BRADFORD'S No 1 snooker side extended their Division One lead to eight points in the Yorkshire Inter-District League after a hard-fought 5-1 victory at Sheffield No 3.

Wayne Cooper was behind by 40 points to Wayne Wootton but a superb snooker and clearance by the Bradford potter put the defending champions one up. He then got away early in the second frame, holding that lead for a 2-0 success.

Captain Kevin Firth followed up by winning both frames against Sean Reynolds, experience showing as the Bradford player tied the youngster up in knots and picked off points at will.

Will Lemons pulled a frame back for the home side but Mark Slater came good in the final encounter to complete an excellent away victory.

The Bradford billiards side suffered a 4-3 defeat at Huddersfield No 1 but their three points were just sufficient to keep them in second place.

Huddersfield captain Matthew Peaker set off with breaks of 31 and 32 and later added a 43. Paul Devitt hit back with a 39 but could not quite catch up as Peaker ran out a 200-168 winner.

Steve Wilman and Huddersfield opponent Steve Whiteley traded several 20 breaks, with neither managing to establish a significant lead, before Whiteley got the better of the late exchanges to close out a 200-163 win for the hosts.

Visiting captain Stephen Kershaw had a break of 31 to establish an early lead against Dave Peaker, which he extended and was never seriously threatened as a 200-117 win secured the game and the aggregate point.

* Defending champion John Wellham had mixed fortunes in the Bradford Snooker Championships, being defeated 4-2 in the singles by Darren Goy (Eccleshill Victoria Cons).

But the Allerton Cons player, along with father Chris, made the semi-finals of the pairs with a 3-1 victory against Sonny Sandhu and Terry McDonald (Undercliffe Cricket Club).

They will play Anthony and Gareth Green at Undercliffe Cricket Club on Saturday, March 14 (7.30pm), which is also when the other semi-final takes place as Peter Hamilton and Damian Bentley take on Josh Walker and Adam Tipper.

Goy will tackle Slater in the singles quarter-finals, while eight-time Bradford champion Cooper faces last season's runner-up Anthony Green.

The other last-eight ties see Howard Mawson up against Simon Jackson and Firth meeting Sajid Khan.