STOURBRIDGE Snooker League pacesetters West Midlands Police came from behind to maintain top spot in the Premier Division .

Leadership of the league seemed certain to pass over to Hotshots SC A when Neil Beckley and Dave Green gave them a 2-0 lead at home to defending champions, but Kev Franklin and Eliott Bastable levelled the scores and Gavin Sloan completed the recovery in the deciding frame against Milan Krstanovic, thus extending the Police’s advantage from two points to four.

The third and fourth placed teams enjoyed comfortable victories, with Amblecote Institute A’s 4-1 win at Townsend Social a particularly impressive result; Rob Clark, David Oakes, Ash Sidaway and Rick Wooldridge all won with Darrell Payne replying.

They trail Hotshots by two points with Pockets SC A a further two points away after a 4-1 win against their B team, who began well through Lee Page but Taylor Fish, Tom Pepperall, John Betton and Rich Pepperall, who had a break of 44, proved too strong.

Norton Social A returned to form in style with a 5-0 maximum at Kinver Constitutional A, where Rob Pitt, Steve Mason and Andy Smith, with runs of 76, 60 and 56 respectively, taking a liking to the tables.

Hotshots B’s Dawid Konior won the opener at Brandhall Labour on the black, but the home team ran out comfortable 4-1 winners thanks to Paul Caldeira, Rob Howen, Jon Bate and Bal Sembi, who compiled a break of 70.

Meanwhile, in Division One, St John’s Social retained their unbeaten record with a 3-2 win at Amblecote Institute B but the match was only decided on the final black when Nick Carson inflicted the first defeat on Mark Colbourne.

Earlier, Mick Cook and Jason Colbourne, who deprived Kev Smith of his unbeaten run, had won for the Institute with Paul Manning and Simon Thomas, now 6/6, replying.

Glyn Whitehouse of Moor Pool & Snooker did well to stretch Kinver Const B’s Jason Hickman to the black, but Adam Sprague & Dave Simmonds gave Kinver the win before Simon Dingley & Ian Priest, with the help of a 39 break, gave the home team some consolation.

In a tight match at Old Edwardians, Wombourne edged a 3-2 win thanks to a fine performance from Paul Tristram, and good comebacks from Jon Perry, who took pink, black and a respotted black to thwart Gavin Dunn, and John Wooldridge who trailed Harry Hall by 19 points with only 35 left on.

There was another good away achievement by Amblecote RBL B who visited Norton Social B and won 3-2; Barry Young and Geoff Foster did well to beat the talented youngsters, Luke Grosvenor & Joe Davies respectively while Steve Ball’s break of 31 was crucial in beating Carl Webb. Chris Crumpton and Paul Bowen won with something to spare for Norton.

To complete a clean sweep of 3-2 away victories, Baggeridge Social had the tried and trusted pairing of Luke Whale and Frankie Bennett, so much a part of their success in recent years, to thank, along with 19 year old Alfie Southall, who managed the considerable feat of coming from behind to beat Paul Bates, in only his second league match. Darren Legge and Alan Cope won for the Institute who share second place with Baggeridge, albeit a distant 11 points behind St John’s Social.

Kingswinford Cons C still lead the way at the top of the Second Division despite suffering their first defeat of the season away to Stourbridge Institute B. John Cartwright and Bob Guise lost the first time as Harry Jones & Nick Aston opened up a 2-0 lead for the Institute, but Sam Porter and Adam Coley made it 2-2.

In a tight deciding frame, Leigh Bennett called a foul on himself on yellow, unseen by referee or opponent, in a typically sporting manner, and from the free ball, Simon Tyler cleared to pink to clinch the match for the home team.

Amblecote RBL A beat Kinver Constitutional C 4-1 to close the gap on the leaders to 4 points, with Wayne Shaw now having most wins in the division with 6/6 while his colleague Shane Lee has lost only once, both enjoying an excellent first season in the team.

Bahia’s Snooker Club, in their first season, are in 3rd place, 7 points off the top, following a closely fought 3-2 win at home to Kingswinford Snooker Centre. Reece Bahia, on the black, Gary Skinner & Andy Martin just did enough before Steve Hill and Paul Curry fought back to take a frame each.

Stourbridge Institute C battled to a 3-2 victory at Amblecote Institute C thanks to Mark Daniels, Louise Taylor and Steven Metcalfe-Taylor, all successful on their return to their former club, but only Sean Hassett, who is enjoying a fine season, could win for Stourbridge’s D team as they lost at home to Amblecote’s D team. Steven Butcher, Mark Robson & Rich Brookes won convincingly for the visitors who also had a frame conceded to them.