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.
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