Worthington CIU Winter League

Wheatley Hill A recovered at Old Shildon to win the decider and hold their top position in the First Division by four points. In the Second Division Hunwick A strengthened their title chances when they went seven points clear by beating the second placed Sherburn Village, whilst Belmont A lead the Third Division by six points following their home win over Hunwick B.

Paul Armstrong and Graham Witton put Old Shildon two up against the visiting Wheatley Hill A, who recovered with wins by Kevin Connor, who put in a 34 break and Jack Wright. In the decider the visiting captain, Dave Walker put in a 56 break to beat Andrew tenant.

Sherburn Village went ahead of the visiting Hunwick A when John Bower took the first frame. However Hunwick took the next three through Paul Allison, Ian Richardson and Peter Mernor, before Gary Deluce kept his team in equal second place when he beat the visiting Neville Blenkinsopp in the final frame.

Stanley Central share second place in the Second Division, after they won by the odd point victory at Ferryhill B. The home side had wins from Terry Roddam and Mark Wilson, whilst Jack Musgrove, Jimmy Dufton and Darrem Talbot took the Central to victory.

Belmont A lead the Third Division by six points after they only dropped one point at Bearpark B. Antony Cooper put the home side ahead but the visitors completed their win with points from Andrew Stephenson, Chris Morley, David Lowery and Gary Carr.

In the First Division, Fishburn A moved three points clear of the visiting Bearpark A in second place. Shaun Easter was the only Bearpark winner, whilst Charlie Hirst, Ian Carter, Brian Quest and Wayne Oliver won for the home side.

Newton Aycliffe now have to share fourth place with Spennymoor A after they only collected one point from their visit to Coundon A. the home side had wins from Mally Ryder, Willy Shoulder, Gareth Young and Graham Goulbourn whilst Simon Tweddle was the only Aycliffe winner.

Spennymoor A moved up to share fourth place with Newton Aycliffe despite losing by the odd point to the visiting Willington A. the Moors took the first and final frames through Richie Turner and Paul Biddle, whilst the visitors edged to victory with wins from Tommy Parkin, Arthur Goldsborough and Jeremy Martin.

Crowtrees A took two points from the visiting Cockton Hill A with wins from Neil Phillips and Keith McLauchlan and that should be enough to keep them away from relegation. The visitors had wins from Lee Taylor, Dave Oughton with a 30 break and Kevin Mordica.

New Durham beat the visiting Newhouse by the odd point but it would take a miracle late run to prevent both from dropping into the Second Division. Colin Robinson, Gordon Bowes and Thomas Cairns won for the home side with Harry Dinsdale and Graeme Thompson replying for Newhouse.

Willington B moved one point behind the joint second placed teams in the Second Division after they lost in the decider to the visiting Ferryhill A. The home side had wins from Dale Wilson with a 30 break and Peter Hemming, whilst Bernie Jones and Adrian Jones with a 35 break levelled. In the decider, Ferryhill's Ian Fawcett beat Donald Young.

Fishburn B moved up to share fourth place with Willington B after they only dropped one point at Wheatley Hill B. The visitors looked to be in line for a whitewash success when they took the first four frames through Dennis Wright, Michael Bell, Paul Nicks and George Whitelock, before Dave Blyth won for the hosts.

Wingate went two up at Durham City with wins from Dave Hammond and Jimmy Mason. However Michael Pratt and Brian Graham equalised. In the decider, Durham's John Hall snatched the final black to beat Steve Allen by one point.

Meadowfield took the first and last frames against the visiting Spennymoor B in a Second Division relegation battle with wins from Malcolm Hughes and Stephen Hughes. However the home side's chances of staying up look doomed after the Moors had wins from Andy Gardner, Wayne Parry and Gary Easen.

Sacriston beat the visiting Langley Park in the decider to close the gap on their hosts to five points but the Park still remain favourites to join Belmont A in the move up to the Second Division. Ian Kerr and Willis Joynes won for the Park with Kevin Richardson and Dale Evans replying. In the decider Sacriston's Jack Weldon beat David Ellison.

Tow Law slipped out of the promotion race after they went down in the decider at Leeholme. David Craggs with a 32 break and David Murray won for the Lawyers with Ian North and Carl Thompson levelling. In the decider Leeholme's Barry Shaw beat Tommy Williams.

Only Richard Taylor managed a win for Cockton Hill B against the visiting Coundon B, who had wins from Andrew Woodfine, John-Paul Wringe, Stephen Bainbridge and Anthony Foster.

Barry Fleming gave Hunwick B a great start against the visiting Crook Belle Vue but this proved to be their only point as Frank Griffiths, John Warriner, Harold Lomax and Michael Smith won for the visitors.

Belmont B were taken to the decider before they beat the visiting Crowtrees B. Matthew Christopher and Paul Harrington put the home side ahead only to see Ian Hodgson and Paul Moralee equalise. In the decider the home side's John Harrington beat David Taylor.

Results: Division One: Spennymoor A 2 Willington A 3; Old Shildon 2 Whatley Hill A 3; Fishburn A 4 Bearpark A 1; New Durham 3 Newhouse 2; Coundon A 4 Newton Aycliffe 1; Crowtrees A 2 Cockton Hill A 3.

Division Two: Willington B 2 Ferryhill A 3; Durham City 3 Wingate 2; Ferryhill B 2 Stanley Central 3; Meadowfield 2 Spennymoor B 3; Sherburn Village 2 Hunwick A 3; Wheatley Hill B 1 Fishburn B 4.

Division Three: Leeholme 3 Tow Law 2; Bearpark B 1 Belmont A 4; Hunwick B 1 Crook Belle Vue 4; Cockton Hill B 1 Coundon B 4; Belmont B 3 Crowtrees B 2; Sacriston 3 Langley Park 2.

Worthington CIU

Winter Singles

Quarter-finals results: Michael Pratt (Durham City) lost to Sonny Hann (Crowtrees A); Scott Mallaburn (Sherburn Village) beat David Murray (Tow Law); Paul Armstrong (Old Shildon) lost to Kevin Connor (Wheatley Hill A); Peter Mernor (Hunwick A) lost to Frank Nicholson (Coundon A).

Dave Wilson Memorial Handicap Singles

Quarter-finals results: Neil Phillips 8 (Crowtrees A) beat Keith McLauchlan 16 (Crowtrees A); Gary Easen 22 (Spennymoor) lost to Michael Pratt 18 (Durham City); Dale Wilson 24 (Willington B) beat Richard Bancroft 30 (Durham City); John Hall 42 (Crowtrees B) lost to Wayne Oliver 10 (Fishburn A).

Curry Cup final: Dave Walker (Wheatley Hill A) will play Sonny Hann (Crowtrees A) in the Final at Sherburn Village on Wednesday, 7 March. The referee will be Alan Greener of Sherburn Village.

Harry Little Memorial Pairs

Quarter-finals results: Wayne Oliver & Ian Carter 16 (Fishburn A) beat Neil Phillips & Colin Barron 18 (Crowtrees); John Robinson & Thomas Robinson 28 (New Durham) beat Gary Easen & Alan Clarke 23 (Spennymoor B); Kenny Johnson & Norman Carr 35 (Wheatley Hill B) beat Neville Blenkinsopp & Ian Richardson 28 (Hunwick A); Dave Walker & Alan Hall 1 (Wheatley Hill A) lost to Brian Graham & Gary Ward 13 (Durham City).

Durham Branch CIU Singles Championship

Semi-finals results: D. Craggs (Tow Law) beat D. Murray (Tow Law); M. Rhodes (Coxhoe) beat C. Harrison (Corporation Welfare).

Cameron's Premier League

MICHAEL Rhodes strengthened his position at the top when he beat his host, second-placed David Craggs in the decider at Tow Law WM Club. In this match between two World champions who are best of friends off the table and fierce rivals on it, the respect shown for each other controlled many of the exchanges.

Craggs got away to a flier with a 67 break to win 88-0. he looked to be on the way to another big break when, with the balls openly situated, he mis-cued and jumped over the black and off the table. This seemed to have an effect as Rhodes came back to take the frame by clearing the colours to win 68-54. He went on to add the third with a 63 break.

Craggs made 39 to over-ride Rhodes early 29 and laid a snooker on the last red. Rhodes potted the ball and returned the snooker. Craggs later took a chance to clear from green to black to level with a 68-57 win. Rhodes made 41 from his first shot in the fifth but suffered an unlucky split on the pack. The high colours went safe and the frame ended with Rhodes taking last red to blue to win 69-33.

Craggs levelled in style for after Rhodes made a 40 break to leave him needing a snooker on the yellow he succeeded in getting it and cleared to win 60-59. The final frame looked to be safe for Craggs after he made 37, ending with an unlucky split on the pack. He got back to the table and engineered a good chance but failed with a comfortable black and Rhodes stepped up with an immaculate 62 clearance.

Steve Healey hit the headlines with his first win in the Premier League when he came through to beat Mark Windsor by the odd point. Healey, who was using a new cue, obviously benefited for he doubles his frames for column with breaks of 49,48 and 44 during the match.

New cue and proud owner then travelled to Wallsend to play former Under-21s World champion, Gary Wilson. Healey never saw the first two frames as Wilson made a break of over 100 in the first and 80 plus in the second. However the visitors recovered to level the match, knocking 40 plus breaks in both frames. Wilson recovered to take the remaining frames but Healey, whilst delighted with his performance was left rueing a mis-cue with the cue ball jumping the frame ball pink, and allowing Wilson to get back to fluke the blue and take the point.

P W L F A Pt

Michael Rhodes 12 11 1 68 16 68

David Craggs 11 7 4 53 24 53

Robin Wilson 12 7 5 46 38 46

Gary Wilson 11 8 3 45 32 45

Antony Parsons 11 6 5 42 35 42

John Astley 12 6 6 41 43 41

David Lilley 9 6 3 37 26 37

Mark Windsor 13 3 10 33 58 33

Andrew Aisbitt 10 2 8 26 44 26

Steve Healy 13 1 12 8 83 8

Fixtures: Monday: Rhodes v Astley at Durham Snooker Club; Tuesday - Parsons v R. Wilson at Ormesby, Windsor v Craggs at Athenaeum Club, Lilly v G. Wilson at Elmfield; Thursday - Aisbitt v Healey at Bishop Auckland Golf Club.

Cameron's Championship

TONY Short strengthened his lead at the top of the table when he only dropped one frame to the visiting Phil McMasters at Hartlepool Raglan Club.

Second-placed Richie Stannes went down to his first defeat when he played Michael Astley at Gateshead Lindum Club and failed to take a frame. Young Astley's 33 was the best break of the match but he doggedly kept going with a solid performance to make his second whitewash victory.

Stannes recovered his form when he entertained Mark Davies in a re-arranged match. Stannes went into a three-nil lead with a best break of 35. Davies cleared the colours and took the next with a solid 63 break, before Stannes came back to take the last two, making a 61 break in the final frame.