Holders battle back to reach second round

The first match saw holders Bloxwich Sports A make it through to round one after beating Division One side Amery Club.

Hosts Bloxwich went into the match chasing an 80-point deficit, but they quickly got to work on cutting that deficit as debutant Lee Holder took the opener by 35 points before team-mate Ryan Woods took another 40 points off the handicap in frame two. Jake Vardy took out the remaining handicap as he won a competitive third frame by a score of 63-42, before a win for team-mate Rob Brown (39 break) put them into a 58-point lead going into the final frame. That proved more than enough to take the win as Matt Warrilow took the final frame on the black to wrap up a 465-402 victory.

The next match saw Premier Division side Bloxwich Memorial A overcome a 136-point handicap deficit to knock out Division Two side Aldridge Cons B thanks to Alan Hathaway, a 60-point frame win from Graham Cole Jnr, Craig Meredith, Mitchell Lowbridge and Stewart Jones.

The next match saw Division Two’s Beechdale Social pick up a upset win as they knocked out Premier Division side Poets Corner B away from home.

They went into the he match with a 108-point handicap advantage, but early wins for Jack Beattie and Dan Sharples saw them extend their lead further.

Two tight frames followed that both went to the hosts, with Rich Parker and Michael Croasdale getting wins, before a final frame win for their team-mate Anthony Darby followed. However, they weren’t able to pull back the deficit as Beechdale won by an overall score of 491-359.

Division Two newcomers Old Hall B started their season in great form as they knocked out Division One side Landywood C.

Old Hall went into the match with a 96-point start, but that was cut by 45 points early on as Scott Robinson picked up the opener for Landywood.

A black-ball frame for Barry Hodson saw him add five points to the total, but Dave Turner and Andy Whitehall moved Landywood into a 12-point advantage going into the final frame.

However, Old Hall’s Richard Bagnall put in an excellent performance to take the final frame 77-29 to earn his side a place in the next round.

The final match of the round saw Division One side Bentley Moor A make it through as they knocked out Division Two side Rushall Labour B after overcoming a 68-point handicap disadvantage thanks to Rob Hayward, Scott McGregor, Phil Bush and Carl Wilkes.