intra-club events
2014 Club Championships
Our Club Championships were played with the biggest field we have had in a few years. A Grade had 6 entrants and B Grade had 8 entrants. And for the first time, we had an entry fee and prizemoney on offer to the winners and runner up in each grade. A Grade was played over 5 frames and B Grade was played over 3 frames. The results are as follows:
A Grade Winner: Jeff Lawn
A Grade Runner Up: Peter Speeding
After doing a random draw, the first games on for A Grade were between the two favourites for the title and two new potential challengers. Jeff Lawn drew Danny Waldock, and Peter Speeding drew Tim Ashcroft. Both Brian Deas and Graeme Bultitude received byes into the semi finals. After a slow start for both players, Jeff snuck home against Danny in the first frame. After finding a bit more form he took a 2:0 lead. But Danny was not going to go away that easy. He came back to pot the pink and black in the third frame to get back to 2:1. But after a very disjointed showing from both players in the fourth, Jeff got up to secure a berth in the semi final against Brian.
Peter appeared to be in much better form than either Danny, Jeff or Tim in his first round match and won comfortably 3:0. Tim was a solid chance going into this match as he had had a wonderful event in June playing in the Ron Ashcroft memorial Tournament and has improved remarkably since coming into the game. But, with the kind of form Peter was in, it was hard to see any other result.
Peter started his semi final first against Graeme Bultitude, and although the early going suggested it could be very close, again Peter won 3:0 in very quick time. Brian and Jeff's semi final was very slow to get going with the yellow and the black blocking the top right hand corner pocket for the early stages of the first frame. And although a rerack looked on the cards, a couple of signs of impatience from both players saw the pocket get cleared (from a couple of fouls), and the game opened up again. Jeff, again, got home barely in the first frame but then started to find form. Winning the second one reasonably comfortably, and rolling through the third frame on the back of an early 35 break to establish a good lead and let the reins off a bit.
Going into the final it was very hard to determine who would get up in this match. Peter had been far more consistent throughout the day than Jeff, but Jeff felt like he was finding form at the right end of the day. Again, as expected, the first frame was fairly tight. Jeff won a reasonably close one. But from his first shot in the second frame (a solid 11 foot pot and hold for the black), he knocked in a 38 break to get a very handy lead. He barely looked back from there. Leading at one stage in that frame by around 70:1, Peter conceded early to try to get a good start in the third frame. But Peter was starting to succumb to pressure. Starting to miss shots that he hadn't missed all day and having a few unlucky fouls early on in the final frame allowed Jeff to establish a good rhythym and a good lead. Eventually Pete decided enough was enough and conceded defeat.
There was some very high quality snooker played throughout the day and a bit of good fortune at the right time can make a big difference. So, Jeff Lawn is the 2014 A Grade champion, but Peter Speeding was a very worthy contender, and on any other given day, the roles could well have been reversed. There is always next year...
B Grade Winner: Dave Anderson
B Grade Runner Up: Ben Ellis
The line up for B Grade this year included Dave Anderson, Ben Ellis, Andrew Rogers, Paul Vout, Gary Clifford, Phil Jones, Allan Virtue and Dave Watts. First round match ups were as follows...TBA
After going to a 1:0 nil lead in the final and having established a good lead in the second frame Ben was looking like being the new B Grade champion. But a few poor shot choices and some fantastis patience from Dave saw him get it back to 1:1. And then in the third frame got out to a very handy lead heading into the colours. Although Ben had his chances he is probably more disappointed in surrendering the lead after the first frame and was eventually beaten 2:1 in a great comeback from Dave. Again, there is always next year Ben...
Hope everyone can join us for the Christmas Party this weekend (Saturday 6th December) meeting at the snooker room at 6:00pm. Merry Christmas to all!
A Grade Winner: Jeff Lawn
A Grade Runner Up: Peter Speeding
After doing a random draw, the first games on for A Grade were between the two favourites for the title and two new potential challengers. Jeff Lawn drew Danny Waldock, and Peter Speeding drew Tim Ashcroft. Both Brian Deas and Graeme Bultitude received byes into the semi finals. After a slow start for both players, Jeff snuck home against Danny in the first frame. After finding a bit more form he took a 2:0 lead. But Danny was not going to go away that easy. He came back to pot the pink and black in the third frame to get back to 2:1. But after a very disjointed showing from both players in the fourth, Jeff got up to secure a berth in the semi final against Brian.
Peter appeared to be in much better form than either Danny, Jeff or Tim in his first round match and won comfortably 3:0. Tim was a solid chance going into this match as he had had a wonderful event in June playing in the Ron Ashcroft memorial Tournament and has improved remarkably since coming into the game. But, with the kind of form Peter was in, it was hard to see any other result.
Peter started his semi final first against Graeme Bultitude, and although the early going suggested it could be very close, again Peter won 3:0 in very quick time. Brian and Jeff's semi final was very slow to get going with the yellow and the black blocking the top right hand corner pocket for the early stages of the first frame. And although a rerack looked on the cards, a couple of signs of impatience from both players saw the pocket get cleared (from a couple of fouls), and the game opened up again. Jeff, again, got home barely in the first frame but then started to find form. Winning the second one reasonably comfortably, and rolling through the third frame on the back of an early 35 break to establish a good lead and let the reins off a bit.
Going into the final it was very hard to determine who would get up in this match. Peter had been far more consistent throughout the day than Jeff, but Jeff felt like he was finding form at the right end of the day. Again, as expected, the first frame was fairly tight. Jeff won a reasonably close one. But from his first shot in the second frame (a solid 11 foot pot and hold for the black), he knocked in a 38 break to get a very handy lead. He barely looked back from there. Leading at one stage in that frame by around 70:1, Peter conceded early to try to get a good start in the third frame. But Peter was starting to succumb to pressure. Starting to miss shots that he hadn't missed all day and having a few unlucky fouls early on in the final frame allowed Jeff to establish a good rhythym and a good lead. Eventually Pete decided enough was enough and conceded defeat.
There was some very high quality snooker played throughout the day and a bit of good fortune at the right time can make a big difference. So, Jeff Lawn is the 2014 A Grade champion, but Peter Speeding was a very worthy contender, and on any other given day, the roles could well have been reversed. There is always next year...
B Grade Winner: Dave Anderson
B Grade Runner Up: Ben Ellis
The line up for B Grade this year included Dave Anderson, Ben Ellis, Andrew Rogers, Paul Vout, Gary Clifford, Phil Jones, Allan Virtue and Dave Watts. First round match ups were as follows...TBA
After going to a 1:0 nil lead in the final and having established a good lead in the second frame Ben was looking like being the new B Grade champion. But a few poor shot choices and some fantastis patience from Dave saw him get it back to 1:1. And then in the third frame got out to a very handy lead heading into the colours. Although Ben had his chances he is probably more disappointed in surrendering the lead after the first frame and was eventually beaten 2:1 in a great comeback from Dave. Again, there is always next year Ben...
Hope everyone can join us for the Christmas Party this weekend (Saturday 6th December) meeting at the snooker room at 6:00pm. Merry Christmas to all!
FNCSA events
The Mark Jackson Champion of Champions Event was played in March: follow the link (or copy and paste into your address bar) to see the results
http://fncsa.weebly.com/newsresults.html
http://fncsa.weebly.com/newsresults.html