SNOOKER: Blinders back to winning ways

Reports by MBM League

Cue Zone Blinders 4-1 Port St Mary Legion

By Scott Campion

Conor Mahon 59-34 Marc Morley A cagey affair with Conor managing to keep his 14 handicap advantage throughout and with snookers required on the brown. Conor later took the blue and the concession came. Calum Gardner 70-33 Phil Joynes Calum started the stronger in this one and went from strength to strength potting a well worked 25 break. Phil didn’t do much wrong and played some very nice safety to claw back from snookers required. Calum just had enough in the end and took the win. Brandon Forrester 19-61 Dave Pickersgill Both players potted really well but Dave was in outstanding form again. A couple of teen breaks for Dave and saw off Brandon convincingly. Scott Campion 74-31 Matty Astill An early 14 break helped Scott make up the difference and some quite unfortunate in-offs for Matty left him trailing. Snookers required on the last red, Matt put in some good efforts but Scott managed to make more of his chances. Darryl Hill 108-80 Terry Boyle A couple of tidy breaks of 20 and 22 for Darryl helped him make up the 70 difference quite quickly. Terry didn’t get much of a look-in early on but managed to have a shot at a clearance, taking yellow and green off the spots but over running positionally on the brown. Darryl closed it out and helped the Blinders extend their lead at the top to 5 points.

Jacksons 2-3 The Hurricanes

Jacksons led Hurricanes by just a single point at the start. Richard Hillier 60-62 Johnny Myers Only a 3rd defeat in 14 for Hillier. Lee Gale 39-68 Jamie Wilson Wilson’s 27 break being the highest of week. Jacksons then levelled through Alex Sinclair 54-24 Paul Smith and Kam Virk 48-34 Gary Conwell. Steve Munk, a regular playing fifth, won his 4th deciding frame in a row against league debutant James Roberts 31-65.

Finch Hill Mob 2-3 Finch Hill Musicians

Tom Miller 98-66 Matt Dodd Tom did a Dodd on Doddsy, 2 flukes and the latter didn't get a look in against Tom who had 3 excellent breaks of 25, 23 and 22. Steve Finnegan 76-59 Pat Maher Finn with a 20 break was solid against Pat, another disgusting fluke on the yellow helped. Lee Hunt 46-84 Vic Rigby A 28 start for Rigby who extended away further. Peter Crellin 76-78 Dave Hanlon A frame of missed opportunities, particularly for Crellin chasing 42 from the start. A bad miss on a red with the rest on a break at 23 and later 2 pinks pretty much over the hole. The final pink went on for around 15 minutes before Dave fluked the black for the frame. Peter Kirkham 45-75 Zain Abideen Zain comfortable against an off form Peter to complete the comeback.

Finch Hill Rockets 4-1 Finch Hill Reprobates

In the 2nd Finch Hill derby of the week, Rockets put a major dent in Reprobates challenge who are now 7 points off the pace. Frame scores: Marek Kenny (21) 54-6 Andy Taubman, John Spellman 49-53 Rob Callister, Paddy Delaney 98-39 Dollin Mercer, Doug Kinrade 46-35  Paul Tangeman and Jonny Hogg 52-23 Rhys Moore.

Douglas Snooker Bar Wannabes 4-1 Cue Zone Masters

Now 11 defeats in a row for the Masters, Wannabes only denied maximum points by losing frame 2 on a re-spot black. Scores: Jason Campbell 77-26 Tommy Clague, David Callister 49-56 Brendon Clague, Fred Corris 57-35 Jez Hill, Paul McKinstry 86-70 Ivan McMaw and Dave Corris 62-40 Martin Rigg.

Peel Legion 2-3 Malew

Don Humphries 13-45 Tony Cubbon The couple of chances Humphries had required his nemesis, the rest, which he missed, badly. With the black tucked away neither player got into full flow but Cubbon knocked in some nice single pots and the odd colour to do enough. Tom Randall 54-46 Tony Pring All square with 3 balls left, Pring took blue but Randall played a nice positional shot from pink to black. He then made a very missable pot, down the side cushion with the rest. Barton Beaumont 36-50 Jimmy Goodwin Harum scarum stuff with the odd moment of finesse. Goodwin is on a good run at the moment and earned himself a handicap cut with a nice long pink to snuff out Beaumont’s late rally. John Kelly 53-44 Mark Quinn A couple of spectacular pots had put Postie on the verge of an all time low handicap. He’ll get one more chance to achieve this after Kelly finished the frame in style with a 22 clearance, including a tough pink down the cushion, screwing back for a cut black to centre. Geoff Hall 65-76 Alec Oates The deciding frame and both played as if it was past their bedtime, where fouls were probably the highest scorer. Predictably it went all the way and Postie woke up just in time to see his team-mate Oates take a long black for frame and match.

Top league standings: Blinders 55 points, Jacksons, Mob, Hurricanes 50, (Jacksons have a game in hand). Individual league: Scott Campion, Lee Gale, Brendan Clague and Shaun Roberts 12 wins. High break league: Tom Miller 43 points, Peter Crellin 37 and Darryl Hill 33.5. Next week’s matches are: Malew vs Blinders, Hurricanes vs Rockets, PSM Legion vs Jacksons, Reprobates vs St Olaves, Musicians vs Wannabes and Masters vs Peel.

***

Eight players from this season’s IoMBSA snooker ranking list fought out the CastleCabs Grand Prix. The best of 9 quarter final line up read, Darryl Hill vs Tony Cubbon, Chris Dagnall vs Jamie Wilson, Paul Smyth vs Calum Gardner and Dollin Mercer vs Marek Kenny.

Hill, winner of last year’s inaugural event, eased into the semi finals with a 5-0 victory over Cubbon who failed to find the same form he's shown in the ranking events this season. The ease of Dagnall's 5-0 victory over Wilson was more of a surprise and set up a semi final against Hill. The trend of whitewashes was brought to an end as the 3rd quarter final between Smyth and Gardner which looked for all money was going to a deciding frame. The match swung in both players favour several times as Gardner led 2-0 only for Smyth to level with two black balls at the mid session interval. Smyth then took the lead before Gardner then drew level once again on the black. A strong 7th frame for Gardner saw him hit a 41 break and move to within one. Smyth then had a good lead heading into the colours looking to force a decider but Gardner got the frame to the black, then both missed an easy pot before Gardner sunk it. More than five hours after the start time he moved into the semi finals a 5-3 winner. Dollin Mercer became the last player to book his semi-final place in another match that required a fifth hour. He prevailed 5-3 over Marek Kenny that was a real battle for both players. The result could easily have gone the other way with Kenny losing two frames on the blue and two on the black.

Hill defeated Dagnall 5-1 in the first semi-final in a high quality affair. Hill cruised to a 2-0 lead including a 78 break before Dagnall hit back with a 43 in frame 3. Dagnall could have levelled but Hill took a two frame advantage into the mid session interval. After the break Hill was on a mission and went one away from victory with breaks of 53 and 49 before hitting 10 reds 9 blacks in the 6th only to see the cue ball run too far for the 10th black on the maximum attempt, breaking down on 73. The second semi final between Gardner and Mercer was big night for both, with the opportunity of a first major final and a first two session match for whoever emerged victor. Gardner went 3-0 ahead before Mercer looked to be getting his first frame on the board at the break, but Gardner took it in the black. The fifth frame also went to the black, with Mercer somewhat unluckily going in-off having potted the black and the cueball spinning in after it to confirm a 5-0 win for Gardner. 

The best of 15 final had an entertaining first session, Hill’s first scoring visit led to a break of 95. Although Gardner took frame 3 the remainder all went Hill’s way as he stretched out a 6-1 lead, including breaks of 62, 51 and 46 to leave him 2 from victory. He required just 45 minutes of the evening session to retain his crown. Gardner, as he did throughout fought hard. In frame 8 he lost on the colours and a 67 break in next was more than enough to see Hill home. Frame scores, Hill first: 95-0, 68-25, 9-55, 71-22, 76-15, 82-26, 60-36, 45-29 and 104-4.

Congratulations to Hill, he wins £120 plus £25 for the highest break. Gardner can be proud of his achievements in reaching his first final and takes away £60. Thanks to final referee and tournament sponsor Scott Campion of CastleCabs and all at the Cue Zone Venue, not forgetting Peter Crellin for his commentary. We must also say a special big thanks to referee Dave Kelly officiated every match up to and including both semi-finals, quite simply the event couldn't have run without him. Replays of all matches can be viewed on the association Facebook page.