Top two inseparable with nine weeks of season to go
Report by Mike Crook:
Victory for Port St Mary Legion against pre-match leaders, Cue Zone Blinders means the Blinders now share top spot in the Mann Crane Hire Snooker League with the Hurricanes whilst PSM Legion sit two points points back in third place.
Marc Morley 67-57 Harry Ellis - Both of these are flying high in the individual league. Three balls left and both could win with blue and pink. Harry missed a good chance on the blue leaving it up Marc, he took it and after a few visits the pink. Phil Joynes 57-20 Dave Hill - Phil got going early adding to his start with some good reds and baulk colours, careful to keep the big colours safe. Dave struggled to get used to the table, an easy win for Phil. Andrew Hutchison 40-53 Scott Campion -Both players slow to get going despite Andy opening the balls early. Nip and tuck affair in which Scott's experience got him over the line. Dave Pickersgill 104-44 Darryl Hill - With the big colours all safe Darryl had a tough task chasing 63. Dave took a red and colour here and there and played good safety. Darryl finally got in but could only muster a 22 break, it just wasn't his day. Terry Boyle 42-80 Conor Mahon - Conor got in early for a 31 break. I struggled to stay in touch despite some good opportunities. Two reds left, I was seven behind and rattled a red in the top pocket. Conor took it with a blue and the last red with a brown and with good positional play cleared the colours down to the pink for another 31 break, well done Conor! A great result for us but its fair to say on the night we had most of the run.
The Hurricanes had to dig deep for this result having gone 2-0 down after losses for their two Danny’s, Danny Kane 29-69 Pat Maher (20 break) and Danny Beattie 41-49 Vic Rigby. Paul Westhead started the home fightback, potting a full length pink plus black to defeat Matt Dodd 53-40, Paul Westhead 53-40 Matt Dodd. Dodd isn’t having the best of season’s, playing well enough but not getting the results. I’m sure that will change soon. Jamie Wilson, who’s in the breaks most weeks hit 29 and 20 to defeat Noel McConville 78-61, and level the match, Jamie Wilson 78-61 Noel McConville. Hurricanes had a league debutant playing the decider, Josh White against the seasoned Vinny Dale. On this occasion experience didn’t win out as White potted a long black for frame and match, 55-42, Josh White 55-42 Vinny Dale.
This was the only derby match and the Miscues were the week’s biggest winners, putting a small dent in the Masters title hopes. Masters had won all four previous meetings. Frame scores: Ivan McMaw 47-60 David Kelly, Ross Samuels 51-78 Rob Dolby, Brendan Clague 32-65 Luca McDermott, Tommy Clague 78-21 Dale Walker and Les Briggs 40-55 Ben Peach. Miscues stay 11th, Masters drop from third to fifth.
Finch Hill Mob 2-3 Snooker Bar-barians
Another match won from 2-0 down. Hogg Jr and Snr having taken the first two frames for the Mob. Steve Finnegan hit breaks of 39, (highest this week) and 20 but they weren’t enough to overhaul Gary William’s 56 start. Peter Kirkham forlornly chased 77 in the decider against Andy Moore, Moore hitting a 25 break, a rare feat for a 56 handicapper. Frame scores: William Hogg 69-37 Chris Reynolds, Jonny Hogg 80-53 Chris Lawless, Lee Hunt 43-52 Mark Davenport, Steve Finnegan 60-100 Gary Williams and Peter Kirkham 40-131 Andy Moore.
Alec Oates 113-89 Steve Cowin - This frame was a catalogue of fouls. Steve gave away 55 points and he gained 23 from me, but two fluked snookers on the blue helped me to crawl over the line. Mark Quinn 46-57 David Callister - This was not one of Postie's better games. David potted some nice single pots which added to his 14 start was just enough. Tony Pring 48-25 Dave Corris - There were only a few points in it at the colours, Dave took the yellow, but Tony got the remaining colours up to the pink, Dave then offering the handshake. James Goodwin 47-74 James Teare - For a change Jimmy didn't get a start. Both players found the going tough and it was going to be the player who made the least number of fouls that would be victorious! That player was James. Tony Cubbon 36-58 Michael Creer - Nine reds were potted without a colour. Tony then started off playing and Michael made some good pots too. I just felt that Tony was trying to push the boat out. He might disagree? Michael's 21 start ultimately made the difference.
Richard Hiller 64-42 Ken Kinrade - Richard led 50-0, but Ken got with touching distance before Richard finished with brown, blue and pink. The remaining frames were runaway wins, Alex Sinclair hit breaks of 20 and 22 in his victory, 71-29 over Graham Ashton, Alex Sinclair 71-29 Graham Ashton. A night to forget for Graham who only potted a single red, but we all know he’s better than that! Other scores: Matt Monks 62-14 Paddy Delaney, Dave Welsh 19-67 Leon Martin and Kam Virk 24-74 Marc Bolton.
Anthony Bayle 60-81 Mike Boyle - Anthony broke off, left the cueball tight on the top cushion but somehow left a red on the edge of a middle bag. Mike made 28 from this, cutting Anthony’s start to 14. Mike soon had another 22 to his name. Anthony found a few pots in the latter stages but it was over as the blue went down. Stuart Sandford 71-52 Garey Ellison - Garey potted plenty of blacks and made Stuart, leader of the individual league, work vary hard for this win. Only a late flurry of pots saw him home for a pink ball victory. Dave Kelly 49-30 Harry Boyle - Too many single reds from Harry. Dave seemed to have a phobia of potting the black but seemingly had the frame won when potting the brown. With the chance of a 22 break he went for a cut on the blue but completely missed it. Harry could now tie and fired in a long blue but rattled a long pink. This time Dave made no mistake. Geoff Hall 74-81 Max Barnes - Geoff did well to close down Max’s 49 start as the latter potted quite well throughout. Hall missed an easy final pink, but typically, when left a much harder chance, knocked it in full length. Both had half chances on the black, Geoff was forced into a tough pot down the cushion from some distance, it rattled and went over the opposite corner for Max to pop in. Paul Smyth 34-71 Ian Brookfield - Neither player were anything like they can play. Too many fouls from Paul but Ian did enough to deserve his win and claim the match for the Strollers.
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