THE John Williams Shield comes back North after the Northern snooker team of Keith Coomber, Andrew Saltmarsh, Adrian White, Rolf Stevenson, Paul Zoon, Heath Rainbow, Lee Morcom and Josh Rainbow won an epic tournament at Claremont RSL at the weekend.

North needed to win one of the last four matches to clinch the shield from the North-West team, who were the holders of the shield from last year.

Held over 48 matches, the Northern team won 20, North-West 19 and South nine.

Morcom was North's best player, winning all four of his matches, as well as the deciding 47th match against North-West's Murray Baulch.

Captain Coomber won three matches, as well as the highest break of 34, while Saltmarsh and White also won three matches.

White had the highest break for cues 3-4 with 29 and Morcom had the highest break for cues 7-8 with 26.

Interclub snooker

REIGNING champion Exeter RSL returned to form with a 4-0 whitewash win over the Raiders at Exeter last week.

Gary Bakker continued his excellent form and Ben Swain, playing only his second match for the season, showed he will be hard to beat again this year, winning in straight frames.

Rex Swain and Adam Bindoff were Exeter's other winners.

The Devils drew 2-2 with Gold to hold on to top spot on the ladder.

Brothers Andrew and Josh Rainbow kept their good form going, while Gold's reserve players George Zammit and Lee Morcom both had wins.

Works Black and Launceston RSL Grey also drew 2-2.

Peter Wallace and Andrew Saltmarsh won for Black, and Roydyn Bishop and David Sheppard won for Launceston RSL.

In A-reserve, Launceston RSL White got back to the winners list, winning 9-3 against Red.

Tim Donnachy, Wayne Purdon and Graeme Purdon were all winners for White.

Works Green held top spot with a comfortable win over Navy.

Newcomer Simon Thomas, Lee Morcom and Glen Johansen were winners for Green, while John Fordham was Navy's sole winner.

Amber and Exeter had a 6-6 draw. Tracy Saltmarsh and Peter Fraser won for Amber, while Phil Stagg continued his impressive form for Exeter.

LADDERS - A GRADE: Devils 22, Gold 18, Raiders 18, Black 18, Gold 16, Exeter 14, Blue 10, RSL Grey 8. A RESERVE: Works Green 65, Amber 60, Green Horns 59, Launceston RSL White 53, Red 50, Navy 46, Exeter RSL 45.

LEADING PLAYERS - A GRADE: Gary Bakker 15 from 18 frames played, Josh Rainbow 13 from 20, Steve Leary 12 from 19, Barry Glover 12 from 20, Keith Coomber 11 from 17. Scott Kopriva, Michael Leslie and David Sheppard 7 from 10. A RESERVE: Peter Fraser 11 from 16, Phil Stagg 10 from 14, Glen Johansen 10 from 16, Shane Franklin, Zane Brown, Andrew Thomas and Adam Gurr all winning 9 from 14 frames played.

BEST BREAKS: Rex Swain 30, David Sheppard 29, Steve Leary 27, Gary Bakker 23, Andrew Saltmarsh 22, 21.

THIS WEEK'S SNOOKER MATCHES: Wednesday: A Reserve: Works Green Horns v Amber and Works Red v Exeter RSL at the Works Club, Launceston RSL White v Works Green at Launceston RSL. Works Navy has this week's bye. Thursday: A Grade: Works Blue v Works Black and Raiders v Launceston RSL Grey at the Works Club, Exeter RSL Black v Works Gold at Exeter RSL, Works Blue has the bye.