2015-16: Week 2

Owen Jones writes for the David Wain Insurance Premier Division
Alrewas A hosted Belmont A in week 2 of the David Wain Insurance Premier Division and it was the visitors who left with the points. In the first match, Ian Archer saw off Ian Hiley in two close frames. Hiley had chances to potentially win both frames but Archer snuffed out the danger at key moments in both frames to take it 2-0. Archer looking in good form already this season. Carl Poulton was looking to get off the mark for the first time against a consistent Wayne Brewin. The first frame was all Brewin though who took it comfortably before the colours were required for potting. The second was different as Poulton got ahead. The frame then hinged on a Brewin foul on the yellow that left a free ball to Poulton and a fiendishly difficult snooker to get out of. Fair play to Brewin he tried valiantly and fairly to get out of the snooker a number of times but by the final attempt the frame was gone and a 1-1 draw it was. Colin Kinsella and Fran McInulty played out an entertaining draw in some heavy hitting and hot potting. Kinsella was out gunned by McInulty in the first, with Fran making sure of the frame well before the end with some solid play. Kinsella woke from his slumber midway through the second though and potted some crucial balls to edge over the line in a classic 1-1. So that left Adam Walton and Josh Gebbie to decide the match as a draw or convincing win to Belmont. It was a match littered with errors and inconsistent play, the first decided comfortably by Gebbie after 4 or 5 single digit breaks. Walton had no answer in the second either missing some standard pots that Gebbie cashed in on easily whilst wearing his smoking jacket and sipping a large brandy.
Burton Cons B have made a great start to life back in the top division and continued their progress with a 5-3 victory at home against Chimneys A. Simon Smith was first up against Daz Lester. Smith knocked in some cracking long pots to win both frames against an out of sorts Lester. On the other table, Dave Shipton won the first frame against Wayne Pereira but his opponent responded with a 26 break to take the second. Mick Buckland then played Dean Johnston and it was the visiting player who took the first frame with a 26 break. Buckland did however have a chance at the black to snatch the frame but was unable to convert the opportunity. The second frame was a different story as the home player knocked in a 33 before running out of position with the balls spread everywhere. Johnson failed to capitalize and Buckland cleared the table with a nice 39. The final game saw Jason Anguish play Alan Davies. The first frame was won easily by Davies and the second looked to follow suit. However, Anguish had other ideas and potted some great balls and finally fluked the last black via a quadruple to seal the win for the Cons.
Chimneys B could only field three players against champions Burton Cons A but still made a fight of it. Graham Stevens was first up against Steve Lane. Stevens potted well and left his opponent very little to go at. The Cons player sealed both frames aided by a 35 break. Dave Budworth played Matt Milnes and the visiting player won the first frame with some good potting. Budworth responded really well in the second and forced a draw with some good play of his own. The third and final game saw Loz Kennerson take on John Shilton. The visiting player looked to be in control after winning the first frame but back came Kennerson to take the second frame and leave the final score at 6-2.
Belmont B hosted Swad Cons A in a topsy-turvy encounter. First up was Arron Vaughan who played Lee Wood. Both players potted well to take a frame each. On the other table, Rich Goldby played the talented Andy Grainger. Goldby, keen to turn around the previous weeks bad luck, put in a good potting performance to take both frames. Michael Lomas then played Simon Orpwood. The visiting player levelled the match up as Lomas had no answer to his opponents potting. Finally, Graham Bailey and Paul Slater played out a closely contested draw the leave the match score at 4 frames each.
Ivanhoe B played Spot On A in a very tight match that could have gone either way. Ivan Birkin and Ade Harper could not be separated in the first frame until the Ashby player knocked in the final black. He then played superbly to take the second frame with a lovely 48 break. On the other table honours were even as Tom Elliot won the first and John Skellett replied to take the second giving Ivanhoe a 3-1 lead. Brendon Mattley then played Andy Speirs. The Ivanhoe man won the first with some nice potting but back came Speirs to take the second frame. The final match saw Jason Pickering take on Mark Stirling. The Spot On player potted well to take the first frame. Pickering responded with some cracking potting in the second to clinch the victory for the hosts.
Swadlincote Snooker Centre A hosted Ivanhoe A in another close match on the night. Chris Dewey was first up against Andy Marriott. Both players played some good safety but it was Marriott who made the most of his chances to win the first frame. The second frame was a carbon copy so the visitors went 2-0 up. On the other table, Steve Ayre and Ant Moore seemed to be missing more than they potted. Eventually the Ivanhoe man took both frames with the final few colour. Mark Satchwell then played Mick Kirk and played superbly. He potted everything his opponent left for him and won both frames to give the home side a chance of pinching a draw. Andy Goldingay played Daniel Blunn in the final game. Goldingay took the first frame with an attempted double that soon became a frame winning treble. Blunn responded very well in the second frame as he realized he needed to take the frame for victory for his side. He knocked in a 30 break and Goldingay never really recovered. This clinched the victory for the visitors by 5 frames to 3.
Tutbury A won 6-2 at home to Stapenhill A. Dave Mabbott shared the frames with Jason Spiby and Steve Mabbott defeated Chris Sheldrake to put the Tutters 3-1 up. Chris Mabbott then kept up the scoring for the hosts as he won both frames against Andy Tomlinson. The final game saw Steve Hathaway share two well contested frames with Mark Waldren to complete the scoring.
Mick Buckland writes for Division 2
Already division one looks like it will be as close as ever with no-one getting better than a 6-2 victory. One side that did last week was SDSC C on their return to competitive action.Ben Davies saw off Rob McMeecham of Alrewas C whilst Andy Rice took a frame off of the consistent John Richardson. Carl Hyde, answering Captain Pete Maguire’s call for a new player did well to snatch a frame off of the reliable Karl Hancox, who included a nice 37 in winning his frame in a draw between the players. Pete then dispatched Tom Wright 2-0 to leave the Swad side joint top at this early stage.
The other 6-2 winners were Burton Cons C who turned it on against Swad Snooker Centre’s other side,SDSC B. Nick Harcombe was the only Swad player to register in a 2-0 win against the Cons’ debutant Matt Hucker who on another day would have picked up at least a frame. Lee Louch who will have a good season this year included 2 breaks of 25 in his dismantling of Ray Bancroft.In the second half Tom Egginton and Captain Ian Shrive both played well to defeat Phil Maddocks and Andy Jeffries respectively.
At Belmont it was good to see Martin Hurdman playing again for Newhall who fought out 2 good frames with Tom Holland.Tom took the first with a great pot on the pink and Martin played brilliantly to take the second.Brett Craddock and Mark Anslow both had a share of good fortune in their match and a draw seemed a fair result. Mark Vaughan flew out of the blocks and soon gained a 40 point lead versus Martin Hicks who never caught up in the first. The second however was totally different with Martin winning on the brown. Mick Morris and Sam Hicks then had two good frames with both going down to the colours but it was Mick who hung on to win both and claim the win for Belmont D, who have also started with 2 wins.
Ivanhoe C share top spot after 2 games with a hard fought win over Alrewas RBL B. There were draws between Gaz Dolman and Alan Wilson and then Daz Wilson and Jon Sharp to leave it all square at half time. Trev Wilson and Will Sherratt then also drew to leave the outcome of the match on the game between Jerry Cook and Gary Green. It was the Ivanhoe man who prevailed to snatch the win for the Ashby side and also left Jerry as one of only 6 players in the division to win all 4 frames so far.
Over at Rolleston, the clubs B team drew with the second string from Tutbury. Colin Bell has also won all 4 frames he’s played and showed no mercy to Lionel Lewis in the first match. Over on the other table John Harvey returned the compliment as he beat the Tutbury captain John Peto. In the second half, everything got very tight as there were  draws between Kev Norris and John Siddalls and then Rob Sanders and Paul Atterbury as neither side wanted to lose.
Trevor Heath is also a 100% man as he defeated Brian Cutting as Chimneys B took on Belmont C. On the other table Andy Jenkins and Terry Bosworth shared the spoils. In the second half John Hardy played well to beat Doug Lees and it was down to Mark Press to bring some respectability to the scoreline as he beat the consistent Steve Gaunt 2-0. Mark recorded the highest break in the division for the week as he knocked in a lovely effort of 40.
In the final match Stapenhill B recorded a welcome victory against Rolleston A.Greg Britton beat Ross Ward 2-0 whilst on the other table Bobby Cliff replied with the two frames against John Sherriff. Jonathon Swift then drew with the Rolleston captain Joe Docksey leaving Tim Knopik to grab the headlines with a well played victory against Rich O’Dell, who will have better days.
Tony Coleman your on the spot reporter of Division 2
  
I believe this division will probably be one of the most competitive for along time with a number of teams capable of beating each other.
The new C team entered from Spot On Club seem to be enjoying themselves with their second win of the season as they white washed an experienced Swad Cons C 8-0 although by all accounts some of the frames were pretty close.  Sean Bates took on John Griffin with both players making a number of fine pots it was Bates who had just the edge in both frames to win on the high colours.  Adam Edwards looked a rather accomplished player as he beat Peter Fearn with a little to spare. The C team were flying 4-0 ahead at the turn and things just got better with Brad Williams winning both frames against Paul Griffin with both players struggling at times.  Jared Cronte playing in the league for the first time showed no nerves as he battled to take both frames off John Petcher in another close match.
SDSC D recorded their second consecutive win this time away at Alrewas D winning 5-3.  John Chambers got the away side off to a great start by taking both frames against a now well recovered Brian Eccleston.  John missed very little in the first frame.  Shaun Tubbert and Garton Bloor shared two closely fought frames with a fair amount of good safety play by both players.  Dave Riley also drew with the SDSC captain Brian Bloor with both players deserving to get something from the match as they both made a number of good pots.  Andy Bloor got the away team the win as he drew his match with Tom Smith.  Tom was looking in fine form in both frames but Andy’s quality safety play helped him get the necessary frame for victory.
Woodville S&S B continued their good form as they beat one of the fancied teams Ivanhoe D 5-3.  Mark Gallagher got the home team off to a fine start with a number of breaks in the twenties as he beat Keith Bale. The first frame was the tightest of the two as both players made some good pots but the second belonged to Mark.  Ivanhoe pulled the score round to 2-2 at the turn thanks to a good all round display by Jack Bale as he easily beat Wayne Allen.  Unlike the previous week the Collins boys could not get their team over the line.  Terry Eyley and Jason Collins shared their frames which was a fair result with both players in good form.  Dennis Moore was Woodville’s star player as he took both frames off Fred Astaire aka Warner Collins.  The first frame was a tight affair with good pots by both player with Dennis just having the edge.  In the second frame Dennis won fairly comfortably with the help of a well constructed 28 break. Dennis did very well to take both frames off Warner as he does not lose that often in a season.
Swad Cons B got their first win of the season at home to Rolleston C winning 6-2.  This match was played at a very high quality with a number of twenty plus breaks on both sides.  First on was the match between Bob McNulty and Aaron Doyle.  Both players were in very good potting form with Aaron feeling rather unlucky not to have won a frame despite making a nice 29 break but Bob chimed in with a lovely 28 break to take the frame.  Paul Hollis put the home team in a great position by beating Steve Atkin in two close frames which could have gone either way with Paul making a 20 break to win a frame despite Steve knocking in a 19 break.  This put the Cons 4-0 ahead at the turn.  Gerald White potted well to beat Neil Cheadle who is always a difficult player to get the upper hand over.  Dave Bentley added a touch of respectability to the scoreline with a solid performance in beating Ross Hollis in a couple of entertaining frames which included a well made 24 break by Dave Bentley.
After their overnight stop in nearby Tutbury before they sampled the great hospitality of the new club into the league in the form of The Baulkline Snooker Club which is a lovely place to play snooker with very little noise apart from the chink of the balls being hit and the tables played beautifully.  First to play was Wayne Smith and Jim Marcer of Woodville.  Wayne started off well and was always just a little ahead getting to the high colours then Jim potted a lovely blue and pink and got perfectly on the black after screwing back on the pink leaving him a straight forward pot into the middle bag but he took his eye of the pot much to the relief of Wayne who then missed a golden opportunity on the black until Jim left him another chance which Wayne gratefully accepted.  The second frame was just as close which included a nice 20 break by Jim which was to no avail as Wayne won it on the pink.  On the other table it was a game of two halves between Jon Sully and Pat Ryan which finished as an entertaining draw.  Pat started off well with a 15 break but gradually Jon caught him up and over took Pat with a mixture of good potting and safety play.  Pat with the aid of his Newkie Brown which is like spinach to Popeye got his cuing arm in full throttle and missed very few opportunities to knock in some small but significant breaks to leave Jon requiring snookers on the yellow.  This put the Baulkline 3-1 ahead at the interval and sensing the win only for Alan Orpwood and Tony Coleman to earn their team a deserved draw.  Alan still waiting for his new snooker glasses played well in both frames to earn a well deserved draw with Mark Storr in a couple of close frames with both being decided on the pink.  Tony Coleman won both frames against Mick Taylor in a match where both players struggled at times.  I must admit Lance makes a mean cup of coffee and is a great host.
The Spot On B ladies team almost made the comeback of the week after trailing to Burton Cons D 4-0 at the turn round only to lose on the last frame off the evening making it 3-5.  Al Munnion started the Cons off on the right foot as he won one close frame and the second fairly comfortably against Gilda Horvath despite the loss she made some good pots.  Nathan Brookes then played two very entertaining frames against Marie Bridges with both players deserving a share of the spoils but that was not the case as Nathan just managed to scrape over the line for the win.  The girls fight back started with a dazzling display of potting and safety play by the talented snooker and pool player Yvonne Spendlove who not only beat Paul Brooks but she also knocked in a little cameo break of 21.  Kate Stirling also did her best to earn her side a well deserved draw but lost out on the final frame to a relived Ian Protheroe who deserved a share of the spoils which gave the Cons their first win of the season.
Chimneys D will be pleased with their nights work to come away from Swad Cons D with a draw especially with the strong side that the Cons put out.  Gaz Ward the Cons captain got the ball rolling rather nicely with a good array of pots as he beat the fisherman’s friend Brian Alford.  It is good to see Brian back playing snooker this season as he is an old stalwart of the league.  Dave Bodie could do very little to stop a rampaging Steve Williams getting both frames to put the Chimneys level at half time.  Bob Birch and Adam Holloway had to settle for an honourable draw with neither player being able to get the final frame but both players made valuable contributions to a quality match.  Keiran Dadley and Adi Millington also drew their match with both frames only being decided on the final colours.