West Midlands third fixture in the BDO Inter County Championships was a home tie against neighbouring local rivals and well established premier division team Warwickshire. The tie was a fascinating and nail biting affair with West Midlands taking a 11-7 lead after Saturday’s games where the ladies ‘B’ finished all square at 3-3 with Jacqueline Maiden (18.11) taking the West Midlands lady of the match award and Angela Jones (18.94) the Warwickshire award.
The West Midlands men’s ‘B’ chalked up their first win in three an 8-4 success with Paul Wells (29.91) winning his second award in three games and for Warwickshire Matt Edgar (28.55) making it two awards in as many games.
Sunday’s ‘A’ games saw the ladies finish all square for a second time with Lisa Badger (20.04) West Midlands top player and Natalie Gilbert (22.34) Warwickshire’s award winner to take West Midlands within five games of an overall victory as the score stood at 14-10 with the men’s ‘A’ to play.
After the opening four games of the men’s ‘A’ game the score was level at 2-2 but with six consecutive wins Warwickshire staged a tremendous fight back to take an unassailable 8-2 lead. The final score was 9-3 to Warwickshire giving them an overall 19-17 win but newcomers West Midlands certainly gave them if nothing else something of a scare.
Taking the men’s ‘A’ awards were Nick Fullwell (30.06) for West Midlands and Prakash Jiwa (31.06) for Warwickshire.
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The South Birmingham League staged the preliminary round of their Roy Parry Cup and it turned out to be great round for the C’s teams as C’s flights beat Chelmsley Conservative Club 6-3 and C’s Arrows won 5-4 against Toby Jug.
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In division one of the Four Oaks and District League Royal Sutton Flights, The Boat and Golden Hind all made it three wins in as many games as Royal Sutton Flights handed out a 9-0 whitewash to their hosts Drakes Drum to top the table on average from Golden Hind who won 6-3 at St Thomas’s Social Club. Third on average The Boat were also 6-3 winners away to The Boot.
In the second division Red Lion remain unbeaten adding a 7-2 home win against Old Oscott WMC to their tally to make it three straight wins. Second placed Pint Pot Flights took the final game in their match at Erdington Arrows for a 5-4 win to keep them within two points of Red Lion while the Fox in third place had a 5-4 win over Plough and Arrows to put them on four points from two games.
Oscott Social beat Rosey Mac’s 7-2 to maintain their unbeaten run and lead division three with a two point’s advantage over Brookvale Social who beat Lad in the Lane 6-3.
There were seven maximums in week three the second highest in the league since nine were recorded on 4th November 2014. Finding the three treble twenties were A.Day (Drakes Drum), J.Collins (St Thomas’s Social Club), W.Naylor (Golden Hind), M.Partridge (The Boat), P.Seadon (Plough and Arrows), S.Robotham (Pint Pot Flights) and G.Lynch (Sutton Sports and Social Club).
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The Henley and District League have got their new season underway and the early pacesetters are Studley Cricket Club whose Kevin James hit 7×100 and 140 in his team’s 9-0 win over Village Inn. Studley Conservative Club are in second place following their 7-2 success against Wooton Bears. Wharf Swifts and Wythall were the only other winners and in turn won 6-3 against Dorridge and Beausale.
Dave Conroy (Wooton Bears) and Steve Veitch (Wharf Swifts) both hit a maximum.
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With Steve Sidwell unable to compete in week 14 of the Shirley Red Lion Premier League, Tom Bent took full advantage with wins over Lee Holtham (4-0), and Brian Lawton (3-1) to replace him in pole position with 84 points from 27 games, Sidwell dropping down into second place with 78 points from 26 games.
Mark Gwalchmai with 77 points from 27 games retains third spot after a 2-2 draw with Dave Heighway while fourth placed Paul Higgins took his tally to 77 points as he was held to a 2-2 draw by Phil Thomas and completed his fixtures with a 3-1 loss to Ken Hopton. Mark Henderson is fifth on 76 points with one game remaining and looks odds on to take over from Higgins and finish in fourth place.
The highest finish of the week went to Luke Coles, a tremendous 152 game shot in his 3-1 win over Karl Wilson to give him the week’s £5 prize.
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The Misfits had a huge 41-7 win over Keep It In The Family in week seven of the Winmau Centre Monday Night League to put them on 256 points at the top of the table and give them a lead of 25 points over second placed The Untouchables who won 38-10 against Make Mine A Double.
Third in the table What’s The Point are just two points adrift of Untouchables despite losing their latest fixture against fourth in the table Just The Tip 27-21.
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Just one rearranged fixture played in the Forest of Arden Winter League which saw Journeys End Flights win 7-2 away to Highwood Exiles to see them leap frog their local rivals Journeys End and take over the top spot with an unbeaten 22 points, two more than Journeys End who have dropped into second place and have played one game more than the new leaders.
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East Birmingham Allotment Holders Association have begun the new season in the Small Heath League in style by handing their opponents Sheldon Marlborough Arrows a 9-0 defeat to top the table in the first week on average from Heartlands Club who had a 7-2 win against Cob’s Bar. Wagon and Horses were the only other winners beating Emerald Club 5-4 to take third place in the table.
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There were big wins for the top three teams in the Brierley Hill Monday Night League, leaders Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club winning 7-2 away to Dudley Sports ‘B’ to put them on 46 points from 28 games. Second in the table Delph Bell were 8-1 winners at next to bottom of the table King William leaving them just short on average on the leaders as they too have 46 points.
Making up the top three is Bulls Head (Netherton) whose 7-2 home win over the Swan keeps them within four points of the leading duo with just two more fixtures to play.
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Cotterills Lane Club went through the Camp Hill Summer League season undefeated winning all eighteen games and the league title but it has not been such a good start to the winter season as in the opening fixture they lost 4-3 to Crown Jewels. Journeys End Lions are the early leaders after their opening 7-0 win over Devil’s Club with Crown Jewels, Emerald Club and Wagon and Horses joint second after their 4-3 wins, Emerald Club beat Station Wagon and Wagon and Horse won against Holy Souls.
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The Shirley and District Monday Night League is up to week four and only three of the starting sixteen teams are able to boast a 100% win record. A 7-2 win at Solihull Sports and Social Club has seen Dunky’s Boys top the table but only by one leg of average to the good on second placed Red Lion whose latest game saw them win 8-1 away to bottom of the table Shirley Golf Club. A further two legs adrift is third placed Highwood who had a 7-2 win against Blue Bell.
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The Office top both the division one and main division of the Pip Club League their most recent fixture away to Winning Post saw them win 6-3 with Adie Fairfield and Dave Nunas both hitting a 180 and Mark Stringer recording a 144 game shot. In the division one section Office have a game in hand on Belgrave Club and Winning Post with all three teams on 4 points, while in the main division again they have a game in hand on four teams Birchmoor Club, Queens Head, Belgrave Club and Old Liberal, all five teams are on 6 points.
Old Liberal lead division two they have 4 points from their two games while second placed Pip Club have played one and are two points behind them as are fourth placed Progressive Club.
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The Red Lion, Erdington have got their new Double Top League underway and after completing week one Jim Frost and Will Naylor have both played two games and won them 3-0, Frost beating John Frost and Alex Downes and Naylor accounting for Clive Austin and S.Larvin.
Dean Bayliss and Steve Cain are currently joint third, Bayliss winning 2-1 against Ryan Barritt and L.Bayliss while Cain had 2-1 wins over L.Bayliss and Matthew Cain.
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HV Flights consolidated their number one spot in the Harborne and District League with a decisive 9-0 win at Bartley Green FC to keep them ahead of second in the table Cock Inn on average after they won 6-1 in a home tie with Smethwick Cricket Club.
Besides the top two teams fourth placed Stag and Three Horseshoes are the only other unbeaten team in the league their 8-1 success against Man on the Moon giving them 4 points from their two games.
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At the halfway stage of the Brierley Hill Friday Night League Brickmakers Arms ‘A’ lead the table by two points over Netherton Cricket Club ‘A’ despite surprisingly losing 5-2 in their eleventh game against their ‘B’ team who are some ten points and five places below them, this being the ‘A’ teams first defeat of the season. Netherton Cricket Club ‘A’ were 6-1 winners in their game at Fox Inn ‘B’ (Lye) and have a four points buffer over both Pensnett Welfare Club ‘A’ and Miners (Wollescote) who in turn defeated Delph Bell and Britannia both 6-1.
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The Stourbridge and District Monday Night League played off the quarter finals of their League Cup and winning through to the last four were The Bridge (Kingswinford), Brickmakers Arms, Stourbridge RBL and Ten Arches ‘A’.
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With three more fixtures to play in the Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League Dewdrop, with a 4-3 win away to Wonder have won the title with a total of 54 points giving them an advantage of eight points over second in the table Wagon and Horses whose 4-3 win at Horsley Tavern keeps them firmly in the driving seat for the runners up spot as they have a two points and huge average lead over third in the table Island Inn.
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A 7-2 win at Netherton Cricket Club saw Gornal Labour Club take their unbeaten run in the Sedgley and Gornal Tuesday Night League to five games and keep intact their two points lead over Club Dudley, Ashwood and Parkes Hall who in turn won against Gornal British Legion (8-1), Coseley tavern (8-1) and Pensnett Liberal Club (5-4).
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The first leg of the semi finals of the Andy Bastable Trophy was the order of the day for the Netherton Thursday Night League and saw league champions Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club win 8-1 against Bulls Head and White Horse take a close 5-4 lead against Hill and Cakemore Liberal Club into the second leg.
The Shadow Cup first leg results saw Townsend beat Fairfield 7-2 and The Crown win 6-3 against Delph Bell.
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The latest Royal Albrighton Knockout saw Dan Astbury take the top prize of £130 with a final 6-1 win over West Midland county player Sam Guest.
Astbury had beaten Steve Gillam 5-3 in the semis while Guest won 5-4 against Richard Hosey, both losing semi finalists received £25.
The first round losers Plate Knockout was won by Mark Smith (£30) with Stephanie Konya (£15) runner up.
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A 5-0 win over Steve Carey had given Tommy Johnson the Yeltz Bar Tuesday Night 501 Singles League division one title has he has amassed a total of 123 points from 29 games and has a nine points lead over his nearest rival Neil Steventon with just one to play. Steventon did his chances of taking the runners up spot no harm whatsoever when he won 3-2 against Loz Slater who is fourth i the table on 111 points, three short of Steventon with Richard Reed third on 112 points after his 5-0 win over Alister Duncan.
In division two Mark Bayliss took his lead to 14 points with a 5-0 win over John Simpson.
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With games fast running out in the Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League only one of the four divisions has a clear winner and that is in division two of the doubles league where Wednesfield Legion, with a 2-1 win over Ukrainian Club took their total points to 46 giving them an unassailable lead of ten points over second placed Roebuck.
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A 4-3 win at Brewood British Legion in the Tettenhall Wednesday night League has seen ECC ‘A’ move closer to winning the league title as they now, with just three more games to play have a four points lead over second in the table Whitmore Reans WMC who won their game at ECC ‘B’ 4-3.
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The Nutan strengthened their lead at the top of the Wednesbury and Darlaston Wednesday League with a 9-0 win over Staffordshire Knot ‘B’ while second placed Black Horse kept within eight points of the leaders with a 6-3 win at English Oak.
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