Tony Strange of the 147 Club A team gave himself a great Christmas present when he became the first man this season to hit a century break.

This marvellous effort came in a Brighton League singles competition against Anthony Flynn, of NARC.

On the previous Monday Strange had a break of 88 to grab a new highest in Division One. With 147A beating East Brighton Golf A 5-0 they moved to within one point of the leaders, 147 B.

Castle Club A had no match but stayed in joint third place with Pot Black A, who have already played one match more. There are four teams tied at the top of Division Two with nine matches played.

Annunciation B lead alphabetically from Pot Black C, Rottingdean and Brighton Sports. 147 C have also 26 points but have played one match more.

Pot Black B team have now withdrawn from Division Three.

Pot Black D, with a 5-0 win over bottom side St Annes B, have gone top with a lead of four points. Hove Deep Sea Anglers A are second but have played one match more.

Champion House A are third on 34 points after a 4-1 win over Preston A.

Brighton Sports E stay top of Division Four after beating Annunciation B. Sports player John Maskell has taken over the highest break with a 44 and Anthony Potter remains unbeaten.

Referees, having beaten the other promotion hopefuls, East Brighton Golf B 4-1, moved into second place while NARC C stay third.

In Division Five the top three are racing away from the rest with Dyke Golf on 44 points, ahead of Portslade Sports on 42 and Lloyds TSB on 41. Their nearest challengers, Century A, are 12 points behind.

Brighton Sports G lead Division Six but must be able to feel the breath of Marquess of Exeter, who are second with a match in hand. In third place are Hove Conservative C on 32.

The highest break in Division Two is a 53 by Howard Goble of 147 C. John McLellan of Hove Deep Sea Anglers A has a 37 in Division Three, the top in Division Four is John Maskell of Brighton Sports G with a 44 and in Division Five the joint leaders are D. Sterling and J. Honeysett with 42 each.

The top man in Division Six is M. Boorer of Brighton Sports G with a 41 and the top man in the billiards is Chris Todman of Champion House with a 73.

BRIGHTON have put themselves in a strong position at the halfway mark in the East Sussex Senior League with an impressive 9-1 win away to Lewes B at Hailsham Memorial Institute.

John Gillard gave them a great start by beating Adie Lepper 57-43 in the first before the Brighton man hit a magnificent break of 79 to take the second 93-8.

Michael West tucked into a break of 49 to take out Ollie Stalley 78-18 and 67-54.

The one point for Lewes was earned by Neal Hoad who took the first off Ben Evans 66-53 before Evans hit back to make it 5-1 by winning the second frame 79-40.

Simon Dent, yet another 147 player, made it 7-1 by beating Wayne Hill 62-18 and 60-29 with breaks of 32 and 34.

The ton merchant, Tony Strange took out Lee Matthews with a break of 50 giving him the first 70-22 and a 61 earning the second 68-0 with Lee Matthews conceding with reds left on the table.

- Mick Kirk