2006-07: Week 21

BURTON AND DISTRICT CLUBS SNOOKER LEAGUE WEEK 21 REPORT BY DAVE BUDWORTH In the Just Wood Premier Division, Belvedere Park A is slowly losing ground on a second place finish. They played Swad Cons A and only just scraped through as Owen Jones took the decider. Best break of the night was a 61, set by Craig Keen. Swad SC A has swept most of the opposition aside and this week had no trouble with Burton Cons B. Only Mitch Hughes picked up a point to avoid the whitewash. Burton Cons A also showed their quality against Swad SC B and only dropped the single frame. Jonathan Fletcher knocked in a 64 break and Mat Milnes put together a superb 56 contribution. Bill Davidson saved Swad’s blushes. Spot On A overcame Belmont A with Tony Clements winning the final game. Also worth a mention is John Hardy who has steadily improved all season and compiled a 49 break in his draw with Ian Archer. Willington A is a hard team to beat at home, as Ivanhoe B found out. Ivanhoe’s Gaz Dolman started with a 42 break and quickly took his frames but Jan Pawlazych cancelled this out on the other table. The rest of the players all took one each to go home with a draw. Ivanhoe A got back to winning ways to end their run of ten consecutive defeats. As all players drew, the hero was George Cawkwell who defeated Newhall A’s Lee Sherratt. In Presidents Division 1, Woodville WMC A’s latest victim was Belmont B. Simon Smith put in his usual solid performance only to see his team mate get battered by Shaun Gebbie. At this point Belmont had played their best and could not prevent Phil Wright and Martin Smith from taking the rest. The match between Stapenhill A and Swad SC C went down to the wire. Swad’s Geoff Pritchard required the final frame for a team draw and looked like getting it until Carl Jeffcoate got the required snooker and the final four colours. At the beginning of the season, Tutbury A was at the bottom of the division but now occupy third place and if they keep picking up the wins could end up second. Dave Mabbott (30 break) and Steve Mabbott gave them the perfect start against Ivanhoe C and managed another frame and the win as Brian Holmes potted the final black. Tutbury B scored 25 points in their last four matches and was starting to look good but this week has been stopped in their tracks as John Carr A put in a better performance. Dave Plunkett and Steve Castledine took three out of the first four and Ian Shrive made the match safe with two more. Tutbury’s highlight was a 46 break from Mark Press. Burton Cons C was excellent in the first half of the season, but has slipping badly this half and had no answers to Stapenhill B. Mark Parry (46 break), Steve Ford (42 break) and Ivor Rees took six leaving Mick Comley to share with David Shipton. Drakelow A had smiles on their faces when they beat Belvedere Park B. Alan Orpwood (48 break) and Simon Orpwood went four up to make sure of a draw. Pat Ryan then won his first on a fluked black, which appeared to be a triple salco with two and a half twists and followed up with a second whilst Tony Coleman and Tim Knopik shared the final game. In Furniture King Division 2, Swad SC F romped home to win at Swad Cons B. The scores were level at the half way stage but SC’s Lee Wright and Ben Davies turned the screw to take the rest. Measham WMC played bottom side Swad Cons C and only just walked away as winners. In an otherwise drawn match, Paul Boyle took the win of the night. Alrewas A has made advances in the division due to winning a rearranged match and drawing with Swad SC E. Ivanhoe D who could still make it into the promotion hunt, this week beat Newhall C. Dave Watson and Brendon Mattley made few errors to go 4-0 up but had to watch the Newhall fight back by Andy Rice and David Wain. They reduced the deficit to 4-3 before Paul Wileman took the final game from Rice. Newhall B was unable to convert a 4-2 lead against John Carr B into a win. Steve Pearsall took both frames off Mick Kirkland for a well-deserved draw. Burton Cons D is going through a purple patch but has probably left it too late to avoid relegation. Swad SC G only won two frames through Mark Hadley and Clint Sherratt as the Cons Paul Davies and Callum Finnigan proved unstoppable. In David Wain Insurance Division 3, John Carr D has lost their unbeaten run to Rolleston C. Anthony Rushton took Rolleston’s first with a 27 clearance and responded to Martin Beard’s 32 break in the second with a reply of 29 and then a second clearance from the brown. Mick Baxter levelled the game with a win over Ian Welby and Mark King took the first off Dave Bentley. King found it difficult in the second and lost out to Bentley’s fortune at fluking snookers on a regular basis. Alex Smith finished the Rolleston attack with a win against Gary Chambers. Stapenhill D have closed the gap to the top with a good win over Willington B. Karl Hancox produced a 30 break and a win to stay top of the division averages. John Richardson also won with Colin Wood and Rob McMeechan taking one each against Kevin Dyer and Kevin Bradley respectively. Promotion hopefuls Rolleston D made a crucial error this week by arriving late to a home match and only playing two players against John Carr C. Stapenhill C put in a steady performance to outplay Newhall D, as did Woodville S&S A against Swad Cons D. This week an evening of snooker at Burton Cons saw professional Nigel Bond play several local players. Whilst Bond impressed everyone with his cue action and accuracy, one challenger managed to win a frame. Mitch Hughes quickly settled down knocking in breaks of 36 and 29 and 18 to win. Congratulations to Swad SC A for winning the PinXit Orme Shield against Woodville WMC. The match went down to a decider between Swad’s Mark Sherratt and Simon Smith and was neck and neck until Smith played a poor safety leaving Sherratt to clear from the green. Paul Smith was victorious in his four-hour marathon against David Wain in the final of the Jack Dyche competition.