Ramsbottom set a burning pace in bid for glory

The win gives them a nine-point advantage over Tonge A, who did not play this week.

Little Lever A beat Hilton A 5-4 thanks to three wins by Graham Jeffries, but the Hilton team did better against Radcliffe CC, winning 7-2 with Ron Pennington unbeaten.

Then the Radcliffe team scored maximum points against Horwich Hilton.

In Division One, bottom team, YMCA, lost 7-2 at Heaton B, for whom Steve Barber and John Scowcroft trebled, and then went down 6-3 at Little Lever B, with Roy Costello the unbeaten player.

Heaton D are the in-form team in Division Two. They have steadily improved their position in the table and climbed up to third place.

This week they won a very close match with the team in second place, Hilton E, 5-4. Six of the sets were decided in the fifth game, but two wins apiece by Mel Brooks and Frank Green plus one from Duncan Kay gave them the win with top ten leader, Siful Khan, unbeaten for Hilton.

Table toppers Heaton C scored a comfortable 6-3 win at Hilton D, with trebles by John Kaufmann and Dave Holden.

They are now four points ahead of the Hilton team and, with only two matches to be played, it is unlikely they will be caught.

Meadow Hill A won 5-4 at Hilton C with two wins by Steve Jones and Phil Noden, and one by Roy Caswell. Tonge B beat Little Lever D 6-3 with a treble by Paul Brandwood, two wins by Brian Goody and one by Jason Gandhi.

Division Three leaders Hilton I beat Hilton F 6-3, with their three players each winning two sets.

They are now eight points ahead of Ellesmere A who have played one match less.

The Ellesmere team ran out 7-2 winners against Farnworth which included trebles by Denis Hough and Paul Pover, and one win by Paul Jackson.

Hilton H beat Ladybridge B 5-4 thanks to the three wins by Adam Smart, and Hilton G scored a 6-3 win over Meadow Hill B.

BEN B look to be the favourites to win Division Four, this week they scored an 8-1 win against Hilton L which included trebles by Alan Hibbert and Alan Hodgert.

Bolton YMCA in second place also won 8-1, against Ladybridge D which included three wins by John Swarsbrick and Alan Weall.

The two Tonge junior teams enjoyed a good match, with the C team coming out on top 7-2 with three wins by Rebecca Griffith, and two apiece by Danny Walsh and Thomas Fryer, Steven Hall winning the two sets for the D team.

Ladybridge D ran out 8-1 winners against Hilton M with three wins by Andy Scully and Colin Gregory, plus two wins by Robin Llewellyn, and a depleted Ladybridge C beat Irlam 6-3.

An early entry for the closed championships would be appreciated by the organiser. An entry form is on page 37 of the handbook.

Results: Premier Division: Burning Desire B 0 Ramsbottom A 9; Little Lever A 5 Hilton A 4; Hilton A 7 Radcliffe CC 2; Radcliffe CC 9 Horwich Hilton 0.

Division One: Heaton B 7 YMCA 2; Little Lever B 6 YMCA 3.

Division Two: Heaton D 5 Hilton E 4; Hilton D 3 Heaton C 6; Hilton C 4 Meadow Hill A 5; Tonge B 6 Little Lever D 3.

Division Three: Hilton F 3 Hilton I 6; Ellesmere A 7 Farnworth SC 2; Hilton H 5 Ladybridge B 4; Hilton G 6 Meadow Hill B 3.

Division Four: Ladybridge D 8 Hilton M 1; Ladybridge C 6 Irlam 3; Tonge C 7 Tonge D 2; Bolton YMCA 8 Ladybridge D 1; BEN B 8 Hilton L 1.

Top Ten:Premier Division: 48 Mike Moir; 43 D Griffith; 42 D Howarth; 40 M Ramsbottom; 39 J Chadwick; 38 A Jackson; 37 G Jeffries; 36 R Durose; 31 P Biggs, B Elliott, M Dore.

Division One: 44 J Hutchinson; 42 I Lansdale; 40 K Barnard; 39 R Costello, V Croft; 37 S Barber, P Ward; 29 D Bolton, A Bradbury; 27 J Bradbury.

Division Two: 49 S Khan; 42 P Branwood; 40 J Kaufmann; 38 G Rushton, M Martin; 34 A Crompton; 32 P Noden; 31 S Jones, B Goody, M Brooks.

Division Three: 51 C Jones; 45 E McEntee; 44 P Pover; 39 A Harris, M Roberts, D Hough; 36 A Bradshaw, J Kofi; 33 D Lomax, P Stewart.

Division Four: 39 J Quinn; 37 J Pilkington, A Weall; 35 A Hibbert, J Swarsbrick; 31 G Laks; 30 P Yates, J Higginbottom, A Hodgert; 28 A Pickard.

Premier Division

P W D L F A Pts

Ramsbottom A 18 18 0 0 126 36 126

Tonge TTC A 17 16 0 1 117 36 117

Little Lever A 18 14 0 4 102 60 102

Radcliffe CC 19 11 0 8 93 78 93

Hilton A 18 10 0 8 87 75 87

Wharton A 18 8 0 10 84 78 84

Hilton Tside 16 7 0 9 73 71 73

Burning Des A 18 3 0 15 54 108 54

Lostock 16 4 0 12 53 91 53

Horwich Hilton 17 3 0 14 44 109 44

Nomads A 17 2 0 15 31 122 31

Division One

Burning Des B 17 15 0 2 104 49 104

Little Lever C 17 15 0 2 103 50 103

Heaton A 17 13 0 4 92 61 92

Ramsbottom B 17 12 0 5 88 65 88

Little Lever B 18 9 0 9 87 75 87

Heaton B 18 10 0 8 81 81 81

Ladybridge A 17 4 0 13 68 85 68

Wharton B 15 7 0 8 61 74 61

Wingates A 18 4 0 14 58 104 58

Hilton B 17 4 0 13 56 97 56

YMCA 17 1 0 16 48 105 48

Division Two

Heaton C 18 14 0 4 103 59 103

Hilton E 18 12 0 6 99 63 99

Heaton D 18 13 0 5 89 73 89

Tonge TTC B 18 11 0 7 89 73 89

Meadow Hill A 19 11 0 8 84 87 84

Hilton C 18 7 0 11 82 80 82

Hilton D 18 10 0 8 80 82 80

Nomads B 17 8 0 9 75 78 75

Heaton E 17 8 0 9 74 79 74

Ramsbottom C 18 3 0 15 60 102 60

Little Lever D 19 2 0 17 56 115 56

Division Three

Hilton I 20 18 0 2 128 52 128

Ellesmere A 19 16 0 3 120 51 120

BEN A 19 16 0 3 115 56 115

Farnworth SC 19 12 0 7 98 73 98

Hilton G 20 10 0 10 97 83 97

Meadow Hill B 19 10 0 9 91 80 91

Hilton H 19 10 0 9 90 81 90

Ladybridge B 19 11 0 8 85 86 85

Hilton F 19 6 0 13 71 100 71

Hilton J 19 4 0 15 59 112 59

Walkden Meths 18 0 0 18 40 122 40

Ellesmere B 18 1 0 17 32 130 32

Division Four

BEN B 18 16 0 2 128 34 128

Bolton YMCA 18 13 0 5 111 51 111

Heaton F 16 14 0 2 105 39 105

Ladybridge C 15 12 0 3 87 48 87

Hilton M 17 8 0 9 81 72 81

Hilton L 18 8 0 10 81 81 81

Hilton K 16 9 0 7 78 66 78

Ladybridge D 18 6 0 12 65 97 65

Irlam TTC 18 5 0 13 56 106 56

Tonge TTC C 18 4 0 14 43 119 43

Tonge TTC D 18 0 0 18 20 142 20