Wallingford Comrades Club Finals Night

Friday 5th December saw the annual House Competitions Finals Night.

In the Veterans Snooker Final, Chris Alexander faced Dave Greathead.

Dave made a 25 break off a ‘Light please’ break having potted a red from the coin toss! (And he asks why the Light of Shame has been labelled as ‘Sponsored by D.W. Greathead’?). Both frames were battles as Chris ‘Tophe’ ran him close from a useful handicap over Dave’s ‘scratch’. Dave prevailed, 2-0(?) to take the Title. Well done Dave & unlucky Chris.

In the Billiards Final, Kev ‘Cuz’ Higgs faced Rob House.

Cuz started like he was on fire & consistent scoring saw him pull a significant lead (just under 50 points!). But Rob is a wily, seasoned Billiards player & when Cuz hit ‘the wall’ & just couldn’t score, Rob, with the benefit of a few ‘Light please’ shots & steady scoring saw him amazingly overhaul Cuz’s lead & eventually pip him to the 250 when Cuz just needed 5 points! An amazing fight-back & all the more galling for Cuz. Well done Rob on your third(?) Billiards Title.

In the Snooker Singles, Pete Billingham faced Dave Rowe.

A mouth watering prospect of a tie with two form players meeting (& playing off scratch!) dissipated almost immediately as balls went awkward & both frames were relatively low scoring! I think the highest ‘break’in the match was just 17!? Pete needed a clearance from the blue to force a re-spot, but Dave sealed a 1-0 lead with the pink. In frame 2 Dave cemented his place in Comrades Club history in ‘gold leaf’ by winning by a 2-0 score-line for his third consecutive Singles title - a feat which no other player in the Club has ever previously achieved! Very well done Sir! Guess it was worth the wait & expense of having your own snooker room & table at home then? LOL!

In the Snooker Doubles, Andy Rance & Alan Stacey faced Pete Billingham & Dave Greathead.

Having dispatched his team-mates in the Semi Final the previous evening, B Team Captain Andy Rance had made most of the running as ‘Stace’ took a back-seat after a tough day. However, come the Final Stace played brilliantly, potting well & showing great composure in laying some great snookers/safety shots which piled the pressure on Dave & Pete. After the first frame (the score is unusually aggregate of 2 frames, rather than Best of 3), Alan & Andy held a 27 point lead after Pete cleared pink & black. Dave slotted in a very timely 21 to all but cancel out the lead & this set it up nicely for some jangling nerves towards the conclusion of the second frame. Alan & Andy continued to pull out some superb pots (Andy! That long red!!!), but when the green was left up, Pete finally found his ‘potting boots’ to clear green to a tricky screwed cut pink to seal the win! Very well played Andy & Stace! Your tactics were spot on & you both played very well, pushing Dave & Pete to the final colours.

Congratulations to all the winners & commiserations to all the Runners Up!

Thanks as always go to Brian Orton for all his work in organising the House Comps (that’s ALL the Comps, including Darts, Dominoes, Crib etc.!).
Thanks to John Beardsley for his tireless high quality table preparations! They looked & played brilliantly mate!
Thanks to Russ & Liz who provided the lovely glass shields for the Winners & Runners Up!
Thanks to everyone who entered the Competitions – without competitors, there would be no competition!
Thanks I feel are due also to all the 'Snooker Widows' for their empathy, support & understanding!
And finally, thanks to Oz & Lucy for their hard work, hospitality, patience & understanding (if you’d seen how drunk our ‘Snooker Cheerleader’, Andy McCarthy was you’d know why I say ‘understanding’!) on what was always going to be a long night!

Any complaint re handicaps... see Andy Rance! ;)

The Comps have seen a good entry list again this year with a good mix of old & new & everything in between! They are always a challenge & enjoyed by all who enter... Next year!’ (as so many of us say at this time of year!).

Cheers! Club Rep.

PS. If you have any feedback or suggestions regarding Competitions, then please feel free to speak to one of the Captains, Snooker Rep or Brian.

PPS. If you enjoyed the 'House' Comps, keep an eye out for the Annual Gilbert Shepherd Handicap All Day Snooker Tournament in the Spring!