JWright

Last updated 00:00, Friday, 25 January 2008

THE West Cumbria Individual Snooker Championship resumed after the seasonal break and it’s been a good New Year so far for Workington's Alan Stephenson.

He has caught up with his games in hand to take pole position in division one by the slimmest of margins.

The John Street player had a 5-0 win over Craig Denwood although the final two frames of the evening were hard fought after some dogged resistance from the Maryport player.

Stephenson had a tougher match against Workington's Dave Chapman who also has promotion aspirations.

The opening frame was won comfortably by Stephenson only for Chapman to reply by taking a tight black-ball in the second frame.

Chapman then went on to take the third to hold a 2-1 advantage before Stephenson won the final two frames of the night to steal the match 3-2.

In his third match, however, Stephenson was surprisingly beaten 4-1 by Cockermouth's Paul Hoad who had taken a convincing opening frame.

Stephenson replied by winning the next before Hoad won frame three and a low scoring fourth to seal the win and then cemented the result by taking the final frame.

Chapman earned a better result and consolidated his place in the leading pack with a 3-2 win over Workington's Stuart Ryan.

Even though Ryan got off the starting blocks the better, by taking the first two frames, Chapman dug deep to seize the final three frames of the evening.

The victory kept his own promotion hopes on course.

The league's youngest competitor, Ryan Ismay of Maryport, has also completed several fixtures, including a top-of-the-table encounter against Cockermouth's Paul Killingley.

It was Killingley who settled the quicker and took the opening two frames before Ismay replied with a 33 break and the third frame.

Killingley, though, maintained his divisional advantage over his opponent by taking the next two frames for a very useful 4-1 victory and a key result to hold joint second alongside Ismay but with games in hand.

Ismay also faltered in his promotion push when he took on Whitehaven's Ryan Henry and despite the Maryport cueist taking the opening frame Henry went on to win the next three.

The score-line was made more respectable with Ismay taking the final frame for a 3-2 reversal.

Ismay made amends against Whitehaven's Alex Chiesa by earning a comfortable 5-0 win which included a break of 38 in the third frame.

There are now just three points separating the top five players in what appears to have developed into a distinctive two-tier division.

In the premiership there were a handful of league matches completed lately including a useful win for reigning champion and former county singles winner Robert Sim of Whitehaven over Workington's Steven O'Hagan.

Sim took a black-ball opener with breaks of 36 and 31 in a frame which included a 32 break from O'Hagan.

Honours were shared in the next two frames for a 2-1 score-line and then Sim compiled a 46 break to take the fourth frame without reply to secure the win bonus point.

Sim took a tight final frame with the help of a 38 break to record a 4-1 result and keep the pressure on the top two.

Former county champion Alan Moore of Workington had mixed results recently.

Firstly he took on Whitehaven's Vito Shipley and won a comfortable opening frame. Shipley replied with a break of 54 to take the second before Moore responded again to edge the third with a break 32.

At 2-1 up Moore maintained his concentration to take the decisive fourth frame and the win, with Shipley claiming the final frame for a 3-2 deficit.

Moore also played Workington's Mark Tunstall of John Street club and found himself 3-0 down. Tunstall had started well, grabbing a close second frame in the black.

The current premiership leader responded by winning the final two frames of the evening and a more respectable 3-2 defeat to the player on the bottom of the table.

Moore secured top spot in the premiership with a solid win against Maryport’s Mike Park who was playing his first league game for over six weeks.

Moore went 4-0 up with the help of 38 and 32 breaks before Park pulled back a consolation frame with the aid of a 31 break for a 4-1 score-line.

Vito Shipley had a tight encounter against former county champion and veteran of this season's winter league, Mike Dawson of Workington.

The Whitehaven cueist won the opening two frames of the evening only to see Dawson reply with the next two frames, including breaks of 30 from both players, to leave the match finely balanced at 2-2.

Shipley got the better of the exchanges in the decider and eventually won a close final frame for 3-2.

Dawson fared better in his other recent match and despite losing the opening frame to Maryport cueist Simon Holm went on to take a comfortable second frame and then a black-ball third for a 2-1 lead.

Dawson maintained his grip on the match to take the last two frames of the evening and record a 4-1 victory to consolidate his mid-table position along with Shipley.