2015-16: Week 5

League Week 5

Owen Jones writes for the David Wain Insurance Premier Division.
The Ivanhoe derby saw the A and B teams draw in the David Wain Insurance Premier Division. In form Andy Marriott won both frames against Stuart Tagg but only just made it over the line in the second frame. Ivan Birkin hit back immediately by taking both frames against an out of sorts Ian Rennocks. Ant Moore then found Jason Pickering too tough on the night as the B team won both scrappy frames aided by a 30 break. Daniel Blunn needed to win the remaining match against Brendon Mattley. He won the first frame but needed a snooker with only pink and black on. He got the snooker but left a chance to Mattley who missed it. Blunn then potted both pink and black to secure a draw.
Belmont B came out on top against Swadlincote Snooker Centre A. Rich Goldby potted well to defeat Steve Ayre. Miffa Smith was then unlucky not to win a frame against Andy Goldingay. The second half of the match started with both Graham Bailey and Arron Vaughan winning their frames to put the home side 4-2 up. Mark Satchwell pulled a frame back to make it 4-3 but Chris Dewey could not force a draw as Bailey won his second frame and earned a well deserved victory.
Burton Cons A found it tough going at home to Alrewas A. Matt Milnes was first up and out potted Dave Trueman to take both frames, aided by a 34 break. Owen Jones won a scrappy first frame against Carl Poulton but his opponent potted very well in the second and thoroughly deserved to win the frame, knocking in a 34 break on the way to doing so. John Shilton won the two frames needed for victory, making a 38 break in the process, against Adam Walton. Finally, Graham Stevens found Ian Hiley too good on the night as the visiting player won both frames to leave the final score at 5-3 to the reigning champions.
Chimneys A lost 7-1 at home against Belmont A. Josh Gebbie won the first frame against Alan Davies with a 41 break but Davies did not give up in the frame. The second frame was more clear cut for the Swadlincote youngster. Father Shaun Gebbie then also made a 37 himself, despite having a few bits of luck along the way, against Jan Pawlazych. Gebbie also won the second frame. Ian Archer had to fight hard to win the first frame against Daz Lester but won the second a little more comfortably. Finally, Fran McInulty drew against Chimneys’ captain Bill Stewart to complet the match.
Spot On A went down 5-3 at home to Tutbury A. Tom Elliott found Steve Hathaway too good on the night as the Tutbury man won both frames. Ade Harper then knocked in a 31 break to win both frames against Dave Powell. Mark Stirling then drew with Chris Mabbott who made a 31 break to take his frame. Dave Mabbott completed the victory for the visitors as he potted well to take both frames against Andy Speirs.
Stapenhill A and Chimneys B played out a hard fought draw. Loz Kennerson made two 37 breaks but could only win one frame against Andy Gretton. Steve Ford then shared the frames with Lee Cooke. Steve Lane potted well to win both frames against Chris Sheldrake and Dave Shenton showed what he can do by winning both frames against Steve Butterworth to force a draw.
Swad Cons A won a close match 5-3 against Burton Cons B. Sinon Orpwood was in fine form as he compiled breaks of 49 and 44 to win both frames against Mick Hickebottom. Simon Mansfield then shared the frames with Mike Buckland, who knocked in a 48 break. Paul Slate then found Dave Shipton too good. Andy Grainger got the hosts over the line by winning both against Simon Smith.
Mike Buckland writes for Division 1
In the return to league action for week 5, it was SDSC C who stretched their lead at the top to five points having won all 5 of their opening fixtures. Carl Hyde got off to a great start potting everything in sight in his first versus Kev Norris Of Rolleston B. The second was much tighter though with both players playing well but it was Carl who won by virtue of a re-spotted black. Ben Davies largely had the better of Lionel Lewis but left a black over the hole for Lionel to come away with a share of the spoils.Henry Tomas and Rob Sanders had two good frames with Henry just proving too strong. In the final fixture John Harvey and Simon Shilton both played like they had blindfolds on to start with (not the writer’s words!) with John narrowly winning the first on the pink. Simon “Stevie Wonder” Shilton however managed to regain a little form to snatch the second.
In second spot are Chimneys C who have won all 5 of their matches by the same 5-3 scoreline. Veteran Trevor Heath has been rolling back the years this season to win 9 out of the 10 frames he’s played. This week it was Paul Atterbury of Tutbury B who was put to the sword. The Chimneys Andy Jenkins and  Dave Brady then shared two tight frames before Jeff Siddalls dragged the Tutters back into the match by defeating an off form John Hardy.It was then left to Steve Gaunt to show some nice potting with a well made 27 in his victory over the previously unbeaten Colin Bell.
Ivanhoe C lost a little ground at the top by only drawing away at SDSC B 4-4.
Unusually all 4 matches were drawn. Gaz Dolman provided the highlight with a knock of 25 in his draw versus the Swad boys’ talisman Nick Harcombe. The other 3 matches were very tight affairs between Swad Snooker Centre’s Ray Stretton, Andy Jeffries and Ray Bancroft against the Ashby crew of Darren Wilson, Graham Measure and Jerry Cook respectively. 
Burton Cons C remain undefeated at this early stage but could only draw with Alrewas C. With Karl Hancox away, floater Tom Smith dropped in for The Legionnaires to score a good win over Lee Louch who has yet to find top form this season. On the other table, Cons’ new man, Matt Hucker, came up against another very consistent player in John Richardson who included the division’s highest break of the week of 39 in his 2-0 win. After half time though someone who has not struggled to find form this season was Tom Egginton who comfortably beat Tom Wright to make it 8 out 10 for him personally. The Cons’ captain Ian Shrive then played well to then also snatch a win versus Colin Wood to complete the comeback.
The other Alrewas side, the B team went down 5-3 at home to Belmont D. Alan Wilson for The Legion had all the luck against Brett Craddock-sadly for him it was all bad as Brett won comfortably. Will Sherratt claimed to have had a lot of run his his first versus Tom Holland – Tom was able to knock in a nice 25 in the second but it was to no avail.Roy Sherratt knocked a lovely black in to win his first against Mark Vaughan but the second was a different affair as mark ran away with it. John Sharpe and Micky Morris enjoyed a great tussle but it was The Services Club man who came away with both frame to seal a good win for the Swad boys.
Belmont C ran out 6-2 winners against a side that always seem to struggle at the start of the season Rolleston A. Mark Press showed his class winning his match versus Luke Speed including a lovely 31 in the second frame. Terry Bosworth played well to win his first against Joe Docksey, who the returned the compliment in the second for a fair draw. Brian Cutting took both frames off of Bobby Cliff with some outrageous luck in the first and a solid display in the second. Finally Doug Lees battled away to win the first against stand in Mike Doyle for Rolleston before Mike fought back to win the second of two scrappy frames.
Newhall’s dreadful start to the season continued at home to Stapenhill B. Mark Anslow opened up against Tim Knopik and was soundly beaten as Tim knocked in a splendid 25. Sam Hicks though was able to square the match with a solid 2-0 win over Brian Sharratt. Martin Hicks had to settle for his 3rd draw of the season in his stalemate with John Sherriff – a return to form will only just be round the corner for Martin. It was down to John Swift to ensure the win for the men from The Institute has he included a nice 25 in his win over Carl Glover.
Tony Coleman your on the spot reporter reporting on the week 5 events in Division 2
Burton Cons D unfortunately could not reproduce their cup winning form into the league this week as they lost at home to a strong Alrewas D team losing 6-2.  Tony Trueman and wily Jim Jennings had a cracking and entertaining match with both players getting a number of fine pots with Tony just shading it which is no mean feat to take both frames off Jim on his own table.  The good work continued on the other table for the A38 boys with Dave Riley taking both frames against Al Munnien and Dave being the more positive in his shot selection to take the frames fairly comfortably.  Paul Brooks got the home team on the score board after a battling draw with Brian Eccleston with both players deserving to take something from the game.  Nathan Brooks did just as well as his father to take a frame off Shaun Tubbert who has been having a fairly steady season so far.  This fine away win for Alrewas sees them moving nicely up the table.
Rolleston C lost out to Swad Cons D at home 5-3 but it was a close run thing.  Aaron Doyle did well to share the frames with the Cons potting machine Gaz Ward when both players won their respective frames with a number of good pots.  Neil Cheadle and Andy Boam kept the scoreline level at the turn with an honourable draw where safety play was the order of the day.  Dave Bodie back again from sunnier climes was in good potting form as he drew with Steve Atkin who did not have the best of the good running throughout the match but he managed to take a frame.  The Cons star player was Bob Birch who had to use all of his experience built up over many years to get the two frames they needed for the win in beating Dave Bentley in two close games.
Woodville S&S B had a convincing home win against Spot On B winning 7-1.  This was not as easy as the scoreline suggests.  Mark Gallagher got the home team off to their customary first two frames with a solid display of potting in both to beat Gilda Horvath who has not had the best of starts to her season.  Wayne Allen put Woodville in a nice position at the half way stage leading 4-0 after beating Marie Bridges who made a number of good pots to keep the match interesting up to the high colours. Captain Kate Stirling got their only frame as she deservedly drew with Terry Eyley in a high quality match both with safety and potting.  Another consistent player for Woodville is Denis Moore who despite this being his first season in the league is playing very well as this was shown in taking both frames against a determined Claire Roulstone who got one or two good pots.  This win puts them top of the division by 1 point ahead of Spot On C. 
In the battle between Ivanhoe D who were fourth and top of the table side Spot On C ended in a great away win for the Spot On boys who won 5-3 at the normal Ivanhoe fortress.  Things didn’t start off too badly as Roy Hickman for Ivanhoe drew with Billy Newman in two close frames with neither player just having the edge to take both. The evening’s match decider was between Jack Bale and Ben Menzies with Ben being the only player on the night to take both frames.  Ben at the moment is playing some quality snooker as his averages show this was a very entertaining match that was only decided on the high colours in both frames.  Jason Collins shared the frames with another talented player Jared Cronje with both players going for the pots with both deserving to get something from the match.  The final match of the evening was between Warner ‘twinkle toes’ Collins and Sean Bates which ended in a creditable draw.  Warner’s safety play was again in evidence in both frames but at times he did not have an answer to Sean’s potting skills.  Despite this win Spot On drop to second place thanks to Woodville winning more frames.
SDSC D lost for the first time this season to Swad Cons B 6-2.  The Cons appear to be the dark horses in this division after this great victory puts them in the top six.  The Cons were given the perfect start with Gerald White who made a number of significant pots in taking both frames against John Chambers who did not have an answer to Gerald’s consistent potting.  Vince Draper then made it 4-0 at the turn with a superb potting display in both frames against a shell shocked Brian Bloor.  In one of the frames Vince knocked in the highest break of the season so far in this division of 44.  This was a well executed break with a number of great pots to keep it going which also included a number of fine positional shots.  Jake Mole did very well to share the frames with Andy Bloor who was not at his potting best.  Jake did knock in a few significant pots especially to win his frame.  Paul Hollis continued his good start to the season with an honourable draw with Garton Bloor.  Paul made a good 22 break to win his frame.
Woodville S&S A finally got their first win of the season under their belt with an excellent win at Swad Cons C winning 8-0.  At the start of the first frame between Paul Griffin and Jim Marcer it looked like Jim was going to have a difficult night as Paul went into a 19 point lead but gradually the master cueman got his act together and started to pot a number of balls which led to some significant breaks to comfortably take the first frame.  In the second frame and right up to the colours Jim just could not miss which included a couple of breaks of 18 then Paul started to get a number of good snookers which Jim failed to get out off which put him under some pressure.  Jim managed to finish off Paul’s comeback plan with a couple of nice pots on the colours.  Alan Orpwood despite still not having his new Denis Taylor glasses was still too hot for John Griffin in both frames.  John likes to play positive snooker and sometimes it fails which left Alan in a position to mop up in both frames.  John knocked in a few power long shots but unfortunately the cue ball never landed in any favourable positions for a colour.  Pat Ryan had a couple of good frames with Pete ‘the legs’ Fearn but resulted in Pat taking both frames fairly comfortably.  Tony Coleman ended a good nights work by taking both frames against Dan Petcher who was a little unlucky with some of his pots.  The match was played in great atmosphere and credit goes to the Cons boys who really enjoy their night at the snooker irrespective of whether they win or lose. They always have a laugh and go home with a smile on their faces after the match whatever the result as long as there is a bar and it’s open- cheers guys!
Chimneys D drew against Baulkline A who appear at the moment to be the draw specialists. The match was being played at the Willington Bowl and first on was Adi Millington playing Jon Sully in a rather drawn out match with neither player being able to assert their authority on the game which resulted with them both sharing the frames.  Fisherman Brian Alford who was out looking for cod at the weekend shared two entertaining frames with Mark Storr.  Both players got a number of nice pots especially Brian from long distance.  Andy Holloway and Billy Ashton also shared an honourable draw with neither player on the night having the necessary quality to win both frames.  The final match of the evening was between Steve Williams and Mick Taylor and this was also a draw.  Steve did very well to take a frame off Mick as he has been steadily gaining in confidence as the season has progressed and as a result he has potted some lovely balls. 

Orme Shield Round 1 write-up by Owen Jones, Tony Coleman and Mike Buckland
The revamped style for the long established Orme Shield which now appears to be snookers equivalent to the FA Cup in its new form.  All the teams in the three divisions get the opportunity to possibly test their skills against different players from other divisions in the random draw and by judging from some of the results some notable surprises.
Possibly the biggest shock of the round took place in Ashby. The strong Ivanhoe A side took on Alrewas C from Div. One and it was The Legionnaires who booked a place in the next round with a 3-2 win on the doubles decider. Although Ivanhoe were without Andy Marriott, Alrewas were missing John Richardson and it proved to be a very tight affair. In form Karl Hancox beat Mick Kirk while Ian Rennocks beat Colin Wood. This was followed by Daniel Blunn beating Rob McMeecham before Tom Wright took it into the decider by beating stand in Tony Tredger. Hancox and Wright then took the spoils with a win in a tight doubles over Kirk and Rennocks.
Another giant killing act took place with Swad Cons B beating Premier team Stapenhill A 3-1 this was a close match.  Gerald White got the balls rolling nicely with a confident display against Steve Ford with an assured potting display that Steve could not respond to.  Paul Hollis made the situation even worse for Stapenhill with a battling performance to beat Andy Tomlinson with both players desperate to win the frame.  The Cons were 2-0 ahead and keen not to let the lead slip but thanks to the silky skills of Jake Mole they didn’t as he beat Mark Waldron with a solid display of potting putting a surprised Cons into the hat for the next round.  The evergreen Bob McNulty was not able to round off a great night for the Cons as he lost to Andy Gretton who certainly deserved the frame.
It was not the best of nights for the Stapenhill club as the B team who are middle of the table in Division 1 lost to Woodville S&S A 3-1 who are struggling in the bottom end of Division 2.  Despite the scoreline the match could have easily gone either way with all of the frames being decided on the last few colours or on the black.  Jim Marcer got Woodville off to a good start with some excellent pots with John Sheriff.  John also got a number of good pots with Jim just having the edge.  Alan Orpwood put Woodville in a great position as he beat Greg  Britton in the best frame of the night with both players in good potting form and their safety play was not bad also with Alan potting a nice blue to leave him safe.  In the frame between Tim Knopik and Pat Ryan it was nip and tuck all the way up to the colours with Tim having the first chance to put some daylight between him and Pat on the brown into the black pocket but missed leaving Pat a great chance to win the frame on the black which he snapped up.  Jon Swift won Stapenhill’s only frame of the night in a tight frame with Tony Coleman who went inoff the final ball.  This was a very good match played out in a great spirit with neither team deserving to lose as all four frames were so tight.
Another match to go the distance was at Burton Cons where Premier Division Cons B team took on Ivanhoe C from Division One. Simon Smith got the Cons off to a good start with a comfortable win over Eric Avins. Mike Buckland then followed suit but in a tighter frame versus Jerry Cook. Cook started well before Buckland got about 20 in front down to the colours. Both players had chances but it was Buckland, helped by a decent amount of run and in-offs from Jerry, who prevailed. The match then went upside down with  Graham Measures comfortably beating an out of form Dave Shipton before Gaz Dolman fought back well for Ivanhoe in his match versus Dave Plunkett, returning from illness to force the doubles. In a typical scrappy games of doubles Smith and Buckland just about did enough to beat Dolman and Measures. Buckland cleared from two reds out to the pink to ensure the win.
The current holders of the old styled competition Burton Cons A had no trouble progressing into the next round at the expense of one of the current top teams in Division 2 winning 4-0 at Woodville S&S B.   John Shilton got the Cons off to a fine start with a solid display to beat Mark Gallagher.  On the other table Wayne Allen put Mick Simpkins under a certain amount of pressure with a some good pots but Mick’s vast experience and safety play was able to wear Wayne down.  My fellow reporter Owen Jones continued his rich vein of form in beating Billy Hunt with something to spare.  Stuart Roberts finished off a good nights work for the Champions in beating Dennis Moore in an entertaining frame.
Doubles action was also required to separate Chimneys D from Division Two and Premier Division Swad Cons A. Dave Budworth used all of his experience to beat Lee Wood whilst The Cons most consistent player Andy Grainger defeated Adi Millington. Bill Davidson showed his class to beat Paul Slater whilst Swad’s new recruit this year Simon Orpwood beat S. Williams. The two Cons talismen though had too much Premier league class and won over Budworth and Davidson in the doubles to avoid the banana skin. 
The snookerettes made their Orme Shield debut away at Alrewas D. The ladies managed to get themselves into all 4 matches but it was only Kate Stirling who could make enough for her chances in her really good win over Tom Smith who will win more than he loses this season. Brian Eccleston, Dave Riley and Tony Trueman scored wins in the other matches over Marie Bridges, Claire Roulstone and Yvonne Spendlove respectively.
Tutbury A comfortably moved through to the next round with a routine win over Rolleston B from Division One. Only John Harvey could offer any resistance to the Tutters as he defeated the experienced Dave Powell. the Mabbutts Chris and Dave then had too much for Lionel Lewis and Kev Norris before Steve Hathaway ensure the win for the Premier League outfit by beating Rob Sanders, one of the league’s newly qualified referees.
Top of Division One’s SDSC C were not troubled by mid table Division Two side  Swad Cons D. A comfortable win for Pete Maguire’s side saw Henry Tomas and Ben Davies opening up with wins over Bob Birch and Kieron Dadley. This was swiftly followed by wins for Carl Hyde and Pete against Dave Bodie and Andy Boam. swad C will be looking for a strong run in the competition to go alongside their strong start to the league season.
A game which had the potential for an upset was at Spot On where the C team top of Division Two took on struggling Belmont C from Division One. And so it proved with Spot On winning 3-1 to book their place in the next round. At the time of writing no further detail was available. 
Alrewas A travelled again to the newly opened Spot On club in Burton to play their premier side. Colin Kinsella beat Tom Elliott convincingly in the first match taking the frame after a number of solid breaks that Elliott had no answer to. Ade Harper made the match a tie after beating Carl Poulton in a scrappy and tense affair that went down to the final few colours. Alrewas went ahead again thanks to a stellar performance by Adam Walton knocking in a 45 break that left Mark Stirling chasing many snookers near the end. That left Andy “Bash” Spiers to take it to a doubles decider but Dave Trueman snuck past him after cutting in a fine and final black to ensure the Legion boys progressed to the next round.
Burton Cons D pulled off a major shock on the night as they beat high flying Chimneys C in the deciding doubles play off.  The Cons who are just below the middle of the table in Division 2 certainly upped their game against the team from the Division above.  Al Munnien did not get the home team off to the best of starts by losing to Jon Hardy who in the single frame potted most of the balls when the chances arose.  Wily old fox Jim Jennings really enjoyed himself on the night as he beat Andy Jenkins in an entertaining match with both players in very good potting form with Jim just having the edge to draw the Cons level.  Ian Protheroe played some of his best snooker for a long time as he beat Tony Clements with both players going for their shots.  Steve Gaunt got the all important frame for The Chimneys to take the match into a deciding doubles play off in beating Nathan Brooks in a frame where both players were struggling at times.  The deciding doubles was played out by the four players who had not lost all evening Jennings/Protheroe and Hardy/Gaunt this was a close frame all the way up until the last few colours when the Cons Boy’s got their noses in front and a well earned win.
What a remarkable match between Rolleston B and SDSC A which saw the Premier side winning 3-2 on the deciding doubles.  SDSC did very well as they only turned up with two players for whatever reason.  Chris Dewey set out his stall very early on with a fine potting display to beat Neil Cheadle who had no answer to his opponent ‘s potting prowess.  Mark Satchwell then did an excellent job to beat Aaron Doyle with some quality safety play and potting although Aaron did make a number of fine pots but not enough to stop Mark.  You have to feel for both John Ward and Dave Bentley of Rolleston who never played a game all evening.  The doubles play off was between the four players who played in the two frames.  The frame was a long drawn out affair with neither side wanting to make the error that leads to them losing but the away side just managed to keep it together to pot the last few winning balls for a terrific win with just two players.
Belmont B just scraped home via the deciding doubles frame against a battling Chimney’s B.
Chimneys A won a close match against Baulk Line A. Wayne Smith and Billy Ashton got two frames on the board for the visitors against Wayne Pereira and Daz Lester respectively. Bill Stewart and Alan Davies had to respond to force a doubles decider and that they did and it was the hosts that won the game and the match to progress to the next round.
Swadlincote Snooker Centre B edged out Swad Cons C by 3 frames to 1. John Brealey got the hosts off to a great start by winning the frame against Pete Fearn. John Griffin soon responded to square things up. Pete Griffin then lost to Nick Harcombe and Ray Bancroft sealed the victory by beating John Petcher.
Alrewas B progressed to the next round by winning 4-0 away at Swadlincote Snooker Centre D. Roy Sherratt potted well against John Chambers to put the visitors in front. Gary Green then doubled the lead against Brian Bloor. John Sharpe then clinched the match as he beat Andrew Bloor and Will Sherratt completed the scoring against Garton Bloor.
Belmont A also went through to the next round without losing a frame as they defeated Rolleston A.
Belmont D won 3-1 against Tutbury B. Mark Vaughan was on fire as he potted everything in sight against Jeff Siddalls. Mick Morris then played Paul Atterbury in a long, drawn out affair but it was Morris that took it to move the Belmont side in sight of victory. Tom Holland then played Colin Bell, who had defeated Holland just days earlier in the league encounter. Holland turned down a cut on the final pink which left Bell the pink but he missed the black. Holland rolled it in to complete the victory. John Peto halted the whitewash as he played very well to defeat Brett Craddock.
Burton Cons C served up a shock as they won away at premier league side Ivanhoe B. Jason Pickering and Ivan Birkin put the Ashby side ahead but back came Steve Castledine and Ian Shrive to force a doubles decider which was won by the visitors who progress to the next round.
Newhall A defeated Ivanhoe D to go through to the next round. Martin Hicks and Martin Hurdman won their frames against Roy Hickman and Keith Bale. Jack Bale then potted well to pull one back against Mark Anslow. Carl Glover clinched the win as he beat Warner Collins.