D&DS&BL Singles Final!

D&DS&BL Novices Final!

D&DS&BL Over 50s Final!

D&DS&BL John Evans Cup Final!

D&DS&BL Week 21 Match Reports

This week saw just the A Team in action in their penultimate match of the season & last 'home' fixture, facing their old adversaries Abingdon RBL.

 

Captain Pete was on first v Phil Skinner.  Now Phil has completely deconstructed his game recently & rebuilt it with a very methodical approach to stance, targeting & cueing.  Fair play to him as it's not easy to do that when 'mature in years', to put it politely!  Captain realised when the black was surrounded by 6 reds that it would be a long frame & the frame time was some 45 minutes!  Phil kept the scores 'honest' & was in front towards the end until he missed a crucial black with 1 red left.  Captain slotted in the red & 'doubled' the black & took a nice long yellow, eventually winning by 61-34 to put the A Team 1-0 up!

 

Next up was Nigel 'VC' v Paul Archer.  Nigel started in typical determined fashion & pulled an early lead playing his trademark confidence potting & solid safety.  He looked in control throughout & it seemed a formality that the top percentage player would round out with another win.  He even had a little 'rub of the green' towards the end of the reds, but Paul dug in & laid a tricky little snooker on the brown behind the pink.  It was one of those shots that wasn't difficult to hit, but dead easy to leave on.  Nigel hit it medium strength so as not to leave an easy pot on the brown, but Paul ended the frame by clearing up with a quality 22 break to nick the win on the black by 41-49 & 1-1.  Nigel was obviously disappointed to 'dip' only his 3rd frame in 19 appearances (we'd all love that stat VC!), but it was to be a contributing factor in what turned out to be a real cliff hanger of a match later on!

In his usual starting place of 3rd, Tom faced Doug Young.  Tom was in no mood to take any prisoners & raced off to a healthy lead, albeit aided by some fortuitous 'run'.  Sometimes you just have to 'go with it' & Tom capitalised, slotting in some lovely clean pots & rounded out winner by 52-11 to put the A Team back in the lead 2-1!  Methinks he will be a force to be reckoned with in BOTH his Finals & the team congratulate him on reaching those (Novices & Singles Final in his first year of competition in the D&DS&BL!  What an achievement!).

After a short supper break of the now legendary Oz's chilli, Kev 'Cuz' went on to face Paul's brother Nigel Archer.  In what was to be a similar patterned frame to his brother, Nigel was on the back foot throughout the start.  Cuz was walking round the table between shots with such purpose & determination, that we all thought he would take the 'glory leg'.  Then his dreaded 'bad run' raised it's ugly head & it can sadly have a profound effect on a players confidence.  It was to be the determining factor as Nigel cleared up with a quality 18 break to again nick the frame on the black, 45-56 to level the frame scores at 2-2!

So, Dave 'Anchorman' to face Harvey Pearce in the deciding frame!  Now Dave has pushed on with his game in the last half of the season & it is again testament to his determination, longevity & love of the game!  He started in determined fashion & pulled a lead.  Harvey was under pressure to respond, but simply couldn't as Dave pounced on every mistake, potting some nice 'openers' & following them up with some lovely 'touch' positional play (not something he's previously been known for, but an aspect that he's worked hard at & is now paying dividends!).  In the end it was a bit of a rout, Harvey needing snookers before the colours as Dave won convincingly, 55-20 to give the A Team a 3-2 win.

 

With the A Team's nearest rivals Wantage getting a 'full house 5' in their last macth of the season, the A Team must now go to Marlborough on 27th March & get a minimum of 2 points to get Runners Up!  Abingdon Con A have already secured taking 'our' premier title this year, being some 10 points ahead with 1 match each remaining.

 

With the B Team sitting out their 1st week of 2 byes, they were rewarded with the Wantage Comrades 'full house 5' being against Challow B... on Challow's own home table!!!  This leaves the B Team & Challow B BOTH level on 37 points at the top of the 1st Division!

 

Elsewhere, with Fairmile taking 4 points off the visiting Fawley & Challow B having 1 more League fixture, this now means that the very worst the B Team can do is retain their Runners Up title from last season... unless Challow B fail to take a point in their last match...which is AT Abingdon Con A!!!

 

More frantic nail chewing from the B Team on 27th March then!

Wallingford Comrades Club Team Stats (Match 26) 13th March 2013

A TEAM	Pl	W	L	Pts for	Av	Pts ag	Av	%	Breaks over 25
Nigel Prior	19	16	3	1020	54	506	27	84	32, 32, 32, 33
Jon Hawkins	5	4	1	357	71	185	37	80
Kev Higgs	19	14	5	1044	55	705	37	74
Pete Billingham	22	16	6	1218	55	747	34	73	26, 30, 26, 40, 50
Dave Greathead	18	12	6	862	48	777	43	67	25
Tom Williams	19	11	8	881	46	735	39	58
Kev Gray	7	4	3	334	48	322	46	57
Nick Somarakis	0	0	0	0	##	0	##	###
	A Team win 3-2 at home v Abingdon RBL. In a typically tight match, Captain edges the 1st, Nigel plays well but succumbs to a quality 22 clearance from Paul Archer. Tom demolishes Doug Young before Nigel Archer repeats his brothers finish with an 18 clearance to beat Cuz. Cue Anchorman to play solid & get the all important 5th frame!
B TEAM	Pl	W	L	Pts for	Av	Pts ag	Av	%	Breaks over 20
Dave Glaves	6	4	2	310	52	281	47	67	25
David Rowe	14	9	5	681	49	505	36	64	21, 32
Brian Orton	8	5	3	440	55	325	41	63
Rob House	21	12	9	997	47	742	35	57	31, 30, 29, 21
Simon Ellam	2	1	1	80	40	91	46	50
Andy Rance	22	8	14	907	41	1064	48	36	27, 32
Pete Beaumont	13	4	9	520	40	672	52	31	25
Bob Elliott	5	1	4	161	32	301	60	20	20
Kevin Pickworth	19	3	16	585	31	1073	56	16	42
	With the B Team having finished their season (with 2 byes for the last 2 weeks), they sit nervously & chew their finger nails on Fawley's results... Well, I say nervously... They go to RAF Benson for a 'friendly' & win 4-2 & Captain Kev knocks in a 42 break! I bet Dave Rowe was happy it wasn't a League match as that would take Division 1 Highest Break!

D&DS&BL Singles Semi Final results