BOOTHAM 'B' moved into second place in the York Conservative Clubs' Carlsberg UK Snooker League with an emphatic 6-1 win over Bootham 'A'.

Matt Smith got them on their way with victory over John Darley, closely followed by Paul Scorfield just getting home with a black ball win over Rob Barron.

Mark Darley hit back for the 'A' team, defeating Paul Mahoney, but that proved their only success as Andy Proud beat Colin Robinson, Ian Robinson beat Tim Fillingham on the black, Paul Powell (36 break) beat Barry Rankin and Lionel Barnes triumphed over Stuart Martel.

Fulford 'A' managed to hang on to third place with a 4-3 defeat of Heworth 'B', led by Glen Mountain hitting breaks of 47 and 23 to defeat Nick Hodgson.

Dollin Mercer won on the black against Dave Beattie and Andy Marshall was victorious when Carl De Pasquale went in off the black.

Martin Johnson, with a 27 break, beat Tom Lewis in another black ball game, Mark Snowden overcome Alan Reed and John Sherlock potted pink and black to capitalise on Sam England's mistake in trying to play safe.

However, a good display of potting by Jamie Husband saw Fulford home as he beat Ian Strickland in the final frame.

Acomb 'B' continued with their improvement in results this season, only going down 4-3 to Heworth 'A', who welcomed back Keith Lawrence after an absence of several years.

Nick Goodacre got Acomb off to a good start, beating an in-form Jordan Worobec, but Heworth then took control as Mark Winskill beat Jeff Winter, Neil Wood, with breaks of 29, 25 and 21 defeating Kevin Ventress, Keith Lawrence beating Brian Henry, and Clive Whyte victorious over Steve Rodgers.

However, Acomb were not finished, hitting back with Chris Nicholson and Andy Stone winning their frames against Gary Douglas and Steve Burdett.

The big shock of the night was Fulford 'B's 6-1 victory over reigning champions Malton, whose chances of retaining their title suffered a big blow.

Malton could only raise five players and only Dan Pawson won for them, beating Dean Smith.

Fulford's Andy Hurley, Bob Smith, Andy Ogley and John Adcock had wins over Dominic Spiteri, Roger Ward, Phil Hart and Steve Pawson respectively to complete Malton's misery.

Acomb 'A', who were without a fixture, retained their place at the top of the table, but their advantage has been cut to five points.

Bootham 'B' and Fulford 'A' are next on the same points tally, closely followed by Acomb 'B', although Acomb 'A' have a game in hand.