SNOOKER: Success in double-header derby for Musicians A and Rockets

Defending champs Blinders extend lead at top of table

Cue Zone Blinders 4-1 Douglas Snooker Bar Wannabes

By Scott Campion

Nick Stephens 79-22 Dave Corris  Nick came straight out of the traps with a 20 break from nowhere and quickly followed up with a league personal best break of 38 that was the highest of week 9. Dave was restricted to just a single red. Conor Mahon 94-62 Steve Cowin  Slow start from both players, Steve adding slightly to his 49 start. Bit by bit, Conor slowly caught up, finding his form on the colours to maintain his excellent start to the season. Calum Gardner 50-89 David Callister  Despite a well worked 25 break from Calum, David, starting 63 up put in a good display of long potting and took his chances well. Calum wasn’t able to get any closer and David took this one to remain unbeaten in the league this year. David Hill 79-54 Paul McKinstry  A good start for David, he caught up the 42 handicap early and with the help of good safety play remained in control for the most part. Paul did make it difficult towards the end, taking yellow and green to close the gap but David had enough to seal it with a long pink. Scott Campion 64-34 Harry Minor  Missed chances early on for both players but it was Scott who took advantage towards the end of the frame. He made a difficult 14 break from yellow to blue to seal the win. The Blinders extend their lead at the top of the table!

Finch Hill Musicians B 2-3 Finch Hill Musicians A

By John Kennish

Noel McConville 26-64 Zain Abideen  A strong performance from Zain who was giving 14 start. Coupled with steady potting, Zain didn’t give Noel much opportunity to get into the frame for a comfortable win. A spectator commented that this was the best performance they had seen for some time from Zain. Is he getting back to his best? Martin Rigby 55-28 Vinny Dale  Last week’s showing from Dale was soon a distant memory as he struggled from the start. Martin made some good pots and took most of the opportunities presented to him. Another frame which was won fairly comfortably. Vic Rigby 62-94 Peter Collister  Vic started well and played a lot of good safety, leaving Peter nothing. Peter managed to take a red and potted a good, thin black into the corner, only to see the cue ball rather bizarrely find a near impossible path through the reds and into the middle pocket. However it wasn’t long before Peter got back in and made a steady 22 break. With this momentum Peter went on to victory. Dave Hanlon 91-70 John Kennish  John had an early 33 break but missed a routine black off the spot with lots of reds available. Dave potted a few balls here and there, whilst trying to keep things safe. Eventually, after a few more misses, John managed to take the lead with three reds left. He left Dave in and he made a 14 break to go back in front. Dave left himself awkward on the last red and presented John with another chance. John rattled the final green down the cushion with the rest and left it over the opposite corner. Dave duly cleared to the black to win the frame which included two excellent pots on the blue and pink. Rob Callister 38-89 Paul Tangeman  The noise of the spectators significantly decreased during this frame. Paul was nowhere near his best but was never in danger despite Rob’s best efforts. Going into the colours Paul was in excess of 45 ahead. Paul took a couple more colours to pile on further misery to Rob and seal another much needed win for Musicians A. Musicians B were clearly missing their ‘Plan B’ who was on holiday in Hungary. 

Finch Hill Rockets 4-1 Finch Hill Mob

By John Spellman

Marek Kenny 40-59 Lee Butterworth  Returning to the league with a win in October, Lee brought his losing streak to an end to secure the Mob’s only point. Marc Bolton 58-29 Alan Heath  Bolton had the better of the opportunities after Heath rattled numerous long shots which settled favourably for Bolton. He concentrated on picking off a red and a colour to keep ahead throughout. Brown and blue to Bolton finished the battle. Sean Murphy 79-20 Lee Hunt  With Sean notching up points at every visit Lee was never in the hunt! Lee was eventually put out of misery with Murphy’s impressive 22 clearance on the colours. John Spellman 69-59 Steve Finnegan  A superb potting performance by Finn, including a 35 break, but amazingly this did not clinch the honours. With three teen breaks and his handicap start, Spellman clinched the frame with the final black from an obtuse angle. Doug Kinrade 84-68 Peter Kirkham  Giving a 70 start to Doug it was always an uphill battle for Pete. Despite a valiant effort and some key shots missed, Dougie held his nerve with crucial pots and a great pink to put the frame out of reach. 

Peel Legion 4-1 Jacksons

Another disappointing visit to Peel for Jacksons but they did play some very good snooker on the night and at least registered a point this time. Barton Beaumont 72-52 Kam Virk  Teen breaks were traded early before Virk pulled the start back with a 21 break which included some great long pots, all well cued. Beaumont wasn’t done though and potted himself into an 18 lead with 18 on. He then nearly blew it, following in an attempted frame ball pot on the blue. Virk took blue but then went in-off the pink whilst playing safe leaving himself needing a snooker. Tom Randall 89-44 Alex Sinclair  From 42 behind, Sinclair got within touching distance as Randall looked to be having one of those nights. Randall got a chance into a middle bag, took a couple of reds with blues and was soon 32 up with one red left. Sinclair potted it but with no colour and then needed two snookers. It wasn’t over though as all the colours were spread across the middle of the table and ideal for snookering. Randall did foul a couple times but eventually got sight of the yellow and cleared the colours nicely until missing the simplest of pinks. John Kelly 58-24 Richard Hillier  Multiple failures on colours cost Hillier. Kelly did fluke a couple of reds but deserved the win. He made a nice 24 break, never really being in position but dug out some crackers to keep it going. He followed up with a run of 15 and it was all over early on the colours. Dave McCallum 30-64 Dave Welsh  Welsh’s game has gone up a level this season, starting off scratch he was soon clear. But as in the earlier frames, the Peel player fought back strongly when all looked lost. This was a good watch and Welsh tucked away the final brown using the rest and cleared with ease for a 22 break. Geoff Hall 66-40 Lee Gale  Gale seemed to be on his way to salvaging another point, soon closing Hall’s 21 start with some fluent potting. A missed red let Hall in, he picked a more missable opener to stay on the black which led to a run of 17. Hall only needed the final green to leave Gale chasing snookers. Three wins on the spin for Peel since the captain dropped himself.

The Hurricanes 0-5 Cue Zone Masters

Another miserable night for the Hurricanes as they slumped to a whitewash defeat on their own table. One bright spot for them and the league was seeing the return of Stu Littlewood after a 20 month absence. The Masters got on the right side of some close frames to climb into a share of third place. Frame scores: Stuart Littlewood 33-71 Brendan Clague, Freddie Dancox 30-56 Les Briggs, Shaun Roberts 60-71 Jez Hill, Paul Smith (20 break) 62-66 Ivan McMaw and Jamie Wilson 56-72 Martin Rigg.

Port St Mary Legion 3-2 Malew  

By Terry Boyle

Matthew Astall 40-24 Tony Pring  A low scoring but open frame. Matt had an easy pink to take it but missed, then Tony was unlucky to leave it sitting over the bag. Marc Morley 62-77 Tommy Lawler  Marc wasn’t on his game, fouling black and pink to add to Tommy's 21 start. Tommy had six miscues but only one was a foul! Two reds left Tommy potted both but fouled each time but nevertheless was still 38 ahead. Tommy fouled the black and Marc got two snookers as the latter raised his game potting well on the colours. Marc was unlucky to rattle the pink in the yellow pocket whilst achieving good position on the black. Lawler finished off what was a peculiar frame. Phil Joynes 75-87 James Goodwin  Jimmy was potting very well but Phil got right back in the  game. Down to the colours, Jimmy got a good long pot on the pink for the win. Dave Pickersgill 109-51 Mark Quinn  Dave was brilliant on the night and Mark also potted well in having the only break of the match, a 20. Unfortunately for him, Dave was already out of sight! Terry Boyle 57-39 Alec Oates  We have had some great frames over the years but this wasn’t one of them. One red left and Alex was 30 behind, he potted it with green, yellow and green closing the gap to 21. A few safety exchanges and Alex potted brown and blue but left final pink in the middle of the table which I slotted into the middle for frame. Playing Malew, thoughts turned to the late Roy Gelling and his exploits on the snooker and pool circuits, a gentleman who will be sorely missed. Bread of heaven Roy, may your soul rest in peace.

Top of the league: C Z Blinders 29 points, F H Musicians B 24, F H Rockets, C Z Masters and Peel Legion 23. Musicians B and Rockets have a game in hand. Individual League: David Callister, Conor Mahon, Nick Stephens 8 wins, Dave Welsh and Geoff Hall 7. High Break League: John Kennish 29 points, Steve Finnegan 11, Darryl Hill 8.5. Next week’s matches: Jacksons vs Blinders, Wannabes vs Musicians B, Mob vs The Hurricanes, Musicians A vs Rockets, Malew vs St Olave’s and Masters vs PSM Legion.