Snooker: Blinders cut Hurricane's lead

Week 15 of Mann Crane Hire Snooker League

Cue Zone Blinders won the crucial top of the table clash against leaders, the Hurricanes, reducing their lead to 2 points in the Mann Crane Hire Snooker League.

Report by Mike Crook:

The Hurricanes 2-3 Cue Zone Blinders

Even though there was much at stake this was played in a good spirit, both teams brought their fighting spirit in match that justified their current league positions. All five frames were fairly one sided, all winners playing strong and deserving their wins. Ste MacDonald 30-87 Harry Ellis  Harry maintained his 56 start, aided by some favorable run he nonetheless played a solid, tactical frame with good safety and steady potting. Jamie Wilson 70-31 Nick Stephens  Jamie was the player of the night, giving Nick very little chance and although he scored a nice break of 43, he'll be ruing the fact it wasn't more with the balls sat perfectly. Danny Kane 32-79 Conor Mahon  Conor put Blinders back ahead, comfortably but without any breaks, consistent teen breaks proving enough. Paul Westhead 72-29 Shaun Roberts  Paul, then again was very consistent with his potting against Shaun who, in turn had an 'off' night and the decider was set. Rob Cowin 82-122 Darryl Hill  Darryl, conceding a 77 start, didn't prove to be an issue as it was not one of Rob's strongest performances with Darryl putting points on the board at every visit. With Rob held to just 5 points the frame was still live on the brown, but with a couple of snookers and the eventual chance on the brown, it was dispatched by Darryl for the crucial Blinders point.

Cue Zone Masters 2-3 Finch Hill Mob

By Martin Rigg

Martin Rigg 48-90  Steven Finnegan  A very one-sided game with Rigg struggling. On reaching the colours, Rigg was 28 behind with 27 on. A number of failed attempts at snookers followed as potted Finnegan away. Peter Stephens 56-62 William Hogg  A well fought game that ended in a black ball game. Stephens was unfortunate to go in-off, giving Hogg the win. Ivan McMaw 59-42 Lee Hunt  Both players made some good shots but also struggled at times. In the end, it was McMaw that took the frame on sinking the pink. Jez Hill 69-78 Jonny Hogg  Another closely fought game that went all the way to the black. Bizarrely the second in-off on the black of the night, this time Hogg senior the beneficiary! Les Briggs 111-82 Peter Kirkham  With Briggs having a 70 point start it was all about how well Peter was playing on the night. A couple of fouls early on made the challenge even more difficult as Kirkham struggled to find his usual form. With one red remaining Briggs had a 60 point lead but Kirkham played some great snookers to reduce the gap to just two snookers required. He was unfortunate to then foul and Briggs took the last red. A great attempt but it just wasn’t enough to get back into the game, giving Briggs the win.

Finch Hill Rockets 2-3 Finch Hill Musicians

By Graham Ashton

Rodger Clague 48-72 Dave Hanlon. Roger struggled badly and gave a lot away in fouls, not discrediting Dave who played well. Leon Martin 68-42 Vic Rigby  Young Leon’s 24 break was decisive against veteran Vic. Paddy Delaney 68-62 Matt Dodd  Excellent potting by Doddsy put him 35 up. Paddy then replied with consecutive 18’s. Towards the end, Doddsy potted a good blue, looked to have it won but snookered himself behind the black, failing to escape he left Paddy an easy pink and black to steal the frame. Marc Bolton 46-60 Paul Tangeman  Marc was off to a good start and got 30 ahead, looking in control. Paul came back in to it with a couple of teen breaks off the last few reds and pushed 18 ahead on the blue. Marc potted blue and pink before attempting a double on the final black to force a re-spot, but Paul got over the line. Graham Ashton 42-50 Vinny Dale  3 in-offs into the green pocket didn't help Graham. Vinny made some decent long pots, hammering the pink into the middle at an "impossibly" thin angle and speed to force a black ball game. Despite good safety by Graham, Vinny potted a great long black to win frame and match.

Port St Mary Legion 3-2 Port St Mary Strollers

By Terry Boyle

Marc Morley 65-64 Max Barnes  With the colours awkward Marc struggled to get the start back as Max stayed ahead with some good pots down to the last three balls. Max potted a great blue to go 12 ahead but rattled the pink which ended up over the other corner. Marc potted it with a good black to pinch the frame, unlucky Max. Phil Joynes 27-60 Ian Brookfield  A very open frame, Ian potting the better, Phil tried hard rattling a few but on the day Ian was an easy winner. Andrew Hutchison 35-62 Garey Ellison  Early in the frame Garey made a 17 break to edge ahead and Andy, just slightly off his game just never got going, Garey potting solidly thereafter. Dave Pickersgill 76-45 Mike Boyle  Mike started with a good red but left the black in the jaws. Dave took 17, looked at the blue but decided to play safe, this added to his start put him 45 ahead. Mike just never got going and Dave showing his guile was an easy winner. Terry Boyle 51-35 Harry Boyle  Harry got some nice reds but without colours. We both missed chances late on before Harry potted a good yellow and green, but missed the brown which I took with the blue for frame and match. A win for grandad but I don’t think I’ll be good enough to beat him next season! Great to see the kids improving, after all they are the future.

Malew 5-0 The Miscues

By Alec Oates

Tony Cubbon 65-51 Ollie Pickford  Tony potted well to chase down the 28 start, but Ollie could still force a re-spot with the black. After several bouts of safety, Tony left a good chance for Ollie close to the green pocket, but Ollie just took a coat of paint off the black, leaving it for Tony. James Goodwin 73-61 Dale Walker  After a catalogue of snookers and fouls, Jimmy was only 2 ahead with 2 balls remaining. He fluked a snooker on the pink, Dale missed it. After a couple of hits each Dale left the pink in area where surely Jimmy would have to play safe, not Jimmy. From nearly 90 degrees to the pink and almost half length of the table he dropped the pink into the green pocket to win, WOW! Paul Bridson 50-19 Mark Corlett  This was Paul’s first sighting of a table since 2019-20 and he got off to a bad start when his tip fell off! Having to use a cue from the rack in this scratch frame the omens looked bad. However, after a while Paul began to string some pots together and Mark was to give up on the blue. Tony Pring 53-50 Luca McDermott  Luca struggled with the table at first enabling Tony to pick up some useful points. Luca got moving late on, taking all the colours to force a black ball frame. Luca left Tony a cut into a middle bag. He missed it and left Luca a similar pot from a slightly wider angle but he couldn’t pot it either. This left Tony a just off straight pot in the opposite bag, which he took. Alec Oates 64-53 Ben Peach  Not a thriller, when all the reds were potted I was 13 behind. I sank yellow to pink, unlike the previous week! I then managed to overcut a fairly easy black, leaving a pot for Ben into the same pocket. I was unscrewing my cue, but he missed too. Several attempts later the black was against the black cushion only a few centimetres from a pocket. With relief, I potted it! Okay, we won 5-0, but the Miscues could have and maybe should have won all three black ball frames.

St Olave’s 5-0 Snooker Bar-barians

By Paul Smyth

Anthony Bayle 49-28 Paul Mackie  This, alongside frames 2 and 4 were scratch matches. Anthony hadn’t played since the first week of the season, but was slightly stronger on the colours to stay unbeaten. Dave Kelly 76-34 Gary Williams  A slow affair to start with, both players being cagey but Dave went ahead, then pulled out a great 22 clearance for his win. Geoff Hall 68-45 Paul Crane  Geoff started with solid single ball potting to close the 35 gap, didn’t miss much to end his run of nine defeats. Stuart Sandford 58-44 Mark Davenport  Stuart controlled most of the game but wasn't at his best, doing just enough to see him go top of the individual league. Paul Smyth 97-63 Andy Moore  Paul started fast, closed the 56 gap, pushing ahead with a couple of high teen breaks to seal a comfortable win. A nice, much needed 5-0 win for the home team.

The Cue Ballers 1-4 Douglas Snooker Bar Wannabes

Wannabes ended a poor run of results, they now share bottom of the league with the Bar-barians. Wannabes’ Steve Cowin’s long wait for a win finally came to an end at the 14th attempt. Dave Welsh of the Cue Ballers denied Wannabes a first whitewash win in nearly 4 seasons by taking the finale. Frame scores: Lee Gale 48-85 David Callister, Alex Sinclair 30-97 Steve Cowin, Richard Hillier 42-50 Dave Corris, Kam Virk 89-95 James Teare and Dave Welsh 61-34 Paul McKinstry.

Top of the league: Hurricanes 47 points, Blinders 45, Masters, Mob, Malew and PSM Legion 42. Individual League: Stuart Sandford 11 wins, Nialls Wilson, Jamie Wilson, Ivan McMaw, Harry Ellis and Tony Pring 10. High Break League: Peter Kirkham 30.5 points, Jamie Wilson 18 and Steve Finnegan 14.5. Next week’s matches: Blinders vs Cue Ballers, Wannabes vs PSM Legion, Musicians vs Mob, Rockets vs Hurricanes, PSM Strollers vs Malew, Bar-barians vs Masters and Miscues vs St Olave’s.