Mark Stirling writes for the Baulk Line Presidents Team Handicap Premier Division Final
The match started with a fluent potting display from Simon Smith against Mick Kirk taking the first frame with a 35. He then continued where he left off taking the second convincingly to take a 2 nil lead.
Plunkett and Moore battled out a scrappy affair which saw the pair switch leads within both frames, a fluked pink in the saw Ant take the first, and with a flurry of breaks combined with some good safety play he secured the second in more convincing style potting from green to pink
With the match all square mike Buckland and Dan Blunn had a well fought safety battle which mike just edged in front when he also knocked in a nice 35 break and stayed in front to make it 3-2 to Burton Cons. Dan came out fighting in the second frame with some good pots and quickly took a 20 point lead but every time mike got the scores closer Dan increased the lead until he took the second to make it 3-3.
Dave Shipton did well to stick to an in form Ian Rennocks coat-tails, Ian taking an early lead in both frames, Dave battled to get 2 required snookers in the first but it wasn’t to be and ians high scoring in the second was unstoppable as he and blunt took frames 7 and 8 at virtually the same time to secure a splendid 5-3 win for Ivanhoe.
Owen Jones writes for the David Wain Insurance Premier Division
Spot On A picked up a solid 6-2 victory away at Alrewas A. Ade Harper was in good form as he defeated Carl Poulton. Tom Elliott was soon following that result up as Colin Kinsella, despite knocking in a 31 break, found his opponent to be too good on the night. Ian Hiley played steadily and knocked in a 41 break in winning the first frame. His opponent, Mark Stirling, refused to let that get the better of him and came back well to level it up. Finally, Dave Trueman played Nigel Tomlinson. Two close frames were shared to complete the scoring.
Belmont B were hoping to earn a home victory against Stapenhill A but the visitors had other ideas. Arron Vaughan played Steve Ford and it was the visiting player potted well to take both frames. Graham Bailey then went up against Andy Gretton. Bailey potted well to win a frame and Gretton did the same to earn a draw. Rich Goldby looked to be in good form as he knocked in a 38 break but back cam his opponent, Chris Sheldrake, who battled well to earn a frame. Zaheer Hussain needed to win both frames to level the match. Mark Waldron was the unfortunate beneficiary as the hosts got the frames needed to grab a draw.
Tutbury A hosted Belmont A in what turned out to be a close encounter. Steve Hathaway made a 34 break in sharing the frames with Fran McInulty. On the other table, Steve Mabbott found Wayne Brewin to be too good on the night as the Belmont man won both of the frames. Next up was Chris Mabbott against Ian Archer. Two very good players both went for it and it was Archer who edged both frames to put the visitors in control. Dave Mabbott won both frames against Josh Gebbie but it was to no avail as the visitors left with a 5-3 victory under their belts.
The Burton Cons derby played out with the B team hosting the A. First up, Dave Plunkett played Owen Jones. Two scrappy frames were shared but Plunkett will feel disappointed not to have won both as he cleared the colours but missed the final, all-important black, which Jones clipped in to pinch the unlikely frame. On the other table, Simon Smith played some good match play snooker to take the first frame against John Shilton. However, the second frame was a different story as Shilton knocked in a superb 91 break. The hundred looked a certainty but he got a horrible kick on the brown, which ended his hopes. The second half began with Mike Buckland playing Darren Coady. Buckland looked out of sorts as his opponent knocked in a 57 break on the way to winning both frames. Finally, Dave Shipton played in-form Graham Stevens. Shipton found the going tough as his opponent didn’t look like missing. Stevens played very well to win both frames, which included breaks of 45 and 32. This left the final score at 6-2 to the A team.
Chimneys B welcomed Ivanhoe A to Willington hoping to pull off an upset. Ian Renncks put the visitors on the way to victory as he beat Lee Cooke in two close frames. Steve Butterworth kept it tight against Ant Moore and both players won a frame each on the final black. Taylor Richardson lost both frames against Mick Kirk, who played solid snooker on the night. Finally, Steve Lane and Daniel Blunn played out a draw to leave the final score at 6-2 to the visitors.
Swadlincote Snooker Centre A played Swad Cons A in another close match. Steve Ayre started the ball rolling as he made a break of 36 to win the first frame against Simon Mansfield. He continued that good form as he also won the second frame. On the other table, Chris Dewey and Simon Orpwood went toe to toe and subsequently won a frame each. John Davis played Andy Grainger and it was the visiting player who potted well to win both frames. Finally, Mark Satchwell played Paul Slater. The usually reliable Satchwell had an off night and could not get anything going and his opponent capitalized to win both frames which helped to earn his side a 5-3 victory.
Ivanhoe B entertained Chimney’s A in a great match. Stuart Tagg was first up against Daz Lester. Tagg played superbly to win both frames with some great potting and safety play. On the other table, Brendon Mattley won the first frame against Bill Stewart but his opponent fought hard to earn a draw. Wayne Pereira was in good form on the night as he made a 35 break on the way to taking both frames from John Skellett. The scores were tied going into the final game. Jason Pickering played Alan Davies. The Ashby man played well in both frames to earn the victory for his side by 5 frames to 3.
Mike Buckland writes for Division 1
At the top of the division it is looking increasingly likely that three out of the C teams of Alrewas, Chimneys, (who are now playing out of Spot On),SDSC, Ivanhoe and the A team from Rolleston will be promoted. Alrewas RBL maintained their 6 point cushion at the top with a 6-2 victory over Belmont D. On this occasion captain Karl Hancox dropped a frame to Brett Craddock for a creditable draw. John Richardson stepped up to the plate though to inflict a rare defeat on the home side’s talisman Micky Morris.Rob McMeecham has also been in fine form of late and he was able to beat Mark Vaughan. The other game was shared between Colin Wood of Alrewas and Tom Holland.
Chimneys C were also 6-2 winners over Newhall A. Martin Hurdman came down to earth with a bump after his heroics of the week before being well beaten by John Hardy.Newhall’s Mark Anslow also came a cropper against Tony Clements who won for the 5th straight week. Chimneys, who were without Trevor Heath this week were able to see out the win with draws from Steve Gaunt and Andy Jenkins against Martin Hicks and Carl Glover respectively.
Rolleston A are in third after a hard fought 5-3 victory away at promotion rivals Ivanhoe C. Ant Rushton provided his customary 2 frames in beating Jerry Cook and he was backed up by Bobby Cliff, who beat Daz Wilson. Gaz Dolman took both frames for Ivanhoe against Rich O’Dell so the difference on the night was made by Rolleston’s captain Joe Docksey who drew with Steve Cockeram.
SDSC C put behind them a few poor results with a 7-1 thumping of Tutbury B. Simon Shilton was the star for the Swad side as he included a lovely 42 in his win over Jeff Siddalls. Ben Davies was also in fine form as he recorded a 37 in beating John Peto. Henry Tomas by all accounts had a bit of run to beat Colin Bell with one of the frames going to a re-spot with Colin attempting a difficult cut to leave it on for Henry to mop up.Carl Hyde and Paul Atterbury had a good game which ended in a fair draw.
Matt Hucker was the only winner for Burton Cons C as they drew again-this time with relegation threatened Belmont C. Mark Press returned for the Servicemen and scored a good 2-0 win over Lee Louch. Doug Lees and Terry Bosworth both picked up frames for Belmont as they picked up a valuable 4 points.It’s looking increasingly likely a the bottom that the relegation places will be filled by 3 of SDSC B. Alrewas B, Belmont C and Tutbury B.
Alrewas B though gave themselves some hope with a second win in 3 weeks by defeating Rolleston B. Starman for them this week was Alan Wilson as he beat the normally reliable Lionel Lewis. Will Sherratt, John Sharpe and Roy Sherratt all picked up a frame as well against Rob Sanders, John Harvey and Kev Norris respectively. The 3 frames for Rolleston keep them 8 points above the relegation zone.
Stapenhill B eased any fears they might have with a great 7-1 win over SDSC B. Your roving reporter spotted a midweek training camp for the Institute’s players down at Burton Cons which obviously did the trick.Nick Harcombe was the only scorer for the Swad side in a creditable draw with Bryan Sharratt. Stan Piechowicz, making a welcome return to the side, Tim Knopik and Jonathon Swift all notched 2-0 wins for a comfortable victory.
Tony Coleman your on the spot reporter reporting on the weekly events in Division 2
The Baulkline A completely blew away fourth in the table SDSC D with a terrific performance beating them 7-1. The first match on was between Simon Seabridge and John Chambers and what a good match it was from Simon’s point of view as he knocked in a terrific 53 break with a number of difficult pots to keep the break going. The other frame also went to Simon but not as easily as John managed to spend some time at the table. Simon’s 53 break is the highest break in the division so far which beats his team mate Wayne Smith’s 48 but will either of them or anybody else improve on it for the rest of the season? On the other table Tom Lucas and David Wain had two cracking frames of snooker with both players in fine potting pot mode with Tom shading the first by taking on a difficult pink. The second frame was even closer than the first with it being nip and tuck all the way down to black with Tom again making a fine pot on the black – a most entertaining match. This put the Baulkline in a great position 4-0 ahead against one of their nearest rivals. Things got even better after the break with the potting machine Wayne Smith in terrific form as he won both frames fairly easily against Brian Bloor who spent very little time at the table as Wayne knocked in breaks of 35, 25 and 21 respectively as he tried to regain his highest break title after Simon took it off him this evening. Garton Bloor prevented the whitewash as he drew two very close frames with Mick Taylor in what was a couple of scrappy games. This win closes the gap on the Spot On C team to 4 points but they have a result outstanding and this also creates a little bit of a buffer between themselves and Swad Cons B of 5 points.
Swad Cons B slipped up at home losing to the slightly inconsistent Woodville S&S A who won 5-3 in a very tight match which was not decided until the final pink was potted. On first was the match between the evergreen Bob McNulty and the cagey silky skills of Jim Marcer with the first frame going down to the black after Jim appeared to have the first frame in the bag until Bob made a difficult 18 point clearance look simple. In the second frame Jim was the more dominant potter and never lost the lead once he was in front. The draw was about the right result with both players in good potting form. On the other table we had a match of contrasting fortunes between Ross Hollis and Pat ‘the beans’ Ryan which ended in a well deserved draw. Pat Ryan took the first in typical Pat fashion with a number of nice pots and good running with Ross not being able to find any sort of rhythm. The second frame Ross got into the match more with a fine mix of safety and potting which put Pat under some pressure and he could not recover from it. The match score at the turn round was ‘even steven’s.’ The Cons went into the lead initially as Gerald White was in superb potting form as he took the first frame rather comfortably against Alan Orpwood. The second looked a little ominous for Alan when Gerald in potting a red opened up the pack nicely only for him to miss the colour and after that Alan took control of the frame with a lovely display of potting but with no decent breaks. The final match to be played decided the result as Tony Coleman took both frames off Paul Hollis for the Woodville win. The first half of the first frame was rather scrappy before Tony got himself into the lead and just about stayed there until he potted the frame winning brown. The second frame was a close affair with some very good safety play and a number of well laid snookers by both players as there was a number of balls ideally placed at the baulk end of the table. Tony potted the vital blue ball for the frame and match. Tony would be the first to admit that he had the best of the running. Despite losing the Cons have now opened up a nice little gap of 5 points between them and SDSC.
Congratulations to Swad Cons C as they held a very strong Alrewas D to a draw at the A38 Arena. The Cons did exceptionally well because at the turn round they were onto a hiding to nothing being down 4-0. Tony Trueman was in great form as he took on and beat John Griffin who also made one or two nice pots but Tony potted very well in both frames to leave John playing catch up. Tony made a solid 25 break in winning one of his frames. On the other table Tom Smith again in his shorts was also enjoying himself as he beat Pete ‘the shorts’ Fearn. This must be the only division in the league were we have three players playing regularly in their shorts. This certainly seems to work for Tom as he was rather dominant in both frames showing why he is near the top in the divisions averages. Just to confirm his potting prowess he made a lovely 27 break with one or two pots from difficult positions. Paul Griffin started the Cons great come back as he won both frames against the dangerous Brian Aldridge with a battling display of both potting and his safety play. Jon Petcher rolled back the years with a stunning performance to win both frames with Dave Riley another player high up in the averages. Jon’s potting was very good although not making any high breaks he knocked in a few small ones. Despite a battling and never say die display by Dave Jon managed to hang onto his lead in the final frame. This could well be the impetus they needed to get a win under their belt sometime soon. I am sure a few extra beers were drunk on the night to celebrate the result.
Rolleston C pulled off the surprise of the week as they thrashed Woodville S&S B 7-1 for only their fourth win of the season. By all accounts this was a true reflection of the game. David Bentley in his own style took both frames fairly comfortably against Denis Moore who had started to get back his early season confidence but not this evening as the Rolleston Whirlwind was in control from start to finish with a number of fine pots. Wayne Allen Woodville’s most consistent performer at the moment got his sides only frame of the night drawing with John Ward in an entertaining match with neither player deserving to go home with nothing. Steve Atkin took on and beat Terry Eyley with a fine all round performance in all areas of his game. This was probably one of his best displays of the season so far and leaving Terry very little throughout the game. The best match of the evening probably was between Aaron Doyle and Mark Gallagher despite losing both frames Mark made Aaron work very hard in both. Aaron made the most of his chances when they were presented. Hopefully this positive result can give Rolleston the boost they need for the rest of the season.
Swad Cons D managed a rare win as they are the divisions draw specialists when they won against Burton Cons D 5-3 a team that has had that winning feeling of late. The Cons skipper Gaz Ward was the difference between both teams as he was the only player on the night to win both frames. Gaz took on ‘Gentleman Jim’ Jennings who is never happier than when he can get his hands on a pint of his favourite tipple of Pedigree which l am told is top notch at the Cons. Back to the snooker Gaz and Jim had a close first frame with both players making a number of good shots with Gaz just potting the last few colours to win it. The second frame was a more safety conscious affair which probably would have helped Jim’s cause but Gaz came back with a number of good pots to take the frame. Bob Birch and Al Munnion shared the frames in two entertaining games of snooker with both players having the chances to take both games but failed. Paul Dickinson look alike Dave ‘the Bodie’ man arrived just in time from another holiday to get a valuable draw with the in-form Ian Protheroe. Dave a little rusty at times managed to get his cue arm going with a number of pots in both frames. Ian missed a few opportunities but l think he would be happy with a draw. Jon Edwards got an honourable draw with Nathan Brooks and the win for the Cons. The first game was a rather messy frame but things picked up in the second with both players getting some good pots.
Ivanhoe D had a very good away win against the Snookerettes aka Spot On B winning 7-1. This win puts the Ivanhoe boys into the top six. Jack Bale took full advantage in the game against Gilda Horvath who was not at her snooker best but she also suffered from a few bits of poor running as he made a number of little breaks in both frames to ensure he won both frames fairly comfortably. Marie Bridges also suffered at the hands of a Bale but this time it was elder brother Keith. This was an entertaining match with both players knocking in one or two good pots but on this evening Keith just had too much potting power. This showed when he made a quick fire 25 break to take one of his frames. Kate Stirling did very well to earn a draw against Tony Tredger with a battling performance despite things not always going her way. The frame Tony won was through some quality safety play and when the time was right for the pot. Kate’s frame for the snookerettes prevented the dreaded whitewash. Jason Collins seems to be taking his customary two frames a match at the moment and this also applied to this match against the talented Yvonne Spendlove. Yvonne made Jason battle for each frame as she put up some strong resistance to some of Jason’s cracking pots with some good pots of her own. Will the ballroom dancer aka Warner Collins get his place back in the side after his dancing adventures at Butlins !!!!!