Luckily for the Second Division leaders, Wingate and Bearpark, they had promotion virtually sewn up because they both crashed against Newhouse and Spennymoor B respectively. Both teams went down by the odd point in the decider.

At Newhouse, Steve Mountain gave the home side a great start when he took the last three colours to win but then saw Geoff Howe and Joe Hennessey moved Wingate ahead. Ian Dinsdale cleared all the colours to level the match and then Newhouse's John Maddox put in an early 31 break but was then stretched by Steve Allen before winning by taking the black and pink.

Spennymoor B went two up at home to Bearpark with wins from Phil Wilson and Alan Rowell. However the visitors levelled the match with wins from Glen Morton and David Jackson. In the decider, the Moors Alan Clarke inflicted only the second defeat during the season for Shaun Easter. However despite the defeats, Wingate still lead the Second Division by two points from Bearpark with Newhouse a further thirteen points adrift.

Sacriston looked certain promotion candidates earlier in the season but after being without a match this week they found that Durham City were just a point behind and New Durham two points behind, whilst the leaders, Coundon had extended their lead to five points.

Coundon entertained Crowtrees B and went ahead through Graham Goulbourn but terry Gibson equalised. Coundon then made certain of victory with wins from Frank Nicholson and Dennis Payne but Martin Wolfe made the score respectable by winning the last frame.

New Durham moved up to be a serious promotion threat when they made their seventh consecutive win whilst visiting Crook Belle Vue, whose only point came from John Warriner. The visitors had wins from Brian Birks, Gordon Bowes, Thomas Cairns and John Robinson.

Durham City lost the chance of moving up into second place in the Third Division when they only took one point from their home match against Hunwick B. Brian Dunn was the only home winner, whilst David Penman, Tom Ward, Trevor Lomax and Barry Fleming took points for Hunwick.

In the First Division, the leaders, Spennymoor A took the first three frames at Sherburn Village but then saw the home side come back to win the last two frames. Paul Biddle, Karl Welsh and Eddie Rhodes won for the Moors but Scott Mallaburn and Peter McGowan won vital points for the Village.

Old Shildon put the pressure on Spennymoor A when they closed the gap at the top to two points with a whitewash home success over Willington. The home points came from Billy Goggins, Steven Bennett with a 74 break, Michael Pratt, Charlie Blake and Jossie Aldworth.

Wheatley Hill A slipped nine points behind Old Shildon when they went down to the visiting Brandon, who were never headed. John Hall put the visitors ahead but Dean Bryden equalised. Graham Jackson restored the Brandon lead only to see Dave Walker again pull the Hill level. In the decider Brandon's John Middleton beat Jack Wright on the black.

Newton Aycliffe made great strides towards avoiding relegation and to ending the hopes of a trophy position for the visiting Cockton Hill when they only dropped one point. George Chapman was the only visiting winner, whilst Ronnie Hall, Marc Howe, Stuart Neil and John Briddick took the home side to victory.

Meadowfield face serious relegation worries after they only took one point from their visit to Fishburn A, who had wins from John Griffin with a 35 break, John Carter, Wayne Oliver and Charlie Hirst. Stephen Hughes played a captain's part for the visitors to take their lone point.

Witton Gilbert share Meadowfield's relegation problem, as both teams are level, just one point above Willington. Witton visited Shotton Palms and took the first and last frames through Willis Joynes and Ian Renwick but the home side went to victory with wins from Barry Hall, Paul Hickman and John Armstrong.

Hunwick A slipped to the foot of the Second Division when Only Ian Richardson took a point from the visiting Stanley Central. This left Hunwick four points behind Wheatley Hill B, Langley Park and Crowtrees A. The winners for the Central were Harry Grimes, Norman Rimmington, Jim Dufton and Walter Cornell.

Wheatley Hill B went down by the odd point at Langley Park when only Jock Frost and Dave Blyth won. The Park moved three points ahead of their visitors with wins from Peter Morgan, Stephen Coates and Lenny Thompson.

Billy McGrath won the first frame for Belmont at Ferryhill but then the home side took over and went to victory with wins from Steve Wray, Bernie Jones, Neil Spender and Ian Fawcett.

Results: Ferryhill 4 Belmont 1; Newton Aycliffe 4 Cockton Hill 1; Coundon 3 Crowtrees B 2; Shotton palms 3 Witton Gilbert 2; Wheatley Hill A 2 Brandon 3; Sherburn Village 2 Spennymoor A 3; Leeholme A 2 Fishburn B 3; Hunwick A 1 Stanley Central 4; Crook Belle Vue 1 New Durham 4; Tow Law 4 Leeholme B 1; Old Shildon 5 Willington 0; Newhouse 3 Wingate 2; Langley Park 3 Wheatley Hill B 2; Fishburn A 4 Meadowfield 1; Durham City 1 Hunwick B 4; Spennymoor B 3 Bearpark 2.

Worthington CIU Team Knockout

Wingate beat their visiting First Division opponents, Shotton Palms in the delayed match in Round Four. The original match had to be delayed because the Shotton players were involved in C.I.U. Branch competition scheduled for the date fixed for this cup match.

Quarter final draw: Wheatley Hill A v Newton Aycliffe; Willington v Meadowfield; Brandon v Old Shildon; Wingate v Sacriston. Matches to be played on Tuesday, 25 March.

Worthington CIU Singles Championship

Paul Atkinson of Spennymoor A won his way to the final when he beat Andrew Aisbitt of Cockton Hill 3-1 in the semi-final played at Brandon.

The first frame gave no indication of the scintillating snooker to follow in the match. Both players began nervously playing tight safety shots instead of their normal attacking style. The frame was low scoring and was even until Atkinson put in a twenty break to clinch it at 55-20.

The second frame proved to be the complete opposite with Aisbitt knocking in a decisive forty-seven break to level the match at one each with a winning score of 73-38. The third frame was commanded by Atkinson who put in break of twenty-three and thirty-three to win by 64-10.

The fourth frame saw a brilliant opening break of fifty-six from Atkinson, who broke down on a fairly simple red when both black and pink were invitingly available. Aisbitt fought back with two breaks in the twenties and could have levelled the match by completing a clearance in the second break. However he broke down in his effort and Atkinson went to the final with a 73-54 victory. In the final he will play the winner of the match between Ian Renwick of Witton Gilbert and Thomas Cairns of New Durham.

The referee for the match, Ken Rider of Crook Belle Vue declared after the match, "These are the best two players I have ever refereed. It was a pleasure to be part of such a good match".

Worthington CIU Pairs Championship

The first semi-final was played at Crowtrees when Bob Reay and Ronnie Peacock of Wheatley Hill met John Griffin and John Carter of Fishburn, under the watchful eye of referee, Arnold Fleming of Crook Belle Vue for a match of aggregate scores over three frames.

The first frame was very tight with neither pair being able to open out a decisive gap and it ended with the Fishburn pair winning by only a single point at 56-55. The second frame saw Griffin and Carter edge into an early narrow lead and had moved it to fourteen points when they potted the final yellow. However Bob Reay stepped up to the table to clear the remaining colours to move the Hill eleven points ahead in the match.

The final frame was dominated by very tight safety play but as the balls were cleared the Wheatley Hill pair edged into a lead, which eventually left their opponents needing a snooker on the final pink. John Griffin attempted a difficult attempt at the necessary snooker but went in-off leaving Reay and Peacock on their way to the final with an overall victory of 176 points to 146.

In the final, the Wheatley Hill pair will play the winners of the match between Ronnie Bateman and Paul Biddle of Spennymoor and George Chapman and Andrew Aisbitt.

Darlington Monday Night League

Monday, April 7 at 7-7.30pm sees the presentation of trophies to winning teams.

League winners 2003 are Railway Institute for the second year running with the runners-up being Darlington A Snooker Club.

Highest break trophy was achieved by Dev Hunter (Darlington CC) with 67.

League knockout 2003 winners were Railway Athletic with Darlington Snooker Club A being runners-up.

All teams are welcome to the presentation night where The Northern Echo's Mike Amos will be presenting the trophies. Also, on Saturday evening Joe Johnson, by special invitation to Darlington Snooker Club, 7pm, April 22. Tickets available £10. Tel (01325) 241388.

Crook League

Michael Burke of Crook Travellers Rest B won the League Singles Championship when he beat David Haygarth of Crook Royal Sun in the final 2-0.