2017-18: Week 24

By Mick Buckland

Ivanhoe A moved another step closer to this year’s David Wain Insurance Premier Division title with a 6-2 home win against SDSC A. The score was tied at 2-2 at half time though as there was a surprise with Andy Marriott losing both frames to an inspired Chris Dewey. On the other table Ian Rennocks beat Andy Goldingay to provide the parity. In the second half James Hastie knocked in a 30 followed by a 32 to get past Steve Ayre whilst Ant Moore beat John Davis.

Burton Cons A drew level in second with their clubmates the B after beating Alrewas A 6-2. Mike Buckland was in fine potting form and didn’t really miss anything as he rolled in a 36 and a 42 to beat Rob McMeecham, making his first outing of the season. On the other table Graham Stevens won both against Lee Louch with neither player hitting top form. In the second half Darren Coady won both against Karl Hancox with Tom Smith keeping the score respectable with a win over Jon Swift in a dour match lasting nearly two hours.
In fourth are Belmont A after beating Tutbury B 5-3. Man of the match was Rob Chambers as he knocked in a good 49 during his win over Jan Pawlaczyk, with the other three matches halved- Josh Gebbie with Daz Lester, Mark Sherratt with Wayne Pereira and John Chambers with Bill Stewart-Bill having a nice 35 in his frame win.
At the bottom, Swad Cons A moved themselves out of the bottom 3 with a 5-3 win over Spot On B, who are now in the relegation zone instead. Simon Orpwood and Andy Grainger were the men to do the damage both with wins in the first half. Simon Mansfield scored an all important draw with Steve Lane to grab the extra winning point , whilst Simon Tarrant beat Paul Slater in the last rubber.
SDSC B scored a good 6-2 win over Rolleston A, who are in serious trouble as a result. Ben Davies notched a fine win over Mark Press with Henry Tomas also scoring a double. The other two matches were drawn with the Snooker Centre captain Pete Maguire making a rare appearance as he drew with Bobby Cliff and Harry Farrell sharing with Tom Bassett.
Spot On A v Tutbury A was rearranged and although the Spots are bottom they obviously have games in hand. Rolleston A and SDSC A only have one fixture left to rescue their seasons with Spot On B and Swad Cons A the other teams who still have work to do to retain the Premier Division status. At the top, Ivanhoe A only need a few more frames to secure the title after several seasons of being runner up whilst the battle for second could not be tighter between Burton Cons A and B.

Newhall A versus Ivanhoe B was the heavyweight contest at the top of the PJM Fascias Division One and perhaps unsurprisingly the match ended all square at 4 across. Carl Glover drew with Stu Tagg and Adam McInulty halved with Nick Sewell in the first half. Man of the match Nick Walker rolled in efforts of 42 and 44 as he beat Ivanhoe’s Bren Mattley before Adam Pickering restored the equilibrium with a hard fought 2-0 success over Martin Hurdman. Newhall are now in the promotion spots by virtue of more wins than Woodville A whilst Ivanhoe’s chance may have gone as they have played a game more than their rivals.
Woodville kept themselves in the hunt with a well fought 4-4 draw against runaway leaders Tutbury C. Steve Butler for the Tutters was in tremendous potting form as he knocked in efforts of 31 and 44 but Bob McInulty hung in their for a share of the spoils. Mark Satchwell scored a double over the home side’s Wayne Smith, whilst Steve Burrows did similar for the leaders. Tom Lucas and Fran McInulty halved in the final match for an all round draw. This is four straight draws for Tutbury but another one in their last two will see them crowned as champions. Woodville are level in fourth with Newhall so every frame is crucial in these last two weeks.
Belmont B are clear in second after a thumping 7-1 win away at Ivanhoe C. Micky Morris, Brett Craddock and Graham Bailey were all in fine form with Graham Measures the only bright spot for Ivanhoe securing a half against Zaheer Hussein. They play the league leaders this week in a match that may well determine their fate at the end of the season. Ivanhoe look to have done enough already to preserve their Division One status.
At the bottom, Burton Cons C had a home draw with SDSC C 4-4 with wins for Simon Shilton for the home team and Nick Harcombe for the away. Ian Shrive top scored with a nice 30 on the night but this only won him one frame with Ray Stretton with Greg Read easily winning his fist versus Ray Bancroft only for Ray to fight back to take the second.The result means that SDSC C are relegated to Division Two whilst Burton Cons’ recent change in form sees them probably having done enough to secure another term in Division One.
Alrewas B kept their fading hopes of staying in the division alive with a 5-3 win over early season leaders Spot On C. Ian Hiley was man of the match as he scored a win with draws in the other three, rolling in a nice 32 along the way. Adam Walton, Carl Poulton and Dave Trueman drew with John Hardy, Trevor heath and Tony Clements respectively.

The big match in Newton Fallowell Division Two was played out at Spot On where the club’s D team, AKA The Snookerettes, thrashed Belmont D 7-1. This was a first league win for the ladies with Belmont remaining winless. Gilda Horvath, Kate Stirling and Yvonne Spendlove were all inspired as they knocked in everything with Ian Gibson preventing the whitewash in his draw with Marie Bridges. The result is the perfect warm up for their upcoming Orme plate semi final clash with Burton Cons A – it also means they will not come bottom , having handed the wooden spoon to the Belmont boys. Both sides, having struggled with results for most of the season, could teach many other teams the value of playing for enjoyment every week with the result being secondary to having a decent night out.
For Woodville B, Billy Bob Brooks was in superb form as he won both frames fairly comfortably in his match against John Ward of Rolleston C-his potting being his best of the season, including a nice 24. Maurice Dawkins won both fairly lengthy frames against Daz Scott with both players producing some excellent safety. The master destroyer pat Ryan won both of his against Steve Atkin with a master class of potting and body movement, playing particularly well in the first. Tony Coleman came out on top in both frames against Neil Cheadle , winning both on the pink.
At the top Spot On E were gifted a win by confusion over the fixture with Swad Cons C. This has guaranteed promotion for the Spots. Stapenhill B won 7-1 away to Belmont C in second with wins for Greg Britton, Andy Tomlinson and Simon Piechowicz – Terry Bosworth stopping the rot with a half against Colin Britton. This result has also secured promotion for the Institute.
Looking to complete the promotion picture were SDSC D but they were held to a 4-4 draw by Rolleston B. David Wain continued his good form with another victory but Rob Tubey replied with a win of his own for The Rollers. The other two matches were halved with Kev Norris holding Andy Bloor and Lionel Lewis sharing with Brian Bloor. SDSC will have to wait to secure that last promotion spot.
Elsewhere Woodville C drew with Ivanhoe D, who would need two thumping wins to stand a chance of pipping SDSC D to the last promotion spot. Mark Gallagher for Woodville and Dave Watson were the men to score wins on the night with draws in the games between Wayne Allen ad Matt Tewkesbury and then Denis Moore and Tony Tredger.