Blinders and Rockets also win again to keep in contention
Report by Mike Crook:
Peel Legion have played almost certainly their last ever home match in the Mac’s Builders Merchants snooker league where the venue is scheduled to close its doors on 17 March, they signed off in style with a win that leaves them alone, top of the league with five weeks to go.
Barton Beaumont 57-47 Jason Campbell - Campbell can rightly feel hard done by this result. He fired in a series of cracking long pots and was always in the lead until Beaumont found some form on the colours and finished matters with a blue and pink. Tom Randall 84-54 Steve Cowin - No fireworks from Randall this week as he had to chase down 35 which was a new experience. Cowin was mighty unlucky to cannon the black in a couple of times, but he did pot the final red nicely with a blue to take it to the colours. Randall cut in a long frame ball green to leave snookers required. John Kelly 88-67 Dave Callister - 49 start for Callister but he gave a chunk of this back in fouls. It was still a struggle for Kelly though as nearly all the balls were tight on cushions. Callister made some good long reds but was short of colours. Kelly drew level with small break which included two flukes and went on from there. Mike Crook 80-54 Dave Corris - Both played well in parts, each having two or three double figure breaks. Crook cleared yellow to blue for the win and after next week will find himself playing off a new low handicap of 21, it’s only taken him 25 years. Geoff Hall 61-77 Paul McKinstry - Hall was chasing 56 and couldn’t afford to give his opponent too many freebies. The chase was going well until he decided to delicately thread the cueball through the eye of a needle to lay a horrible snooker. However, at the pace he had to play it at, the cueball was always going to drift, he hit the pink instead of the green! He did redeem himself with a great red and black on his next visit. Mckinstry came out with two great escapes during the frame, using three and then four cushions. Hall needed pink and black but was to leave a tough pink along the bottom cushion hanging for McKinstry.
Peel’s last two home matches will be played at St Olaves who we sincerely thank, along with PSM where both clubs offered to help us see out the season.
There will however be one last hurrah on the Peel Legion table as they fittingly entertain PSM Legion in the Wakefield Cup on the evening of 15 March.
Marc Morley 59-45 Paul Smyth - With the reds open Paul got first opportunity but broke down on 14 however he gradually got the start back down to the colours and Marc had some good fortune fluking the yellow and then got green, brown and blue which left Paul needing a snooker. Paul laid a belting snooker off of two cushions to get behind the black but Marc escaped. Phil Joynes 75-52 Dave Kelly - Phil was in one of his unplayable moods getting the start back with a 30 break but Dave potting well got his lead out to 24 with only two reds left. However Phil was not to be denied and closed the frame out. Terry Boyle 46-44 Mike Heathcote - A nail-biting low scoring affair, three balls remaining Terry got blue to go one in front, Mike got a good pot on the pink but finished tight on the top cushion with black in the middle of the table. His attempted safety went wrong leaving Terry an easy black for frame. Dave Pickersgill 46-78 James Kerr - James played very well getting the start back even with pink and black safe for most of the frame. Dave played some good safety but on the night James was always in control. Mike Boyle 66-56 Dan Crawley - Dan started well with a 28 break, in reply Mike got 19. From then on there was a great deal of safety. On to the colours, Mike got Dan in an impossible snooker, potted yellow, green and brown and reluctantly moved the blue. A few shots later Dan left the blue close to the green pocket, Mike was unsuccessful with a very thin cut on what was frame ball. Dan took blue and pink, the pink was a brilliant tight cut and the white ended up on the bottom cushion. The black was near the bag but with awkward cueing Dan was very unlucky to go in-off. 4-1 to PSM, it has to be said we had all the run on the night.
Marek Kenny 84-62 Tommy Clague - Despite giving a large advantage, Kenny potted well with a number of good breaks including a best of 20. Clague fought to the end but Marek held his nerve with some quality snookers and secured a comfortable win. Graham Ashton 65-51 Ivan McMaw - Despite Ivan delivering an excellent 31 break, it was Ashton that returned to form with some controlled positional play and fluid potting. A miscue on the brown by McMaw left Ashton to step in and finish the job. Jonny Hogg 81-40 Jez Hill - Hogg was in cracking form with a confident display in all areas of the game. A deserved winner but one always felt if Hill could have followed up in some excellent long pots the game could have been closer. Marc Bolton 35-47 Martin Rigg - A really enjoyable game where both players played well despite the relatively low scoring. Marc nearly sneaked victory until a missed blue gave Martin the advantage he needed. Well done to both players. John Spellman 75-37 Les Briggs - After a barren patch, Spelly returned to form with a scutch of low breaks, quickly eroding the 28 starting advantage for Les. Les rattled half a dozen pots which gave the opportunity to Spelly to capitalise. Once the game got to the colours the match was all but over with Les needing snookers. Rockets move back up to joint second place with a game in hand.
A first win in four for the reigning champions in match containing seven 20+ breaks. John Kennish restricted his opponent to a single red in frame four with breaks of 38 and 61. Then Darryl Hill produced a 64 clearance to win on the black in the finale. Frame scores: David Hill (22) 93-38 Sean Rolt (21), Nick Stephens (24) 67-25 Peter Collister, Conor Mahon (34) 75-25 Vinny Dale, Brandon Forrester 36-104 John Kennish and Darryl Hill 110-96 Paul Tangeman.
Blinders join Rockets in second place.
Musicians B stay in seventh despite the win, hanging on to the slimmest of title chances. A minus 14 handicap couldn’t stop the Mob’s Steve Finnegan and Peter Kirkham chased down Matt Dodd’s 63 start to deny the Musicians the big win the needed. Frame scores: Vic Rigby 104-54 Tom Miller (23), Mike Doherty 85-55 Lee Hunt, Noel McConville 57-66 Steve Finnegan, Dave Hanlon 62-34 Alan Heath and Matt Dodd 88-99 Peter Kirkham (20).
Stu Littlewood 70-51 Tommy Lawler - Once again Tommy was brought in for an under the weather Postie. Tommy potted some good balls at the start, but when Stu got into his stride he just was too good for Tommy and took his first win for a while. Paul Smith 55-45 Tony Cubbon - Tony, still not quite at his best and Paul's table management was superior and it showed in the end. Ste MacDonald 69-66 Alec Oates - Both played some good safety and when it came to the colours Oates only needed the blue. Oates had a chance of a simple clip into a middle bag, but misjudged the angle. Steve took the blue and missed a pot on the pink. With the black nestled against the black cushion Oates tried to cut back the pink into a black pocket, but failed to get it. Steve sank the pink and rolled the black in along the cushion for the frame. Freddie Dancox 66-81 James Goodwin - 3-0 down and Malew needed something to happen. Up stepped J.G. (not all heroes wear capes). Jimmy sees every shot as a possible pot and he potted enough balls to keep his lead throughout the frame. Having said that Freddie played fairly well, but couldn't quite catch Jimmy. Jamie Wilson 93-81 Tony Pring - Jamie was in no mood to take prisoners and outplayed Tony in all departments including a nice break of 30 on the way to victory.
Top League Standings
Peel Legion - 57 points
Finch Hill Rockets - 56 points
Cue Zone Blinders - 56 points
St Olaves - 54 points
Jacksons - 53 points
Top Individual League Standings
Dave Welsh - 14 wins
John Kelly - 14 wins
Steve Finnegan - 13 wins
High Break League Standings
John Kennish - 65 points
Darryl Hill - 38 points
Steve Finnegan - 29.5 points
Tributes paid to sidecar competitor Artie Oates
Netball: Rams suffer defeat to UAE
Defending champions head 'quality entry' for 2024 Pre-TT Classic
Film charting journey of TT veteran gets first release
Netball: Rams lose opener against Northern Ireland
2024 Europe Netball Open getting underway on Island
