaders Erdington Members Club suffered their second defeat in eleven as they lost their home tie with second placed Mackadown Social 5-4, Mackadown are now just two points behind Erdington with two games in hand.
In addition to the top two teams playing each other the bottom two also squared up to each other with Banbury Club getting the 5-4 verdict over bottom placed Crown Arrows to lift Banbury up one place above The Trident who went down 6-3 at Coleshill Social.
Just two results from division two which saw leaders The Gate go two points ahead of second placed The Bell when they won 6-3 at The C’s leaving Bell with a game in hand. 6-3 was also the margin by which bottom team Smithswood Social lost to The Kingfisher.
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Last weekend at the Bishopsgate Club, Foleshill Road, Coventry, CV1 4JJ the Warwickshire Super League staged their Super League Mixed Pairs Knockout, eighteen pairs participating with a fantastic total payout of £300.
The outcome resulted in Donna Pinch and Antony Allen regaining their title as Mixed Pairs Champions of Warwickshire after defeating Marian Conway and Noel Grant in the final.
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Chris Williams with a massive 7-0 win over Rob Montana has returned to the top of the Winmau Centre Thursday Night Champions League with a total of 98 points from 18 games. Williams has a comfortable six points lead over second and third placed Adam Quinton and Devinder Singh who in turn have played 19 and 22 games.
Currently at week eleven there are only two players in the league who are in any sort of position to catch or even overtake Williams and they are West Midland county players Sam Guest in fifth place and reigning champion Mick Baker who is currently ninth. Guest on 86 points has only played 15 games and could possibly take his total to 107 with his games in hand while Baker with 72 points from 14 games could reach a possible 100, but with many, many more games to play that could all change.
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Hillyfields ‘B’ took their unbeaten run in the Kings Norton League to eleven games when they won 6-1 away to The Coppice. Second in the table West Heath, despite having played one game more than the leaders kept the pressure on them with a 7-0 win at Weoley Hill to put them on the same 22 points. The leading pair now have a six points advantage over third in the table Srirchley United.
Fourth placed Rubery RBL lost ground in the title race as they went down 4-3 at Kings Norton Ex Serviceman’s Club to leave them with an eight points deficit as are Hillyfields ‘A’ and E57.
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Week five of the Sheldon Marlborough Cricket Club Singles League saw Dave Howlett beat Ray Turner 2-1 to head the table with 25 points. Pete Jones had a 3-0 win over Ian Genge to put him on the same 25 points but from twelve games, one more than Howlett. Third placed Dave Humphries won his game against Steve McCarthy 3-0 and has 22 points, three short of the leading duo but he has only played eight games, three in hand on Howlett and four on Jones.
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Although Cotterills Lane Club won 4-3 against Tyseley WMC in the Camp Hill League it was not enough for them to hold on to pole position as with a 7-0 scoreline Holy Gulp defeated Station Wagon and have moved up from third to top the table with the same perfect six points as Cotterills from their opening three games, Gulp having the better average of the two.
At the other end of the table New Inn moved up two places off the foot despite losing 4-3 at Devil’s Club as Station Wagon following their massive reversal drop to bottom place and Emerald Club with a 5-2 home defeat at the hands of the Hay Mills Social Club Lions team go next to bottom, all three of the bottom teams are without a point so far.
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The number of players in the current season for the Shirley Red Lion Premier League are now confirmed at 33 a new record for the increasingly popular league, the previous best being 25 and presently topping the table is Chris Thomas who with a 3-1 win over Chris Thomas snr followed by a 4-0 win against Andy Hoy has amassed a total of 20 points from his opening six games. Reigning champion Mick Gorst has moved up five places to joint second with 3-1 wins over Chris Devlin and Neil Comerford plus a 4-0 success against Nick Walker who is making his debut in the league, while former leader Mark Gwalchmai after being held to a 2-2 draw by Andy Hoy then won 3-1 against Dave Fisher to share second place with Gorst, all of the top three players are on 20 points.
Tom Bent with a 4-0 win against Jack Sidwell in which he checked out on 124 took the week’s highest finish prize of £5.
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The Pip Club League were engaged in their Belgrave Cup divisional semi finals and in the division one games there was a shock for leaders Bulls Head ‘A’ (Polesworth) who were taken out by third in the table Queens Head. Second placed Winning Post defeated Birchmoor Club.
In the division two games leaders Globe (Wolnecote) won their tie with Pip Club while bottom of the table Wigginton Arms lost to Royal Oak.
There is just one result from the Belgrave Shadow Cup semi finals in which Sports Bar ‘180’ accounted for Globe Trotters.
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No change at the top of the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League as all of the top six teams won in week nine. Leaders Ten Arches ‘A’ had a comfortable 8-1 win away to Kingswinford Snooker Club to keep them two points ahead of the chasing trio of Ten Arches ‘B’ who had a 6-3 home win over The Cross (Oldswinford), Brickmakers Arms who won their home game with Gate ‘A’ 7-2 and Gate ‘B’ who were the league biggest winners of the week as they handed out a 9-0 whitewash to their visitors Gigmill.
Fifth placed The Bridge (Kingswinford) won 5-4 at Starving Rascal to put them on 12 points, four off the top but with a game in hand.
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The Royal, Albrighton staged another of their ever popular knockouts and taking the top prize of £140 was Oakengates man Andy Roberts who had a 6-3 win in the final against Gnosall’s Pat Pace who collected £60 as runner up.
Left Andy Robert (Winner) and Pat Pace (Runner Up)
In the semi finals Roberts won 5-3 against Ryan Perks (Telford) while Pace had a straight 5-0 win against Steve Ritchie (Shifnal), both losing semi finalists receiving £20. Losing in the last eight were Simon Pritchard, Dave Bayton, Andre Knox and Scott Meyrick.
In the Plate Knockout Matt Padgett (Ilkeston) won the final with a close 3-2 result against Mark Jones (Telford) and in turn collected £30 and £15.
Left Mark Jones (Runner Up) and Matt Padgett (Winner)
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The Small Heath League got their new season underway and all of the three opening games finished 6-3 with wins for East Birmingham Allotment Holders Association, Cob’s Bar and Foaming Tankard who in turn defeated Gulp Tribe, Emerald Club and Wagon and Horses.
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With a 7-2 win at Lamp Tavern, Bulls Head (Netherton) took their unbeaten run in the Brierley Hill Monday Night League to six games and held on to their two points lead over rivals Dudley Sports ‘B’ and Mount Pleasant. Dudley Sports ‘B’ had a close 5-4 home win against New Talbot while Mount Pleasant had a convincing 8-1 win at Brewers Wharf to draw level on points and average with Dudley Sports ‘B’ and share second place. Fourth in the table Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club were another team to win 8-1 playing at home against Portway to put them on 8 points, four short of the leaders.
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The Brierley Hill Friday Night League had the first leg of the second round of their League Cup on the agenda and the only surprise was the 4-3 away win by seventh placed Miners (Wollescote) against Brickmakers Arms who are currently second in the league table. League leaders Netherton Cricket Club ‘A’ won 6-1 away to Samson and Lion and there were 5-2 wins for Pensnett Welfare Club ‘B’ and Netherton Cricket Club ‘B’ who beat respective opponents Dudley Sports and The Bell.
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It was top versus bottom in week nine of the Rowley Monday Night League as leaders The Bell played away to bottom of the table Loyal Lodge and returned with a 7-2 victory to keep them ahead of Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’ on average after they won by the same 7-2 margin in their home tie with Three Diamonds ‘X’. Both of the top two teams have won all nine of their games and have a four point’s advantage over former leaders Cradley Liberal Club who for the second time in nine games lost as they finished on the wrong side of a 5-4 result away to Tividale FC.
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After a surprising 4-3 defeat away to Wagon and Horses in the Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League last week Dewdrop were quick to recover as in their latest home game against New Talbot they won 6-1, however they remain two points behind leaders Island Inn who took their winning run to seven games with a 5-2 home result against The Wonder.
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Gilberts Bar, Willenhall was again the setting for the West Midlands play off for the Gold Cup Doubles and from the 24 entries the two pairs to qualify were Chris Mason and Peter Wyse plus Scott Baker and Dan Nicholls.
Mason and Wyse beat Scott Roberts and Daniel Haden 4-3 in their final game while Baker and Nicholls had a 4-1 win over Michael Baker and John Mycock.
Special congratulations to Peter Wyse and Dan Nicholls who made it a fantastic double as they both qualified for the Gold Cup singles the previous week.
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With a 5-2 home win over Ten Arches ‘A’, Brickmakers Arms kept their faint hopes of winning the Stourbridge and District Wednesday Night League alive but with just two remaining fixtures and a four points deficit plus a huge average shortfall over leaders Ashwood ‘A’ realistically they should finish as runners up, however they still need to win another game to confirm that as third placed Miners Welfare are on the same 48 points but have just one fixture remaining.
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It’s as you were for the top eight players in the Yeltz Bar Tuesday Night Singles League, leader Richard Reed holds on to pole position although he suffered his first defeat in five as he went down 3-2 to Neil Steventon who together with Tommy Johnson now shares second place on 21 points just one fewer than Reed, Johnson had a 3-2 win against Loz Slater.
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There were wins for the top two teams in division one of the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night Singles League in week five, leaders Riley’s ‘C’ won 6-1 against the Boat and second placed Sunbeam 4-3 against Jack’s Bar while in division two Dog and Partridge top the table after handing out a 4-3 defeat to the Shed, this being Shed’s first loss and as a result drop to third behind Wednesfield Legion, both teams two points off the top.
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The Tettenhall Wednesday Night League fixtures brought together the top two teams Cleveland Arms and Whitmore Reans WMC, despite home advantage Cleveland lost the match 4-3 and also the number one spot as their first defeat in four saw them drop into second place, two points behind the undefeated Whitmore Reans.
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A 120 finish helped Kevin Harris to a 4-2 win over Tommy Johnson in the Halesowen Friday Night Singles League and took his winning run to seven games and giving him a two points lead over second placed Robert Harris who had a similar 4-2 win against Adam Hill. Third placed Mark Bayliss lost ground on the leading duo as he lost 4-2 to Jason Gale who is currently seventh with 8 points, six off the top but with a game in hand.
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