Snooker: Title race down to two

Defeats for chasing pack leave two at the top

Manx Car Store Snooker League 

Results - Week 22

Port St Mary Legion  2-3 Finch Hill Rockets

By Terry Boyle

Marc Morley 62-68 John Spellman: A strange frame, one red left and Marc well ahead. John played some good snookers to get back but Marc potted the red and laid a snooker, John missed and then failed to escape from another snooker. After all this Marc was 21 ahead on the yellow, but John was to eventually get all the colours, Marc unlucky to double kiss the blue over the middle pocket and John took the last three balls for frame.

Phil Joynes 67-74 Leon Martin 21: Phil was off to a good start but Leon got ahead with a 21 break. Pink and black left, Phil was a little unlucky to go in-off the pink. At 67 points each a prolonged safety battle ensued and after an hour long frame Leon sank the black.

Andrew Hutchison 36-63 Paddy Delaney: Some good potting from both but Paddy's guile was just too good for Andy.

Dave Pickersgill 60-59 Rodger Clague: Roger forged ahead but with a couple of snookers. Dave got back in the frame. Three balls left, Rodger fluked the blue to go 6 ahead but was unlucky to leave the pink hanging over the middle and with the black also over a pocket it looked game over. However, in potting the pink Dave went in-off, but retrieved the situation after a long battle with pink and black.

Terry Boyle 52-32 Doug Kinrade: One red left, I was 18 ahead but Doug suddenly found a bit of form, taking the red with black, then yellow and green. However, the brown stayed over the yellow pocket and I took it with blue, Doug tried hard for the snooker before I eventually got the pink. It was a strange night, either side could have won 5-0. In general the standard was very poor but young Leon Martin stood out, he played very well and I am sure he has a bright future in the game.

Malew 2-3 Cue Zone Blinders

By Alec Oates

James Goodwin 60-75 David Hill: Dave played well with a little help from Jimmy who couldn't score enough points to add to his 42 start.

Mark Quinn 90-101 Brandon Forrester: Mark started off with some good pots and was 50 ahead, but Brandon came good potting reds with high colours. There was 27 points in it in Mark's favour at the colours stage. This is where it all went wrong for Mark. He gave away 32 in fouls and this subsequently cost him the frame.

Tony Pring 41-44 Harry Ellis: Tony had a nice teen break mid frame, apart from that it was difficult to see who was going to win. It came down to a black ball decider and Harry sank it.

Tony Cubbon 55-25 Scott Campion: Tony got away best with a break of 18 and didn't give Scott many chances. Late in the game Scott potted some good reds with colours, but eventually gave up on the blue.

Alec Oates 88-64 Dollin Mercer: I can't say that I deserved this frame, Dollin was the better player and I was hanging on to his coat-tails. He did leave me some scraps though and added to my 49 start, managed to creep over the line and end Dollin’s ten match win streak.

St Olave’s  3-2 Finch Hill Musicians ‘A

Mike Crook 84-68 Sean Rolt: Crook, receiving 49 rode his luck early on. Eventually Rolt got in, but with the colours far from ideally placed his classy break of 57 was worth more. A good battle on the colours and Crook nicked it on the pink.

Paul Smyth 78-42 Peter Collister: A very good performance from Smyth, only missing a couple of pots, including a 28 break.

Geoff Hall 83-92 John Kennish: Kennish hit a 40 and 28 meaning Hall’s 56 start had evaporated before potting a ball. But from then on Hall played well and only after rattling a long final blue was Kennish able to seal his win.

Anthony Bayle 44-57 Tom Randall: Both players were considerably below par. The standard slightly improved on the colours, but Bayle going in-off the final black summed it up.

Dan Crawley 98-90 Vinny Dale: We weren’t finished with big breaks though as Crawley showed what he’s capable of with a 47, but as often happens, it ended on an easy looking pot. Vinny fought hard but needed snookers after Crawley doubled the green.

Finch Hill Musicians ‘B’ 2-3 Douglas Snooker Bar Wannabes

Nine league wins now for the Wannabes, with 4 of those in the last 5 weeks! Despite being on the receiving end in frame 1, Steve Cowin was very complimentary of Pat Maher’s amazing potting display which included a 25 break to put Musicians ‘B’ 1 up, 95-51.

Thereafter, scores of Paul Tangeman 50-77 David Callister, Noel McConville 45-70 Dave Corris and Matthew Dodd 60-73 Paul McKinstry gave Wannabes the win.

Dodd did all the hard work to claw back McKinstry’s 56 start, potted the pink but left an easier black hanging. The finale went to the home team, also on the black, Vic Rigby 69-55 James Teare.

Finch Hill Mob 4-1 The Miscues

The highlight here was in frame 1 where Peter Kirkham’s 68 only just failed to surpass the current league high of 70 from Brandon Forrester.

The Mob move up to 5th, but a case of too little too late.

With the Snooker Bar-barians winning, Miscues are 3 points adrift at the bottom.

Frame scores: Peter Kirkham 118-100 Rob Dolby, Alan Heath 28-57 Luca McDermott, Lee Hunt (22 break) 73-41 Ollie Pickford, Johnny Hogg 80-65 Mark Corlett and Steve Finnegan 86-70 Reiner Naylor.

Cue Zone Masters 1-4 Snooker Bar-barians

By Martin Rigg

Martin Rigg 36-56 Chris Reynolds: A scratch game and close throughout, good shots by both players, some spoilt by the white finding the pocket! A solid long blue by Chris clinched it.

Tommy Clague 64-69 Neil Birchenough: Neil clawed back the 42 handicap start to win on the black.

Jez Hill 21-60 Chris Lawless: Chris built up a good lead early on with some decent potting as Jez struggled. By the colours Chris had pretty much secured the frame.

Brendan Clague 39-43 Andy Moore: A similar game to the last, Brendan struggled to get going and Andy built up a decent lead. However, Brendan fought back and managed to take it to a black ball game, but couldn’t finish it.

Ivan McMaw 49-43 Mark Davenport: A close frame that went all the way. A solid pink and black meant Ivan took the only frame of the night for the Masters. Well done to the Bar-barians on their second 4-1 win in a row.

Top of the league: Rockets 65, Blinders 61, Musicians ‘A’ 56, Musicians ‘B’ 55. Blinders have a game in hand. High break league: John Kennish 51 points, Peter Kirkham 30.5, Sean Rolt 28.5. Individual league: Paul Smyth 14 wins, Matt Dodd and Tony Cubbon 13. Next week’s fixtures: Rockets vs Hurricanes, Blinders vs St Olave’s, Musicians ‘A’ vs PSM Legion, Wannabes vs Mob, Miscues vs Masters and Bar-barians vs Malew.