Snooker: High breaks galore as league gets tighter

Hurricanes stay 1 point behind St Olaves A

The big guns were firing this week in the Macs Builders Merchants snooker league with 15 breaks of 20 or above.

St Olaves A 3-2 Cue Zone Blinders
 
8 of the aforementioned breaks occurred in this match. Dave Kelly took the first for the league leaders 68-33 against Sam Palmer. Both players started well, good safety and both getting a couple long pots but failing to get on a colour. Kelly got a couple small breaks to extend his lead, then closed it out. Paul Smyth 87-29 Josh Rigg, Smyth got a long pot leading to a 19 break and rattled an easy black to catch up the handicap. He then quickly added a 27 and 24 break to pull well clear. Rigg pulled out some good single pots but it wasn't enough as Smyth closed out the frame in 20 minutes, his fastest ever! Darrell Thacker 29-77 Scott Campion saw Campion pot well early to put on Thacker on the back foot. A miscue and in off didn’t help his cause as Campion went away to leave snookers required before the colours. Just Thacker’s 2nd defeat in 18. James Kerr 29-103 Darryl Hill, Kerr’s near misses were heavily punished as Hill kept taking advantage with breaks of 20, 20 and a 31 to close out the win. Sean Corkish, conceding a 70 start in the decider was soon looking at around 85 as Jez Hill got in early with a couple of good visits. From then on Corkish played an awesome, flawless frame as he rapidly fired off a tasty 48, (the week’s highest break) followed by 22 and a 27 clearance to take the match for St Olaves in style, 113-85.
 
Newbys DSB 2-3 The Hurricanes
 
Two in form teams which went all the way to the final black in frame 5. Johnny Myers 52-78 Jamie Wilson was a straightforward win for Wilson who potted well throughout. A few consolation colours at the end for Myers. Pat Maher 84-73 Paul Smith was the first black baller of the night. Some good fortune at the end for Maher helped, but the missed black for the frame from Smith after getting a snooker on pink and black proved costly. Adam Dooley 60-23 Gary Conwell, a break in the teens late on won this for Dooley and Conwell was unable to respond. Simon Gardner 51-55 Stuart Littlewood, a misfiring Littlewood still had enough to fall over the winning line by taking the second black baller of the night. Littlewood joins Darrell Thacker at the top of the individual league. The decider finished Zain Abideen 41-54 Chris Dagnall was a tight affair all the way and Dagsy holding his nerve to claim frame and match. Hurricanes stay one point behind St Olaves A in second place.
 
Finch Hill Rockets  4-1 Port St Mary Legion
 
Marek Kenny 53-51 Shaun Roberts, a battle of the winning most players of each team and taken by Kenny on the black. John Spellman 56-24 Dave Pickersgill was on the slow side, neither getting into the colours and with Pickersgill a bit short on luck as Spellman did enough. Graham Ashton 49-47 Phil Joynes, both had teen breaks but Ashton needed a couple of sneaky snookers to keep him in it. Then requiring pink and black he rolled a good pink across to the middle with an easy black waiting to the corner. Ron Grogan 84-100 Terry Boyle was a high scoring affair with The Rocket receiving a 35 start. Doug Kinrade 77-37 Mike Boyle started well for the PSM man with a sensational long red and 16 break, Kinrade played well kept Boyle at distance, then it happened! Boyle, digging into the white whilst using the rest for pink, chipped the cue ball over pink and his tip flew off. After a few minutes looking for an acceptable replacement cue, he struggled, and as Kinrade kept it tight an early concession came. Rockets consolidate third place.
 
Peel Legion 2-3 St Olaves Musicians
 
Don Humphries (24 break) 53-63 Peter Collister rattled along until the colours which just didn’t want to be potted. Both had about ten shots on the black before a relieved Collister cut a long one into the corner. John Kelly 43-68 Dave Hanlon saw both potting well, Kelly with a 20 break but ultimately going in-off when potting the brown from in hand cost him the frame as Hanlon cleaned up. Mike Crook 62-34 Mike Doherty, Crook managed to keep Doc fairly quiet as he tried to be positive with some success. Jim Caley 41-71 Matthew Dodd, once again Dodd bought his A game out against Caley and treated us to more of his no nonsense brand of snooker. Particularly memorable was the pot red cannon into the pack to release the black and land perfectly to pot it.  Caley did make him sweat when needing a snooker by forcing a foul which took it to the blue. Geoff Hall 76-53 John Kennish, Kennish couldn't quite get the opening he wanted and had multiple small breaks to nearly level things on the colours. Hall, who had played well, doubled the green into a corner and followed with a tricky cut brown with the rest, but rattled frame ball blue. Decent safety from both followed before Kennish went for the blue and left it on for Hall to take with pink and there was no coming back.
 
Cue Zone Reprobates 1-4 Cue Zone Mob 
 
Six losses in a row for bottom team Reprobates whilst this win for the heavy scoring Mob puts them into joint 4th with the Musicians, 8 points adrift and just about in contention. Every frame was close with frames 1 and 5 on the black and the third a re-spot. Scores, Rob Callister 46-53 Steve Finnegan, Paul Tangeman 70-90 Tom Miller (37 and 38 breaks), Brendan Clague 97-104 Dave Addinall (35 and 22), Rhys Moore 80-88 Peter Kirkham (22) and Dollin Mercer 77-72 Steve Oates.
 
DSB Wannabes 2-3  Malew 

Harry Minor had an impressive 87-32 win against Mark Quinn in the first but it was Malew that just edged it with Eric Drinkwater winning the finale. Other scores, Stevie Cowin 63-94 Alec Oates, Paul McKinstry 52-74 James Goodwin, Fred Corris 57-39 David Quayle and Dave Corris 46-70 Eric Drinkwater. The high breaks league is getting tight with John Kennish on 44.5 points from Dave Addinall 42.5 and Sean Corkish 34. Thanks as always to all contributors.