Port St Mary dents Newbys title hopes

Weekly snooker update

After last week's cup matches, the Macs Builders Merchants snooker league action returned with Newbys DSC taking their 6 point advantage down to Port St Mary Legion in week 14 of 22. 

PSM Legion v Newbys DSC

 Port St Mary had only lost once in seven home ties and had a 71 percent frame win rate going into this. The night started well though for the visitors when Calum Gardner, (27 break) took the first over Terry Boyle 87-44. PSM struck back with emphatic wins for Phil Joynes 81-24 and Sean Roberts 88-42 over Ste MacDonald and Zain Abideen respectively. Marc Morley then consigned Newbys to a second defeat in a row winning a closer frame 54-39 against Newbys captain Simon Gardner. Mike Boyle then made the final score 4-1 to PSM overcoming Jimmy McDaid's 56 start winning out impressively 93-65. This win leaves PSM 6 points behind the leaders, if only they could start winning away from home.
 

DSC Wannabes v Malew 1
 
Wannabes went into this game with dozen consecutive defeats behind them entertaining Malew 1 at Douglas Snooker Bar. Malew were first off the mark with Eric Drinkwater 44-32 Paul McKinstry. Stevie Cowin levelled taking his frame 60-37 over Kevin Crellin. Fred Corris then put the Wannabes ahead 60-21 to Jamie Leneghan. Stephen Harvey sealed the overdue win 63-24 against Nick Crouchman. Tony Cubbon at least made the score respectable taking the last for Malew 49-20 against Dave Corris. A 3-2 win for the Wannabes!

 
FH Musicians v FH Young Guns
 
Both Finch Hill teams were sitting just above the bottom of the division. The absence of Vinny Dale didn't prevent the Musicians notching their fourth and biggest win of the season. Peter Glover set them on their way winning a close one 70-58 Rhys Moore. Three more comfortable Musician wins followed with James Hynes (21) 69-33 Michael Lowe, John Kennish (37 and 29) brushed Dollin Mercer aside 107-29 and Matthew Dodd scored well again taking the fourth 79-45 against Paul Tangeman. Mike Doherty failed to make it a clean sweep going down narrowly 58-71 to Brendan Clague. 4-1 to the Musicians.

 
Malew 2 v Peel Legion
 
James Goodwin took on Mike Crook in the opener, the latter starting well before Goodwin hit back with a couple nice reds with high colours. Crook then hit a rare purple patch with a 22 break to put him into a handy lead on the colours over which a tight battle ensued which eventually went Crook’s way, his blue leaving snookers required, Crook 78-60 Goodwin. Tony Pring levelled for Malew cashing in on Don Humphries mistakes, picking off the reds to add to his 28 start. Humphries struggled throughout and needed snookers with a red still remaining, the frame ending Pring 68-23 Humphries. Mark Quinn wasn't firing early on against Jim Caley, with Peel’s Caley putting a couple of disappointing results behind him knocking in some lovely pots. Quinn stayed in contention though and was only 10 adrift on the yellow, however Caley held his nerve for a blue ball win, Quinn 19-49 Caley. John Kelly was looking in fine form chasing a quick win in his frame against David Quayle but Kelly’s potting went awol and he couldn't quite shake off the dogged Quayle. Finally, a couple of fouls made things safe for Kelly who took it 78-42. Consistency helped Alec Oates take the final frame for Malew in a low scoring 40-15 win over Geoff Hall, the latter potting some great reds but not much else. Hall was still in it with the final yellow hanging over the green pocket but somehow managed to go in off into the opposite corner.

 
St Olaves v DSC Hurricanes
 
Second placed Hurricanes took their long unbeaten record up to St Olaves who were third going into a tough looking encounter. A 38 break, joint highest of the week for Jamie Wilson helped put the Hurricanes ahead, Wilson overcoming Darrell Thacker 62-30. In a scratch game Paul Smyth was up against Gary Conwell for the Hurricanes. It’s good to see Conwell back in the game and his 22 break took him to an impressive 68-32 win and the Hurricanes 2 up. Even Sean Corkish couldn't stop the rot going down 37-77 to Chris Dagnall. Dave Kelly did at least pull one back for St Olaves with a good win 77-40 versus Lee Butterworth. James Kerr was unable to cut the deficit further in the last, going down 39-65 to Steve Munk. A magnificent 4-1 win to the Hurricanes, their ninth on the spin. A slightly downbeat St Olaves captain Smyth afterwards reported that, ‘we were not very good’ or words to that effect.

 
FH Mob v FH Rockets 

Reigning champions the Mob have had an up and down season but went into this match against the Rockets still not too far off the pace, the Rockets themselves were on a four game winning streak over strong opposition. Peter Kirkham (23) for the Mob was in solid form to give Marek Kenny a 63 start and run out a 97-78 winner. Pete Crellin similarly overcame a big handicap start to beat Matt Radley 79-73. Tom Miller aided by breaks of and 38 and a 31clearance was very good in pulling back Ron ‘Rocket' Grogan’s 77 start to win 119-87, putting the Mob 3-0 up. Steve Oates was then handed a bit of a beating from John Spellman, who as last week ran away with his frame 73-16. Graham Ashton then pulled another back for the Rockets 54-33 over Lee Hunt. Final score, Mob 3 - 2 Rockets, and leaves both teams on the fringe of the top three. Newbys lead over the Hurricanes is halved to 3 points with Peel Legion 2 points further back in third place. John Kennish has opened up a useful lead in the high break league, Kennish is on 33.5 points from Sean Corkish on 25.5 and Tom Miller on 15. Mike Crook heads the individual league with 11 wins and 2 losses from Zain Abideen on 11 wins and 3 losses, Jamie Wilson and John Kelly both have 10 wins. Next week sees two big games at Douglas Snooker Bar where the top versus bottom match, Newbys v Wannabes gives a chance for the leaders to get their title challenge back on track. On the adjacent table second placed Hurricanes will take on the Mob who are tied in fourth.