St Gabriel’s promotion quest well and truly underway

St Gabriel’s B have unsurprisingly established themselves as red-hot favourites to bounce straight back into Division One of the Sunderland League.

The Saints’ message of intent in Division Two is clear following three thumping wins as ake Helm, Joe Muldowney, Graham Murden and Syd Gooding have been in devastating form.

Unionist Club B will again be promotion contenders, and trebles from Dave Bannon and Jamie Westwater contributed to a 9-1 win at Silksworth IM B.

However, there was a plucky performance from Nigel Tree in the final set. With his team staring at a whitewash and trailing 2-0 to Ray Purves, Tree battled on to gain a consolation point.

In the St Gabriel’s derby, the D team seized the initiative from the outset against their rivals. The closest encounter came late, as the C squad’s David Revell trailed 2-0 against Gary Anderson.

Refusing to surrender, Revell displayed his superb skills, and to his credit, Anderson stuck to the task and got over the line 11-8 in the decider, capping a 9-1 win.

At East Boldon, the Amigos’ trio of David Byers, Jordan Dove, and Jamie Collins saw off the challenge of Redby CA 8-2.

Backspin B are the Division Three pacesetters with Lanchester Eagles A and East Boldon Bandits in hot pursuit.

Eagles travelled to Sacriston Scorpions and emerged with a 9-1 success.

The Bandits doused the Brandon Fire with wins from Ryan Campbell (3), Jeff Hope, and Colin Byers. Two sets apiece from Fire’s Bill Maclen- nan and Stephen Maddison kept it close.

East Boldon Cowboys were also 6-4 victors, overcoming Redby B. Sophie Richardson, Duri An and Ethan Brown were the Cowboy sharpshooters, but none could contend with the consistency of Istvan Franko, who recorded another maximum haul.

Having seen Division One newcomers Brandon Air ascend to the top, reigning champions Thompsons demonstrated the crucial margins that need to be delivered for any team harbouring title aspirations.

Although Air achieved a 7-3 win at Old England Nomads, Lee Tinkler was the only player to emerge unbeaten.

Thompsons, meanwhile, dished out a 10-0 caning to the Nomads with trebles from Chris Blake, Jim Stamas, and Max Duffin to reassert themselves at the summit.

Elsewhere, Dale Aitkenhead hit a hat-trick for True Roof Direct as they edged out Brandon Bullets 6-4.

The home team’s Jack Jacomb managed to overcome Maurice Cheek, and Stephen Pattinson beat Shirley Gelder.

However, Cheek and Gelder both defeated Simon Knopf to gain the narrow win.