And so to the start of 2013 & a Happy New Year to all the Snooker Players & Blog Readers (with the run in to the title(s) for A & B Teams?).
After the very short Xmas break (1 week!), it was straight back into league action for both A & B Teams on 2nd January! Wallingford A were home to the current Premier leaders, Abingdon Con A & Wallingford B were away to Marlboro B.
As the Abingdon Con A players arrived, it was noticed that there was no Olly Hoeblyn or Nigel Barker (2 of their most formidable players!), so it seemed an excellent opportunity to capitalise on their absence & close the 9 point gap at the top of the Premier! However, it's a funny old game single frame snooker & as some of us found out, anything can (& sometimes does!) happen.
First up was Pete 'Captain' Billingham v Dave Lugger. Now both players were still suffering the after effects of the damn cold & flu virus that's been going round & both were playing some very tidy safety. Neither player really got going, however Dave, aided by some (3!) slices of good fortune & a fantastic long pot on the last red when he dropped nicely on the black, took the 1st frame by 61-40.
Next up was Nigel 'VC' Prior v Simon James. After a bizarre start when Nigel (emulating Jon 'Boy' Hawkins of a few matches ago!) missed the pack from the break & put straight back in again, followed that by going in off the pack! He gave away a total of 24 points in fouls throughout the frame but toughed it out to win the 2nd by 52-33 (quite amazing Simon made that much of a contest of it having only scored 9 of his 33 points! The Season of Goodwill is over now VC!) & levelled the match at 1-1 with a trademark gritty match play frame.
The 3rd frame saw the battle of the left handers with Tom Williams v Dave Lewis (their Captain). Now this frame was a real grind lasting over an hour! Cuz even jokingly commented that Tom (sporting designer stubble) was clean shaven at the start of the frame! Both players were showing each other a lot of respect with some good safety play. On the colours the scores were virtually level but Tom fluked the brown & potted a fabulous blue down the rail 3/4 length of the table! Awesome! With the pink over the middle pocket & the frame at his mercy Tom cued nastily across the white & 'knuckled' the pink! Dave couldn't believe it & took the bull by the horns, potting a fantastic pink & black to make it 1-2!
After a brief break for buffet supper, which is the absence of Oz & Lucy (our regular Steward & Stewardess were having a much deserved holiday after the Xmas & New Year festivities), Ros the Barmaid agreed to provide us with a lovely (& ample) selection! Thanks Ros & sorry we couldn't do it justice!
In the 4th frame Kev 'Cuz' Higgs faced Colin Bark. Now I didn't see too much of this frame having been collared at the bar, but when I walked in Cuz was near to shaking hands as Colin had potted the brown to win & was apologising profusely for his flukes (& refusing a drink from the loser!), so I'm guessing he felt a bit guilty! When I spoke to Cuz he said 'I can't believe it. Players play the frame of their life & have loads of 'run''! Keep the faith Cuz - we all know you're a capable & competent player! Sometimes it just goes that way & you have to tough it out! It'll be different on your 'other' home table in the Cup next week at Abingdon RBL! 1-3 down & just Anchorman left to salvage some Wallingford pride!
In a repeat of the last match v Abingdon Con A, Dave Greathead faced Jamie Saczak. Dave looked out for 'revenge' & attacked from the start to put Jamie on the back foot & took an early lead. Jamie came back at him & whilst mid break with 5 reds out in the open, missed a black to leave Dave in for a typical Anchorman frame securing opportunity! A solid performance to start his 2013 run in to some (hopefully) finals!
So the final score was a narrow loss 2-3. With Wantage only managing a 3-2 away, the A Team are still in 2nd place (too many behind Abingdon now I feel), but 2 points ahead of Wantage! Gotta keep it there boys!
And a final piece of good news for the A Team was that Tom announced that he had 'popped the question' to his partner Claire over Xmas! Many congratulations to you both from all your snooker mates!!!
Meanwhile, over in Didcot at the Marlboro Club the B Team were starting 2013 slightly better than the A Team.
In the first frame, Captain Kevin Pickworth gave too many points away & lost 27-48 to Martin Harvey. 0-1 & not the best of starts. Now Kev, that's 10 times I've put a red square up on your stats & I was really hoping that you'd get a nice yellow to start 2013! I don't mind if it's match 2 though! We know you can do it 'cos you did it last year (& had a good run in the Novices!), so just get back to doing what you did last season!
The 2nd frame saw Dave Rowe v A Rushton & Dave was just too good for him, knocking in a nice 19 break along the way & winning 50-17. Nothing less than we'd expect from the reigning Club Singles Champion & the score was now level at 1-1.
Frame 3 saw Pete Beaumont face M Burton & it was obviously a tight frame... until Pete pottted the last 3 balls to win on the black, 51-39! 2-1 to the B Team!
In the 4th frame Rob House played C Freeman & with another nice break, this time a 20, won quite convincingly by 52-12, securing the win & making the frame score 3-1 to Wallingford.
In the final frame of the match, Andy Rance pulled the 'plum' & was up against Laurence Harvey. Andy made a good fight of it & needing the black to tie & force a re-spot... lost when Laurence potted the black & won 59-49.
So a useful away win by 3 frames to 2 for the B Team which takes them level on 22 points with Fawley but 2nd in the 1st Division having lost less matches. 2 points behind Challow on the same number of games played, so a concentrated effort needed to bridge that gap!
And a final piece of good news for the B Team that their stalwart ever-green Brian Orton had a recently successful operation & will (very soon) hopefully be fit enough to return to competitive play. You've got a month to recuperate mate before your Over 50s Semi Final, so take it easy & come back fit & well! It must be tough in their house at the moment with the also recent successful operation for his lovely wife Heather! All the snooker players wish you both well... real soon!
After the very short Xmas break (1 week!), it was straight back into league action for both A & B Teams on 2nd January! Wallingford A were home to the current Premier leaders, Abingdon Con A & Wallingford B were away to Marlboro B.
As the Abingdon Con A players arrived, it was noticed that there was no Olly Hoeblyn or Nigel Barker (2 of their most formidable players!), so it seemed an excellent opportunity to capitalise on their absence & close the 9 point gap at the top of the Premier! However, it's a funny old game single frame snooker & as some of us found out, anything can (& sometimes does!) happen.
First up was Pete 'Captain' Billingham v Dave Lugger. Now both players were still suffering the after effects of the damn cold & flu virus that's been going round & both were playing some very tidy safety. Neither player really got going, however Dave, aided by some (3!) slices of good fortune & a fantastic long pot on the last red when he dropped nicely on the black, took the 1st frame by 61-40.
Next up was Nigel 'VC' Prior v Simon James. After a bizarre start when Nigel (emulating Jon 'Boy' Hawkins of a few matches ago!) missed the pack from the break & put straight back in again, followed that by going in off the pack! He gave away a total of 24 points in fouls throughout the frame but toughed it out to win the 2nd by 52-33 (quite amazing Simon made that much of a contest of it having only scored 9 of his 33 points! The Season of Goodwill is over now VC!) & levelled the match at 1-1 with a trademark gritty match play frame.
The 3rd frame saw the battle of the left handers with Tom Williams v Dave Lewis (their Captain). Now this frame was a real grind lasting over an hour! Cuz even jokingly commented that Tom (sporting designer stubble) was clean shaven at the start of the frame! Both players were showing each other a lot of respect with some good safety play. On the colours the scores were virtually level but Tom fluked the brown & potted a fabulous blue down the rail 3/4 length of the table! Awesome! With the pink over the middle pocket & the frame at his mercy Tom cued nastily across the white & 'knuckled' the pink! Dave couldn't believe it & took the bull by the horns, potting a fantastic pink & black to make it 1-2!
After a brief break for buffet supper, which is the absence of Oz & Lucy (our regular Steward & Stewardess were having a much deserved holiday after the Xmas & New Year festivities), Ros the Barmaid agreed to provide us with a lovely (& ample) selection! Thanks Ros & sorry we couldn't do it justice!
In the 4th frame Kev 'Cuz' Higgs faced Colin Bark. Now I didn't see too much of this frame having been collared at the bar, but when I walked in Cuz was near to shaking hands as Colin had potted the brown to win & was apologising profusely for his flukes (& refusing a drink from the loser!), so I'm guessing he felt a bit guilty! When I spoke to Cuz he said 'I can't believe it. Players play the frame of their life & have loads of 'run''! Keep the faith Cuz - we all know you're a capable & competent player! Sometimes it just goes that way & you have to tough it out! It'll be different on your 'other' home table in the Cup next week at Abingdon RBL! 1-3 down & just Anchorman left to salvage some Wallingford pride!
In a repeat of the last match v Abingdon Con A, Dave Greathead faced Jamie Saczak. Dave looked out for 'revenge' & attacked from the start to put Jamie on the back foot & took an early lead. Jamie came back at him & whilst mid break with 5 reds out in the open, missed a black to leave Dave in for a typical Anchorman frame securing opportunity! A solid performance to start his 2013 run in to some (hopefully) finals!
So the final score was a narrow loss 2-3. With Wantage only managing a 3-2 away, the A Team are still in 2nd place (too many behind Abingdon now I feel), but 2 points ahead of Wantage! Gotta keep it there boys!
And a final piece of good news for the A Team was that Tom announced that he had 'popped the question' to his partner Claire over Xmas! Many congratulations to you both from all your snooker mates!!!
Meanwhile, over in Didcot at the Marlboro Club the B Team were starting 2013 slightly better than the A Team.
In the first frame, Captain Kevin Pickworth gave too many points away & lost 27-48 to Martin Harvey. 0-1 & not the best of starts. Now Kev, that's 10 times I've put a red square up on your stats & I was really hoping that you'd get a nice yellow to start 2013! I don't mind if it's match 2 though! We know you can do it 'cos you did it last year (& had a good run in the Novices!), so just get back to doing what you did last season!
The 2nd frame saw Dave Rowe v A Rushton & Dave was just too good for him, knocking in a nice 19 break along the way & winning 50-17. Nothing less than we'd expect from the reigning Club Singles Champion & the score was now level at 1-1.
Frame 3 saw Pete Beaumont face M Burton & it was obviously a tight frame... until Pete pottted the last 3 balls to win on the black, 51-39! 2-1 to the B Team!
In the 4th frame Rob House played C Freeman & with another nice break, this time a 20, won quite convincingly by 52-12, securing the win & making the frame score 3-1 to Wallingford.
In the final frame of the match, Andy Rance pulled the 'plum' & was up against Laurence Harvey. Andy made a good fight of it & needing the black to tie & force a re-spot... lost when Laurence potted the black & won 59-49.
So a useful away win by 3 frames to 2 for the B Team which takes them level on 22 points with Fawley but 2nd in the 1st Division having lost less matches. 2 points behind Challow on the same number of games played, so a concentrated effort needed to bridge that gap!
And a final piece of good news for the B Team that their stalwart ever-green Brian Orton had a recently successful operation & will (very soon) hopefully be fit enough to return to competitive play. You've got a month to recuperate mate before your Over 50s Semi Final, so take it easy & come back fit & well! It must be tough in their house at the moment with the also recent successful operation for his lovely wife Heather! All the snooker players wish you both well... real soon!
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