BRANDHALL Labour failed to capitalise on Norton Social A’s bye last weekend when they lost 4-1 at Amblecote Institute A in the Stourbridge Snooker League’s premier division.

Rob Clark – who did well to beat Alan Hooper – and Mike Richards, Andy Round and Dave Oakes, who all won convincingly, combined to force Amblecote into a share of third place, seven points behind the leaders who they will play in the final round of matches next month.

Bal Sembi won well for Brandhall to at least earn his team a share of the leadership, but they’ve played two games more.

Hotshots SC A kept their title challenge alive with a 4-1 win at Moor Pool & Snooker A, with a 57 break for Mitchell Mann and 43 for Milan Krstanovic. Dave Green, beaten narrowly by Paul Dunkey, was their only loser but they still have eight points to make up in order to regain the title they won in 2014.

Hotshots’ B team, last season’s First Division champions, have enjoyed a good campaign in the top flight but only Dawid Konior, who cleared up with 33 to pip Taylor Fish, could win at home to Pockets SC A.

Eighteen-year-old Tom Pepperall, enjoying his best season, made a fine break of 65 for the visitors, while John Betton had a 57 break and there were wins for Macauley Gunn, on a re-spotted black, and Gareth Ward.

The other promoted team, Baggeridge Social, whose fortunes have improved lately to match their undiminished team spirit, were just edged out at Pockets SC B.

Matt Whale and Frankie Bennett did well to win for them but Jamie Shuck, with a fine first league win, and Dave Timmington levelled for Pockets. In the decider, Danny Rees just prevailed for the home team after Luke Whale had looked likely to clear up, after his opponent’s unlucky in-off green to win the frame.

Meanwhile, in the First Division, Kinver Constitution B played two matches. The first, originally postponed after a power cut, saw them win 4-1 away to Moor Pool & Snooker C, with both Dean Banks and Graham Tranter being taken to the final black, then, after falling 2-0 behind to before beating their own C team, Adam Sprague and Dave Simmonds doing the damage, a black ball win for Rob Jeffries, and decisive wins for Paul Churchman and Keith Rollinson carried them to a 3-2 win.

Their lead at the top of the table increased to 11 points, partly because their closest rivals Kingswinford Cons B slipped up 3-2 at Wombourne.

Stuart Taylor, Dave Flavell and Bob Mason – who did well to beat the prolific Tony Davies – completed the win for Wombourne, who were promoted at the end of last season, and they now share third place, just six points behind Kingswinford Cons B.

The Cons’ A team are tied with them in third after slipping to a 4-1 defeat at home to Amblecote Inst B; both teams led the table earlier in the season, but now Amblecote are showing better form with Cary Homer, Mick Cook, Adam Coley & Mark Colbourne landing their third win in a row.

Moor Pool & Snooker B’s challenge faltered when Robin Hall, Norman Jennings and Jon Perry just did enough to secure a 3-2 win for Kinver A away from home, and Norton Social B, having seen their 2-0 start disappear at home to Moor P & S’s C team, had to rely on a comfortable win for Luke Grosvenor in the deciding frame.

There was much local pride at stake when Stourbridge Inst A entertained their B team, who had beaten them 4-1 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. Since then the A team’s fortunes have improved, and Paul Bates, Paul Garbett and Richard Rudge, his 8th win in succession, lifted them to a 3-2 victory, to restore the status quo.

Stourbridge Old Edwardians now have a seven point lead at the top of the Second Division following a 3-2 win away to one of their rivals, Amblecote RBL A.

Harry Hall and Chris Cowley for Old Eds and Paul Goldrick and Richard Skelding for the Legion shared the first four frames but, in a desperately close decider, Dave Woodall’s attempted double on the black became a successful treble to edge out Rob Boylin, and secure another win for the leaders.

The Legion’s B team lost the opening frame at Kingswinford SC, when Geoff Foster lost to Steve Hill, but the Ball family, Steve, who won on the black, Martin, Jack and Sam, engineered a 4-1 win to remain in 2nd place, while Kingswinford Cons C moved into third place after defeating their D team 3-2.

In another, typically tight affair, Mark Daniels and John Cartwright won for the D team, but Lee Wragg and Leigh Bennett and Sam Porter, both of whom have 14 wins in 16, just did enough for the C team, who are four points off second place but only a point clear of the Legion’s A team, who have a game in hand; there are five weeks to go and the battle for honours is likely to go all the way.

Kinver Const D beat Amblecote Inst D 3-2, coming back from 2-0 down thanks to Steve Spruce and Marcus and Neil Hines but, in contrast, Amblecote’s C team bounced back to form after a run of seven defeats in eight matches, with a 5-0 maximum at home to Stourbridge Inst D.

Colin Homer, Gerald Lyons, Ray Vanes, Pat Willis and Mitch Skidmore were able to celebrate once again.