Last night saw both A & B Teams competing in the Quarter Finals (3rd round) of the Jim Taylor Cup. The A Team were drawn away against fellow Premier Division team, Abingdon RBL & the B Team were given home advantage against 3rd Division Challow C (who have some ex-Premier Division 'sharks' in their squad!).
Meanwhile, back at Wallingford the B Team were playing a home fixture v Challow C.
For the A Team, despite the deja vu of freezing temperatures en route to the match, this time Abingdon RBL actually had some heating on in the snooker room & the temperature was slightly (a lot!) warmer than our pre Xmas visit! With the increase in heating in the room, the already renowned 'fast' table would be even quicker!
Kevin 'Cuz' Higgs was drawn first (on his Monday nite Oxford League 'home' table) & gave a super confident performance, stroking the cue ball around nicely & he dominated the frame to win 64-35 v Keith Bennett. Great start! 1-0 up!
Dave 'Anchorman' Greathead was drawn in a very unfamiliar 2nd frame position v Nigel Archer. Dave (obviously remembering how fast the pace of the cloth was from our 'freezing' visit) emulated Cuz's performance with a lovely frame where he stroked the cue ball around very competently, potting good balls & colours with some excellent safety & tactical play, leading by 28 with the colours left. Despite valiant attempts for the snookers by Nigel, Dave ran out the winner 67-33. 2-0 up!
3rd frame saw a familiar draw of Pete 'Captain' Billingham v Doug Young. Having known each other for 28 years through snooker & 20 years doing the same job, it was a predictably tight frame through to the colours. Captain raced to a useful 20+ lead at the start but missed 2 relatively easy reds & nearly paid the price! Doug potted some awesome long ones but it was Pete, who played some good safety who closed out the frame & booked the A Team into the Semi Finals!
With the pressure off the last 2 pairings, they both produced a couple of lovely relaxed, confident performances with very convincing wins. Nigel 'VC' Prior was drawn 4th v Phil Skinner & after a tactical edgy start, Nigel slotted in another lovely 32 break (his hat-trick of 32 breaks this season!) during his demolition of his opponent in the 'dead rubber', winning 61-16.
Tom Williams was drawn 5th v Paul Archer & played with consummate ease, potting at will & playing some great positional play too! He left Paul very few scoring opportunities which was reflected in the final score, a win for Tom by 74-9! Quality versus a quality opponent!
So, a (very) convincing 5-0 win on a (very) fast away table & the A Team progress to the Semi Final stage... or as Cuz put it "Get the trousers out!", with reference to the dress code (no jeans!) for the semis (which also includes neutral venues & referees!).
Nice to see one of our current Team (Jon 'Jon Boy' Hawkins) & one ex-A Team (Stu 'Moggy' Mogford) turn up to support & cheerlead (& enjoy the social!).
Meanwhile, back at Wallingford the B Team were playing a home fixture v Challow C.
Dave 'Club Singles Champion' Rowe was drawn in a familiar 1st frame position to play Chris Rose. This was a hard fought 54-32 win for Dave when he secured the frame on the blue. The ideal start & the B Team 1-0 up.
Andy Rance was drawn out second against Jason O'Hanlon (ex Premier Division with the now defunct Challow A). Unfortunately Andy was not as his best, losing 9-42 to Jason who has recently secured his place in the Under 23s Final.
Stalwart Bob 'Mr Chairman' Elliott was drawn 3rd & despite slotting in a nice 20 break lost a very tense frame on the black, 55-59 to N Greennard. Kevin 'Captain' Pickworth (who was providing text commentary throughout the match) said that it was such a shame as it was a game Bob should have won... but as we all know, anything can happen in 1 frame snooker! 2-1 down in frame score & all to do!
After a short supper break, Rob 'Club Billiards Champion' House was on 4th v Ian Bowman (also ex Challow A & Jason O'Hanlon's opponent in the Under 23s Final - rather ironic as they're Doubles partners!). Ian is a natural, prolific potter but Rob didn't give him many chances & led 32-13, making a 21 break himself with 4 reds left. Rob played ace & made the game look easy, eventually winning 53-14.
2 frames all & down to the decider! The last frame saw Pete Beaumont v M Dixey & despite a valiant effort by Pete, he lost 27-59.
So, unfortunately the B Team don't make the Semi Finals, but can now concentrate on their charge for the 1st Division title (& are still in the Quarter Finals of the John Evans Cup!).
No league match for the A Team next week as they start their 1st week of 2 byes, so just the B Team playing a home league fixture v Crown Technology.
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