For a pleasant change, all 3 Wallingford Teams were in action this week! No BYEs! Woo hoo!
Wallingford A v Abingdon RBL
(Match Report by Captain/Club Rep)
A home league fixture for the A Team v Abingdon RBL (Top of the Premier v Top of 1st Division!). The last meeting between these 2 teams ended with Abingdon RBL progressing through to the next round of the Jim Taylor Cup & Wallingford A not even taking a frame! The same would surely not happen on our own table!
Captain Billy lead from the front & went on first v Aaron Downey (holder of Highest Break in 1st Division with a tidy 48). Aaron started with a useful 16... & that was to be all that he scored as Captain 'dishes' it! His yellow screwed to red for the following black (both with the long stuff), red, pot black & cannon to disturb the last red from the pink during a 33 break was (if I say so myself) flippin' awesome! A quality win in the crucial opener for the A Team, 63-16 for a 1-0 lead! A great start & just what we needed! Av it!
Nigel 'VC' was on next v Paul Archer & what a frame of snooker it was! Not so much for the initial quality as there were so many mistakes & flukes, but what drama & excitement at the business end of the frame! Nigel was 11 in the lead with 13 on after Paul had outrageously fluked the blue (off the pink AND black!!!), only to see Paul sink the pink (fluked... again!!!), but miss the black! He left the cue ball just off the bottom cush, black just off the side green rail! Cuz said 'Oh, that's not good', Captain quoted 'Hawkinator', 'That's smelly!' while Dave said 'If there's one player who can sink a straight black for game, it's Nigel!'... & we were all right! Awesome black 'leathered' through the back of the pocket VC! Afterwards Cuz said 'Nigel, your face after Paul fluked that (blue &) pink was like a kid on Xmas morning that has no presents! But look at the beaming smile now he's potted the black... & found the presents were hidden in the garage!'. We were in stitches! LOL! Another crucial frame win, 69-57 for VC to make it 2-0, but little did we know, the best was yet to come!
Frame 3 saw Tom v Nigel Archer & what a classic frame it turned out to be! Nigel started off making a lovely 42 break with some sublime positional shots. Tom, who has grown in stature after a season in the A Team & his Novice Championship, bided his time & prised an opening to make his own sublime break, showing superb discipline & playing excellent positional play with a 35 to come right back in it! Then there was the inevitable safety bout where both players picked off single balls down to the colours. After Nigel potted a fantastic pink to the yellow bag & played a fabulous positional cue ball up & down to get on the black (virtually perfectly)... he missed it! He left the black for a cut-back (with the rest) to the corner bag & Tom didn't need a second invitation to secure the frame, 68-66 to make it 3-0!!! Av it!!! Big balls frame (in more ways than one!). Captain complemented both players on one of the best frames of snooker he had seen in 29 years of playing in the D&DS&BL!
Cuz went on 4th v Doug Young. Cuz has been struggling in the D&DS&BL with his form this season, which is strange as his Monday night Oxford League form is immaculate! Cuz obviously decided to play to his strengths (a solid match play & snookering brain!) & despite an earlier in the day tip scare (call for the Cue Doctor!), with a comprehensive display of match snooker laying some awesome snookers! Racing to a 40+ points to nil lead, Doug clawed his way back, laying a particularly nasty snooker & after some inconsistent application of the 'miss' rule, gained some points. Cuz was not to be denied & after laying a lovely snooker of his own on the last red (which he put next to the black & blue), gained a foul & free ball. He took a free ball for an extra point & then laid ANOTHER nasty 'tuck up' snooker! His speciality! Cruel, but as the late George 'Legend' Flynn would have said 'Never give a sucker an even break!' & the snooker table is no place for charity... not when there's a priceless League point to be gained! A comprehensive win 62-15 for a 4-0 lead!
And so to the last frame, Anchorman 'Daddy G' v Harvey Pearce. It's fair to say that Harvey was distinctly off form (he hates playing last!), but you can only beat who's put in front of you. Dave scored solidly & played experienced match play to take the lead & subsequently extend that lead. Dave has always been an attacking player, but just to disprove the old adage of 'Leopards & spots', he has now added a new dimension to his game of a lovely 'touch' when in & around the balls, scoring well! He was never really challenged & ran out another comprehensive winner, 60-17 to make it a fantastic 'full house' 5-0!!!
With Abingdon Con A dropping a point v Challow B, Wallingford A stretched their lead to 2 points at the top of the Premier, with a game in hand! An awesome response from a team that gave the whole league a 5 point head start after the first match & have now taken 26 out of the last 30 possible points! Fantastic! Keep it there lads!
Marlborough B v Wallingford B
(Match report by the whole team in Captain Andy's Little Black Book!)
Pirom Phai opened for the B Team v Craig Harper. Phai struggled with the table, which is a notorious leveller! He potted some nice balls, but found the pockets to be VERY unforgiving. Craig was playing well & having taken a 'snookers required' lead, Phai tried in vain for 3 snookers on the pink, but it was not to be. Craig won 64-30 to put the B Team 0-1 down.
Rob House was on next v Tony Fisher (Captain Andy had put Phai & Rob on 1st & 2nd & was sending them straight back to Wallingford to play their (well) overdue Club Singles match!). In the initial stages the running went against Rob & with 2 or 3 'rattlers', he went 20 points behind. However, Rob started finding the middle of the pocket & soon took a 15 point lead. With the colours left on & only being 24 points behind, Tony threw in the towel (strange?), perhaps resigning himself to Rob's lovely potting on a difficult table. A 48-24 frame win to level it at 1-1!
Next up was one of only 2 Comrades players (both from the B Team!) who still maintain a 100% average, Brian Orton who is rejuvenated after his cataract operations & playing & enjoying it all after a long difficult personal spell. He faced an old Comrades mate, Martin Harvey & started with intent with a lovely red-brown-red, but it then descended into a scrappy frame of 'who can hit the ball hardest'! Brian was obviously going to win & Martin gave up the ghost after Brian fluked the blue to win 49-20 to retain his 'Mr 100%' tag & give the B Team a useful 2-1 lead!
Dave Rowe, the other 'Mr 100%' was next on in an unusual playing position of 4th v their Captain, Steve Wetherall. Dave pulled away to a 15 point lead but some awesome potting from Steve brought him back level (you wouldn't have thought the pockets were tight at all! But that's home advantage for you!). Steve pulled a 7 point lead & tucked Dave up behind the pink, but Dave escaped nicely. There was a safety bought with 3 reds left before Steve pulled out some more awesome pots, with a touch of luck to bury Dave, 21-60 to level the match at 2-2. Unlucky Dave, 'Mr 100%' title only held by 1 player now, eh Brian?
Last up in the 5th & deciding frame was Captain Andy Rance v Tony Rushton. Now I'm not sure if Andy's team mates had all left at this stage, certainly Phai & Rob had as they were back at the Comrades battling in the Club Singles, or whether Brian & Dave were discussing the 'Mr 100%' mantle, but Andy's Little Black Book contains no report of his match! I know at least that it was a black-ball-frame because Andy lost it (by 1 point! Sickener!), 40-41 to give Marlborough B a 3-2 win.
Whatever the reason for no deciding frame match report, Andy decided to pop back to Wallingford Comrades on his way home to see how the A & C Teams had fared. He sat in the bar with Daddy G & Captain Billy & had a late night coffee, chat & de-briefed their match. Dave & Pete/Captain Billy sat patiently listening to Andy bemoan the poor quality of the Marlborough table, cushions slow, cloth with no nap & threadbare, tight unforgiving pockets etc., when Daddy G chirps up (referring to the B Teams historic 5-0 win over the A Team in the opening match of the season) in his dry mickey taking voice with a semi-serious face, 'Trouble is with you boys Andy, you peak too soon'! Cue guffaws of laughter from assembled A Team & I nearly fell off my chair laughing! Poor old Andy, he took it well, knowing it was only a bit of 'pay back' for all the 'digs' the A Team suffered since THAT defeat. The only way Dave could have made it worse would have been to have added, 'Pete, didn't the A Team win 5-0 at Marlborough?'.
Wallingford C v Challow D
(Match report by Captain KP)
Challow RBL D were the visiting team to table 1 to face a very young Comrades C Team (with Jake, Joey & Luke in the squad, it certainly drags the average age down, eh Kev!).
Frame One saw the Captain Kev facing Lee Wood. Lee has improved massively in his game of recent & is testament to his commitment. Returning to fitness after a particularly nasty ankle injury (I've seen the picture & didn't know skin could go ALL those colours! Ouch!). Both men playing good all round snooker, but it was Lee who led all the way up to the colours. Although Kev potted blue & just needing the pink to win, stuck it up & Lee didn't need a second invitation to close out the frame on the black. Lee won 37-46 to put the C Team 0-1 down.
Frame Two was the turn of Jake Crockett against M Parsons. It was nip and tuck most of the way with Mr Parsons coming on top on the colours, 57-27 to put the C Team 0-2 down. Good effort Jake, it will come!
Next up was Luke Wells who played Mike Bishop. It has to be said that Luke didn't get the run of the balls but put up a brave fight, going down 14-60 to make it 0-3. Stay keen Luke & learn from the mistakes & keep practicing!
Frame 4 was time for the ever-keen Joey Edwards to come to the table against Liam Bint. It was to be Joeys best performance by far. He is such a good long potter & it's just the tactical side of knowing when to play the right shots at the right time. Like his Captain, needing one ball on the colours, stuck the pink up & with the black over the pocket that was that, 31-42 & a 0-4 frame score.
Final frame was Chris Strange, hoping to avoid the white-wash against S Ponting. Captain KP feels that Chris has definitley has the game to become a good league player, but on this occasion he came out second best going down 20-46. A disappointing Five-Zip to Challow!
Next Week sees all 3 teams in League action again; Wallingford A travel to Challow B for their game in hand while Wallingford B host Challow C. Wallingford C travel (for the last time) to Watlington who sadly will bow out of the League at the end of the season as their Club removes their table!
See you on the practice tables!
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