2018-19: Week 1

By Mick Buckland

In the first round of matches in the David Wain Insurance Premier Division, defending champions Ivanhoe A resumed where they left off with a thumping 7-1 win away at Spot On A. Andy Marriott, Ant Moore and Daniel Blunn all scored victories with Daniel having the evening’s highest contribution of 36. Ade Harper knocked in a nice 32 but was unable to win either of his against Ant. Mark Stirling saved the home side’s blushes by taking a frame off Ian Rennocks, who himself had a run of 31.

Runners up last year, Burton Cons A also started with a win after it finished 5-3 against a spirited SDSC A side. Graham Stevens was in imperious form as he rolled the whole league’s high break for the week with a lovely 75 against Henry Tomas, who was unable to get into the match at all. The Cons were soon 4-0 up as Jon Fletcher beat Ben Davies with the help of a nice 34. Harry Farrell got The Snooker Centre back in the match with an assured display against Jon Swift, knocking a cracking 60 in as he did so- Jon really didn’t do much wrong but Harry took his chances. Mike Buckland and Adam Harrison played out the first frame with 10 reds ending up in one quarter of the table along with 5 of the 6 colours. Eventually Buckland had a half chance and ran in a nice 36 from it which effectively won the frame. The second was also a tight affair with Harrison getting his nose in front near the end. Buckland then knocked in a good blue and then cross doubled the pink but turned down the black in favour of a safety. Harrison took up the challenge of a difficult black and in it went for a 5-3 scoreline.

Newly promoted Belmont B were up against Alrewas A and it was The Legionnaires who came away with the spoils after a a good 5-3 win. Mark Satchwell had transferred from Woodville A but he went down to John Richardson. Michael Lomas, making a return to league snooker, squared the match up and included a 35 in his win over Tom Smith. Lee Louch put Alrewas in control after beating Shaun Gebbie before Josh Gebbie and Karl Hancox played out a draw with Josh having a nice 38 along the way, to leave Alrewas the victors.

The first match of the season was played at Tutbury Club on Tuesday, which will be a regular feature this year. Swad Cons A came away with the victory 6-2 . Steve Butler lost his first frame on a respot to Ant Rushton, signed over the summer from Rolleston, who then went on to fluke the black in the second to give the Cons a flying start. Wayne Smith was in excellent long potting form in particular to get past Paul Slater 2-0 to level the match. Jon Sully was no match for Simon Orpwood who was knocking in everything without looking like he was ever going to miss. Steve Burrows got himself in front against Andy Grainger before it came down to another black ball which Andy duly potted. He then knocked in a 32 in the second with an assured display to leave Swad Cons 6-2 winners.

Two of the Ivanhoe sides also made cracking starts in the PJM Fascias Division One. The B side thumped the D team 7-1 with wins for Greg Gallup, Bren Mattley and Matt Grey with a draw played out between Stu Tagg and Nathan Blood who registered the D team’s only point. And the C team dealt a similar score to Burton Cons C who had been reprieved from relegation last term after a reshuffling of the divisions. Gaz Dolman, Steve Cockeram and Mick Kirk were the men doing the damage whilst Graham Measures and The Cons’ captain Ian Shrive fought out a half.

Alrewas B were beaten 6-2 at home by Stapenhill A. Adam Walton and Carl Poulton both grabbed a frame each in their respective draws against Jason Spiby and Chris Sheldrake. Mick O’Mahoney and Andy Gretton both scored victories to ensure a winning start for The Institute.
Two of the promoted sides met at Rolleston with the club’s B team hosting SDSC C. It was the away team who put in a fine performance as they came away 5-3 winners. At half time it was 2 across as Brian Bloor and Kev Norris both secured wins. David Wain then beat Lionel Lewis whilst Andy Bloor and Rob Tubey shared their two frames.

SDSC B returned to winning ways as they beat fellow relegated side Rolleston A 5-3. Chris Dewey was the star man as he rolled in 29 and also 33 in his win over Bobby Cliff. John Davis was also on the scoresheet with a win over Rich O’Dell. Mark Press chipped in two for The Rollers but the draw between Steve Ayre and Tom Bassett meant a winning start for The Snooker Centre.

A derby took place at Spot On where the highly experienced B team drew 4 all with the younger C team. Trevor Heath and Matt Keay shared theirs as did Steve Gaunt and Jared Cronje. Mitch Hughes won for the C with John Hardy doing similar for the B and an overall half.

A high quality match was played out to a draw between newly promoted Stapenhill B and Alrewas C who had moved from Spot On. it was all square at halfway with draws between Greg Britton and Loz Kennerson-Loz having a nice 31- and then Bryan Sharratt and Steve Lane with Steve knocking in a good 32. Steve Butterworth had the best effort of the night as he rolled in a 38 on the way to beating Rob Kent, whilst John Sheriff beat Lee Cooke to even things up.

New side Spot On E provided the highlight of the week in the Newton Fallowell Division Two as James Bailey cracked in a lovely 37 in his win over Woodville B’s Gary Green. Denis Moore though provided parity as he beat Marvin Walker. Elsewhere Dave Goldsmith and Mark Gallagher shared as did Luke Allsop and Wayne Allen for an overall draw.
In a lively atmosphere at Burton Cons, the club’s D team beat The Snookerettes of Spot On D 6-2. Tom Egginton and Greg Hall were the men to the damage for the boys whilst Gilda Horvath and Marie Bridges both earned a point each for the ladies as they shared their games with Nathan Brooks and Al Munnien.
One of the league’s boing boing sides look like they be at it again as Tutbury D, newly relegated , returned to winning ways with a 5-3 win over Rolleston C. Ian Day was in fine potting form as he knocked in two twenty plus contributions in his win over Steve Atkin with Colin Bell also adding two frames for The Tutters. Aaron Doyle returned the twenty plus efforts favour for Rolleston in a win of his own over Paul Atterbury whilst Mark Storr and Jeff Siddalls played out a half.
SDSC D did just about enough to scrape past Stapenhill C -a newly formed team-by a 5-3 scoreline. Nick Harcombe and Ray Bancroft both scored doubles for the Snooker Centre whilst Tim Knopik used his experience to provide some solace for The Institute. Bob McInulty and Neil Bourne halved their match to see the Snooker Centre through.
Swad Cons B drew four across with Belmont D. Winners on the night were Gaz Ward and Chris Stone for the Cons and Matt Groves and Tom Holland for The Servicemen