NORTON Social A took another significant step towards retaining the Stourbridge Snooker League's Premier Division championship with a 3-2 win on the tables of one of their pursuers, the 2014 champions Hotshots SC A.

They were given an excellent start when Steve Mason, with a 38 break, handed Roy Stokes only his second defeat, and Graham Tomkins beat the world 76th ranked professional, Mitchell Mann.

It was quite a result for Tompkins, stepping into the team to help out and enjoying a night to remember.

Callum Downing, with a quickfire 74 break, and Milan Krstanovic, with a 41 in a fine display, levelled the scores whilst the other frame progressed. An early 40 had given Norton’s Ashley Aston the edge and although Dave Green tried hard to fight back, Aston held firm to secure the match.

Brandhall Labour held on to second place defeating Hotshots’ B team at home 3-2, Alan Hooper in top form with runs of 64 and 51, and decisive wins for Rob Howen and Bal Sembi completing the win against last season’s First Division champions.

Paul Caldeira and Russ Edwards, the over 65 individual champion for the last two years, took two good points for the visitors.

After their gallant defeat at Norton last week, Baggeridge Social, like Hotshots B, the other promoted team, were able to celebrate their first win with a 3-2 success at home to Moor Pool & Snooker A.

Martin Collingridge, who came so close to bringing off the shock at the league leaders, Frankie Bennett and Matt Whale, with breaks of 31 and 30, clinched the win, with Paul Dunkey and Chris Price replying.

West Midlands Police, occupied in their national championships, postponed their match at Pockets.

Meanwhile, a power failure in Brierley Hill caused the Moor Pool and Snooker C against Kinver Constitution B match to be postponed, and this gave Kinver B’s pursuers the chance to close the ten point advantage gradually established over the last two months.

Kingswinford Cons B accepted the opportunity with relish, beating another of the contenders for honours, Moor Pool & Snooker B 5-0; Tony Davies, Steve Small, Dave and Greg Reece and Andrew Brown trimmed Kinver’s lead to four points.

Third-placed Kingswinford Cons A fought back from 2-0 down at Norton Social B for whom Joe Davies and Paul Bowen were on target, levelling through Sam Mattocks and John Byng, but were edged out in the decider when Thomas Male lost on the black to Luke Grosvenor. They are now five points below their B team.

In the clash between the teams promoted from the Second Division, Wombourne lost the first two frames away to Stourbridge Inst B, but Bob Mason, Mark Bastable and Dave Flavell staged a recovery to lift their team into fourth place, three points further away, although the following evening, in a rearranged match, they were joined in fourth when Moor Pool & Snooker B, who also went 2-0 down at home to the Institute B team, fought back to win 3-2, with Paul Taylor winning the decider.

There was another close contest at Kinver, whose A team lost 3-2 to Amblecote Institute B; Adam Coley, with a break of 40, Mick Cook & Mark Colbourne, who did well to beat Jon Perry in the decider, just had the edge over their opponents.

Stourbridge Institute A bounced back to form with a vengeance, taking all five frames away to Kinver’s C team, for whom it was a 4th successive defeat; Gary Harris did particularly well to beat Adam Sprague, who had been joint leader with most wins in the division but now there are five players sharing that honour, Stuart Taylor, Mark Bastable (Wombourne), Tony Davies (K’ford Cons B), & Luke Grosvenor (Norton Social B) all challenging with 12 wins each.

Second Division report: Stourbridge Old Edwardians stretched their lead to eight points, with a 4-1 win at home to Kingswinford Cons D, allied by a narrow defeat for one of their rivals. John Cartwright gave the visitors a great start by becoming the first player to beat Gavin Dunn on his own table, but Harry Hall, Chris Cowley, Ed Davies & Dave Woodall all won fairly comfortably for Old Eds.

There was a surprise at Amblecote Royal British Legion when Stourbridge Institute D produced their best result of the season to beat the promotion chasing B team 3-2. Sean Hassett, with a break of 33, Ron Peplow & Steve Donoghue, making a welcome return to the league, and against his former club too, secured the win with Steve & Jack Ball both winning in reply.

Kingswinford Cons C put distance between themselves and Kinver Const D by defeating them 4-1, and they occupy 4th place, a point behind the Legion’s A team, who had a bye this week, and 3 behind the Legion’s B team, but it is now nine points back to Kinver, who are 5th. Neil Thompson, Lee Wragg and the formidable pair, Leigh Bennett & Sam Porter, who have lost only two frames each, took the match for Kingswinford.

Stourbridge Inst C enjoyed more success when James Tivendale, Stephen Metcalfe-Taylor & Brian Taylor just edged a closely-fought match against Amblecote Inst C 3-2, while Steve Butcher was Amblecote Inst D’s only winner as Kingswinford Snooker Centre recorded back-to-back wins, 4-1 away from home, thanks to Paul Curry, Matt Surmacz, Ian Billingham and Steve Ballinger, who was in fine form with a break of 30 followed by a 34 clearance.