Leaders lose in cup (From Dudley News)

Leaders lose in cup

There was a pause in the league action, as attention turned to the team knock-out events. Premier Division leaders, Brierley Hill SC A tried to concede 195 points away to Amblecote RBLA, and although all five players won, Amblecote kept hanging on by taking the all important colours. David Gilroy held David Oakes to three points , and Darren Waldron held the final frame challenge of Darren Oakes.

By contrast, Baggeridge Social A, lying second in the Premier Division, had a perfect start when Richard Evans avenged an inter-town defeat a few years ago against Dibdale's Rob Skidmore in style with breaks of 68 and 64. John Chester and Alan Checketts did well to lose by only two and seven respectively but Ryan Evans extended the winning margin to 100 points.

Gavin Sloan's 75 and Steve Mason's 53 gave West Midlands Police an overwhelming victory at Stourbridge Institute C, while Neil Rollinson's 40 break gave Norton A a fine start against Amblecote Institute B, for whom Steve Ball did particularly well to force a tie against Charlie Randle.

In the all Kinver clash, the C team's Steve Jones, winner of his last 17 Second Division frames, had a great result against the prolific Mick Faulkner, winner of his last ninePremier encounters for the A team, but Simon Hickman and Aaron Dakin recovered 150 points between them and Andrew Highfield pulled back the last 35 points in the last frame.

The father and 14 year old son pairing of Gary and Andrew Smith gave Pockets an unassailable advantage in the opening frames at Harts Hill Social.

In the Plate competition, Hot Shots SC were impressive in giving Dibdale SC B 202 start and winning by 100 points, while Norton Social B won all five frames away to Wombourne B to win narrowly by 16 points.

Langley Bowling Club did well to take all five frames to beat Stourbridge Institute B comprehensively, and Second Division joint-leaders, Amblecote Institute D made no mistake in taking all five frames at Kingswinford Cons C.

There was a tighter finish at Stourbridge Institute, where the E team's Tom Hamilton - so impressive all season gave - his team a decisive advantage to hold off the D team.

Wayne Biggs did well to win a frame for Amblecote Institute C, also joint leaders of the Second Division, away to Premier Side, Brandhall Labour, but Alan Hooper with a 48 break and an impressive Darrell Payne won the match for the home team.