Worthington Durham County CIU League: Spennymoor A strengthened their hopes of landing the Championship when they won the top of the table clash with the visiting Old Shildon by the odd point. This pushed the Moors three points clear with three matches left to play. The Shildon team look to have the slightly easier run-in with Witton Gilbert and Newton Aycliffe at home and Meadowfield away, whilst Spennymoor face Brandon at home and Wheatley Hill A and Willington away but with the lower placed teams fighting to avoid relegation there are some tough matches ahead.

Paul Atkinson took the first frame for Spennymoor against Old Shildon but the visiting captain. Jossie Aldworth levelled. In the third frame Shildon's Billy Goggins put in a 60 break but was beaten on the black by Eddie Rhodes. Whilst no such records exist, this must be the biggest break made in a frame by a losing player. Paul Biddle made certain of victory for the Moors by taking the fourth frame but Michael Pratt replied by winning the last for Old Shildon.

Wheatley Hill A edged through to an odd point win at Willington. This pushed the Hill eight points behind Old Shildon and left Willington two points off the pace at the foot of the table. Jeremy Martin and Tom Parkin won for Willington, whilst Dennis Clish, Dave Walker with a 60 break and Ronnie Peacock won for the Hill.

Witton Gilbert, next to bottom in the First Division, made a sterling effort to avoid relegation with a win in the decider against he visiting Sherburn Village. John Bower put the visitors ahead but Willis Joynes and Ken Davison moved the home side in front. Scott Mallaburn with a 36 break levelled the match but Witton went to victory when John Rooney junior beat Alan Greener on the black.

Meadowfield jumped up a point ahead of Witton Gilbert after they only dropped one point to the visiting Shotton Palms. Only John Armstrong scored for Shotton whilst the home side had wins from Malcolm Hughes, Ian Hodgson, Stephen Hughes and Craig Hughes.

Newton Aycliffe virtually ended their relegation fears when they beat the visiting Fishburn A by the odd point. The home side had wins from Mark Howe, John Briddick with a 33 break and Michael Hewitt, whilst Tommy Carter and John Carter won for Fishburn.

Cockton Hill won the decider against the visiting Brandon when Andrew Aisbitt put in a 38 break to beat Graham Jackson. Kevin Mordica with a 36 break and Harold Lomax won for the home side, whilst John hall and Colin Goodrick levelled.

The Second Division title is now a two horse race as Wingate lead Bearpark by two points with third placed, Newhouse a further 18 points adrift. Both the top two won by a maximum but Ferryhill were desperately unlucky when they went to Wingate and could easily have won as they went down in three black ball finishes. The Wingate winners were Dave Hammond, John Bourne, Geoff Howe, Steve Allen and Joe Hennessey.

Bearpark beat the visiting third placed, Newhouse by a maximum with wins from Alan Smith, David Jackson, Glen Morton, Shaun Easter and Alan Donaldson.

Despite winning by the odd point at Belmont, Hunwick A have dropped three points behind the field in the Second Division. Chris Morley and Colin Robinson won for Belmont, whilst Neville Blenkinsopp and Norman Kirkley equalised. In the decider, Hunwick's Ian Richardson beat Billy McGrath.

Wheatley Hill B went down in the decider at home to Spennymoor B to remain next to bottom in the Second Division. Jock Frost and David Blyth won for the home side with Dennis Dodd and Phil Wilson levelling. In the decider the Moors Micky Anderson beat Tony Ellison.

Langley Park slipped into the dangerous position of being only two points ahead of Wheatley Hill B when they went down by the odd point at Crowtrees A. Kevin McLauchlan, Colin Barron and Peter Laverick won for Crowtrees with Kevin Keers and Stephen Coates with a 38 break replying for the Park.

Third Division leaders, Coundon are frantically looking over their shoulders after they went down by the odd point at Fishburn B. Winston Hodgson, George Whitelock and John Hodgson won for Fishburn with Mally Ryder and Graham Goulbourn replying.

Sacriston moved up two points behind Coundon with a home whitewash success over Durham City. The home side had wins from Willie Nixon, Kevin Laing, Mark Appleby, Steve Bradley and Dale Evans.

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

Worthington CIU Pairs Championship

George Chapman and Andrew Aisbitt of Cockton Hill won their way to the final after they beat Ronnie Bateman and Paul Biddle of Spennymoor A in the semi-final played at Leeholme in the best aggregate score from three frames.

The first frame was very close with neither side ever able to open out a substantial lead and it ended with the Cockton Hill pair four points ahead. The second frame was a replica of the first, but again it was the Cockton Hill pair who edged through to win by eight points and so go into the final frame with a sixteen points lead.

The third frame saw Andrew Aisbitt take advantage of the slightest slip-up by the Spennymoor pair and he knocked in decisive breaks of 42 and 23 to win by a margin, which never seemed possible after the tight first two frames.

In the final George Chapman and Andrew Aisbitt of Cockton Hill will meet Bob Reay and Ronnie Peacock of Wheatley Hill A.

Durham CIU Branch Singles Championship

The final of this year's championship will be between Michael Pratt of Chilton and Windlestone Club and Andrew Aisbitt of Old Shildon Club. The match will be played at Elmfield Social Club, Campbell Park Road, Hebburn on Wednesday, April 9 at 7.30pm. The trophies and prizes will be presented immediately after the match.

Worthington CIU Singles Championship

Thomas Cairns of New Durham reached the final of the League Singles Championship in only his second attempt when he beat Ian Renwick of Witton Gilbert in the best of five frames semi-final at Stanley Central, where Charlie Donaghy of Tow Law was the referee.

Both players started remarkably nervously with both missing comparatively easy pots. However Renwick eased into the early lead as he took advantage of the run of the ball. An 18 break moved Renwick 26 in front with just the colours left. However Cairns benefited from a four points snooker and went on to take all the colours to win the first frame 59-54.

Cairns never really got into the second frame and Renwick made a 26 break to win 79-33. The third frame was even in the early stages until Cairns moved 19 ahead as the yellow went down. He added the green, brown and blue with Renwick conceding at 63-32.

After the interval, Cairns moved into the lead but Renwick clawed his way back to be 22 ahead with the colours left. After Cairns failed to get a tight safety, Renwick potted the first four colours to win 60-24.

In the deciding frame, Cairns adopted a more positive attitude and began to pull off some good long pots. He knocked in breaks of 24 and 13 to go into a 40 points lead with 35 left on the table. Renwick was never able to close the gap and Cairns went to victory. In the final Cairns will meet Paul Atkinson of Spennymoor A.

Crook League

Neil Campbell and Lee Taylor of Crook Travellers Rest beat Gavin Witton and Brian Johnson of Crook Olde Horse Shoe in the final of the League Doubles Cahmpionship, played at the Crook Spitfire Club, without dropping a frame. This was a well deserved victory in a match where all the players went for their shots but it was Campbell who took the 'man of the match' plaudit with an outstanding performance in reliable scoring and subtle safety play.