A massive 7-0 home win over The Coppice has taken Court Oak’s unbeaten run in the Kings Norton League to seventeen games and given them a huge ten point’s lead over second in the table Toby Jug ‘A’ who had a close 4-3 win against Cotteridge. Also on the same 24 points as Toby Jug ‘A’ are Hillyfields and Kings Norton RBL both teams winning 7-0 in turn against Kings Heath and Billesley while fifth placed Stirchley United had a closer 4-3 win at West Heath to put them on 24 points. West Heath were the only losers in the top six teams and dropped from third to sixth in the table.
At the other end of the table there was a rare win for Weoley Hill only their second win in 12 as they won 5-2 against Dingle Social who are two places and four points ahead of them but have played five games more.
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Saltley Amateur Gardeners held on to pole position in the premier division of the Sheldon and District Winter League with a closely fought 5-4 win away to The Pirates who are next to bottom of the table with only one win in five. Crown at Olton remain two points adrift of Saltley with a game in hand following their 7-2 win at The Pavillions who are bottom of the table while Crown at Shard End had a bye this week and as a result lose their third place and drop to fourth The Lyndon replacing them, their 8-1 win at Sheldon Dukes putting them level on 12 points with Crown at Olton.
With no result in for the Iron Horse versus Sheldon Social in division one Iron Horse drop from top to third in the table Solihull Moors taking over the number one position with a 7-2 home win against Crown-Forget-Me-Not giving them 12 points and the lead on average from both Highwood KB’s and Iron Horse, KB’s winning 6-3 against Sheldon Marlborough Flights. Moors have played eight games, KB’s seven and Iron Horse six.
Crown Arrows made it seven wins in as many games in the second division when they won 7-2 at Ridgemere Flights to give them a four points cushion over both Meadway Sports and Social and Highwood Arrows, Highwood having a game in hand on the other two.
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It was cup week in the Four Oaks and District League, the first round of their Coronation Shield, Norman Day Cup, Brian Goodman Cup, Ken Rust Cup and Challenge Cup. In the Coronation Shield for the second consecutive week Old Oscott Arrows faced local rivals Old Oscott WMC and after the doubles opened up a 5-4 lead but they were unable to maintain the momentum and eventually lost 9-6.
In the Norman Day Cup Pint Pot Flights were also winning 5-4 but again came undone in the triples and lost by the same 9-6 scoreline to Golden Hind Arrows.
Brookvale Social outscored The Lions but lost their first five games and the match 7-2 in the Brian Goodman Cup.
In the Ken Rust Cup Erdington Arrows staged a revival after trailing 4-3 to Plough and Arrows going on to win the final games 2-0 and the match 5-4.
The one game in the Challenge Cup saw Boldmere Tap crash to a 9-0 defeat against The Fox.
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East Birmingham Allotment Holders Association march on in the Small heath League, a 6-3 win against third in the table Gulp Tribe making it thirteen wins in thirteen games and giving them a four points advantage over second in the table Mitre who won 7-2 at Emerald Club.
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Highwood had an impressive 8-1 win over fourth placed Solihull Sports and Social Club in the Shirley and District Monday Night League but despite only losing once in 19 games their lead at the top of the table is on average only as Crown Jewels are on the same 36 points and trail by just two legs of average after their 7-2 win over third placed Shirley Red Lion who are now ten points behind the leading duo.
There were four maximums scored this week one each for Simon Cobb (Solihull Sports and Social Club), Andy Foulkes (Highwood), Alex Edwards (Sharmans Cross) and Steve Sidwell (Shirley Red Lion).
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Just two games in division one of the South Birmingham League which saw third placed Mackadown Social beat their nearest rivals fourth in the table Raven 5-4 and in the bottom of the table clash between Coleshill Social and Family Tree, both teams without a win in their opening two fixtures, it was Family Tree who got the 5-4 verdict to put them level on points and average with St John’s in a next to bottom position.
In division two leaders Banbury Flights had a convincing 8-1 win over next to bottom of the table The Bell. Banbury with ten points are two ahead of second placed The Dog who had a close 5-4 win away to The Gate. The C’s are still looking for their first points of the season and are now four adrift of the teams above them after losing their latest game against Toby Jug 5-4.
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A 6-3 win over Riley’s Red Arrows has taken Olton Crown to four wins in four games in division one of the Forest of Arden Winter League. Former leaders Journeys End are second in the table and had a 5-4 win over Sheldon Marlborough Arrows to open up a two point’s gap between the two teams.
There was a shock for Sheldon Marlborough Flights who are second in division two as they went down 5-4 at home to Ivy Leaf who are next to bottom of the table.
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The Halesowen Monday Night Ladies League played off a couple of their cup finals and in the League Cup it was Black Horse who got the better of White Horse to take the title while the Delegates Cup went to I.Cartwright (Black Horse) with W.Wilde (Hare and Hounds) finishing as runner up.
Winning through to the final of the singles were J.Smith and A.Roberts while winning in the semi finals of the doubles were A.Fradgley / I.Cheslin (Haden Cross) and A.Roberts / D.Doonan (White Horse).
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The Brierley Hill Monday Night League have completed their domestic fixtures and with a final 6-3 win over Portway Dudley Sports ‘C’ were confirmed as champions with a total of 72 points having won 36 of their 40 fixtures. The champions ended the campaign with four more points than runners up Bridge ‘B’ who completed their programme with a 5-4 win away to Tenth Lock.
Brickmakers Arms took the wooden spoon with just six wins throughout the season.
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After the opening five games in the Brierley Hill Friday Night League only two teams are unbeaten, Miners (Wollescote) with an 8-1 win at Dudley Sports are in the number one spot with a perfect ten points while second placed Brickmakers Arms had a bye this week and are now two points behind Miners but have a game in hand. Third placed Pensnett Liberal Club suffered a setback as they lost their away game against The Cross (Oldswinford) 5-4, The Cross prior to the game were next to bottom of the table.
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The Winmau Centre Thursday Night Champions League have got their new season underway and last season’s top two players Kevin Lane and Kevin Harris both got off to a good start as they chalked up two wins. Reigning champion Lane had a 4-3 win over Rob Harris and followed that with a 5-2 success over Robert Pierce, Harris also having 4-3 and 5-2 wins in turn against Chris Fox and Steve O’Neill. The early season pacesetter is newcomer Simon Meredith who recorded a 6-1 win over Rob Harris in his opening game and then won 4-3 against Steve O’Neill.
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As the Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League wound down their season champions Old Hop Pole finished with a flourish as they handed out a 7-0 whitewash to their hosts Ivy Bush to give them 60 points from 32 games with one outstanding result against third in the table The Vine, but the result will have no bearing on the title as Old Hop Pole are four points ahead of runners up Dewdrop who completed their fixture card with a 4-3 win at New Talbot to put them twelve points to the good on The Vine in third place.
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After the first eight games in the new season of the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League only two of the twenty two teams remain undefeated, Bird ‘A’ (Stourbridge) are top by two legs of average over Britannia the latest fixtures seeing Bird ‘A’ win 6-3 at home against The Bird (Wordsley) and Britannia having an 8-1 win away to Garibaldi. After the leading duo comes a batch of four teams Ten Arches ‘B’, Ashwood, Brickmakers Arms and Ten Arches ‘A’ all with 14 points two fewer than the top two teams.
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The local derby between Hillyfields ‘A’ and Hillyfields ‘B’ saw, despite a maximum from the ‘B’ teams A.Vaughan, the ‘A’ side win 5-4 to put them top of the Harborne League with 12 points from seven games, however second placed Court Oak won 7-2 against Crazy Horses (Amber Tavern) to give them the same 12 points as the top team but from six games. Avenue Flights lost 6-3 at Abbey and drop from fourth to fifth while their victors move in the opposite direction and take over the fourth spot.
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The Aston League staged their doubles knockout which attracted a very encouraging 27 pairs. From the top half of the draw A.Mountford and B.Stephens made the final after having a bye in the preliminary round then winning 2-0 against T.Kelly and A.Whitehouse followed by a 2-1 result against J.Frost and J.Morris jnr before winning their semi final against T.O’Kereke and A.Pritchett 2-0.
From the other half of the draw a 2-0 win over P.Hodgkins and R.Graham took B.Lyssaght and M.McFall into the first round proper then after a 2-1 win over T.Carroll and I.Mathews they beat C.Austin and D.Lacey 2-0 and by the same margin in the semi’s against M.Naylor and W.Naylor they booked their final place.
The final went the full three legs distance with A.Mountford and B.Stephens getting the verdict, B.Lysaght and M.McFall finishing as runners up.
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The Wolverhampton Tuesday Night League had their singles knockout on the agenda and taking the crown with a straight 3-0 win over John Nixon (Victoria) in the final was Wednesfield FC representative John Morris.
Losing semi finalists were Phil Thomas (Three Crowns) and Richard Mattox (Village Inn).
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White Swan have been ousted from pole position in the Netherton Thursday Night League after suffering a massive 7-2 home defeat by fourth in the table Dudley Ex Serviceman’s Club. Taking over the number one spot, but only on average from White Swan as both teams are on 33 points is Rose and Crown who had a 5-4 win away to Bulls Head who drop one place to fourth in the table with 24 points three less than Ex Serviceman’s and nine fewer than the leading pair but they do have two games in hand on all three teams.
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The latest round of fixtures in the West Midlands Men’s Super League has seen leaders Landywood ‘A’ win 4-1 against ECC to give them 42 points from their seven games and second placed Crown ‘A’ have a close 3-2 success away to Allens Sports Bar to leave them one point behind the top team with 41 points. Bridgtown Social were also 3-2 winners in their home game against Landywood ‘B’ to leave them five points adrift of the leaders and in third place in the table.
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