Snooker: Malew return to top of table

Report by Mike Crook

With leaders the Hurricanes having a by this week, Malew took full advantage and returned to the top with a timely first win in six in the Macs Builders Merchants snooker league as John Kennish reports from St Olaves in Ramsey. 

St Olaves Musicians 1-4 Malew
 
Mike Doherty 26-54 James Goodwin. This was an openly played frame with both players going for their pots. Goodwin took some excellent long pots to steadily build a comfortable lead. Doherty fought back to be in touch on the colours, but Goodwin’s long potting saw him easily over the line. Matt Dodd 54-65 Mark Quinn, a great start to this match up with both potting some good reds and managing to take blacks with 6 out of the first 7 reds potted. Doddsy was ahead for most of the frame and had a golden chance to clinch the frame but missed a fairly straightforward red with the black over the pocket. Quinn managed to capitalise by taking the red and fluking the resultant black! Dodd responded by potting a great yellow and had a good chance at the green but missed and was very unfortunate to see the cue ball cannon the black into the corner pocket. Quinn sealed the win on the pink. John Kennish 104-83 David ‘Rads’ Quayle, was a very scrappy frame with 8 reds on the cushion with the black and pink going safe from the outset and the blue in baulk. Despite Rads doing his best to keep the frame tight in order to protect his start, Kennish weighed in with a few high teen breaks to take the lead going into the colours. Rads required one snooker on the pink but left it over the pocket for Kennish to seal the win. Brian Howland 38-55 Eric Drinkwater, Drinkwater quickly added to his 28 start to take the points difference past forty. Howland had a difficult task ahead and struggled to take colours with the numerous single reds he potted. Howland’s prospects were getting bleaker, but he dug in and a combination of good safety play and potting a 22 break got him within touching distance by the time the lads were on the colours. Drinkwater though, sealed the game with a back-to-back, fluked blue and pink while attempting to snooker Howland! Peter Collister 54-79 Alec Oates, a nip and tuck frame with Oates potting some good balls to maintain his 21 advantage. Collister had a good chance but whilst on a 22 break missed a fairly straightforward pot to keep the break going. Oates picked up from where Collister left off and responded with a 17 break. Some good safety from each resulted in a long battle which ended in Oates taking the pink to win the frame.
 
Cue Zone Mob 3-2 Port St Mary Legion
 
The Mob snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Frames 1 and 2 being very scrappy, Steve Oates 34-62 Dave Pickersgill then Steve Finnegan 18-52 Phil Joynes putting PSM 0-2 up with Joynes potting a few good balls to fall over the line. Frame 3 was between Peter Crellin and Shaun Roberts and the latter built up a 48 point lead with 4 reds left, Crellin not putting up much of a fight. Visits of 15 & 16 however left Crellin just 17 behind on the colours. A snooker behind the pink on the yellow gave him a foul and then he potted a good long yellow and cleared up the rest for a 27 break and turn it all around to win, Crellin 72-57 Roberts. Frame 4 saw the Mob’s Tom Miller pretty much level Marc Morley’s 49 start back with 1 red left. Morley potted the red and blue but snookered himself on the yellow. Miller potted two good middle distance shots on yellow and green then cleared the rest for the frame 88-70 and another 27 break. In frame 5, the decider Lee ‘Blade’ Hunt took advantage of an off form Terry Boyle. Tight at the start but Blade pulled away in the middle of the frame and was a comfortable winner 57-28. Thanks for additional information from Peter Crellin.
 
Cue Zone Reprobates 2-3 Cue Zone Blinders
 
Rob Callister 70-10 Sam Palmer, Callister potted very well and played good league snooker to comfortably beat an out of sorts Sam Palmer. Brendan Clague 44-51 Brandon Forrester, frame two looked to also be going the way of the Reprobates but Forrester, who is now settling in well kept composed and clawed his way back into the frame from trailing by more than thirty points at one stage. He needed blue, pink and black at the end and the pink was hanging over the yellow pocket. He potted a good blue and then had to negotiate the cueball from the pink to black which was the other side of the blue spot and he played it perfectly to leave himself a comfortable black for his fourth straight win. Michael Lowe 40-79 Josh Rigg, Rigg played a very good frame and eased to victory with the highlight being a 23 break. Ashley Howard 40-80 Ivan McMaw, McMaw who has now won the most games for the new Blinders team with 8 wins sealed victory for the team. Rhys Moore 83-41 Scott Campion, Reprobates clinched another point with Rhys Moore potting well and playing some good safety on the yellow which helped him to victory. A fourth win in a row for Blinders who continue to creep up the table.
 
Peel Legion 3-2 Jacksons
 
This was a titanic battle with all bar the first frame being settled on the final black. David McCallum and Nick Heaver started brightly but both players dragged each other down, with McCallum holding an 18 lead on the colours. Heaver took yellow and green but fouled on the brown which his opponent nicely potted from the ‘D’ into a bottom bag and leave snookers required, McCallum 50-24 Heaver. Don Humphries looked like putting Peel further ahead, soon pulling back the inexperienced Tom Charmer’s 21 start. Charmers slowly started ticking the scoreboard over with a few reds and baulk colours with the balls generally running awkward for both players, particularly when the final five reds and blue all ended up within six inches of a middle bag. Eventually as the frame ticked pass the hour mark, Humphries rattled a frame ball pink which Charmer took and following another 10 minutes of nail biting he rolled in an easy black. A well earned first league win for Charmer 59-61. Mike Crook vs Lee Gale looked like being over in double quick time, Crook left an under hit first red hanging, and Gale was off making it look like shelling peas and was soon over 40 ahead. A couple of fouls from Gale and the odd pot from Crook somehow took it to the colours, though Crook gave these points back with interest following some snookers by Gale. With at least four snookers required Crook dragged it out and he suddenly got the ‘snooker gods’ onside. Multiple snookers resulted in fouls from Gale and with the odd in off Crook picked off green, brown and blue before a long pink and nervy black to finish and win 63-59, some turnaround. There was never much between John Kelly and Kam Virk, a memorable fluke from Virk when attempting a fine cut red into the green bag but missed it completely but back doubled it into the yellow bag raised some smiles and comments. Virk settled it and levelled the tie with a log pink cut into the green bag and followed with the black across the nap into the middle for nice finish, Kelly 31-43 Virk. Geoff Hall of Peel was giving Tony Dhadwal a 21 start and after two reds with blacks Dhadwal was firmly in control, Hall clawed some back though and sealed a first Peel home win by clearing the last three colours, the black a controlled double into the middle, Hall 65-51 Dhadwal.
 
Newbys DSB 1-4 St Olaves A
 
St Olaves moved into second place with their eight win in ten as the champions slumped to a seventh loss. Frame 1, Calum Gardner 37-89 Sean Corkish,  Corkish started well with a couple decent breaks 29 and 34 the highest this week, catching up Gardner’s 21 start, taking the lead, then saw the win out. Frame 2, Johnny Myers 35-59 Paul Smyth was a scrappy start but Smyth held the lead, and went on to get the best of the colours for the win. Frame 3, Ste MacDonald 33-70 James Kerr, Kerr started well with two good breaks of 22 and 21 which proved the decisive factor. Frame 4 ended Simon Gardner 70-42 Dave Kelly. Gardner laid some good snookers and didn’t run away with it as in the previous two weeks. Both traded pots but no breaks. They battled over the colours but it was Gardner who held on for the win. Frame 5, Pat Maher 50-55 Darrell Thacker. It was a scrappy start for St Olaves winning most player Thacker, missing pots he would normally get, but he soon got his eye in, pulled back the 28 start and edged out Maher on the black. Thanks to Paul Smyth for details.
 
DSB Wannabes 0-5 Finch Hill Rockets  The Rockets move up two places to fourth with their second whitewash win this campaign. Great to see Ron Grogan back in action and at the grand age of 91, the Rocket won his first win of the season on the black over Harry Minor 66-67. Steve Cowin and Marek Kenny also was settled on the black in favour of Kenny 52-56. A 23 break from Graham Ashton helped make it 0-3 as he defeated Dave Corris 28-55. Paul McKinstry 51-73 Paddy Delaney, (20 break Delaney) and Fred Corris 30-62 Doug Kinrade wrapped it up for the Rockets. The league takes a break before the action commences on 6th January when the leaders with 34 points Malew face Hurricanes who are third with 31. 2nd placed St Olaves A who have 32 points are at home against Peel. Mark Quinn with 10 wins now heads the individual league from Stu Littlewood, Jamie Wilson and Darrell Thacker on 9. No change in the high breaks league where Dave Addinall stays on 33 points from John Kennish 20.5 though Sean Corkish closes in slightly on 18 points.