On the fixture card for the Four Oaks and District League was their doubles knockout which in the preliminary round saw M.Naylor notch up a maximum as he and his partner P.Seadon booked their place in round one with a straight 2-0 win over P.Locke and M.Maher. Highlight from round one was the 160 break by K.Smith as he and S.Robinson progressed into the quarter-finals with again a 2-0 win over S.Alexander and Jordan Alexander.
On reaching the last four R.Lowe and R.O’Brien with a 2-0 result knocked out B.Hughes and J.Burdett while Z.Prince and J.Prince were taken to a deciding leg by L.Dells and Jack Alexander before securing their place in the final, L.Dells scoring a maximum despite losing in the semis. The final produced a straight 3-0 win for Z.Prince and J.Prince with R.Lowe and R.O’Brien finishing as runners-up.
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The doubles knockout was also on the agenda for the Camp Hill League which attracted twenty-five entries and produced no fewer than forty-eight scores of a ton or more on the night including maximums for both Neil Parsonage and Antony Daley. In the semi-finals there were wins for Tyseley Bears duo Dave Heighway and Anthony Daly plus Clumsy Swan pair Shay Darby and Liam O’Donnell who in turn accounted for Karl Neale and Geoff Hopkins from Erdington Nomads and Neil Parsonage and Riley Mooney from Cotterills Lane EBAHA Club.
The title eventually went to Dave Heighway and Antony Daly with Shay Darby and Liam O’Donnell finishing as runners-up.
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The Sheldon and District Summer League are up to week two and with a 6-2 win at Brian’s Flights Raven Arrows remain in pole position in group one helped along by two scores of 180 from Zac Prince. Despite their 6-2 win Raven Arrows now have to share the number one spot with Langley Arrows after they drew level on points and average with their 7-1 win away to bottom of the group Mackadown Sports and Social Club. Highwood move up one place to third following their 5-3 home win over RAFA, both Dave Cherry and Simon Edwards finding the three treble twenties for Highwood.
In group two Trident Spears were held to a 4-4 draw at home against Banbury Club and as a result have forfeited the top spot to Yardley Ex Colts who move up from second place after winning 5-3 at Kingshurst Labour Club, Shay Darby hitting a maximum for the Ex Colts. The results leave Trident one point behind Yardley and one point to the good on third placed Banbury Club.
A 5-3 home win over Smithswood Social Club keeps Sheldon Marlborough Ridge top of group three, they have a one point lead on second place Old Salts Darts who after winning 6-2 in their home tie with Maggies take over the number two spot from Langley Flights who had their fixture with Shirley Misfits postponed and drop to third place with a game in hand on the two teams above them.
Lyndon Old Boys lost 5-3 away to Moseley Rugby Club in group four and also lose the number one spot and drop to third with their victors taking over at the top of the table with a perfect four points from their opening two games. A 6-2 home win over Trident Flights has taken The Raven up into second place, two points short of Moseley Rugby Club but with a game in hand.
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The South West Birmingham Clubs League have played off their final rearranged fixture which saw West Heath CEM win 6-2 at Quarry Lane, the runners-up spot previously confirmed for West Heath, this final win taking their points tally to thirty-six and leaving them just two short of league champions Longbridge United but seven to the good on third placed Northfield Town. Quarry Lane ended their season in the singles division placed sixth with twenty-three points some fifteen behind the league champions.
The shadow league was a close fought affair with Perfection and Quarry Lane both finishing on thirteen points.
In the pre-match doubles division, the final win over Quarry Lane took champions West Heath CEM’s total points to 245 thirteen more than runners-up Northfield Town and third placed Longbridge United.
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The Stourbridge and District Monday Night League are four games into the second half of their season and have another fourteen to play but leaders Old Liberal Club have completed their twenty-two games and remain undefeated. Old Liberal Club’s latest fixture saw them win 6-1 at home against Queens Head to maintain their four points lead over their nearest rivals Gate Hangs Well ‘B’ who were also 6-1 winners playing away against Raven ‘A’, in fact all of the top four teams had 6-1 results, third placed Five Ways however finishing on the wrong side of that result as they went down at Princess to see their hosts replace them in the number three spot as they dropped down to fourth place now ten points off the top of the table and two short of their victors.
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It was the singles knockout finals night for the Netherton Thursday Night League in which Jason Bland, Lee Beasley, Jon Colley and Steve Tipper all made their exits in the quarter-finals going out to respective opponents Jason Southall (2-0), Bobby Carr (2-0), Phil Tonks (2-1) and Kurt Wright (2-1).
Both semi-finals had straight 2-0 results with Phil Tonks winning against Bobby Carr and Jason Southall taking out Kurt Wright to set up the final between the two winners. The 3-1 result for the final went in favour of what was on the night a very well deserved Jason Southall with Phil Tonks runner-up.
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A bye in game sixteen has cost Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club the leadership of the Silver End Sunday Morning League as they dropped to second place behind new leaders Dudley Sports ‘A’ whose 7-1 home win over High Acres ‘B’ has given them a three points lead over the former leaders. Third in the table is Old Star after they added a 5-3 win at Brickmakers Arms to their account to give them a total of thirty-five points, five short of Dudley Sports ‘A’. All of the top three teams have now played the same fifteen games.
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In the Stourbridge and District Wednesday Night League Fox Inn (Lye) have been ousted off the top of the table after losing 4-3 at Stourbridge FC. Prior to the fixture Fox Inn were top and Stourbridge FC were just four places off the foot of the table of seventeen teams the win seeing them move up just one place. Fox Inn drop to fourth place but on the same twelve points as second and third in the league Bird in Hand ‘E’ and Old Liberal Club ‘A’ who in turn won 6-1 at Rose and Crown and 5-2 at home against Hollybush. Taking over in pole position is Five Ways ‘A’, their 4-3 home win over Plough taking their undefeated run to seven games and giving them a two points advantage of the chasing three teams, two of them Bird in Hand ‘E’ and Fox Inn (Lye) having played one game more than the leaders. At the other end of the table Beech Tree Miners chalked up their first win in eight games, a 4-3 home success over Garibladi seeing them move off the foot of the table to a next to bottom position with Netherton Conservative replacing them at the bottom after losing 5-2 at home against Five Ways ‘B’, the Conservative Club having lost all eight games played so far and the only team in the league without a win.
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Two games into the second half of the season and Vine ‘A’ remain unbeaten in the Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League. Vine ‘A’ took their winning run to seventeen games with a 6-1 home win over Horse and Jockey who drop one place in the table to sixth while their opponents hold on to their six points lead at the top of the table but now over Tamebridge whose 4-3 win at Allen’s Bar saw them replace their hosts in second place in the table, Allen’s drop one place to third and are now eight points behind the leaders.
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In the West Midlands Men’s Super League leaders Kings Head ‘A’ had a home fixture against Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club who prior to the game were third in the table. In what was a close encounter the home side had a narrow 3-2 victory to take their points tally to sixty-one while the Ex Serviceman’s Club dropped down to fourth place on fifty-five points. Second in the league Dog and Partridge had a convincing 5-0 home win over Cottage Spring to put them on fifty-nine points, just two fewer than the leaders and four ahead of third placed Gilbert’s Bar ‘B’ whose 3-2 home win over Staffordshire Knot gives them the same fifty-five points as Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club.
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After the opening four games in the new season of the Black Country Men’s Super League three teams, Allen’s Bar, Quarry Bank Liberal Club ‘B’ and Townsend ‘A’ are locked together at the top of the table all on sixteen points. In the latest round of fixtures Allen’s Bar won 5-0 at home against Pensnett Liberal Club, Quarry Bank Liberal Club ‘B’ had a 4-1 home win over Blackheath Liberal Club and Townsend ‘A’ had a similar 4-1 home win over Allen’s Bar ‘B’. The three teams have a three points lead over fourth in the league Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club who had a close 3-2 home win over New Inn.
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The Harborne and District League were involved in the latest round of their Section Cups, in the Top Section games league leaders Northfield Conservative Club had a somewhat surpringly large 16-5 win over Copper Fox ‘R’ who are their nearest rivals in the league and only two points behind them, while the Northfield Town versus Copper Fox ‘M’ game went to the wire with Copper Fox ‘M’ just getting the 11-10 verdict. There were no fewer than three maximums scored in the two games with J.Needham grabbing one for Northfield Town, T.Colley for Copper Fox ‘M’ and T.Hamilton for Copper Fox ‘R’.
In the Middle Section games there no real surprises as Cock Inn beat The Mill 12-9 with John Fox recording a superb 151 game shot for the winners and Smethwick Cricket Club won the other game against Weoley Castle WMC 13-8.
There was just the one game for the Bottom Section in which Lion Bar chalked up the rounds biggest win an 18-3 victory over Avenue Social.
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Scott Baker looks determined to hold on to his division one title in the Gilbert’s Bar Monday Night Singles League, his latest 5-3 win over Clayton Edge taking his total points to 163 and giving him a lead of twenty-three over second in the division Dean Simmons-Fullwood who has the advantage of having played two games fewer than Baker. Third in the division Ian Stanton has only played nineteen games, one less than Simmons-Fullwood and three less than Baker but he is thirty-six short of Baker and has thirteen fewer than Simmons-Fullwood.
In division two, leader Kurt Wright didn’t play this week however after the eighteen games he has played he has 149 points which is twenty-one more than second placed Allan Davies who has played two games more than him, in his most recent fixture Davies won 5-3 against Alex Simmons. Alan Melling is third in the division he added a 6-2 win against Gemma Barrett Jenkins to his account to put him on 122 points which is just six fewer than Davies plus he has two games in hand on Davies.
Dave Thackeray leads division three, he has played and won all twenty of his fixtures dropping just fifteen legs in the process, he is the only person in the whole league to have a 100% win record. Thackeray’s latest victim was Jenni Seedhouse who lost 8-0 to take Thackeray’s points to 185 with a huge lead of twenty-five plus a game in hand on his nearest rival Thomas Hollowood who had a 7-1 win against Sarah Barrett.
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