THERE was another shake-up at the top of the Stourbridge Snooker League Premier Division when last week’s leaders, Baggeridge Social A, lost 1-4 at Hotshots.

They also dropped to fourth with only Eliott Bastable able to bag a win for the visitors as Roy Stokes, Neil Beckley, Callum Downing and the still-undefeated Bal Sembi took the match for the reigning champions, who are making a strong defence of their title.

Pockets SC A took over top spot by a single point from Hotshots with another dominant display to beat Brandhall Labour 5-0.

Rich Pepperall, who had a break of 38, Lee Page, with visits of 41 and 38, Gary Smith, John Betton & Tom Pepperall all won to add to the team’s impressive home record.

Townsend Social, a further point away, also had a very good result, winning 4-1 on the tables of St John’s Social, with Karl Ashmore making a break of 63, while Jamie Spence did well to beat Tim Steele on the black, despite the latter’s 41 break. Phil Thompson’s break of 37 helped to inflict a rare defeat on Simon Thomas, before Shifnal WMC stalwart, Mick Brezwyn marked his Stourbridge League debut with a win against Darrell Payne to earn a consolation point for St John’s.

Norton Social A beat Pockets SC B 4-1, with some fine break-making by Neil Rollinson 61, Andy Smith 56, Rob Pitt 44 and 31, before Alan Turner countered with 34 to take a frame for Pockets.

Norton Social B recorded their first win of the season, 3-2 away to Stourbridge Institute A in a clash between the two promotion-winning teams. Nick Aston and his son, Ashley won for the home side but Paul Bowen, Carl Webb & Andrew Brown, in the decider against Paul Garbett, enabled Norton to celebrate at last, after suffering four 3-2 defeats since the start of this campaign. Only 3 points separate the four teams trying to stave off relegation.

First Division report: Wayne Whitmore comfortably extended his winning spree to 10/10 in helping Kingswinford Cons C to their third 4-1 win in as many games, this time on the tables of Old Edwardians A, a sequence which has lifted them 8 points clear at the top of the First Division. Bob Guise was their only casualty, on the black against Simon Tyler, in another good team display.

Kinver Constitutional B have turned their season around with five wins in succession, and they moved into second place with a 3-2 win at Wombourne after their A team’s match at Baggeridge Social B was postponed because of a family bereavement. They had to work hard in their latest fixture, with Adam Sprague, Dave Simmonds and Steve Nicholls, who was taken to the pink ball in the decider against Paul Tristram, securing the result.

They remain a point ahead of Bearwood Cons, who also had to dig deep at home to see off the challenge of Kingswinford Cons A. Mick Cash and John Chester, who have lost only 1 of the 18 frames they’ve played between them, won yet again, along with Gavin Foy. John Byng and Tim Carter both did well to beat Pete Montague and Paul Gibson respectively for the visitors.

Norman Jennings and Steve Hadley gave Kinver’s C team a great start at home to Moor Pool & Snooker, but Neil Gennard & Glyn Whitehouse levelled the match before Ian Priest, with the help of a 33 break, completed the recovery against Chris Randle.

Amblecote Institute B enjoyed their best result to date by taking all five frames on the tables of Kingswinford Cons B, thanks to Mark Colbourne, Cyril Tromans, Alan Moore, Mick Cook and Sam Harrison, who won on the black against Mark Reece. The Cons’ dip in form, their third heavy defeat, has taken them into the bottom two.

Second Division report: Kingswinford Snooker Centre’s stay at the top of the Second Division lasted only the one week as they lost a tight match away to Bahia’s SC B. Andy Martin and Ranjit Bahia gave the home team a 2-0 lead but Steve Ballinger and Paul Curry made it 2-2. John Salisbury was just beaten by Chris Whitehouse in the deciding frame, however, and KSC dropped down to share second place with a resurgent Old Edwardian B team. Two defeats had cost Old Eds’ momentum but they followed the previous week’s 4-1 revival with a 5-0 maximum against their former club-mates Amblecote RBL. The frames were keenly-fought however, the highlight perhaps Brett Ball bringing to an end the excellent 8 match unbeaten run of Billy Green.

Despite losing the opening frame to Sam Mattocks, Amblecote Institute D secured the remaining four frames away to Stourbridge Institute C to resume their position at the top of the Second Division by two points. All four wins were hard-pressed, however, none more so than Adam Kensett’s narrow win against Graham Lewis, despite making a 32 break.

Amblecote Institute C’s Cary Homer retained his unbeaten record, now 8/8, with a decisive win at home to Stourbridge Institute D, but the other frames were very closely-fought and those won by Tom Game, Brett Harris and Paul Robinson saw the visitors edge the match 3-2. Gerald Lyons, also on the black, secured another frame for Amblecote, who are now 4th, 4 points adrift of their D team.