2018-19: Week 2

By Mick Buckland

The David Wain Insurance Premier Division had some very tight matches last week which indicates how close the league might be this year. Belmont A opened up their campaign with a narrow 5-3 success away at Alrewas British Legion. Rob Chambers was the man to make the difference as he secured a win against Tom Smith with the other three matches halved-Karl Hancox, the Alrewas captain, shared two with Owen Jones, signed over the summer from Burton Cons. The home team’s John Richardson drew with John Chambers and Lee Louch drew with Mark Sherratt.

Burton Cons A won 5-3 away at The Tutbury Club in a match were all 8 frames could have gone either way. Simon Shilton, as a floater, was the main man for The Cons as he beat Steve Hathaway in two drawn out frames. Steve Mabbutt kept Graham Stevens at bay and produced a 30 as he won his frame in a 1-1 draw. Dave Mabbutt was unlucky to go in off in the middle from a tight angle against Mike Buckland, who duly cleared from the brown to snatch the frame. Dave played the better snooker in the second making Mike consistently play from underneath the baulk cushion and deserved the draw. Jon Fletcher stole a march in the first only to be pegged right back by Chris Mabbutt on the colours but he was unable to pot the all important black which Jon did from distance- the second Chris won for another deserved draw, The Cons leaving very happy to have come away with the win.
It was even tighter at Swad Snooker Centre as the A team drew 4-4 with Spot On A. There were wins for Henry Tomas for Swad and Tom Elliott for The Spots. Harry Farrell continued his break-building form with a nice 35 but this only won him one frame in his draw with Mark Stirling. Adam Harrison shared with Ade Harper in the other rubber for a fair draw.
Another draw was played out at Belmont where the B team were not to be separated from Tutbury C. Mark Satchwell beat Tom Lucas in the first half whilst Michael Lomas drew with Steve Burrow for a 3-1 half time lead for The Servicemen. In the second half Steve Butler had a thirty as he beat Shaun Gebbie whilst Josh Gebbie and The Tutters’ Wayne Smith drew with Josh having a 31 along the way.
Swad Cons A made it two wins from two as they scraped past Newhall A 5-3. Simon Orpwood and Callum Coleman drew in the first half as did Andy Grainger with Nick Walker-Andy having a nice 32.
After half time Paul Slater halved with Martin Hurdman, who made a good 25 contribution before Ant Rushton became the Cons’ star man as he beat Martin Hicks.
The fixture between Burton Cons B and Tutbury was re-arranged whilst it was the turn of Ivanhoe A to have their rest week

 

The PJM Fascias Division One has had both weeks of fixtures fulfilled without any cancellations-and there are only two sides with 2 from 2 wins. Ivanhoe C are riding high at the top after beating SDSC C 6-2 on their own patch. Gaz Dolman had too much for David Wain as did Mick Kirk for Garton Bloor, with Mick having the evening’s high break of 43. Brian Bloor and Daz Wilson shared their two as did Andrew Bloor and George Cawkwell.
SDSC B are the other side with a 2 from 2 record- perhaps unsurprisingly as they were relegated last term from the Premier. Andy Goldingay rolled in a nice 38 on the way to defeating Brian Lowrie of Ivanhoe D and Steve Ayre was also in fine potting form as be beat Dave Watson. Adam Briggs was able to steal one off Chris Dewey for the Ashby side as did Matt Tewkesbury off Keith Tomlinson.
Alrewas C had a terrific result in beating Stapenhill A 6-2. Again it was the recent Premier division experience that won over the day as Steve Lane and Simon Tarrant both scored doubles for The Legionnaires , who played out of Spot On last season. Lee Cooke for Alrewas and Chris Sheldrake shared their two whilst the match of the night was fought out between Loz Kennerson and Steve Ford. Steve had a cracking 32 but this was trumped by Loz with a 37 for the match to end up in a deserved draw.
Stapenhill B came out on top in a very tight affair with Ivanhoe B. Greg Britton and Bren Mattley halved their encounter at the start whilst Jason Pickering beat John Sherriff to put the Ashby side in control at halfway. The match turned after the break though with wins for Stapenhill’s Simon Piechowicz and Rob Kent over Stu Tagg and Adam Pickering respectively leaving the Institute winners on the night.
Rolleston B scored an impressive 5-3 away win at Spot On C. Rob Sanders was the man to make the difference as he completed a 2-0 win over Saj Mahmood. The other three ties were all halved-The Spots Jared Cronje with Lionel Lewis, Matt Keay with Rob Tubey and Tim Horvath with Mark Storr.
Spot On B drew for the second week on the bounce-this time with Rolleston A, another relegated side. Trevor Heath had the high break of the evening with a 32 as he beat Rich O’Dell. Mark Press for Rolleston returned the favour with runs of 29 and 25 in his win over Steve Gaunt. The Roller’s Bobby Cliff drew with John Hardy as did Tom Bassett with Tony Clements.
Burton Cons C ran out worthy winners against Alrewas B despite Ian Hiley’s excellent 54 against Simon Shilton in a well fought draw. Greg Read and Micky Morris played out two close frames but Greg got in on the final three colours and made Morris pay. Ian Shrive played excellently with some superb single ball potting to see off an under par Dave Trueman. Carl Poulton sealed two consolation frames against Bill Davidson but only after Davidson saw some bad run turn the frames Carl’s way.

One of the newly formed teams is leading the way at the top of The Newton Fallowell Division Two after the second consecutive 7-1 win for Swad Cons C, this time against Rolleston C. The Rollers’ Aaron Doyle had the evening’s best contribution of 27 but this was unable to win either frame against The Cons’ Brad Williams, who potted well himself. Jordan Watts brushed past Steve Atkin as did Kyle Cope past Graham Fisher. The Rollers only point came courtesy of Neil Cheadle as he drew with Colin Cope .
Also with two from two is SDSC D after a 5-3 success away at Tutbury D in a battle of two sides relegated last term. Nick Harcombe provided his customary victory for The Snooker Centre as he beat Colin Bell in what was otherwise a very tightly contested match. The three other fixtures were all halved. The home team’s Paul Atterbury with Ray Stretton, Jeff Siddalls with Bob McInulty and Ian Day with Ray Bancroft.
Woodville B had a good 5-3 win over Belmont C. There were wins for Gary Green and Denis Moore, with Terry Bosworth returning the favour for The Servicemen over Terry Eyley. Making the difference on the night though was Mark Gallagher who scored a very creditable half with Arron Vaughan, who no doubt will be playing some Premier Division snooker this season.
The A team from Woodville were held to a 4-4 draw at home by another new side in Stapenhill C. Pat Ryan was on form for the  Woodvillians whilst Tim Knopik scored a double for The Institute. Tony Coleman and Neil Bourne were not to be separated and Bob Brooks also halved with Paul Stewart.
Spot On E scored their first win of the season, having been newly formed at the start of the year, after going away to Belmont D and coming away 5-3 victors. It was all square at halfway after victories for the home side’s Matt Groves and The Spots’ Decca Wagstaff. The match between Andy Biggadike and Dave Goldsmith was halved so it was down to Luke Allsopp to score a double plus the extra bnus point by beating Ian Gibson.
The match between Swad Cons B and Spot On D was cancelled at very short notice- can we all be aware that there should be 48 hours notice given if for any reason a fixture cannot be fulfilled. It may be your opposition have made special arrangements themselves for the night but it is worse still for the clubs, who are all struggling after all, once they have organised food and staff accordingly to also lose out on the revenue.
Finally out of the 34 matches played so far, I have received just two match reports …so if you want your name up in lights, you need to put something on the back of the cards-hasn’t got to be much….flukes, great pots, good safety…anything will do to help the writing of the stuff that goes on the website and in the paper without it being a total fabrication.