RISING Club's Steve Wilson won the top prize in the dominoes singles knockout competition held at Crewe Liberal Club.

Wilson defeated Dave Roberts (Foresters A) 2-1 in the final, winning the first and last legs in a thrilling contest to take the top prize of £60.

The Crewe Open League also held the third round of their Winter Team knockout competition, with the title holders Westend LMR B involved in a closely fought contest with fellow premiership side Earl of Chester.

Having taken a 4-3 advantage at darts and then losing four of the first five dominoes games, they recovered thanks to a dominoes singles victory by Paul Blythe and pairs wins by Kevin Goodwin/Pete Ayres and George Goodwin/Billy Graham.

The all-Premier Division clash between Pioneers A and Westend Band C was also a closely fought contest, with top arrows thrown by Pioneers duo John Speed (12 darts) and Pete Boughey (16 darts).

Rob Arrowsmith’s 117 checkout helped Westend C to a 4-3 darts lead, and with the dominoes singles games shared, the result depended on the pairs games with success for Pies pairings Dave Tirrell/Nigel Palin and Brian Griffiths/John Speed taking them through to the next round with an 8-7 aggregate win.

Hop Pole A were another Premier Division team involved in a close encounter with hosts Amalgamated Nomads, taking the darts 4-3 thanks to a Rich Sharp 19 darter.

Pole's Paul Sheehan was in form with a 13-dart game which included a 180 maximum and that inspired Hop Pole to recover and take the dominoes 5-3, with Stuart Horreell/Colin Capper winning the decisive pairs game for an 8-7 aggregate victory.

Other top division teams Commercial and Flying Lady A both won their respective matches over Prince of Wales E and Coppenhall Leighton.

The surprise of the round was the 8-6 defeat of Premiership team Vine A by third division side Prince of Wales C, while fourth Division Waldron B also managed an upset, beating Division One opponents Kings Arms A 8-4.

The draw for the quarter-finals to be played on January 14: Nantwich Rd A v Pioneers A,Hop Pole A v Commercial,Westend Lmr B v Prince of Wales C,Waldron B Flying Lady A.