THE Super League individual merit awards title chase surprisingly remains in the balance and will be decided this Sunday, 10.15am start, when Louis Stevenson from Stacksteads meets Bamber Bridge number one Phil Parkinson.

Louis has been a revelation for Rose 'N Bowl this season and following an extraordinary 21-3 scoreline has given himself the opportunity to take the coveted crown in the last match decider.

However, if he is to overhaul current leader Terry Wood, the Stacksteads star needs to return a 21-9 win or better.

At the same time opponent Phil needs to score 17 or better to win his club merit prize, which all adds up to an intriguing contest to complete the merit ratings.

Furthermore, this sort of exciting match up of top players serves to illustrate the effectiveness of a merit system that pairs the best with the best. Whatever the final outcome, Alex man Brian Tomlinson is assured of third place with 18 points.

Brian led the table for long periods, but has not been in top form since a recent fall, and four losses in the last six starts cost him the title he won in 1994.

Leaderboard: Terry Wood (St Annes) 20 points, 74 total; Louis Stevenson (Stacksteads) 19, 63; Brian Tomlinson (Alexandra) 18, 49; Dave Darley (Lostock) 17, 55; Dave Worthington (St Annes) 16, 59; Barry Sutton (Lostock) 16, 50; Tom Fishwick (Lostock) 15, 50; Mick Lee (Witton) 14, 46; Dave Barnish (Lostock) 14, 22; Colin Campbell (Witton) 14, 3; Frank Herbert (Stacksteads) 14, 2; Alan Cottam (Alexandra) 14, 1; Steve Crossley (Ighten Mount) 13, 0; Garry Burke (St Annes) 13, 40; Vincent O'Donnell (Alexandra) 13, 30; Geoff Anderson (Stacksteads) 13, 15; Peter Wilding (Frenchwood) 13, 5; Glyn Andrews (Frenchwood) 13, 4; Steve Edwards (Frenchwood) 12, 50; Mick Nelson (Frenchwood) 12, 32; Don Yeadon (St Annes) 12, 23; Rob Taylor (Frenchwood) 12, 17; Bill Green (Witton) 12, 12; Brian Haworth (Sunnybank) 12, 10; Andrew Hartley (Lostock) 12, 2.

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