The quarter finals of the Sheldon Shield were on the agenda for the Sheldon and District Winter League. The only remaining premier division team in the last eight, Banbury Club made their exit losing 5-4 away to division one side Crown-Forget-Me-Not.
Holy Souls and Langley Hall Arrows were also 5-4 winners as they in turn defeated Yardley Ex Colts and Baldwin Bears. Riley’s Rags won their tie with fellow division one contenders Custard House 6-3.
One late result from week 20 saw Highwood ‘A’ consolidate their third place in the premier division table with a 7-2 win at Sheldon Dukes. Sheldon Dukes were again on the wrong side of a result as they lost 5-4 to George V in a rearranged fixture brought forward from week 22. Two other rearranged games EBAHA win 6-2 at Maggies in division one and Shirley RBL Misfits win their home tie with Small Heath Amateur Gardeners 5-4 in division two.
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Bridge ‘A’ took their points tally to 50 at the top of the Stourbridge Wednesday Night League and confirmed themselves as champions when they handed out a 9-0 whitewash to their hosts Queens, who are bottom of the table and without a win in 26 games. Ten Arches ‘A’ were also 7-0 winners, holding on to second place with a victory over Fox (Lye), but with a four point’s gap between them and Bridge ‘A’ and having only one fixture remaining cannot now catch the league winners, who have two games to play.
Ten Arches ‘A’ will finish the season as runners up as they are six points to the good on third in the table Rose and Crown.
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Just one late result from the South Birmingham League which saw The Crown win their home game against The Punch Bowl 7-2 and go top of division one, level on the same 16 points as Riley’s Kings but with a much superior average.
Third placed Mackadown Social are four points behind the leading duo.
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The Gate (Colley Gate) were the only losers in the top six teams in the Cradley Tuesday Night League. Playing away to fifth placed Roost ‘A’ The Gate lost by a massive 8-1 and as a result drop one place in the table to seventh.. Crown ‘A’ continue to lead the way, top of the table with a perfect 24 points, their twelfth consecutive win being a 6-3 success away to middle of the table Chainmakers ‘A’.
Second placed Chainmakers ’B’ handed out a 9-0 whitewash to their hosts Riddins Tavern to keep them within two points of the leaders, however they have played one game more than Crown ‘A’.
Despite the halfway stage still some distance away there does now appear to be a gap forming between the top four teams and the rest of the field, third and fourth placed Brickmakers and Members Club are both on 20 points and fifth placed Roost ‘A’ are a further four points adrift, but there is a lot of games remaining and anything can happen in those games.
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Winners of the men’s doubles knockout in the Forest of Arden Winter League are B.Nixon and J.Sidwell, while S.Kingdon and A.Edwards took the women’s title.
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The Small Heath League have been engaged in the semi finals of their Upside Down Cup, the first of the semi’s staged at Shannon’s saw bottom of the table New Victoria Club lose out to Westminster Lions, who are currently placed third. The other semi was played at the Gulp Tribe and produced something of a surprise result as next to bottom of the table Cob’s Bar defeated fifth placed Sheldon Marlborough Flights.
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The Netherton Thursday Night League staged their doubles knockout and because of holiday commitment two teams were unable to turn up. In the first of the semi finals R.Carr and N.Fullwell (Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club) were taken the full three legs distance by J.Archer and J.Southall (Fairfield) before booking their final place with a 2-1 win. S.Siviter and K.Chambers (Springfield Social Club) won their tie with R.Tipper and A.Galeb (Chainmakers) 2-0.
The final was another 2-0 scoreline with Carr and Fullwell beating Siviter and Chambers.
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Nick Fullwell was triumphant again when in the eighth Annual John Westwood Memorial Knockout staged at the Pensnett Social and Welfare Club he beat fellow West Midlands player Mark Rollinson to clinch the £200 first prize. The final went the full nine legs distance with Fullwell coming out the 5-4 winner. Rollinson collected £100 as runner up and there was £50 for the losing semi finalists Ian Jones and Pat Pace. Quarter finalists C.Sparrow, C.Hickman, K.Banbrick and M.Flatman each received £20 for a total pay-out of £500.
The event raised £249.72 for charity from what was another very successful and well supported day.
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The Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League played their singles knockout down to the last thirty two players and going through were, Simon Pritchard, Phil Mayo, Karl Noakes, Jason Hough (Riley’s ‘C’), Shane Yeomans, Dave Shinton, Mark Lowbridge (Victoria), Craig Hampton (Merry Boys), Darren Ball, Terry Jones (Oxbarn), Andy Busby (Otter and Vixen), Terry Rathbone (Bull), Kev Lees (Railway), Wayne Horton (Village ‘B’), Dave Walton (Ashmore), Craig Bickley (Penn Bowling), Paul Maiden, John Aston, Scott Challenor (Chillington), Ian Beirne (Emerald), Ben Wright (Wednesfield Cons), Jamie Daly (Roebuck), Mick Noakes (Boat ‘A’), Andy Icke (Wednesfield Legion ‘B’), Paul Bromley, Mark Bromley (Wednesfield Legion ‘A’), Matt Evans, Keith Davies (Wolverhampton Sports Arena), Calum Bray (Yale Club), Kev Jones (Ukrainian Club), Matt Campbell, Stuart Steele (Castle).
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It was a good week for Bulls Head ‘B’ in the Pip Club League as they chalked up only their second win in nineteen games when they beat Longwood 12-4 and moved off the foot of the overall table to be replaced by Anchor Inn, who lost 10-6 away to Sports Bar ‘180’.
Leaders bulls Head ‘A’, were the biggest winners of the week, a 15-1 home win against Two Gates Club securing their number one spot with 37 points from 19 games. Dolphin moved up one place to second with a 13-3 win over Birchmoor Club, who were formerly in second place.
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Just two games played in the Camp Hill League, top of the table Cotterills Lane Club winning 5-2 at Station Hotel and second in the table Gulp Tribe, beating Westminster Lions 6-1 to remain two points behind Cotterills.
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After completing five games in the Tettenhall Wednesday Night League Whitmore Reans WMC are the only team able to boast a 100% win record, their latest success being a 5-2 win away to Village Inn.
Riley’s and Moreton are both two points off the top and in turn had 5-2 and 4-3 wins against Pear and partridge and Bull.
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