SNOOKER: Maximum points for Port St Mary Legion in week 4 of MAC's snooker league

Unbeaten records broken in latest round 

The last unbeaten records went awry in Week 4 of the Mac’s Builders Merchants snooker league as Jacksons and Finch Hill Mob both tasted defeat. Meanwhile, Cue Zone Blinders were just one black away from back-to-back 5-0 wins and Port St Mary Legion took maximum points.

Cue Zone Masters 3-2 Jacksons

Defeat for Jacksons in the Cue Zone derby but the leaders did outscore their opponents 290-275. Tommy Clague took frame 2 for the Masters on a re-spot black ball which ultimately proved a deciding factor on a night of close frames. Frame scores: Brendan Clague 54-75 Alex Sinclair, Tommy Clague 61-54 Richard Hillier, Les Briggs 62-44 Kam Virk, Ivan McMaw 26-62 Dave Welsh and Martin Rigg 72-55 Lee Gale.

St Olaves 1-4 Cue Zone Blinders

By Paul Smyth

Dave Kelly 38-50 Conor Mahon, Dave’s 21 start didn’t last long but he could still win with pink and black, both close to a middle pocket. Pot the pink and he was automatically on the black, he twitched, missed and left it for Conor to take the win. Paul Smyth 23-65 Nick Stephens, Paul kept Nick quiet for the first half of the frame, but missed three or four good chances to turn single pots into breaks and should've pulled at least level. Nick got his potting eye in for the last quarter of the frame creating a healthy lead. Michael Heathcote 37-68 David Hill, decent play from both saw it stay close before both missed pots they’d normally sink. Hill recovered the best to stretch a lead at the right time. James Kerr 40-80 Scott Campion, Scott wasn't on fire but with James still having trouble with his shoulder, Scott was able to extend his lead. James made a few pots but didn’t cash in, Scott by now had settled, potted well and sped to the winning line. Dan Crawley 77-64 Brandon Forrester, certainly the frame and battle of the night with both playing well as Brandon added to his 7 start. A long red and a well crafted 28 from Dan more or less levelled the scores. Dan emerged in front after safety battles on the colours to win on the final ball and save St Olaves from the bagel.

Finch Hill Mob 2-3 Douglas Snooker Bar Wannabes

By Peter Kirkham

Peter Kirkham 137-95 Steve Cowin, and early candidate for the biggest successful chase of the season. Kirkham, starting 91 down made a 40 break first visit and a number of teen runs to comfortably get over the line. Unfortunately for Stevie, he didn’t pot a ball, just scoring 4 points via a foul. Alan Heath 44-50 Dave Corris, played off levels Al started the better but stalled letting Dave catch up. Both players fouled on the pink and it could have been anyone's frame. Lee Butterworth 51-70 Jason Campbell, both players potted some decent balls with Lee making up the deficit. Jason’s long potting was on form tonight, he pulled ahead again though it was a lucky fluke on the pink that finally won it for him. Lee Hunt 42-103 David Callister, Lee started 56 in arrears and was clearly out of luck this week with nothing to go for each time he visited the table. Dave easily took advantage of what was on offer winning comfortably. Steve Finnegan 106-76 Paul McKinstry, Big Finn scored well from the start including breaks of 35 and 30 with a fluke or two thrown in for good measure, helping claw back the healthy start Paul had. Paul didn't give up though, potting some good colours towards the end but it was too little too late. Another Wannabes win and they stay at the dizzy height of 3rd place.

Port St Mary Legion 5-0 Finch Hill Musicians ‘B’

By Terry Boyle

There were only twelve 5-0 score-lines over the whole of last season. PSM have now been involved in three such results in just four weeks and for once they were on the right side. Matty Astall 49-33 Martin Rigby, a good opening frame both players potting well with nothing in it until Matty got a chance on blue and pink to take it. Marc Morley 50-39 Vic Rigby, Marc played well and Vic used all his guile to try and stay with him. With Morley 22 up and three balls left, black tight on the cushion and pink over a pocket Vic knocked in blue and pink and shook hands. Phil Joynes 81-74 Noel McConville, friends from the Pot Black days, these two played a fantastic frame. With one red left and Phil 29 behind he got two snookers then the red with a black leaving 13 in the game. In getting out of yet another snooker Noel left the yellow on and Phil cleared down to the black for a 20 break. Noel pocketed a very good black to force the re-spot, a bout of good safety followed before Phil slotted it into the yellow pocket. Dave Pickersgill 71-11 Dave Hanlon, the battle of the Daves was one-sided. Pickersgill played very well and with the run left Hanlon zero opportunities. He mopped up the last three reds with black, pink and brown for a 20 break and a luckless Hanlon shook hands. Terry Boyle 50-30 Pat Maher a frame both Pat and I will be pleased to forget, we just never got going, it was red colour miss, enough said. To summarise the snooker gods were with us, it could quite easily be 4-1 the other way in a match played in great spirit.

The Hurricanes 1-4 Finch Hill Rockets

By John Spellman

Jamie Wilson 30-57 John Spellman, an uninspiring game in which neither player shined. Both enjoyed teen breaks but with Spellman carrying his handicap lead and some bonus points into the colours, it was a frustrated Wilson who capitulated on the green. Shaun Roberts 64-68 Marek Kenny, a hard fought frame where Roberts was the better player, (with some luck) which went to the final ball. An unfortunate foul on the black by Roberts led to Kenny skulking away with the honours. Chris Dagnall 54-99 Marc Bolton, quick out of the starting gate, Bolton added 16 to his 63 start before Dagnall fought back, only to be foiled by in-offs at crucial moments. Bolton trotted home a comfortable victor in the end. Paul Smith 42-72 Sean Murphy, in the match of famous namesakes, it was Murphy’s break of last red to final blue that determined the outcome. Smith uncharacteristically stumbled after pulling back a 30 deficit only to see Murphy skip off into the sunset… . Steve Munk 51-35 Doug Kinrade, Munk took the point for the home team to salvage something on a somewhat disappointing night as Hurricanes remain the only winless team.

Malew 2-3 Peel Legion

Jimmy Goodwin 37-70 Jim Caley, Goodwin was away first with a few pots but gradually Caley warmed to his task, a couple of small breaks including a lovely long red the length of the table sent him away. Tony Cubbon 61-18 Tom Randall, Cubbon gave young Randall a schooling in matchplay snooker. Great potting from Cubbon, even after decent looking safeties from his opponent. Cubbon also kept things very tight at the expense of continuing breaks. Randall shouldn’t be too disheartened, Cubbon would’ve beaten most players with a performance like that. Alec Oates 49-39 Mike Crook, Oates did a good impression of Cubbon, consistently potting from mid and long-range. Crook struggled, but got the snooker he required on the blue before an abysmal effort with pink and black at his mercy. Tony Pring 36-73 John Kelly, Kelly produced his best form this season. Pring rattled one or two which would’ve made things interesting, the frame effectively over by the colours. Mark Quinn 50-58 Geoff Hall, a decider that swung in direction so may times. Quinn soon caught up Hall’s start and raced ahead but Hall, this week armed with a tip on his cue was 10 ahead by the final yellow. Yellow, green and brown all went to Hall who went 19 up with 18 on. With the black over a corner pocket the chances for snookers were limited. Quinn immediately rolled the blue with precision to end up welded to the black. This got Hall scratching his head and he gave away 12 points in fouls, firstly by missing the blue when attempting a delicate snick and then potting the black after contacting the blue too strongly. The blue was then on a plate for Quinn but he followed up with a wayward effort on the pink and Hall calmly rolled it across the table to the middle for frame and match. Peel left ‘Fortress Malew’ feeling very relieved. 

Top of the league: Cue Zone Blinders and Jacksons 14 points, Douglas Snooker Bar Wannabes 11, Cue Zone Masters 10. Individual League: David Callister, Dave Welsh, Tony Cubbon and Conor Mahon all 100% with 4 wins.