The Sheldon Marlborough Cricket Club Singles League staged their divisional singles knockouts and in the Premiership Division it was Sean O’Donnell with top scores of 135,104 and 4×100 who took the title with a final 4-3 win over Paul Seadon who had two 120 breaks and scores of 135 and 127.
The Championship Division contest was won by the divisional leader Ken Salsbury who clinched the title with a final 4-2 success against Matt Murrin while division leader Steve McCarthy lost out in his final against fourth placed Alan Wale going down in three straight legs.
———————————
There was just one rearranged division one fixture in the Pip Club League which saw Bulls Head ‘A’ (Polesworth) beat Belgrave Club 8-1 to take over pole position from Prince of Wales, both teams are on 24 points Bulls Head having the better average.
For division two it was the singles knockout in which Winning Post’s Tom Parker became champion with a final win over Old Liberal’s Alan Carter.
Losing semi finalists were John Higgins (Globe, Wilnecote) and Paul Richards (Royal Oak).
———————————
The South Birmingham League completed their Mini League fixtures the Raven beating St John’s in a very close 14-13 game to clinch the title with a total of 75 legs, St John’s ending the season as runners up with just two legs fewer on 73. Mackadown Social had a 16-11 win over Erdington Members Club to take third place with 72 legs, Erdington with 70 legs finishing fourth.
———————————
Journeys End lost their unbeaten record in division one of the Forest of Arden Summer League when they went down 5-3 at Greville Arrows, however despite the defeat Journeys hang on to the number one spot with four points one more than their hosts who in a joint second position with Ivy Leaf have three points, Ivy Leaf winning their home tie with Crown Arrows 6-2.
No such problem for Journeys End in division two as Journeys End Flights took their winning run to three games when they handed out an 8-0 whitewash to their visitors Inn On The Green to keep them two points ahead of Riley’s Resurrected who had a vital 5-3 win against Highwood Arms who drop one place to fourth, taking over third place is Crown Arrow Flights after beating Highwood Exiles 5-3.
———————————
As a result of not playing any games this week in the Shirley Red Lion Premier League Mick Gorst was ousted from the top position by Chris Thomas who had 3-0 wins over both Mark Cater and Mike Harris to give him a total of 23 points from eight games two more than Gorst who has only played seven and remains the only unbeaten player in the league.
Biggest climber of the week was Mark Gwalchmai who leapt from ninth to fifth with his 3-0 wins over Paul Higgins and Steve Sidwell, Sidwell dropping from third to sixth place in the table.
———————————
The top three teams pulled away from the rest of the field in the Shirley and District Monday Night League as first and second placed Highwood and Shirley Red Lion both recorded 8-1 wins in turn over Sharmans Cross and Shirley Spartac to give Highwood 34 points and Red Lion 32. Third placed and reigning champions Crown Jewels went one better than their rivals winning 9-0 against Blue Bell with Bob Nixon hitting a maximum for Jewels who are a further two points adrift of Red Lion with 30 points. After the leading three teams comes a gap of ten points to fourth placed Solihull Sports and Social Club whose 6-3 defeat at home to Shirley Legionnaires puts them on 20 points.
Highwood’s Paul Stevens was another player to find the three treble twenties.
———————————
Kevin Harris has returned to the top of the Winmau Centre Thursday Night Champions League following his close 4-3 win over Chris Manoila plus a more comfortable 6-1 success against Baz Pearce to give him a total of 50 points from nine games. Reigning champion Mick Baker has moved up into second place and with 44 points from eight games is six points behind Harris, Baker’s latest games saw him beat former leader Robert Pierce 4-3 and Andy Whale 5-2. Pierce recovered from his reversal against Baker to win 6-1 against Mark Bayliss to give him a total of 43 points from nine games.
———————————
A 32-16 win over The Untouchables was not enough for Is It In to hold on to pole position in the Winmau Centre Monday Night League as 3 Yam Yams and A.Stokie with four maximums from Owen Maiden and one each for Reece Cook and Mark Daniel chalked up a massive 43-5 win over Full Montie to give them a total of 321 points four more than Is It In who move down to second place.
Week nine saw the two bottom teams square up to each other, next to bottom Where’s My Team winning 29-19 against bottom team Double Trouble to open a 27 points gap between the two teams.
Other players to hit maximums this week were Keith Davies (Here For The Beer), B.Bentley (The Untouchables), James Owen (2) and Jimmy Handley (Is It In), J.Evans (The Outcasts) and Steve Gough (What’s The Point) recorded a superb 154 checkout.
———————————
The Camp Hill League played off their Mixed Doubles Knockout and taking the honours with a final win over Liza Burke and Mick O’Sullivan were Sue Kingdon and Simon Edwards.
Losing semi finalists were Maureen Wiseman and Neil Parsonage plus Janet Kirby and David Evans.
———————————
With leaders of the Small Heath League East Birmingham Allotment Holders Association having their fixture with Moseley All Service cancelled the three teams below them all took full advantage to reduce the arrears, second placed Gulp Tribe were 7-2 winners against Emerald Flights and both third and fourth placed Mitre and Wagon and Horses were in turn 6-3 winners against Cob’s Bar and Emerald Club. The league position is now that EBAHA are on 16 points with Gulp and Mitre on 14 with Wagon and Horses a further two points adrift on 12.
———————————
Congratulations to West Midlands player Nick Fullwell on winning the fifth PDC Unicorn Challenge Event at Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan.
Fullwell won his first two rounds against Martin Lukeman and Ben Davies 5-3 he then beat Bradley Kirk 5-4 and Lee Evans 5-2. In the last eight he was taken to a deciding leg by Ryan Harrington before winning 5-4 and then booked his final place with a 5-2 win over Mark Hylton.
In the final Fullwell sealed his £2,000 win with a convincing 5-1 verdict over Rob Cross.
Nick Fullwell
———————————
The Kings Norton League have got their new season underway and have changed their format from one to two divisions, the early pacesetters in division one are last season’s undefeated champions Court Oak who once again have got the season off to a bright start with wins in their opening three game the latest of which was a 6-1 home win over Stirchley United. Three teams The Coppice, Toby Jug ‘A’ and E57 are all two points behind Court Oak.
In division two newcomers Grant Arms lead the way a 4-3 win over Cotteridge Social maintaining their 100% winning start and giving them a two points buffer over another new team to the league second placed Coldstream who have won their first two games. The only other undefeated team in the division is Rubery RBL who have only played just one game so far.
———————————
The Sutton and District League are up to week four and in division one Boldmere St Mike’s and Beehive are the only teams to have won all four games both of them recording 6-3 wins in their latest fixtures Boldmere against Golden Hind Arrows and Beehive against Old Oscott Arrows, Boldmere are top of the table by virtue of their two legs average advantage on Beehive.
In division two four teams are on six points and in order of superior average it’s St Thomas’s Club leading the way followed by The Boot, Erdington Club and Golden Hind.
It was a good week for Rosey Mac’s as they chalked up their first win of the campaign a 5-4 victory away to bottom of the table The Park.
———————————
The Brierley Hill Monday Night League has two games to go to the midway point of its season and an 8-1 win over fourth in the table The Bell by leaders Dudley Sports ‘C’ has seen them preserve their four points advantage over second in the table The Bridge who won their home game with Blue Brick 7-2.
Third placed Bulls Head (Netherton) lost ground as they were beaten 5-4 at home by New Talbot who are three places off the foot of the table.
———————————
Ten Arches ‘A’ leaders of the Stourbridge and District Monday Night League suffered a setback to their title aspirations when they had a huge 8-1 defeat inflicted on them by Ashwood who move up one place into second, their opponents hold on to pole position but their lead is now reduced to just two points not only over Ashwood but also Britannia and Bird ‘A’ (Stourbridge), Bird ‘A’ in fourth place also having a game in hand in which a win would see them take over the number one spot.
———————————
The Bell had a surprising 5-4 defeat away to Ex Serviceman’s ‘B’ in the Rowley Monday Night League as Bell dropped from second to third and their victors remain two places off the bottom of the table, the win being only their fifth in sixteen games.
Ex Serviceman’s ‘A’ have taken over the number two spot after a 7-2 win at Ivy Bush ‘A’ to stay level on 30 points with leaders Springfield Social Club who were also 7-2 winners in their tie with Ivy Bush ‘Z’.
———————————
The Cradley Tuesday Night League have reached the halfway stage of their season and White Horse will be taking not only a four points lead over their rivals but also an undefeated fifteen games run into the second half of the season. The latest round of fixtures saw White Horse win 8-1 against Hawne Lane Tavern while Brickmakers Arms and Crown (Station Road) the two nearest teams to them in turn won 6-3 at White Swan and 5-4 at Chop House, White Swan are fourth in the table but now twelve points off the top.
———————————
Despite having already won the Bilston and District League title and only two fixtures remaining The Nutan have not relented and are still handing out big defeats to their opponents the most recent team to be on the receiving end of a 6-1 defeat being The Orange Tree. The battle is still going on for the runners up position with Tilted Barrel and Lanesfield RBL both on 56 points, Tilted Barrel adding a 5-2 win away to Bilston Conservative Club ‘A’ to their tally while Lanesfield were 7-0 winners at home to Allens Sports Bar ‘B’.
———————————
There is very little change in the league table for the Hilltop Friendly Tuesday Night League as all of the top five teams won in week fifteen and four of those teams Dewdrop, The Vine, Old Hop Pole and Island Inn are all on 24 points. Leaders Dewdrop did their average a power of good when they won 7-0 away to Sportsman while the other three teams all finished with a 4-3 scoreline, The Vine beating Albion, Old Hop Pole with two maximums and an eight darts leg from C.Butler winning against Hayes Social and Island Inn accounting for Ivy Bush.
———————————
In the West Midlands Men’s Super League Bridgtown Social held league leaders Crown ‘A’ to a close 3-2 win but nevertheless it was a win and Crown’s twenty third in twenty four games giving them a massive 25 points lead over second placed Landywood ‘A’ who were 5-0 winners against Wednesfield FC, Landywood do have two games in hand on Crown but even 5-0 wins in both would still leave a lot of ground to make up.
———————————
Whitmore Reans WMC added a 4-3 win over Riley’s ‘B’ to their count in the Tettenhall Wednesday Night League to keep them two points to the good on the rest of the field while their opponents slipped from third to fourth in the table. Riley’s ‘A’ in second place had a 6-1 win at Claregate but moving up the table into the number three spot is Cleveland Arms who made it 12 wins in 13 games when they won 4-3 against The Bell to leave them two points behind the leaders with two games in hand.
———————————
With only three games to play in the Tamworth League the fight goes on for the title as current leaders Prince of Wales ‘A’ won 7-0 against Three Tuns (Fazeley) to put them on 159 points and just three behind them comes Fox and Dogs who had a 6-1 home win over Prince of Wales ‘B’ who are third with two games in hand but 23 points behind their hosts.
———————————