BY way of a prelude to their all-important league clash at the start of March, the top two teams in the Premier Division faced each other in Stourbridge Snooker League's knock-out cup.

A 48 point win by Luke Garland and a narrow win by Richard Haney gave Hotshots SC B a 55 point advantage, but Norton Social A’s Adam Ness, with a 41 break to win by 22, and Rob Pitt, who, despite having a run of 51, could only defeat a determined Jon Bate by five points, reduced the deficit to 28.

An early 42 break gave Norton’s Darren Oakes the edge, but Callum Downing fought back, eventually potting the pink to see Hotshots through to the quarter-final.

First Division leaders, Hotshots SC C, had to concede 77 points start at home to Amblecote RBL, but the visitors’ Barry Young did well to beat Dawid Konior, while Paul Goldrick and Sam Ball restricted their opponents to marginal victories, and although Rob Beard recovered 37 points for the hosts, Rob Boylin held the challenge of Paul Caldeira to see his team prevail by 25 points on aggregate, and they will relish the prospect of a return visit to face the Hotshots B team in the quarter-final tie.

Premier League newcomers, Amblecote Institute B, faced third-placed Brandhall Labour at home, buoyed by a 175 point start. Jason Hickman gave Brandhall a great start, winning by 66, but narrow wins for both Adam Coley and Cary Homer, and a good effort by Stuart Langford to restrict Alan Hooper to a 43 point win, meant that they still led by 90 points with the final frame to play. Bal Sembi then produced a remarkable performance against Matt Johnson, however, to clinch victory on the final black.

Brandhall’s next opponents will be Second Division team, Kingswinford Cons D, who took advantage of the 112 points start they had from their own B team.

In another derby, Kinver Constitutional C, proud holders of the cup, appeared to face a difficult task, receiving just eight points start from their A team, challenging for First Division honours. They rose to the challenge in some style, however, taking all five frames.

West Midlands Police, conceding 166 points to Moor Pool and Snooker B, looked set for a comfortable win, thanks to a fine 91 break by Kev Franklin and a 64 point win for Maria Catalano, but Paul Taylor held Gavin Sloan to a 49 point win, and Glyn Whitehouse won by 14; Lee Whitehouse had almost retrieved the 42 point deficit in the last, but a costly miscue with one red remaining, gave the initiative to Pete Gibbons, who steered the Police through to their home tie with Kinver.

Steve Howell and Richard Barnsley both recorded 50+ successes for Netherton Sports and Social, who were therefore able to concede 49 points with comfort at home to Kingswinford Cons A, and they earned themselves another home tie against Kinver Constitutional B, who proved much too strong for Stourbridge Institute C, with Graham Tranter inflicting most of the damage.

In the Plate, last year's winners Wombourne had to work hard to progress through to the last eight, with a narrow win at home against Kingswinford Cons C.

Neil Thompson had given the visitors a good start, but Wombourne edged back into the match and John Wooldridge pulled back the last 14 points against Lee Wragg in the final frame.

They will play Kingswinford RBL A, the cup winners four years ago, who came through a tight match at home to Stourbridge Institute D.

There was little to separate the teams at Stourbridge Old Edwardians who had a 62 point start against Moor Pool and Snooker C.

Ben Wakeman, who’s had such a good season for the visitors managed to beat the prolific Chris Cowley, and Steve Norton won well against Harry Hall. Rob Sidaway still had 11 to recover in the final frame, but he secured the match on the pink. They will now travel to play Pockets SC A, who defeated Norton Social B, thanks partly to 14-year-old Taylor Fish who gave them a flying start with an 85 point win. Luke Grosvenor won well for Norton, but Pockets had a little to spare at the end with Andy Smith a comfortable winner.

Second Division leaders, Stourbridge Institute B, were given a fine start by Nick Aston and Carl Green, who both won narrowly to add to their 93 point start at Pockets SC B, and although Danny Rees retrieved 53 points, last year’s beaten finalists qualified to travel to Kingswinford RBL B, who came through a tight match in receipt of 106 points at home to Stourbridge Institute A. The visitors won three of the frames but Keith Wellbourne & Dave Woodall both won crucial frames for the Legion.

Moor Pool and Snooker A faced a tough task even in receipt of 107 points start at home to Hotshots SC A, but they avoided serious damage in the frames they lost, and Adam Kensett, whose form has improved greatly during the season, and Paul Dunkey, the club’s owner, eased them through where a visit to the 2012 cup winners, Baggeridge Social, awaits.