Spennymoor A won by the odd point on their visit to Newhouse but had their lead cut at the top of the First Division to 12 points after Wheatley Hill A only dropped one point to third placed, Newton Aycliffe, who are now five points behind the Hill.

Spennymoor A took the first three frames on their visit to Newhouse with wins from John Wilson, Paul Atkinson and Paul Biddle with a 37 break, whilst the home side came back to take the final two frames through John Maddox and Jimmy Hassen.

Newton Aycliffe took the first point on their trip to Wheatley Hill A when Ronnie Hall won. However the home side then took over with wins from Dave Walker, with a 35 break, Ronnie Peacock, Alan Hall and Dennis Clish.

In a key relegation battle Brandon won in the decider against the visiting Fishburn A. Brian Graham put the home side ahead but Peter Davison levelled. John Hall restored the home lead only to see John Griffin square the match. In the decider Brandon's Graham Jackson beat Wayne Oliver. Both teams now share bottom spot.

Shotton Palms won in the decider at Willington to stay one point ahead of Brandon and Fishburn A. Jimmy Evans junior and Paul Hickman put Shotton ahead but Tom Parkin, with a 33 break, and Jeremy Martin levelled the match. In the decider Shotton's John Armstrong beat Stan Bennett.

Witton Gilbert slipped down level with Shotton Palms when they went down by the odd point at Sherburn Village. The home side had wins from Peter McGowan, Alan Greener and Scott Mallaburn whilst Witton replied through Ian Renwick and Paul Nord.

Meadowfield moved two points clear at the top of the Second Division after they whitewashed the visiting Durham City with wins from John Jackson, Craig Hughes, Norman Smith, Peter O'Donnell, who was making his debut, and Malcolm Hughes.

Crowtrees won a vital promotion battle by the odd point when they visited Spennymoor B. This leaves Crowtrees in second place with the Moors two points behind. Phil Wilson and Micky Anderson took points for Spennymoor whilst the Crowtrees victory came from wins by Keith McLauchlan, Sean Johnston and Steven Armstrong.

Stanley Central moved in two points behind Crowtrees after they only dropped one point to the visiting Ferryhill. Norman Rimmington, Harry Grimes, Walter Cornell and Frank Forster took the first four points for the Central with Mark Wilson preventing the whitewash by winning the final frame.

Wingate slipped up in the promotion stakes when they went down to the visiting Wheatley Hill B. The Hill took the first three points through Jock Frost, Tony Ellison and Peter Taylor. John Bourne put in a 47 break and dean Jones followed to put two points on the board for Wingate.

Crook Belle Vue could have ended Langley Park's dreams of promotion when they beat their hosts in the decider. The Park had already picked up five points in a re-arranged home game with Ferryhill, but slipped two points behind when John Warriner and Harold Lomax put Belle Vue ahead. Stephen Coates and Robert Roche levelled the match but then Crook's Harry Coates beat Peter Morgan in the decider.

New Durham travelled to Bearpark to win the top of the table clash in the Third Division. Thomas Cairns put the visitors ahead but Andy Donaldson levelled. New Durham than assured themselves of victory when Gordon Bowes and Brian Birks took their frames. Shaun Easter kept Bearpark at the top of the table by one point when he won the final frame.

Coundon remain in second place in the Third Division one behind Bearpark and one ahead of new Durham, after they recovered from being two down at Fishburn B to win by the odd point. Alan Wilson and George Whitelock put Fishburn ahead but Stephen Bennett and Willy Shoulder equalised. In the decider, Coundon's Stuart Neill beat Jamie Hodgson.

The shock result in the Third Division came when Tow Law B whitewashed the visiting Sacriston with wins from Adam Orton, Lee Stockdale, Norman Plews, John Wilson and Kenny Plews.

Dave Hudspeth was the only winner for Leeholme B in the Leeholme derby. The winners for the A team were Lawrence Jones, Barry Shaw, Ian Catterson and Karl Thompson.

Tow Law A won the battle for fourth place in the Third Division when they came away from Hunwick with an odd point success. Tom Ward and Norman Kirkley won for the home side, whilst Heppell Hodgson, Stephen Laing and Doug Watson took the Lawyers to victory.

Results: Hunwick 2 Tow Law A 3; Wingate 2 Wheatley Hill B 3; Brandon 3 Fishburn A 2; Leeholme B 1 Leeholme A 4; Spennymoor B 2 Crowtrees 3; Sherburn Village 3 Witton Gilbert 2; Tow Law B 5 Sacriston 0; Langley Park 2 Crook Belle Vue 3; Wheatley Hill A 4 Newton Aycliffe 1; Fishburn B 2 Coundon 3; Meadowfield 5 Durham City 0; Willington 2 Shotton Palms 3; Bearpark 2 New Durham 3; Stanley central 4 Ferryhill 1; Newhouse 2 Spennymoor A 3. Re-arranged: Langley Park 5 Ferryhill 0.

Worthington Durham County CIU

Winter League

The Winter League will begin on October 15 and has vacancies for any team from affiliated CIU premises. The League normally runs three divisions, where matches are made up of five players each playing one frame. Beside the league there are singles, pairs and handicap championships and a team knock out competition.

Any team requiring further information or an entry form should telephone 01388 730444 and talk to the secretary. Entry forms to teams taking part last season have already been issued via the and must be returned to the league meeting at Meadowfield on Thursday, 25 September.

The Jack Jobson Memorial

Handicap Singles

Fourth round results: Owen Howarth 24 (Brandon) lost to Ray Coates 21 (Langley Park); Alan Rowell 28 (Spennymoor B) beat Karl Thompson 36 (Leeholme A); John Jackson 20 (Meadowfield) lost to Brian Quest 16 (Fishburn A); Mark Appleby 21 (Sacriston) bye; Ronnie Peacock 8 (Wheatley Hill A) beat Chris Davison 50 (Leeholme B); Anthony Forster 45 (Leeholme A) beat John Hall 40 (Crowtrees); Lee Todd 50 (Leeholme B) beat Kevin Sample 12 (Brandon); Paul Nord 14 (Witton Gilbert) beat Stephen Bennett 7 (Coundon).

Worthington CIU Summer Singles Championship

Third round results: Peter Laverick (Crowtrees) lost to Barry Shaw (Leeholme A); Ray Coates (Langley Park) lost to Willis Joynes (Witton Gilbert); George Whitelock (Fishburn B) beat Jock Frost (Wheatley Hil B); Kevin Sample (Brandon) lost to Scott Mallaburn (Sherburn Village); Lawrence Jones (Leeholme A) lost to Gordon Bowes (New Durham); Craig Hughes (Meadowfield) lost to Dave Walker (Wheatley Hill A); Phil Whitfield (Crowtrees) v Tom Parkin (Willington) no result; Michael Pratt (Spennymoor A) lost to Keith McLauchlan (Crowtrees).

Worthington CIU Summer Pairs Championship

Third round results: Michael Pratt & Paul Atkinson (Spennymoor A) beat Brian Graham & John Hall (Brandon); Kevin Sample & Owen Howarth (Brandon)lost to John Rooney sen & John Rooney jun (Witton Gilbert); Mark Appleby & Jeff Evans (Sacriston) lost to David Louth & Wayne Parry (Spennymoor B); Charlie Donaghy & Doug Watson (Tow Law) lost to Bob Reay & Ronnie Peacock (Wheatley Hill A); Eddie Risbridger & Kevin Richardson (Sacriston) lost to John Bower & Alan Greener (Sherburn Village); Scott Mallaburn & Peter McGowan (Sherburn Village) lost to Stephen Bennett & Stuart Neil (Coundon); Gordon Bowes & Thomas Cairns (New Durham) beat Ronnie Bateman & Paul Biddle (Spennymoor A); John Griffin & John Carter (Fishburn A) beat Arthur Goldsborough & Jeremy Martin (Willington).

Kingsway Krugerrand Competition

The first evening of this new competition produced two enthralling matches with both going the full distance in front of a good crowd at the Kingsway Club (above the Lightfoot Institute) in Kingsway, Bishop Auckland.

The match on table one saw Clyde Pearson of Darlington Riley's beat Michael Pratt, who plays for Chilton and Windlestone Club, Old Shildon Club and Spennymoor Club, in the decider. In the first frame Pratt got on top and ran through to a comfortable 70-25 win. The second frame was tighter but Pearson found his potting form to level with a 68-42 victory.

Pearson went ahead with a 64-31 win in the third and should have completed a victory but he missed the final black along the bottom cushion in the fourth, leaving it for Pratt to tap in to equalise with a 56-44 win. Pearson got into an early lead in the decider and, after Pratt missed a reasonably simple plant on the last two reds, was able to open out a good enough lead to cause Pratt to resign on the yellow.

On table two, Steven Armstrong of Belmont Club and Crowtrees Club, set an immediate high standard against Carl Johnston of Darlington Snooker Club with a 53 break, which gave him the frame at 87-13. Johnston came more into the game in the second frame but Armstrong kept on potting long balls to win 79-45.

Over confidence seemed to hit Armstrong as he took on very difficult half chances and ended up leaving Johnston some good chances, which he took to pull a frame back with a 74-31 win. He continued to take advantage of Armstrong's cavalier attitude to level when he took the final pink to win 52-44 and force the decider.

The final frame began with some very tight safety play with Johnston the first to make an error and Armstrong capitalised with a classy 69 break, which gave him the decider at 79-10.

The matches next Thursday evening are Dave Walker of Wheatley Hill against Jimmy Evans of Shotton Palms and Charlie Blake of Old Shildon against Dale Evans of Sacriston. Spectators are welcome, with free entry to see these best of five frame matches, which begin at 7.30pm in the Kingsway Club