2015-16: Week 3

thebaulk-line.com Presidents Handicap Cup Round 1
Owen Jones writes for the The Baulk Line President’s Handicap Cup – Premier Division
The President’s Cup took centre stage as the first round got under way with some first round giant killing as both holders Burton Cons A and Belmont A were beaten.
Burton Cons A visited Swadlincote Snooker Centre A and it was the holders who started well as Stuart Roberts won the first frame against Steve Ayre on the final black. The second frame was almost a carbon copy but this time Ayre took it to secure a draw. On the other table, Chris Dewey played Matt Milnes. Both players missed quite a few chances before Milnes clinched the first frame. Once again the second frame was very similar but Dewey potted the blue and pink to level the scores again. The second half of the match proved to be decisive as Andy Goldingay defeated John Shilton and Mark Satchwell beat Owen Jones to close out the match.
Belmont A played Burton Cons B and were defeated 5-3. Mike Buckland was the star man for the hosts as he won both frames against Josh Gebbie aided by breaks of 57 and 29. Ian Archer also knocked in a 51 against Dave Plunkett but his opponent responded to grab a share of the frames. Simon Smith knocked in a 36 in winning a frame against Wayne Brewin. Dave Shipton drew with Shaun Gebbie to complete the scoring.
Tutbury A and Alrewas A met for the second time in 2 weeks. Dave Trueman couldn’t win either of two close frames against Steve Hathaway. Some unfortunate run in both frames on the final colours presented Hathaway with an opportunity that he managed to take to give him both frames. Ian Hiley won the first comfortably against Steve Mabbott and looked to be on course to take both but Mabbott fought back brilliantly and potted some tough balls to take the frame comfortably in the end. Chris Mabbott started like a steam train against Carl Poulton knocking in a few twenty plus breaks in the first to take it easily in super quick time but Poulton was unfazed in the second and gave Mabbott the same back to take the second before the final reds had been potted. That left Colin Kinsella needing both frames to take the game to a doubles decider but Kinsella couldn’t deliver and it was Dave Mabbott who was in take away mode, the first at a canter and the second on a final black after being forty behind. This left the score at 6-2 to the Tutters.
An exciting encounter at Spot On saw the match go all the way to a doubles decider. Chris Sheldrake and Andy Gretton put Stapenhill A in control at the break as they lead 3-1. The second half of the match saw Nigel Tomlinson share the frames with Steve Ford. Mark Stirling had to win both frames against Mark Waldron to force a decider, which he did, knocking in a 31 on the way. Stirling was then straight back in as he and Tomlinson played Steve Ford and Andy Gretton. In a tight frame, the host’s pairing had just enough in the locker to take it and progress to the next round by 5 frames to 4.
Ivanhoe A secured their place in the next round as they defeated Swad Cons A by 6 frames to 2. Two previously unbeaten players went head to head as Andy Marriott played Simon Orpwood. Marriott proved to have the edge in two high quality frames. On the other table, Ian Rennocks was also in good form as he beat Lee Wood to put the hosts in control. The match was sealed by Daniel Blunn as he also won both frames against Paul Slater. The whitewash was halted by Andy Grainger who won both frames against Mick Kirk which included a break of 55 which, by his own admission, should have been more.
Belmont B and Ivanhoe B played out another thriller on the night. Rich Goldby was in fine form as he beat an under par Jason Pickering. Arron Vaughan then won the first frame against Brendon Mattley to give the hosts a 3-0 lead. Mattley responded well in the second to take it and start the fightback. Graham Bailey then played Stu Tagg with both players potting well to take a frame each. John Skellett proved to be too strong for Zaheer Hussain as he won both the frames needed to force a decider. Bailey and Goldby went up against Pickering and Skellett and it was the Ashby side that went through thanks to Pickering’s 30 break.

Mike Buckland writes for the The Baulk Line President’s Handicap Cup – Division 1
The undoubted highlight of the first round of matches in the Baulk-line Presidents Handicap for Division One was at Alrewas British Legion. The C team took on Stapenhill B and at half time it was tight at 2-2. John Richardson drew one across with Jon Swift who had a nice 32 in winning his frame. Rob McMeecham also drew with Greg Britton. Karl Hancox, who had won 5 of his 6 frames so far in the league then produced a magical break of 112 which might have been a clearance of 130 in his defeat of Colin Britton, who must have been wondering what he’d done to deserve that. Karl’s win proved to be the difference as Tom Wright then drew with John Sherriff to put the Alrewas side through.
The other Alrewas side, the B, scraped through with Alan Wilson and Will Sherratt winning in a doubles decider against Rolleston B. Earlier Will secured a win against Rob Sanders which was reciprocated by Rolleston’s floater Paul Clarke who beat the Legion’s Alex Michael. John Harvey drew with Alan and Lionel Lewis had drawn with Jon Sharp.
Another game to go the distance was at Burton Cons C.Matt Hucker and Terry Bosworth drew in a tight first game. Steve Castledine, who is trying to play less this season and support from the sidelines with a pint of Bass,keeps winning when asked to play…and this time Doug Lees was put to the sword. In the second half off form Lee Louch only drew with Brian Cutting and then the Cons captain Ian Shrive was beaten 2-0 by Dave Press who played well. Castledine stepped up again though and joined Lee Louch in beating Terry and Dave in the decider.
Chimneys C stumbled into the next round with a close win over Swad Snooker Centre B. Nick Harcombe won his two frames versus Mike Smith but Trevor Heath replied with a victory for Chimneys over Ray Stretton. Tony Clements showed a return to form with a comfortable win over Mike Staley whilst Steve Gaunt and Ray Bancroft shared their two to put Chimneys through.
In a game between two sides showing changes from their usual line-ups, it was Rolleston A who prevailed over Ivanhoe C – the early season league leaders.
Captain Joe Docksey won over Darren Wilson, the Ashby boss. All the other matches were tight affairs. Rich O’Dell drew with Gaz Dolman. Mike Doyle also drew with Graham Measures before another stalemate between Bobby Cliff and George Cawkwell.
At South Derbyshire Snooker Centre another game was decided by one player managing a win whilst all other games were drawn. This time it was Henry Tomas who beat Dave Brady to ensure the victory for the Swad side versus Tutbury B. Ben Davies had drawn with Paul Atterbury. Simon Shilton shared with Graham Fisher and captains Pete Maguire and Jeff Siddalls also drew one across.
Belmont D and Newhall A were the lucky recipients of byes to complete the quarter final line up….
Tony Coleman writes for the The Baulk Line President’s Handicap Cup – Division 2
This is the start of the first competition of the season and Spot On C continued their great start in the league into the Presidents Cup with a comprehensive win against Alrewas D winning 7-1.  Sean Bates and Shaun Tubbert shared the frames in a match that never really got going for either player with a number of bad misses.  Gordon Murray was in good form as he out potted Tom Smith in two rather quick fire frames with Gordon missing few opportunities to put some scores on the board.  This put the home team 3-1 ahead at the turn and things just got better in the second half with Adam Edwards continuing his fine start to the season as he took both frames in a highly entertaining match with Brian Aldridge who had one or two chances to establish a frame winning lead.  Jared Cronje ended a great night for Spot On as he beat Tony Trueman in another match that was played with a great spirit and enjoyable manner with both players making some good pots but with Jared just shading it.  It is good to see Cyril Smith back at the helm which I am sure that the club will go from strength to strength.
It was not so good news for the ladies team at Spot On as they only just lost to the experienced Ivanhoe D 5-3.  The match was only decided on the last few balls of the last frame.  The ladies did not get off to the best of starts as Gilda Horvath lost two very close frames against a relieved Jack Bale who was made to fight all the way in both frames.  Claire Roulstone who is starting to find her feet in the division and she is becoming a consistent winner of frames which she did so again this week when she drew with Jack’s elder brother Keith with both players deserving to take something from the game.  Claire managed to knock in a nice little break of 14.  Kate Stirling really put the cat among the pigeons with a dominant display of good long potting and some very good safety play as she prevented Tony Tredger from being able to get into his normal potting game.  For a while on the other table it looked like an upset was on the cards in the match between Yvonne Spendlove and old ‘twinkle toes’ Warner Collins but gradually Warner kept making a number of breaks of ‘7’ to eventually get over the line.  Both players had two cracking frames of snooker with Yvonne deserving to have won a frame.
Swad Cons B seem to be on a bit of a roll at the moment with a good win at home against The Baulkline winning 5-3.  Bob McNulty again showed his battling spirits as he drew with Wayne Smith.  Wayne has been pretty impressive so far this season both with his potting ability and his break building where again he knocked in a lovely 32 break to take his frame.  Young Bob used all his canny skills with a quality safety display to take his frame and honours even.  Paul Hollis and Jon Sully shared their frames in a match that never really got going in terms of break building with only bits of breaks.  Graham White was the star player on the night as he was the only player on either side to take both frames in beating Mark Storr.  Both players made a number of fine pots throughout the match but with Graham just having the edge in both frames.  It was left to Jake Mole to get the single frame they needed to progress into the next round as he drew with Mick Taylor in two close frames. 
Woodville S&S B managed to scrape through to the next round against Burton Cons D winning 5-3 thanks to Mark Gallagher taking both frames against Paul Brooks as he was the only player on the night to win both frames.  Neither player was at their best but with Mark managing to pot the more vital balls.  On the other table Wayne Allen and Nathan Brooks shared two entertaining frames with neither player being able to get the two frames.  Terry Eyley and Jim the ‘wily old fox’ Jennings shared possibly the best two frames of the night in the battle of the veterans.  Both of the players played some excellent safety play in both frames which was a pleasure to watch and rather deservedly the match ended honours even with both players winning their frame on the black.  It was down to Dennis Moore to get the single frame they needed for the win as he drew with Ian Protheroe in two well played matches.
Rolleston C progressed into the next round at the expense of Swad Cons C who lost out to snookers equivalent to the penalty shoot out- the final frame doubles.  All of the first eight frames were shared setting up the doubles decider.  Before we got to that stage Neil Cheadle and Paul Griffin both had chances to win their match but failed to make the most of their opportunities.  Dave Bentley and Pete Fearn shared the frames in a rather scruffy match.  Aaron Doyle looked like he was going to win his match with John Griffin before John started potting a few balls in making a number of small breaks.  Very little separated Steve Atkin and Jon Petcher as they battled it out to either win the game or take it in to a doubles decider and it was the latter.  The doubles match was probably played out by the best potters on the night which was Atkin/Doyle and Griffin/Griffin and the result was in doubt until the last few colours.  Both sets of players were evenly matched with good potting and safety by both sides with the home team just managing to keep their nerve to pot the last few colours.
SDSC D progressed onto the next round after beating Swad Cons D 8-0.  Also through to the next round by virtue of getting byes are Woodville S&S A and Chimneys D.

League week 3

Owen Jones writes for the David Wain Insurance Premier Division
Ashby Ivanhoe A hosted Chimneys B in the David Wain Insurance Premier Division. First up was Andy Marriott who played Loz Kennerson. Andy had a new pair of trainers on and ran away with it making a 34 and 39 in the first and a 38 in the second. Ian Rennocks looked like his holiday had done him the world of good. He had a 57 against Lee Cooke and never looked in trouble. Daniel Blunn played Steve Butterworth and won both frames with some solid potting and good safety. The run of the ball didn’t help Steve. Finally, Ant Moore played Dave Budworth. Dave won the first on the pink and then ran away with the second. He couldn’t do a thing wrong and said after the game he was getting his lottery ticket on the way home. This left the final score at 6-2 to the hosts.
Burton Cons A played Burton Cons B with the A team winning 8-0. Darren Coady was first up against Dave Shipton. Both players had chances to take the frames but it was Coady who took both. On the other table John Shilton played Simon Smith. Shilton potted well at key points, including a 35 break, to win the frames. Matt Milnes then played Mike Buckland. Again both frames were close and Milnes did just enough to take them. Finally, Owen Jones played Jason Anguish. Both players knocked some good pots in but Jones clinched both frames to complete the scoring.
Chimneys A won at home against Ivanhoe B. Daz Lester shared the frames with Stuart Tagg. Jan Pawlazych also drew with Jason Pickering and Dean Johnston played Brendon Mattley with the same outcome. The deciding factor proved to be Wayne Pereira who won both frames against Brian Cowrie to clinch the victory for the hosts.
Spot On A won 6-2 against Alrewas A. Nigel Tomlinson knocked in a 27 on the way to beating Ian Hiley. Andy Speirs drew with Colin Kinsella and Ade Harper also shared the frames with Carl Poulton. Mark Stirling completed the scoring by winning both frames against Adam Walton.
Swad Cons A lost at home against Swad Snooker Centre A. Simon Orpwood knocked in a 41 break in defeating John Davis. Andy Grainger compiled a 57 break against Mark Satchwell but the game finished as a draw. Simon Mansfield and Paul Slater then both lost to Chris Dewey and Andy Goldingay respectively to leave the match score at 5-3 to the visitors.
Stapenhill A lost 6-2 at home to Belmont B. Steve Ford was first up against Arron Vaughan and they won a frame each. Rich Goldby then won both frames against Mark Waldon, aided by a 30 break. Graham Bailey then knocked in a 29 as he beat Chris Sheldrake. Finally, Andy Gretton drew with Zaheer Hussain to complete the scoring.
Belmont A played out a hard fought draw with Tutbury A. Ian Archer knocked in a 33 in sharing the frames with Steve Mabbott. Wayne Brewin then knocked in a 37 as he won both frames against Dave Powell. Chris Mabbott potted well to defeat Josh Gebbie aided by a 43 break. Fran McInulty closed out the match against Dave Mabbott who knocked in a 34. Both players won a frame each.
Mike Buckland writes for Division 1
As the Division begins to take shape, it’s the South Derbyshire Snooker Centre C team from Swad that has taken an early lead.  In a good match away at Tutbury B, the usually consistent Henry Tomas was out of form as he lost 2-0 to Colin Bell and this result leaves Colin as the only person in the division to have played 6, won 6. A new recruit was found by captain Pete Maguire though in the shape of veteran cueist Simon Shilton. He played well as if never away to defeat Paul Atterbury. In the second half another debutant Wallace Jones played nicely to take a draw off of the home team captain John Peto. In the final game it was up to the captain Pete to come away with a victory against Jeff Siddalls leaving them 2 points clear at the top.
Lionel Lewis from Rolleston B had the division’s high break of the week with a lovely 33 versus Alex Michael of Alrewas RBL B. Rolleston virtually had the match won by half time with Rob Sanders also playing well to beat Will Sherratt. In the second half John Harvey and floater Dave Shenton drew with Alan Wilson and John Sharpe respectively.
The Chimneys C team join SDSC C as the only other side to have won their first 3 games. They won 5-3 for the 3rd straight week – this time defeating Newhall A who conversely have lost their opening 3 fixtures. Andy Jenkins opened by drawing with Mark Anslow but included a nice 32 as he went. Trevor Heath fought out a gritty draw with Sam Hicks to leave it all square at half time. John Hardy made the difference for the Chimneys as he managed to see off Martin Hurdman 2-0 whilst Martin Hicks, struggling for early season form, was held to a draw by the consistent Steve Gaunt.
One of the favourites for promotion Alrewas RBL C had a good win versus Belmont D.John Richardson brushed aside Tom Holland whilst Colin Wood and Mark Vaughan fought out a tough draw on the other table. The home captain though Karl Hancox took on Belmont’s talisman Micky Morris  and beat him nicely to ensure the win for Alrewas before Tom Wright and Brett Craddock drew in the final game.
In a fiercely contested game at Swad Snooker centre between their B team and Stapenhill B – it was the away side who came away with the victory.Nick Harcombe opened well for the hosts in a comfortable win over Tim Knopik but John Swift replied nicely for Stapenhill by including a good 31 in his win over Ray Stretton. Andy Jeffries and John Sherriff shared their frames leaving the outcome of the match on the game between Ray Bancroft and Brian Sherratt. It was Brian who prevailed including a lovely colours clearance of 27 to grab the extra winners’ point.
Burton Cons C have made a strong start to the season and last week they rolled Belmont C over for a fine 6-2 away victory. Mark Press for Belmont was only able to take a draw off of Lee Louch who included a nice 30 for his frame.Tom Egginton has been rolling back the years this season so far winning 5 out of the 6 he’s played-this time Doug Lees was put to the sword leaving it 3-1 to the Cons at half way. The Cons captain Ian Shrive put together a lovely 29 which might have been more in drawing with Brian Cutting. Cons new man Matt Hucker saw the win home by scoring his first win with a routine 2-0 win over Dave Press including a good 24 along the way.
The match between Rolleston A and Ivanhoe C was postponed.
Tony Coleman your on the spot reporter on Division 2
Spot On C had a terrific away win at the Chimney’s down the A38 winning 7-1 which was a great result as they were only one place difference in the division before this match.  Spot On got off to the best start possible with Sean Bates playing some lovely snooker against the more experienced Adi Millington to take both frames fairly comfortably.  On the other table it was Brian Alford up against the talented Jared Cronje with both players making a solid start but with Jared gradually taking control of the frames with a number of small breaks to win both.  Ben Menzies took both frames against Stephen Williams in a match that both players struggled to get their cuing arm going.  Well done to Bill Davidson who took the only frame for the home side to prevent the white wash as he drew with Billy Newton in two rather tactical frames with both players playing some good safety play.  Even at this stage of the season Spot On are looking a potent force as they head the table as joint leaders with Woodville S&S B.
Woodville S&S B are another team who have had a great start to the season with a 100% winning record as they beat Rolleston C 6-2 in a match where the scoreline does not give a true reflection of the match.  First up was the game between Mark Gallagher and Steve Atkins.  Mark showed what a potent potter he can be as he knocked in a lovely 34 break.  Unfortunately he could not build on this in the next frame as Steve displayed his resilience and determination to take the frame with honours deservedly shared.  On the other table it was another drawn match between Wayne Allen and Rolleston’s Neil Cheadle with neither player being able to put together any sizable breaks to win both frames.  The score at the turn round was 2-2 and the next four frames were all won by Woodville.  Billy Hunt playing his first match of the season showed his team mates what they had been missing with a solid display in winning both frames off John Cheadle who made some good pots in his first game for the club.  Dennis Moore took both frames against Dave Bentley in two close games with Dennis just having the edge in the potting department.
Swad Cons C did very well to draw with an experienced Alrewas D team.  This result should now give them the confidence to move on after a poor start to the season. Tony Trueman for the A38 boys was again in fine form as he won both frames with a consistent display of potting throughout the match with Ron Kendrick.  Jon Petcher got the home team off the mark as he drew with Brian Eccleston in a most entertaining match with neither player deserving to lose.  Errol Faulkner and Brian Aldridge also shared their frames in a game that saw both players forgetting the safety aspect of the game.  They just went for the pots with both players enjoying their nights work. Paul Griffin was the Cons star player as he took both frames in a dour battle with Shaun Tubbert with neither player being prepared to give an inch.  This was a fair result on the night. 
Ivanhoe D got back on track with a fine win at home to Spot On B winning 7-1.  Tony Tredger gave them a good start with a solid performance to take both frames off an unlucky Claire Roulstone who at times did not have the best of the running although some of Tony’s potting was top draw.  Jack Bale made it the perfect start for Ivanhoe as he beat Gilda Horvath in a couple of scrappy frames.  Marie Bridges was the ladies star player as she prevented the whitewash with a battling display to share the spoils with one of Ivanhoe’s top players Jason Collins.  Keith Bale matched his younger brother as he beat Yvonne Spendlove in two entertaining frames.  This win puts the Ashby boys nicely in to the top six. 
Woodville S&S A are certainly not having the best of starts so far this season as they lost to a very determined Swad Cons B 5-3.  This was after being 3-1 ahead at the turn.  Jim Marcer despite not being at his best won both frames against Bob McNulty.  Jim took the first frame fairly comfortably with Bob conceding on the yellow. The second frame was a lot closer with it being nip and tuck for most of the frame with Jim just having the edge although to be fair Bob had very little good running.  Alan Orpwood and Vince Draper deservedly shared the frames .  Alan was always behind in the first frame until the last couple of reds when he made a telling 15 break to help him take it.  Vince was playing his first match of the season and made some telling pots in the second were he was never under too much pressure.  Tony Coleman lost for the first time this season against a battling and determined Jake Mole who made a number of good pots to take the frames on the black and pink respectively.  A solid display by Paul Hollis in beating Pat Ryan to give the Cons a well deserved win. Some of Paul’s safety play towards the latter end of the frame was excellent as he beat Pat also on the black and pink.  
The Baulkline tasted defeat for the first time in the club’s short history away to one of the unbeaten teams in the division and looking to get straight back up and that is SDSC D who won 5-3.  This was a close run thing for the home side with a number of twenty plus breaks made especially by The Baulkline.  David Wain had a difficult match against Wayne Smith who has hit the division running taking both frames which included a really well made 37 break with a mixture of long pots and good positional play and just for good measures he also made a 30 break.  Wayne’s 37 break is the highest in the division so far this season.  Andy Evans playing for the D team for the first time got the side’s first frame of the night drawing with Mark Storr.  Mark made a handy 22 break to win his frame.  Garton Bloor set about improving the scoreline against Jon Sully with a solid performance with some excellent safety play as he won both frames despite Jon making breaks of 22 and 21 in both frames.  It was left to Andrew Bloor to get the final two frames required for the win against Mick Taylor who so far this season has had very little going his way.  Andrew made a couple of nice breaks of 25 and 24 in each frame.
Burton Cons D did very well to earn themselves a well deserved draw at home to Swad Cons D.  Al Munnion for Burton Cons did not get them off to the best of starts by losing both frames to Gaz Ward who on the night played very well.  Ian Protheroe got the scoreline back level as he took both frames in a very tight match with Kieran Dadley.  Bob Birch showed his experience as he won both frames with Nathan Brooks.  Despite not being at his potting best it was too much on the night for Nathan.  Jim   ‘Wily’ Jennings the man for all occasions did the business to earn the home team a draw with a battling performance to take both frames with Andy Boam.  It was a very cagey match with both players playing some good safety snooker.