2015-16: Week 15

Mark Stirling abd Carl Poulton report on the Orme Shield Semi Finals

The all premiership clash between Belmont A and Tutbury A was a very tense affair with a great mix of potting and tactical play.
Fran Mcnulty got the Belmont boys off to a convincing start with a comfortable win, finishing off with a nice 25 break. Ian Archer and Steve Mabbott battled out their frame with brilliant safety exchanges, Steve pulled 20 points clear but Ian fought back with a 28 to keep the game nip and tuck. Steve slammed in the final black down the rail to take the frame by just 4 points. Young Josh Gebbie was as convincing as Fran McInulty with perfect positioning, there was no stopping him putting Belmont in front. That left Wayne and Chris to the spotlight. You could hear a pindrop as they battled out the final frame, combining great potting with superb safety, the pair were inseparable, Wayne taking a nice long blue and a perfect pink with the rest to send Belmont into what’s sure to be a great final.

The underdogs, and remaining Division 1 entry, Burton Cons C A took on Swad Cons A in another tense affair at the Burton Cons club. Tom Egginton got the Division 1 boys off to a great start taking the first frame off a usually reliable Simon Orpwood. Burton Cons C captain Ian Shrive then lead by example by taking the next off Lee Wood in a close finish. Andy Grainger, lived up to his star billing to pull one back for Swad Cons against Matt Hucker in a quality frame. That left Lee Louch to bring the Burton Cons boys over the line with a great frame against Paul Slater.

So a Belmont A v Burton Cons C final, Premier league versus Division 1 match up in what has been an excellent competition this year.

Owen Jones writes for the David Wain Insurance Premier Division

Swad Cons A welcomed Belmont B and it was the visitors who left with the win. Mark Sherratt, making his second appearance of the season, played well against Paul Slater. He knocked in a 35 break on the way to taking both frames. Simon Orpwood played Graham Bailey on the other table. Orpwood had the run of the ball in the first but ended up losing the frame. Bailey was doing well in the second until a dubious free ball was awarded which resulted in Orpwood gaining control of the frame. He eventually went on to win it. Andy Grainger played Michael Lomas and the Belmont player had a chance to take the first frame. He miscued on the final green with the balls at his mercy. This handed the frame to Grainger and the Swad Cons player won the second with ease. Lee Wood played Arron Vaughan in the final game. The first frame was tight until Vaughan pinched it. The second frame saw Wood having no luck as he left his opponent with scoring chances every time he missed. Vaughan duly won the frame and the match for the Belmont side. The final score was 5-3.

Stapenhill A went down 6-2 at home to Tutbury A. Steve Ford got the ball rolling, sharing the frames with Steve Hathaway. Andy Gretton found Steve Mabbott too good on the night as the Tutbury man won both frames. Carl Jeffcoate had a similar night as Chris Mabbott potted well to take the frames. Finally, Andy Tomlinson drew with Dave Mabbott to complete the scoring.

Spot On A picked up a good win at home against Ivanhoe B. Ade Harper got the hosts off to a great start as he won both frames against Stuart Tagg. Andy Speirs and Brendon Mattley both potted well to win a frame each. Tom Elliott showed what he can do by defeating Brian Lowrie and finally Mark Stirling and Jason Pickering battled out a draw to close out the match.

Ivanhoe A won 6-2 at home against Swadlincote Snooker Centre A. Mark Satchwell was in no mood to mess around as he soundly beat Daniel Blunn. He also knocked a lovely 60 break that could easily have been more. Ian Rennocks levelled the scores as he made breaks of 42 and 32 to beat Chris Dewey. Steve Butler overcame Steve Ayre and finally Ant Moore beat John Davis aided by a 42 break.

A cracking game took place at Willington as the A team welcomed Burton Cons B. Wayne Pereira played well to take the first against Dave Shipton. The Cons man came back well in the second to level things up. Jan Pawlazych made a 29 break to win the first frame against Dave Plunkett. The second went right down to the wire and it was Plunkett who knocked in the final black to pinch the leveller. Bill Stewart started strongly with a 33 break against Mike Buckland. His opponent hung in the frame and eventually took it with some good safety. The second frame saw Buckland knock in a lovely 57 break, missing the green when the colours were at his mercy. This sealed the win for the talented player. Gaz Barker knocked in a string of 20+ breaks to win the first frame against Simon Smith. Back came Smith to take the second frame. This sealed the victory for the visitors in a great match.

Champions Burton Cons were in ominous form as they defeated Chimneys B. Mick Simpkins put in an assured performance to win the frames against Steve Butterworth. Stuart Roberts had to pass a late fitness test to take his place against Steve Lane in an eventful encounter. Roberts potted well and played the right shots to win the first frame. The second frame went down to a re-spotted black. With the black tight on the bottom cushion, Lane got out the rest and attempted to play a safety shot which dropped in the middle pocket for an unlikely double. Graham Stevens again showed how well he is playing as he knocked in breaks of 44 in the first frame and a 42, made up primarily of pinks, in the second frame. Lee Cooke potted some good balls but Stevens proved to be too strong. Finally, Owen Jones played well to take both frames from Loz Kennerson. The Chimney’s man made a 28 break straight from the start of the first frame and also made a 30 in the second but Jones managed to grind his opponent down to take both frames and seal a 7-1 victory.

Belmont A defeated Alrewas A 7-1. Ian Archer, Wayne Brewin and Josh Gebbie all won their frames against Adam Walton, Dave Trueman and Colin Kinsella respectively. Gebbie knocked in a 36 in his win. Fran McInulty and Carl Poulton shared the frames in the final game to complete the scoring.

Mike Buckland writes for Division 1

At Newhall, an entertaining game took place between their A team and Belmont D. Tom Holland opened up by taking a frame off of the home side’s Sam Hicks fluking the blue in doing so whilst Mark Anslow was probably a little unlucky to lose both against Brett Craddock-the first on the colours and second on the pink. After Mick Morris had taken the first against Martin Hurdman potting some lovely balls as he went, Martin then rolled back the years to put the division’s highest break of the season so far – notching a fantastic 61 in the second. Martin Hicks then showed his class for Newhall knocking a nice 27 in whilst taking both off of Glyn Holland , making only his 3rd appearance of the season.A draw ended Newhall’s run of wins but was just about fair on the night.

Alrewas C keep marching on at the top -last week scoring a solid 5-3 win over another high flying side, SDSC C. John Richardson was the top break scorer in the match-having a lovely 38 but he was only able to draw with the experienced Simon Shilton. Rob McMeecham was in fine form to record a good win over the Swad side’s captain Pete Maguire and to leave The Legionnaires 3-1 up at half time. Tom Wright was unable to rally get going as he lost to Ben Davies so it was left to the man at the top of the division’s averages, Karl Hancox to bring his side home by defeating Henry Tomas. This result leaves Alrewas 6 points clear with 11 matches remaining.

It finally clicked for Tutbury’s players on the same evening as they beat Rolleston B 6-2 to record their first win of the season at the 15th attempt. To be fair, they have drawn over half of their games so this win gives them a realistic chance of avoiding the drop.Colin Bell played well to beat Rolleston’s star-man Lionel Lewis as Dave Brady and John Harvey fought out a deserved draw on the other table. Paul Atterbury and Rob Sanders also then shared the spoils before Jeff Siddalls was able to seal the win by scoring both against Kev Norris.

Replacing Tutbury at the foot of the table are Alrewas B who were undone 6-2 at home by Ivanhoe C. Daz Wilson, Steve Cockeram and Graham Measures all won for the Ashby side, whilst Alan Wilson brought some respectability to the scoreline as he beat an out of sorts Jerry Cook. Alrewas are in danger of a second consecutive relegation after the relocation of their talisman Phil Marklew just after the start of last season, which undoubtedly has unsettled the side.

Belmont C have not won since week 8 and join Alrewas in the relegation places. Last week they lost 6-2 at home to Chimneys C. Terry Bosworth got the home side off to a great start by beating Dave Mawhinney but that was as good as it got for The Servicemen. Chimneys have a team full of very consistent players who are difficult to beat. Trevor Heath scored a functional win over Brian Cutting before Tony Clements notched his 4th straight win including a good 35 against Doug Lees. Stave Gaunt was also in the thirty plus club scoring a lovely 32 in his 2-0 win over Dave Press. Belmont will need a few more performances from Mark Press to avoid a return to Division Two from where they were promoted last term.

Rolleston A maintained their good recent form with a 6-2 win over Stapenhill B-this was the team’s 8th consecutive win and has left them in joint second place after a shaky start to the season. Joe Docksey opened up with a solid draw against John Sherriff as Ant Rushton won his 18th straight frame of the season in beating Greg Britton. Jonathon Swift of Stapenhill was a little below par but managed to eek out a draw against the home side’s James Wilkinson. Starman of the evening though was Bobby Cliff who had runs of 30, 23 and 22 in his 2-0 win over Tim Knopik. Stapenhill will need to be careful overt he next few weeks in order not to be dragged into a relegation battle.

The same might be said of Burton Cons C who still have only won 3 times this season and only once in their last 12 fixtures. Last week they were beaten away 6-2 at SDSC B, who did their hopes of survival no harm in the process. Nick Harcombe is one of the division’s best players and he brushed aside Matt Hucker of the Cons who had been in good form. Gareth Fearn and Tom Egginton slugged out a tough 1-1 draw before Ray Stretton had a surprise win over Lee Louch who has been knocking them in for fun on the practice table. Cons’ captain Ian Shrive and Ray Bancroft then shared the spoils in another tight draw.

Tony Coleman your on the spot Reporter reporting on the weekly events in Division 2

Spot On C had a resounding away win against bottom of the table team Swad Cons C winning 7-1. Ben Menzies the Spot’s skipper got the evening off to a great start with a fine display of potting in both frames as he beat Paul Griffin who tried his best but could not contain the rampant Menzies. Ben made breaks of 22 and 20 to win his match. John Griffin had a difficult task as he took on Jared Cronje and as he has been in fine form of late and he carried it on into this match. John as usual knocked in a number of fine pots but not enough to trouble Jared. Jared made a nice 28 break to help take one of his frames. This put the league leaders 4-0 ahead at the interval with very little change in the second half although Dan Petcher played some of his best snooker for a while to draw with Matt Keays. This was the most even match of the night with Matt knocking in breaks of 22 and 32 to win the first frame then Dan showed what a good potter he can be as he made a difficult 22 clearance to earn a re- spot which he deservedly potted to get the Con’s only frame of the evening. Unfortunately Jon could not emulate what his son had done as he lost two close frames to Billy Newman in a very entertaining game. This win increases the lead the Spots have on the joint second placed teams.
Burton Cons D did not take any prisoners in beating the Snookerettes aka Spot On B by winning 8-0. Al Munnien back in the team this week played some superb snooker as he won both frames fairly comfortably against Gilda Horvath which included breaks of 21 and 20 respectively. Nathan Brooks was also in fine form as he beat Marie Bridges in two closely contested frames with Nathan making a quick 20 break. Ian Protheroe showed why he is climbing up the averages with an all round solid display of snooker to beat Kate Stirling who was not at her normal safety and potting best. Gentleman Jim Jennings managed to win both frames against Yvonne Spendlove who made Jim fight for every point he got. This was the Cons second winning whitewash of the season.

Rolleston C lost at home to current joint third in the league Swad Cons B losing 6-2. There was some talent and experience on show in the first match between John Ward and Bob McNulty with two old campaigners who can still play a bit and this was on show in this match with both players matching each other in the safety department with Bob just shading both frames with better potting. Ross Hollis put the Cons in a good position at half time after taking two close frames against Neil Cheadle with very little to separate both players until the colours then Ross seemed to step up another level. Steve Atkin won the home teams first frame of the evening with a nice and steady display of potting to take his frame against Vince Draper. Vince looking more relaxed in the second frame winning it fairly comfortably with a number of good long pots. This frame won the match for Swad before the conclusion of the other match in the other room. David Bentley did well to hold Paul Hollis to an honourable draw with neither player deserving to end up with nothing. Both David and Paul made a number of small breaks between them in two tightly run games. This win keeps the Cons B well positioned in the promotion places.

The Baulkline A had a fine away win with fifth in the table Woodville S&S A winning 5-3. Jim Marcer took first blood for the home team with a superb potting display which saw his opponent Jon Sully concede early on the colours. Jim missed very little in this frame. Second frame was a little tighter and probably hinged on Jim not hitting a black strong enough for it to go into the pocket – needs more Weetabix!!! After that Jon started to get into the potting groove leaving Jim few opportunities to get back into the frame. The draw was a fair result with both players making the best of chances when they arose. On the other table we had another drawn match between Alan Orpwood and Mick Taylor. The first frame was a rather long and drawn out which was at times rather scrappy with Mick coming from well behind to take it on the black. In this frame Mick made a nice little cameo break from the last red up to and including the blue with a number of good pots. In the second frame Alan was even more determined to win the next game which he did as his potting arm got more into the groove. Tom Lucas was the only player to win both frames on the night as he beat Pat Ryan in two good frames of snooker with both players knocking in some good pots but with Tom being the better player overall. The final pairing between Tony Coleman and Wayne Smith also ended in a draw. Wayne in the first frame showed what a top quality potter he is as made a lovely 32 break with only his second visit to the table as his first was to break off. Wayne’s control around the black spot was exceptional throughout the match especially the first frame. Wayne seemed able to make the game look rather easy such was Wayne’s dominance. Tony conceded on the last red despite not carrying his best form through to the second as he was in control leading by 17 points on the brown before Tony knocked in a cracking 22 clearance to win the frame. The pot on the black was not bad at all with the cue ball on the yellow spot with the black just off the long cushion green side of the table as he knocked it in. This was only Wayne’s second frame of the season that he has lost. The match was played in a very sporting and enjoyable manner. Baulkline are now joint second in the league with Swad Cons B on 85 points.

Chimneys D got a hard earned draw against the divisions draw specialists Swad Cons D with the result in doubt until the last frame of the evening. Gaz Ward got what seems to be his regular two frames of the evening as he beat Adi Millington in a close first frame with Gaz making the most of the potting chances when they arose. In the second frame Gaz took control of the game early on and never looked like losing it. Bill Davidson got the Chimneys smokin’ again as he got them back on level terms with a solid performance against Keiron Dadley who has been in reasonable form of late. Both players managed to knock in some nice pots but as usual Bill’s safety play was top draw in both frames. Steve Williams lost out to the talent and experience of Bob Birch as he won both games. The first frame was a close affair early on until Bob started to pull away with one or two good long pots. Bob continued his good work in the second frame to win it fairly comfortably. Cometh the time cometh the fisherman Brian Alford had an excellent two frames of snooker as he beat Jon Edwards to draw the match. Both Brian and Jon were in fine form in both frames and with both players making some good pots but Brian shaded both frames with a little bit of kind running.
Ivanhoe D shared a pulsating match with Woodville S&S B which by all accounts was about the fairest result. Jack Bale shared the frames with Mark Gallagher with both games going down to the wire. Elder brother Keith Bale repeated the draw scenario with Denis Moore who is gradually getting the run and his confidence back. The first frame was a scrappy match which went to Keith but the second was completely different with both players making a number of decent pots and providing an entertaining game which went in Denis’ favour. The scores were level at the turn round and nothing changed at the end. Warner ‘Anton Du Bekke’ Collins struggled to get the better of Wayne Allen who over the last few matches has certainly helped his side get a favourable result and tonight was no exception. Wayne with his attacking style had Warner on the ‘back foot’ for most of the match whose highest break of the evening was SEVERN. Wayne made some good pots in both frames. Jason Collins came to Ivanhoe’s rescue not for the first time this season with a solid performance to beat the experienced Terry Eyley whose safety game was not at his best although at times it was difficult to contain Jason as he knocked in a number of pots from distance to earn Ivanhoe the draw. This result keeps both teams around the middle of the table.

SDSC D shared their match with Alrewas D which saw SDSC drop down to fourth place in the division three points behind Baulkline and Swad Cons B. This makes their next game an interesting one as they play the Baulkline away. Tony Trueman for the A38 boys appears to be finding some of his early season form as he drew with Andrew Bloor in two highly competitive frames with neither player deserving to go home with nothing. Both players shared a number of quality safety exchanges throughout the match. Brian Bloor drew with Brian Eccleston which saw both players testing each other out in the safety game with a draw being just about fair. David Wain one of the league sponsors shared his match with Brian Aldridge in two contrasting games. In the first frame David controlled it with his steady play and potting to win on the early colours then Brian took the second frame by the scruff of the neck with a number of cracking pots and some small breaks. Shaun Tubbert is starting to get back to form as he drew with experienced Garton Bloor. Both players had good opportunities in both frames to win the match for their team but failed to make the most of them.