BRIAN Tomlinson remains leader of the Terry Sayers Merit Awards table despite a disappointing 21-15 reverse that has cut his lead to just seven aggregate points.

St Annes captain Terry Wood is his nearest rival on level points but there are half a dozen players who can still win the coveted crown.

Stacksteads star man Louis Stevenson remains in an ideal position after his latest success 21-16 and his vital matches in hand on the rest of the field.

However, his end-of-season clash with Alex man Brian Tomlinson in the last fixture may prove to be a decider for the title.

Four Lostock players have come through to the top 10 led by Dave Darley who only pipped team-mate Dave Barnish by one point last week. They have 14 and 13 respectively, but Barry Sutton who has returned some excellent results in a consistent spell, also has 13 points for his sixth position.

Tom Fishwick has also improved his score in recent weeks to accumulate 12 points and makes up a very formidable quartet at Railway.

Five consecutive successes have taken Keith Illingworth above Bamber Bridge team-mates George Gregson and Geoff Pugh.

However, with just two points separating them, the race for top spot remains a three way chase.

Another solid performance from Brian Haworth puts him on 11 points and well clear of his Sunnybank team. Number one spot at Ighten Mount continues to be a battle between Steve Crossley and Ken Topham who have nine and 10 points respectively.

With three fixtures remaining there is everything to play for in the Player of the Year stakes, and the clubmen 1999 prizes for every team.

Leaderboard: Brian Tomlinson (Alexandra) 16 points 52 total; Terry Wood (St Annes) 16, 45; Louis Stevenson (Stacksteads) 15, 33; Dave Darley (Lostock) 14, 37; Mick Lee (Witton) 13, 60; Barry Sutton (Lostock) 13, 38; Dave Barnish (Lostock) 13, 33; Colin Campbell (Witton) 13, 20; Peter Wilding (Frenchwood) 13, 18; Alan Cottam (Alexandra) 13, 6; Tom Fishwick (Lostock) 12, 50; Dave Worthington (St Annes) 12, 48; Keith Illingworth (Bamber Bridge) 12, 41; Don Yeadon (St Annes) 12, 23; Mick Nelson (Frenchwood) 11, 43; Vincent O'Donnell (Alexandra) 11, 21; Brian Haworth (Sunnybank) 11, 15; Steve Edwards (Frenchwood) 10, 56; Steve Crossley (Ighten Mount) 10, 44; Peter Slinger (Witton) 10, 41; George Gregsosn (Bamber Bridge) 10, 23; Geoff Pugh (Bamber Bridge) 10, 15; Rob Taylor (Frenchwood) 10, 10; Ken Topham (Ighten Mount) 9, 21.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.