Only five points separate top seven positions
Report by Mike Crook:
There were defeats for the top three teams as the pack close in at the halfway stage of the 2025-26 Mann Crane Hire Snooker League, just five points separate the top seven positions.
Port St Mary Stroller 3-2 The Hurricanes
Twelfth vs first, but the Strollers once again upset the odds. Hurricanes led 2-1 after Harry Boyle 61-83 Jamie Wilson (25 break), Garey Ellison 59-45 Paul Westhead and Max Barnes 56-76 Nialls Wilson. Nialls with a 28 break now holds a one frame lead in the individual wins league. Ian Brookfield continues to fire in breaks, a fourth in five weeks, his 25 tied the match 2-2 as he beat Brandon Forrester, Ian Brookfield 69-33 Brandon Forrester. Mike Boyle had a 22 in the last, defeating Rob Cowin, Mike Boyle 78-53 Rob Cowin. As things turned out it wasn’t a bad night for the Hurricanes as both teams in third and second, Blinders and the Mob respectively, also lost.
Finch Hill Musicians 3-2 Cue Zone Blinders
The Musicians took their winning run up to six matches. They got off to the perfect start with Pat Maher ruining David Hill’s seven-frame win streak, Pat Maher 84-8 David Hill. The remaining frames were somewhat closer, Vic Rigby 70-77 Harry Ellis, Matt Dodd 51-69 Shaun Roberts, Dave Hanlon 51-44 Scott Campion and Paul Tangeman 55-31 Conor Mahon. Hanlon took frame four on a re-spot black and Paul Tangeman claimed frame and match with a yellow to pink clearance of 20 in the last, defeating the recently crowned Joe Davis champion. Blinders stay second, Musicians up to equal-fifth.
The Mob looked set for a big win and boost their title challenge after William Hogg 61-45 Tony Pring and Steve Finnegan 85-32 Alec Oates. Finn froze out Malew’s veteran captain Oates, who scored just four points. Oates described it as ‘one the best displays of potting that I have ever seen, it was a masterclass!’ Finn slamming in breaks of 29, 26 and 27. However, Oates had the last laugh as he rallied his troops for a comeback win, to keep themselves in touch with the leaders. Other scores: Lee Hunt 74-90 James Goodwin, Jonny Hogg 51-77 Tony Cubbon (22 break) and Peter Kirkham (28) 70-100 Mark Quinn.
Darran Leadley 74-11 Geoff Hall - Darran, in his second season with the Masters produced his best performance, winning comfortably. Peter Stephens 77-40 Mike Crook - Steady potting by Peter gave him a very healthy lead, with Mike struggling to get used to his reserve cue. Halfway in and Mike began to close the gap but Peter got lucky with a couple of shots and was then able to close out the frame to make it two out of two in his debut season. Ivan McMaw 58-57 Stuart Sandford - Stuart seemed to have this in control, but late on some self-inflicted snookers and going in-off the brown gave Ivan a sniff. Stuart potted the pink, tried a cross double on the black, missed, leaving Ivan a tricky choice of taking it into the middle or corner, he chose the latter and snatched victory. Martin Rigg 53-46 Dave Kelly - Dave built up a healthy lead early on but a couple of snookers from Martin helped him get back into it. Down to the last few colours and Martin potted a glorious long pink and then black to force a re-spot. A few shots in and Dave rattled the black, leaving it perfectly over the pocket for Martin to bag the frame. Les Briggs 61-86 Paul Smyth - Paul took the last frame of the night, just his second win in 13, having paid the price for winning the individual league last season. This was fairly comfortable as he hit a couple of high teen breaks for a St Olave’s consolation point. Masters move up one place into third.
A first win in a long time for the Bar-barians, having lost their last six matches 4-1. This could have ended the same way but two black balls in the last two frames went in their favour to clinch it. Frame scores: Gary Williams 38-47 Marc Morley, Chris Lawless 70-49 Phil Joynes, Andy Moore 46-74 Andy Hutchison (22 clearance), Mark Davenport 51-43 Dave Pickersgill and Chris Reynolds 49-42 Terry Boyle.
Report by Ben Peach:
Ollie Pickford 50-27 Matt Monks - Ollie took a quick lead and held it with little issue, Matt made some late pots but the game was gone. Dale Walker 62-32 Richard Hillier - Richard started off the stronger, but Dale quickly recovered, taking the lead. Dale then forced a number fouls from Richard during the colours to secure the win. Mark Corlett 69-83 Alex Sinclair - Mark, starting 42 up, led until the colours, Alex eventually taking the lead on the blue. It went to the black which went to Alex, preventing a re-spot and capping his best performance for a while. Luca McDermott 92-69 Dave Welsh - Luca started off strong adding to his 49 start and Dave needed snookers by the colours. Dave forced the required points in fouls and was very unlucky to miss an agonisingly close pink with the black ball over another pocket to steal, Luca cleared up. Ben Peach 57-80 Lee Gale - Lee blitzed through the vast majority of reds to close the 49 point gap to just four on the colours. With the black ball in a precarious position over a pocket, Lee forced a foul out of Ben who knocked it in via the pink, securing Lee a relatively comfortable victory.
Wannabes drop to bottom of the league as the Rockets successfully chased starts in four of the five frames. Only Harry Minor held onto his, continuing his good form and collecting a fifth win in a row. Frame scores: Steve Cowin 70-92 Marc Bolton, Dave Corris 46-64 Leon Martin, Harry Minor 73-42 Paddy Delaney, David Callister 57-65 John Spellman and Michael Creer 32-46 Rodger Clague. Despite the win, the defending champions stay in eighth, eight points off the leaders.
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