In the latest Eddie Shimmings Individual Snooker Championship fixtures the battle for Division One superiority hotted-up, writes GREEN BAIZE.

The leadership changed hands yet again as Keswick’s Chris D’Leny (pictured left) crammed in three fixtures to earn a two point lead of the second tier, albeit with his nearest rival having a match in hand of the Derwent Club cueist.

Firstly D’Leny disposed of Clifton’s Gary Mattinson in a solid 5-0 result which included breaks of 37 and 35 in the third and fourth frames respectively.

This was then followed by a 4-1 win over Workington’s Dave Chapman where the victory was secured with an unassailable lead before Chapman took the final frame for a consolation point.

D’Leny’s third fixture proved to be his toughest as he was challenged by Whitehaven’s Ryan Henry who lies in third place with fading hopes of challenging the top two.

The opening two frames were shared with a comfortable win for either player. Henry then claimed a black-ball third to gain the upper-hand only for D’Leny to hit back with the fourth for 2-2.

However, this was probably a must-win match for Henry if he is to harbour any chance of clawing himself back into the title mix and he duly did with a comfortable deciding frame for a vital 3-2 win over the new divisional front-runner.

Clifton’s Richard Nelson kept hot on the heels of D’Leny as last week’s Division One leader recorded a useful 4-1 win over Chapman.

The match was a little tighter than the result suggests though as Nelson secured the win with a 3-0 lead in which all frames were closely contested. Chapman won a tight fourth before Nelson closed out the match with a clearly won fifth frame.

In Nelson’s second fixture he found himself up against club colleague Gary Mattinson. It was Mattinson who took the early initiative, though, with a tight opening frame.

Nelson then settled down to construct a winning 39 break for a comfortable second frame which was the springboard for an eventual unbeatable 3-1 lead. Mattinson claimed the final frame for a 3-2 reversal in three tight final frames.

Nelson drops to second place while Mattinson, Chapman and Atkinson are all tied on 21 points at the basement only being separated by the number of matches each has won so far this season.

Whitehaven’s Robert Sim continues to hold a handy lead in the Premiership following a recent 5-0 victory over club colleague Dave Atkinson of Division One.

Sim recorded breaks of 84, 76, 35, 33 and 31 to keep his nearest rival Peter O’Hagan of Workington at arms length. Sim is 16 points clear while O’Hagan has two matches in hand.

Brother Steven O’Hagan was up against Workington’s Alan Stephenson in an all-Premiership clash. But it was O’Hagan who edged through to secure the win after honours were even from the opening two frames.

Stephenson took the final frame of the evening for a 3-2 defeat in a closely contested fixture.

O’Hagan maintains his third place in the top tier eight points behind his brother Peter while Stephenson lies second bottom by a single point.

In two further all-Premiership clashes Workington’s Mark Tunstall (pixctured left) was challenged by Mike Park of Maryport.

Park took a comfortable opening frame before compiling a 36 break in the second for a 2-0 lead. Tunstall battled back to take a clear third frame before Park secured the win with a tight fourth going on to take the final frame for a 4-1 win. Park still remains bottom of the premiership.

Tunstall’s second fixture of the week saw him come though a narrow 3-2 victor over third placed Steven O’Hagan. It included a 32 clearance in the second frame by Tunstall who is lying in fourth place some eleven points behind his latest opponent.

League standings week 15:

EDDIE SHIMMINGS PREMIERSHIP
              
  Pl W L F A Pts 
R. Sim 14 14 0 61 9 75 
P. O'Hagan 12 11 1 48 12 59 
S. O'Hagan 14 10 4 41 29 51 
M. Tunstall 14 6 8 34 36 40 
A. Stephenson 12 7 5 33 27 38 *
M. Park 10 7 3 30 20 37 
No relegation   
 * - denotes 2 pts deducted for late match-sheet
              
EDDIE SHIMMINGS DIVISION ONE
              
  Pl W L F A Pts 
C. D'Leny 15 6 9 40 35 46 
R. Nelson 14 7 7 37 33 44 
R. Henry 16 8 8 29 51 37 
D. Atkinson 13 3 10 18 47 21 
G. Mattinson 16 2 14 19 61 21 
D. Chapman 14 1 13 20 50 21 
Champion promoted.   

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