Time to vote for Players Player of the Season 2014-15!

PLAYER OF THE YEAR!

 

It's the end of the 2014-15 season & time to vote for Players Player of the Year!

 

Once again there have been some great performances in the Club & League by individuals, pairs & teams & I'm sure you can all think of good examples!

 

In the same format as last year, the decision is yours!

 

Please use the voting forms to cast your all important vote for your team/club mate that you feel is most worthy of receiving the prestigious Tanner Trophy!

 

Consideration should be given to Individual Performances, whether that is;

·                  Commitment to the game, Team & Club,

·                  New-comers achievements,

·                  Consistent & outstanding performances,

·                  Seasoned 'veterans' performances,

·                  Contribution as part of a team.

 

One vote per person please!

Non-players/Team Supporters are most welcome to vote also!

 

Snooker Review for the 2014-15 Season.

I'm very pleased to report that the Wallingford Comrades Club has enjoyed a sensational season in snooker competitions this season.

The annual all-day Gilbert Shepherd Memorial Shield Tournament Final was contested between Rob House of the B Team & Kev 'Cuz' Higgs of the A Team.  Cuz eventually won, 2-1 at nearly midnight!

The Tanner Trophy for Players Player of the Season was proudly received by Dave Rowe of the B Team.  Dave had a sterling season; he won the D&DS&BL Novices Trophy at his first attempt, finished top percentage player of the B Team stats & retained the Comrades House Singles Title for a second year.

The annual Greene King pre-season tournament was won by the aforementioned Dave Rowe after another marathon all-day competition.  Dave beat Phil Hall, 2-1 & wearily lifted the trophy at an even later time than the Gilbert Shepherd of around half past midnight!

In House competitions, the Veterans Final (or OAPs as it's called by the youngsters) was won by Dave Greathead who beat Chris Alexander.

The Billiards Final was won by Rob House who came from 50+ points behind to beat Kev Higgs.

The Doubles was won by Pete Billingham & Dave Greathead who beat Andy Rance & Alan Stacey on the pink in the second frame.

The Singles was won by Dave Rowe who beat Pete Billingham.  Dave made Club History in becoming the first Comrades player to win the title 3 years in succession!

Thank you to the Secretary, Brian Orton for organising all of the house competitions & Russ Hawkswell for the lovely trophies.

The annual Bill Billingham High Break Trophy was won by Kev Higgs for a sizeable 61 break in the Gilbert Shepherd Tournament, but he had to wait for the entire season to finish before he could claim it!

The A Team retained their Premier Division Title with a week to spare when they won 5-0 at Kennington, whilst their nearest rivals Abingdon Con A went down 2-3 at the hands of Challow B!  Captain 'Billy' had long serving team mate Nigel Prior as his Vice Captain who ended top of the percentages, despite being pushed all the way by Jon 'Hawkinator' Hawkins.  Tom Hamilton-Williams played some crucial matches through the season & clinched most of them, most notably in the Jim Taylor Cup Semi & Final, but more of that later.  Kev 'Cuz' Higgs balanced playing in 2 Leagues, Oxford on a Monday & Didcot on Wednesdays (supported by a VERY understanding Wife!), plus of course, Anchorman Dave Greathead & Super Sub, Nigel Woods.

The B Team finished 3rd in the Premier Division after making the early running & leading for most of the first half of the season.  Captain Andy Rance adopted Bar Billiards convert, Craig Mace into his squad & was rewarded immediately when he slotted in a nice 27 break in his first ever League match (on probably the worst away table!).  Well done Craig!  Rob House topped their percentages & along with Dave Rowe was only 1 of 4 Comrades players to top the 'Golden 1,000 points... although DR did it before the end of January & joined the exulted presence of Reverend Goldworthy in doing so!  Simon Ellam played a good supporting role & long time B Team experienced player, Brian Orton was noted putting in the practice hours now that Heather has returned to good health.  Olly Walker, who was 'poached' from Crown Technology & Dave Glaves gave Andy some much needed cover for matches in the early part of the season.

The C Team were also a respectable 3rd in Division 3 & also blooded some new players; notably Adam Beasley who ended up their top percentage player & Ben Titford who is mentioned later.  Captain Kev was ably supported by stalwarts of the team, Hugh Baker & Alan Wells (who both featured well in percentages & Pairs Comps throughout the season), Erik Cawthorne (I was there for his first ever win on a trebled pink!), Colin Dalton (who won a deciding frame match, but sadly later 'retired') & there were even cameo appearances by Joey Edwards & our own 'Toph', Chris Alexander!

In the John Evans Cup the A Team made it through to the semi finals by were sadly knocked out by Abingdon Con A who came from 2-0 down to win the deciding frame.

In the Presidents Cup the C Team sadly bowed out at the Quarter Finals stage on a black ball in the deciding frame, 3-2 at home to Harwell RBL B.

In the Jim Taylor Cup the A Team were drawn against the B Team in the semi finals & progressed 3-0.  In the Final they faced Abingdon RBL in a Winners of Premier v Winners of 1st Division at the beautiful Fawley venue - after a lot of banter between the 2 teams for the entire season, it was so appropriate that they both made it to the Final for a big show-down!  After going 0-2 down, the A Team dug in & showed their fighting spirit & mettle, battling back to win on the crucial deciding frame in an epic Final to take the Cup 3-2, making it a Team Double Season with the Premiership!

Several of the team, opponents, spectators & referees commented what a cracking match it was.  Here are some of the quotes/texts/posts:

"One of the best games/results/team spirit I have ever been involved with" - KH,

"A great spectacle for the league" & "A massive win!" - JH,

"Brilliant evening spent at a great venue with top people.  Shame someone had to lose" - GI,

"One of the best team finals I've ever been part of" - DG (& at 62 years young & having been in quite a few, he should know!),

"That blue deserved it on its own! Awesome shot, & with the rest!" - HP,

"The best night of snooker refereeing so far for me.  Congratulations to all 10 players.  What a night.  What a finish.  No losers in a match of that quality" - TA.

It will be long remembered by all that witnessed it as a classic final & I was very proud to be part of it!

In Pairs & Individual League Competitions Wallingford again entered a healthy number of players & pairings across all tournaments.

In the Under 23s Ben Titford was our only entrant (I think that says something about all our ages!) & he bowed out in the Semi Finals.

In the Novices Ben Titford featured again but sadly got knocked out at the Quarter Final stage.  Keep trying Ben, there's always next year.

In the Billiards our only 2 entrants, Tom Hamilton-Williams (last years winner) & Pete Billingham both got knocked out in the Semi Finals.

In the Captains Cup Pete Billingham made it through to the Final, unfortunately having to take out B Team Captain, Andy Rance in the Semi Finals.  Pete played Dave Lewis (Abingdon Con A) in the Final which was played at Wallingford.  Pete won 3-1 to win the Captains Cup for his first time & is the first Wallingford Captain to win since Phil Hall in 1990!

In the Over 50s (OAPs) we were guaranteed a Wallingford winner as both Dave Greathead & Alan Wells made it to the Final; Alan played brilliantly beating Dave Lewis (from Premiership Abingdon Con A) 2-0 & Dave came from 0-1 down to beat Colin Bark (also Abingdon Con A) 2-1.  The Final was held at Kennington & Dave won by a 3-1 score line with a nice 24 break in the last frame.

In the 2 Man Team Wallingford had 3 pairings in the Semi Finals; Alan Wells/Hugh Baker, Dave Rowe/Nigel Woods and Pete Billingham/Kev Higgs.  Dave & Nigel progressed comfortably to the Final beating Jason O'Hanlon & Adam Bruce.& Kev & Pete also progressed to the Final beating Alan & Hugh.  In the Final, Pete & Kev played Nigel & Dave respectively in the 40 minutes each or 2 frames aggregate score event (sometimes referred to as 'Run-around' as it's against the clock with 30 seconds per shot!).  After an hour & 20 minutes of play, Cousins Pete & Kev lifted their first ever Pairs Title!

In the Doubles Pete Billingham/Kev Higgs & Hugh Baker/Alan Wells made it through to the Semi Final stages & unfortunately got drawn against each other.  At least it guaranteed a Wallingford pairing in the Final!  Pete & Kev won 2-0 & faced Nigel & Paul Archer at the Fawley Club.  There they continued in magnificent form, both knocking in numerous 20+ breaks & playing solid safety running out Winners, 3-0 to win their second pairs title in 2 days!

In the Singles Dave Rowe beat some quality players en route to the Final; up & coming youngster Ben Rowlands (Abingdon Con A) & also the experienced & talented Duncan Price (Abingdon RBL), both on their own tables!  Dave beat Neil Buckingham (Kennington) in the semi, 2-0 & faced Simon Saunders of Harwell in the Final which was held at Wantage.  Despite changing jobs the same week, travelling half the Country & being dog tired, 'Our Dave', propped up with caffeine & headache meds took a nervy first frame which settled him well & then opened up with his superior tactical play forcing errors from Simon.  This left DR opportunities to slot in breaks of 32 & 29 in the next 2 frames to seal the win, 3-0 & add the Singles Title to his Comrades Singles Triple Crown!

It really was the cherry on the icing on the cake of a sensational season & the Snooker Comrades will be collecting no less than 9 prestigious trophies at this years AGM & Presentation at the Marlborough Club on 6th May!

I would like to thank Andy Rance & Kev Pickworth for all their tireless, thankless hard work as Team Captains.  I know how much you do & what it takes!

I would also like to thank ALL the snooker players for their efforts & enthusiasm throughout the year.  Without you guys, I wouldn't have anything to waffle on about!

The club hosted Semi Finals (Novices & 2 Man Team) & Finals (Captains Cup & 2 Man Team) & the quality of the tables was commented on during the season by several players from other clubs who are envious of the excellent facilities here.  We even have players from other clubs who hold dual membership, joining the Comrades as well as their home clubs!

The snooker players would like to thank the Club & Committee for their continued investment in the fabulous facilities by re-clothing 3 of the tables, re-cushioning Table 1 & also purchasing a new set of match balls for Table 1.  It is fair to say that this has again seen a great return in revenue through increased interest from new & old players & the facilities here are, without doubt the best in the League!

A huge Thank You to John Beardsley for his tireless high quality maintenance & preparation of the tables!  Also to Kev 'Cuz' Higgs who utilised his Refresh-Pro equipment (needless family plug - check out their website & FaceBook pages for all your outside cleaning needs) to clean the layers of ancient dust off the beams & lights.

Also a huge Thank You to Will Spinner who set up the Wallingford Comrades Club Website & maintains the Snooker Page throughout the season with the weekly update of the League tables.  Thank you Will; take the whole of the Summer off as reward for all your hard work!

Lastly the biggest Thank You is to Oz & Lucy & their bar staff for the consistently high quality of the food & their hospitality extended to the away teams – once again we have a reputation for our snooker suppers that has been continued to a very high standard!

Finally, thank you to all of the blog readers - the Snooker Blog cleared 12,000+ all time page views this season which is a monumental amount & indicative of the interest of & passion for snooker in this club... & lets me know that what I'm doing is worthwhile!

Have a great summer & see you in September when we start all over again!

Comrades Snooker Rep & A Team Captain, Pete Billingham.

D&DS&BL Singles Final result!

Huge congratulations to Dave Rowe who becomes League Singles Champion 2014/15 to go with his Wallingford Comrades Club Singles Triple!

Very well done Sir & the proverbial cherry on the icing on the cake for the Comrades this season!

D&DS&BL Jim Taylor Cup Final result

Comrades Club Team Stats 25/03/15 (Match 26)

A TEAM	Pl	W	L	Pts for	Av	Pts ag	Av	%	Breaks, 25 & over
Nigel Prior	16	13	3	931	58	512	32	81	27,39
Jon Hawkins	16	13	3	859	54	598	37	81	27
Pete Billingham	21	16	5	1252	60	671	32	76	(54,41-CS,37-CD,51-CC),31,29, 25
Tom Williams	16	11	5	843	53	575	36	69	25, 37
Kev Higgs	20	13	7	1019	51	759	38	65	(61-GS),27
Dave Greathead	19	11	8	994	52	859	45	58	(45-GK,25-CV),35,34,35
Nigel Woods	1	1	0	53	53	22	22	###
Aaron Tame	0	0	0	0	##	0	##	###
The last match of the season appropriately sees the A Team (Winners of the Prem.) v Abingdon RBL (Winners of 1st Div.) for the Jim Taylor Cup Final at Fawley. Dave is drawn to open & it's a little early for Anchorman as he struggles v Paul Archer losing 9-57 (& misses the Golden 1,000 by just 6 points!). Jon is next v the other Archer, Nigel & 'Hawkinator' has to quickly revert to his solid tactical play as Nigel takes a 20+ point lead. Jon knocks in a 24, but just can't get fully 'going' or shake Nigel off & he wins, 34-76. All of a sudden the Premier Champions are 0-2 down! Titles weren't won without a fight & Tom is next v Harvey Pearce to save the white-wash & start the big come-back! Tom plays solid match play & has Harvey under pressure from the start, racking up points & playing great safety. Despite a spirited fight from Harv, Tom keeps his cool & wins on the pink, 60-44. Next up is Cuz v Duncan Price & its a battle royal. Duncan goes in front by nearly 30 points, but Cuz is completely unfazed & fights hard to come back, putting Duncan under pressure. Duncan cracks & cues the pink terribly, going in off & concedes having left the pink over the pocket, 63-52 (& Cuz does complete the Golden 1,000!). Earlier in the evening 2-2 was just a pipe-dream, but now it's the reality - a deciding frame with Captain v Aaron Downey! Lots of whispers of 'destiny' & 'Pop's watching' from his A Team-mates, but Captain is busy slotting in a lovely long red to settle himself & then it's nip & tuck as the scores fluctuate. Aaron inexplicably fires the pink off the table after the last red & Cuz whispers 'Here comes Colours!'. I even have to say it myself, the blue & pink (both with the rest!) were a bit special & the 20 is enough to seal the win, 60-45 for an incredible fight-back 3-2 win! Awesome Team performance, camaraderie & support & a fabulous night to remember! Well done Double Winners - so proud to be your Captain!
B TEAM	Pl	W	L	Pts for	Av	Pts ag	Av	%	Breaks, 25 & over
Rob House	19	15	4	1049	55	501	26	79	29
Simon Ellam	7	5	2	355	51	269	38	71
David Rowe	20	14	6	1199	60	645	32	70	25
Olly Walker	2	1	1	87	44	91	46	50
Andy Rance	20	10	10	856	43	852	43	50	31
Brian Orton	18	6	12	670	37	789	44	33
Craig Mace	14	4	10	369	26	732	52	29	27
Dave Glaves	3	0	3	100	33	146	49	0
C TEAM	Pl	W	L	Pts for	Av	Pts ag	Av	%	Breaks, 17 & over
Adam Beasley	15	7	8	605	40	624	42	47
Alan Wells	16	7	9	692	43	720	45	44
Hugh Baker	16	6	10	701	44	744	47	38
Kev Pickworth	16	5	11	577	36	846	53	31	21
Colin Dalton	6	1	5	175	29	298	50	17
Eric Cawthorne	7	1	6	169	24	520	74	14
Ben Titford	8	0	8	226	28	456	57	0	17
Joey Edwards	1	0	1	48	48	74	74	###
Chris Alexander	1	0	1	25	25	50	50	###
Pete Beaumont	0	0	0	0	##	0	##	###
Luke Wells	0	0	0	0	##	0	##	###
Coming soon... Voting for The Players Player of the Season!