AS the Bolton League approaches the end of the season, competition for the top places in all the divisions except the fourth is intense and could go right to the wire.

Ramsbottom A and Tonge A share top spot in the Premier Division with 110 points.

Ramsbottom comfortably beat the team in third place, Little Lever A, 7-2 which included the usual three wins by top 10 leader Mike Moir.

Tonge won 8-1 at Lostock with Darren Howarth and Dave Griffith unbeaten.

Hilton A won 6-3 at Wharton thanks to trebles from Mark Gibson and Ron Pennington. Radcliffe CC scored maximum points against Nomads A and Hilton Tameside scored an 8-1 victory over a depleted Burning Desire A.

Burning Desire B and Little Lever C change places at the top of Division One on the strength of the 8-1 victory by Burning Desire at Wingates, while Little Lever won 6-3 at Ladybridge.

Burning Desire have a one-point advantage. There were trebles in these matches for Vinny Croft and Kim Barnard for Burning Desire and Ian Lansdale for Little Lever.

A further seven points behind are Ramsbottom B who jumped into third spot on the strength of their comfortable 8-1 win over Hilton B, which gave them a one-point advantage over Heaton A in fourth place.

Heaton beat YMCA 7-2 with Paul Ward unbeaten but the Heaton team have a match in hand and should improve their position. Steve Barber trebled for Heaton B who recorded a 7-2 win over Wharton B.

The match between the two top teams in Division Two was a close affair which was nip and tuck right to the death.

Leaders Heaton C beat Hilton E 5-4 which gave them a five-point advantage. It included three wins by John Kaufman which not only included the scalp of top ten leader Siful Khan but also victory in the last set.

Frank Green scored an excellent treble for Heaton D who are currently third in the table. It was a very close match with Meadow Hill which they won 5-4.

Geoff Rushton also scored three wins for Hilton C who were beaten 5-4 by Nomads B. There were trebles by John Brinkworth and Ian Wheeldon for Hilton D, and Brian Goody and Paul Brandwood for Tonge B in their teams 7-2 and 6-3 wins.

The competition for top spot in Division Three is quite fierce. Hilton I and Ellesmere A share top place with 113 points, closely followed by Bolton Evening News A with 109.

The Hilton trio of Eamon McEntee, Andy Harris and Mike Roberts scored maximum points against Ellesmere B while Ellesmere A ran out 8-1 winners against Meadow Hill which included trebles by Denis Hough and Paul Jackson.

Mike Heaton and Cathy Jones trebled for Bolton Evening News who beat Hilton H 7-2. In the other matches trebles were scored by John Kofi and John Rothwell for Farnworth, Dennis Lomax and Brian Carter for Hilton G and Brian Greenhalgh and Phil Stewart for Ladybridge B.

Current Division Four table toppers Bolton Evening News B scored maximum points against Ladybridge B which gave them a 14-point advantage over Heaton F in second place. The Heaton team, who have played one match less, scored an 8-1 win over Hilton L which included trebles by Dave Bevitt and Colin Roberts.

Results

Premier Division: Lostock 1 Tonge A 8, Little Lever A 2 Ramsbottom A 7, Wharton A 3 Hilton A 6, Radcliffe CC 9 Nomads A 0, Tameside 8 Burning Desire A 1.

Division One: Wingates 1 Burning Desire B 8, Ladybridge A 3 Little Lever C 6, Ramsbottom B 8 Hilton B 1, Heaton A 7 YMCA 2, Heaton B 7 Wharton B 2.

Division Two: Hilton E 4 Heaton C 5, Heaton D 5 Meadow Hill A 4, Hilton C 4 Nomads B 5, Tonge B 6 Ramsbottom C 3, Hilton D 7 Little Lever D 2.

Division Three:Hilton I 9 Ellesmere B 0, Ellesmere A 8 Meadow Hill B 1, Hilton H 2 Bolton Evening News A 7, Hilton J 3 Farnworth 6, Hilton G 8 Walkden Meths 1, Hilton F 2 Ladybridge B 7.

Division Four: Heaton F 8 Hilton L 1, Bolton YMCA 9 Irlam 0, Bolton Evening News B 9 Ladybridge D 0, Hilton M 7 Tonge D 2.

Top Ten

Premier Division: 42 M Moir, 40 D Griffith, 39 D Howarth, 34 M Ramsbottom, J Chadwick, A Jackson, 33 R Durose, 31 P Biggs, G Jeffries, 28 B Elloitt, M Dore.

Division One: 41 J Hutchinson, 39 I Lansdale, 37 K Barnard, V Croft, 35 P Ward, 34 R Costello, 31 S Barber, 29 D Bolton, 28 A Bradbury, 27 J Bradbury.

Division Two: 43 S Khan, 39 P Branwood, 35 J Kaufmann, 33 G Rushton, M Martin, 31 A Crompton, 30 G Palmer, 28 S Jones, P Noden,

Division Three: 48 C Jones, 41 P Pover, 40 E McEntee, 36 D Hough, 35 A Bradshaw, J Kofi, 34 A Harris, M Roberts, 32 P Stewart, 30 P Jackson, J. Ainley.

Division Four: 37 J Pilkington, 34 J Quinn, A Weall, 31 G Laks, 30 P Yates , A Hibbert, 29 J Swarsbrick, 27 C Roberts, A Pickard, J Higginbottom.

Premier Division

P W D L F A Pts

Ramsbottom A 16 16 0 0 110 34 110

Tonge TTC A 16 15 0 1 110 34 110

Little Lever A 16 12 0 4 89 55 89

Radcliffe CC 17 10 0 7 82 71 82

Wharton A 17 7 0 10 78 75 78

Hilton A 16 9 0 7 76 68 76

Hilton Tameside 15 7 0 8 71 64 71

Lostock 16 4 0 12 53 91 53

Burning Desire A 16 3 0 13 52 92 52

Horwich Hilton 15 3 0 12 41 94 41

Nomads A 16 2 0 14 30 114 30

Division One

Burning Desire B 16 14 0 2 96 48 96

Little Lever C 16 14 0 2 95 49 95

Ramsbottom B 17 12 0 5 88 65 88

Heaton A 16 12 0 4 87 57 87

Little Lever B 16 8 0 8 77 67 77

Heaton B 16 8 0 8 69 75 69

Ladybridge A 17 4 0 13 68 85 68

Wharton B 15 7 0 8 61 74 61

Wingates A 17 4 0 13 57 96 57

Hilton B 16 4 0 12 52 92 52

YMCA 14 1 0 13 42 84 42

Division Two

Heaton C 16 13 0 3 93 51 93

Hilton E 16 11 0 5 88 56 88

Heaton D 16 12 0 4 80 64 80

Tonge TTC B 16 10 0 6 79 65 79

Hilton D 16 10 0 6 75 69 75

Nomads B 17 8 0 9 75 78 75

Meadow Hill A 17 9 0 8 74 79 74

Hilton C 16 6 0 10 71 73 71

Heaton E 16 7 0 9 69 75 69

Ramsbottom C 17 3 0 14 58 95 58

Little Lever D 17 1 0 16 48 105 48

Division Three

Hilton I 18 16 0 2 113 49 113

Ellesmere A 18 15 0 3 113 49 113

BEN A 18 15 0 3 109 53 109

Farnworth SC 18 12 0 6 96 66 96

Meadow Hill B 18 10 0 8 88 74 88

Hilton G 18 9 0 9 88 74 88

Hilton H 18 9 0 9 85 77 85

Ladybridge B 18 11 0 7 81 81 81

Hilton F 18 6 0 12 68 94 68

Hilton J 18 4 0 14 59 103 59

Walkden Meths 18 0 0 18 40 122 40

Ellesmere B 18 1 0 17 32 130 32

Division Four

BEN B 16 14 0 2 115 29 115

Heaton F 15 14 0 1 101 34 101

Bolton YMCA 16 11 0 5 97 47 97

Ladybridge C 14 11 0 3 81 45 81

Hilton M 16 8 0 8 80 64 80

Hilton L 17 8 0 9 80 73 80

Hilton K 16 9 0 7 78 66 78

Ladybridge D 16 5 0 11 56 88 56

Irlam TTC 16 5 0 11 49 95 49

Tonge TTC C 16 2 0 14 31 113 31

Tonge TTC D 16 0 0 16 15 129 15