The Sheldon and District Winter League had the first round of their Punchbowl Trophy on the fixture card and providing the biggest shock of the round were Hampton and Solihull Cricket Club. The Cricket Club are currently placed third in division two and their opponents Dunky’s Boys riding high third in the premier division but the final score of 4-3 went to Hampton and Solihull despite Dunky’s having home advantage, Dunky’s were however only able to field six players.
In the other games premier leaders Sheldon Marlborough Arrows took on division one leaders Langley Flights and won 5-2. Chalking up a 6-1 win was the premier bottom team Hollywood Social who won against division two leaders Brian’s Flights while second in the premier Langley Arrows beat the league’s bottom team Castle Bromwich WMC 6-1 and with a similar scoreline division one’s bottom team Hornet won at The Irish Centre who are fourth in division two.
There was a 5-2 win for Kingshurst Labour Club (premier division) over Maggies (division one) and The Trident Spears (division two) won 4-3 at Journeys End (division one).
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In division one of the Four Oaks and District League Old Oscott Arrows 7-2 defeat of Highcroft Social has elevated them to second place but they remain four points behind leaders Erdington Nomads who won 6-3 at Golden Hind. Red Lion continue to build on their recent run with a 7-2 win over Walmley CSC Flights, they are now third on the same eight points as Old Oscott Arrows as are fourth, fifth and sixth placed Highcroft Social, Bishop Vesey and Old Horns Lions after Highcroft lost, Bishop Vesey won 6-3 at home against Heartlands and Old Horns Lions won by the same margin against Charley’s Flights.
Congratulations go to Sutton Sharks as they won their first league match in six outings when they won 5-4 at Rosey Mac’s with J.Boden recording this week’s only maximum for the victors.
In division two there were heroic darts from N.Robbins (Pint Pot Flights) at Minworth Flights as he recorded a 105 break and no fewer than seven scores of a ton hitting six of them in the final doubles game, only to lose 2-1 and see his team go down 5-4. Oscott Social Club remain top of the second division despite losing their first league match in seven, a close encounter with Erdington Arrows where they lost 5-4. Second placed Minworth Flights are now level on twelve points with the leaders and have a game in hand, they are now the only team in the league with a 100% win record.
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After completing game sixteen in the Harborne and District League the top half of the table remains the same with Bugle Horn leading the way, increasing their chances of winning the title with a 9-0 home win against Bournville to give them a total of 30 points and a lead of four over second placed Northfield Conservative Club who lost ground in the title race when they went down 5-4 at home against Smethwick Cricket Club who are third and on the same 26 points as their hosts but from having played one game more. The Conservative Club do have a game in hand on the leaders which could see them reduce the deficit to just two points. Northfield Town are fourth, two points behind the two teams directly above them after they won 5-4 at Copper Fox ‘M’ who are sixth in the table on 16 points.
The only changes in the table was that Bourneville dropped to eighth following their heavy defeat against the leaders and Cock Inn, who won 6-3 at The Mill moved up one place to replace Bourneville in seventh place.
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Copper Fox continue to dominate the Kings Norton League adding a 4-3 win over Thurlestone to give them thirty-eight points from their twenty-two games and a lead of six over the chasing pack of three teams. Thurlestone drop from second in the table to fourth but on the same 32 points as Northfield and Bournebrook just above them. Northfield had a similar 4-3 win at Bourneville while second in the table Bournebrook won their home tie with Longbridge 6-3.
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Cross (Oldswinford) made it thirteen wins from thirteen games when they handed out a 7-0 whitewash to their hosts bottom of the table Glasscutters in the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League to keep intact their two points lead over second in the table Old Liberal Club who were close behind Cross with a 6-1 home win over Rose and Crown ‘A’. After the top two come five teams, Ten Arches, Bell, Bird in Hand, Netherton Conservative Club and The Princess, all on twenty points, six short of the leaders. Ten Arches won 5-2 at Fox Inn (Lye), Bell had a 6-1 success at Seven Stars, Bird in Hand were also 6-1 winners playing at Rose and Crown ‘B’ while Netherton Conservative Club had a close 4-3 win against Raven. The Princess won their home game against Britannia 5-2. Bell and Bird in Hand have played fourteen fixtures, one more than any of the other teams in the top eight teams.
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Week six in the Camp Hill League produced wins for the top four teams with leaders Erdington Nomads recording the biggest win of the week a 6-1 away win against bottom of the table Sedgemere Devils. The win takes the Nomads undefeated run to six games and they are the only team in the league to remain unbeaten with a perfect score of twelve points, two more than second and third placed Clumsy Swan and Cotterills Lane EBAHA Club who in turn won 5-2 at Tyseley WMC and 4-3 at home against Moseley Arms. Fourth in the league Tyseley Bears had a 5-2 success at Peaky Blinder to put them on six points the same number as fifth in the table Tyseley WMC.
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The Netherton Thursday Night League played off the second leg of the semi-finals of their League Cup with current league leaders Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club ‘A’ having the biggest overall win of the round. In the first leg the Ex Serviceman’s won 6-3 at Spring Meadow Social Club and followed that up with a 7-2 home win to give them an overall 13-5 victory. From the other half of the draw Netherton Sports and Social Club ‘A’ won their first game at home against Bulls Head 6-3 and in the second leg emulated that score to give them a 12-6 passage to the final, a final which will see the league’s top two teams square up to each other.
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Only two more fixtures to play in the Stourbridge and District Wednesday Night League and the title could still go to either current leader’s Quarry Bank Labour Club or second placed Bird in Hand ‘E’ as there is only two points separating the two teams.
In the latest round of fixtures Quarry Bank Labour Club won 5-2 at The Shovel while second placed Bird in Hand ‘E’ had a slightly closer 4-3 success at The Ashwood. In addition to the two points lead the Labour Club also have a large nine legs average lead over Bird in Hand ‘E’. After the top two teams there is a gap of four points to third in the league Ten Arches who kept their hopes of the runners-up spot alive when they handed their visiting team Brickmakers Arms a 7-0 whitewash.
At the other end of the table bottom team Raven played hosts to the team just above them Dudley Sports, the outcome was a 6-1 win for the away side, only their fifth win in twenty-four games but it was enough to lift them up two places in the table.
With only two more games to play the Shadow League title could go to any one of the top three teams as currently Shovel are top with ten points but only on average as second placed Bell ‘B’ are also on ten points and third is Ashwood who with eight points still have an outside chance of stealing the title.
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The Sedgley and Gornal Tuesday Night League had week two of their John Walters Cup and Trophy on their agenda and in the Cup all three fixtures finished with a close 5-4 result which saw wins for New Inn, Gornal Labour Club and Five Ways against respective opponents Seven Stars, Old Bulls Head 4 and Jolly Crispin.
The John Walters Trophy games had a variety of results with Pensnett Liberal Club handsomely winning 8-1 at Chainyard, Red Cow winning 6-3 at home against Meadow Lark and Griffin having a 5-4 success at home against The Cabin.
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With Chris Williams not playing in week seven of the Ashwood Premier League he has been ousted from the number one spot by John Green. Williams with seventy-six points from fourteen games drops to second while Green takes his total points from the same number of games to 81. Green played two games on the night kicking off with a 5-2 win over Alan Bate and later by the same margin beating Wozza Pritchard.
In addition to Williams having seventy-six points, third and fourth in the league Josh Pickett and Nick Fullwell are also on the same amount of points with Pickett having played fifteen games and Fullwell thirteen.
After an opening 4-3 win over Reece Colley Josh Pickett then lost 4-3 to Mark Jones but quickly recovered to win 7-0 against Craig Lowin while Fullwell was in top form beating Carl Hipkiss 7-0 and then Craig Lowin 6-1. Reece Colley also came back from his early defeat to beat Chris Manoila and Chris Fox 6-1 to lift him two places in the table to fifth.
At the other end of the league table Carl Hipkiss, after his big defeat to Fullwell won 4-3 against Jake Robinson before losing 5-2 to Cayden Smith, however his win saw him move from a next to bottom of the league and up four places in the table.
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The Black Country Men’s Super League after playing game twenty-seven it had no effect on the top five places in the table, the only change in the league coming from Gilbert’s Bar and Maverick swapping places, Gilbert’s dropping to seventh and Maverick moving up to sixth.
Top of the table Allens Bar ‘A’ won their home game against Bell, Kingswinford ‘B’ 4-1 to extend their lead at the top from nineteen points to twenty-two as second placed Railway Tavern had a closer 3-2 home win over Rowley Bar and Grill.
Yeltz Bar and Yeltz Bar ‘A’ are third and fourth in the table in turn on 131 and 130 points with both having played one game more than the two top teams.
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A 6-2 win over Rushpal Bhogal in week two has kept Adam Teasdale in pole position in division one of the Gilbert’s Bar Monday Night Singles League with seventeen points and a lead of two over Phil Clarke and Paul Price who are joint second in the division after Clarke beat Reece Cook Lucas 5-3 and Price won 6-2 against Martin Angell.
In division two the top two players hold on to their positions as leader Tony Singh accounted for Malcolm Pugh with a 6-2 result to take his points to eighteen and second placed Jon Williams finished all-square at 4-4 with Jason Hough to leave him five points behind Singh.
With last week’s top three players in division three not playing this week it’s all-change at the top of the table with the new leader being Michele Pritchard who played two games winning 7-1 against Eddie Gripton and then going one better and beating Sara Emma Jones 8-0 to give her 27 points from three games and a lead over second placed Sandra Beardsmore and third equal Jamie Aplin and Warren Bowers of thirteen points.
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