Just a brief update today as there was only two Individual Merit Preliminary Round matches played (on Monday) this week, both at Pudsey Congs.

The first match was between brothers Mick and Dave Hirst. This was a repeat of last season's Merit semi final. In that one it was Mick who progressed to the final. However, this time around it was Dave who exacted his revenge. The match had just started when I arrived and at that stage, Dave was already around 20 in front (received 10 on the handicaps). That lead was just about maintained, until Mick had a good spell, drawing to within just a handful of points around the 130 stage after a break of 20. But Dave played his best billiards in the crucial stages and although he won 200-169, in reality I always felt the match was quite a lot closer than the score-line suggests. It was definitely a good one to watch with both players scoring regularly.

The next match, also at Congs, was between myself and John Hirst as I had given up the home advantage. After a cagey start, I got the early running and extended the 5 points received on the handicap to 20. As the good running continued in my favour, the lead was soon extended to 40. Each time I went to the table, there was nearly always a start available. Then two or three outrageous flukes combined with a couple of good shots extended my lead even further, whereas John struggled to get anything going at all, mostly due to being (accidentally) left safe by me. I was soon well clear, and although I was stuck on 198 for what seemed like 5 minutes and with John finding a couple of scoring opportunities, I eventually got the required score with John still on 144.

This coming Thursday there's a Pairs match at Princeville between the recent previous double winners of this competition, Stephen Kershaw and Edward Lawson against father and son, John and Phil Hirst. That should be a good one. At St Andrews, there's a couple of Pairs matches, firstly a "derby" between the B team-mates John Bedford and Steve Clark against their A team counterparts Neil Lee and Nigel Brayshaw. The second one features, the A team's two Johns (Rider and Oyston) against the Deaf Centre's Brian Robinson and Ihjaz Hussain. (I do know that Brian and Ihjaz are away for the holiday period, but I'm not sure whether they will be back in time to play this one, I'll check today and will let the relevant players know as soon as I can). There's also three Individual Merit matches still to be played. Hopefully, the one between Graham Pearson and Sid Ash will be played on Thursday, but as the other two involve both Brian and Ihjaz, they are still in doubt. 

By David Howarth

League Secretary

Seasons greetings to all our members and readers. On behalf of the League Committee, we wish you all a very Happy Christmas and hope you all have a prosperous New Year.

This week the two scheduled Team Knockout matches and three Individual Merit matches were played (before their due date). The two Team Knockout third round matches were effectively semi-finals and were therefore must wins.

At St Andrews, Littlemoor were up against the home B team and expected a tough match. With most players arriving promptly at 7pm, the draw was straightforward. First up was Dave Howarth (Littlemoor), who had a comfortable 114-65 win against St Andrews B's reserve Norman Procter. This was followed by a much closer encounter between home man Dave Smith and Graham Tudor. Graham edged that one 111-102. Then John Allan put one foot in the final for Littlemoor, with a 132-93 win over John Bedford. Ralph Allan then asserted Littlemoor's advantage with a very strong 171-128 win over Steve Clark, who also played pretty well, in the speediest and by far the most entertaining match of the evening. Hard luck to St Andrews B who didn't have a lot of luck on their side. (788-698 to Littlemoor)

At Princeville in the other "semi-final" Congs were their opponents. James Butcher has sent me the following:-

"The result of the random draw provided mild amusement, as each Pudsey player picked a piece of folded paper out of the Princeville captains hand containing a name.  This was vigorously shaken and somehow they were drawn by handicap order! Maybe future knockout draws should be done by Donald Trump.  Who has the relevant experience in once doing the Rumbelows League Cup.

First up was Phil (Hirst) (Pudsey Congs) v Edward (Lawson) and Graham (Bentley) v David (Hirst) (Congs). Both Pudsey players got off to the best possible start. Phil kept the scoreboard moving and followed it up with a 27 break, with an array of multiple shot selection and smooth cueing.  Edward was eager to get going, but did not have the accuracy.  Phil was soon 50pts up and did not look like stopping. David did similar on the table and was 60 points ahead at his peak.  Edward did get the opportunity for momentum in the middle stages.  A double figure was registered, but he could not get any real foothold. Phil recalibrated his game towards the latter stages and moved the scoring forward with 200 in sight. Graham dug in towards the second half and gradually lowered his deficit.  A good comeback all things considering. 

With some rough mathematics, Pudsey were 95 points ahead at the tea interval.  With James (Butcher) and Keith (Tomlinson) (both Princeville) on next, it looked like a tall mountain to climb. How much of the mountain was conquered? 

Mick (Hirst) and James started on the scrappy side.  Though James decided to try and go through the gears as quickly as possible in order to wrestle back the team deficit. On the other table, John (Hirst) started off the better of the two, with a lead of around 20. James enjoyed the middle period by building a lead in instalments. Towards the final 6 minutes or so, James was close to 60 in front and Keith held a several point lead. James was hoping for a long visit on the table, to take the game right until the end. Although Keith ended his game on a strong note, it was Mick who strung an 18 unfinished break to confirm Pudsey Congs place in the final." (732-768 to Pudsey Congs)

The three Individual Merit matches were all close games. John Rider playing in his first season in this league, registered his first win (200-194). And quite a big scalp it was too (Phil Hirst). Phil tells me that John was 40 in front (handicap difference 50 in John's favour) for most of the way and "played an amazing safety game" with a combination of good pots and double baulks. Despite a 20 break near the end by Phil, it wasn't quite enough. So, well done to John & good luck in the next round.

Also at St Andrews, John Oyston was just pipped 200-194 by Steve Boocock. (I have no other detail on that one). 

In the other Merit match (at Princeville) it was an Uncle and Nephew contest with Stephen Kershaw facing Gareth Kershaw. This was an even closer one with Stephen winning by just 2. Stephen (conceding 80) advised me that he doesn't know how he managed to win, as he needed 50 when Gareth needed just 10. Stephen had a run in the early 20's then accumulated steadily, while Gareth only really had one leave. Stephen said that the rules really helped him, as Gareth was 30 in front at the 50 minute mark. Anyhow, a very good win for Stephen, who last won this competition two years on the trot 19 and 20 years ago! (Sorry Stephen!).

There's two other Individual Merit matches being played tomorrow evening (Monday) at Pudsey Congs where there'll be a repeat of one of the semi-finals of last season as brothers Mick and Dave Hirst will face each other again. The other match is between myself and John Hirst (I have conceded home advantage). I will hopefully write a brief update on those 2 matches next Sunday.

By David Howarth

League Secretary 

The Team Knockout competition went into it's second week on Thursday. St Andrews A were at Pudsey Congs; and after losing last week at home to Princeville, they were in a 'must win' situation if they were to stay in the competition. I have no match report to go on and no Facebook comments either, so I am not 100% sure whether the new rules were applied - i.e. that who plays whom should be decided by drawing names from a hat... I could be wrong, but it looks to me, from who actually played against each other, that the new rule wasn't followed! Maybe, I am putting two and two together and making twenty five!? 

(LATER FOOTNOTE - I am assured by Dave Hirst that there was a draw out as to who was to play whom, but that, incredibly, the names were drawn out in (just about) handicap order... my suspicions were, therefore, completely unfounded!) 

Anyhow, St Andrews A had a massive 290 point advantage on the respective total handicap differences, mostly skewed by the fact that Richard Bowes starts on minus 90. Despite giving Neil Lee a 180 point start, he managed to win by 213 (283-70) and included a 57 break in that win. Dave Hirst also won for Congs against Nigel Brayshaw 175-90 (conceding just 40); Phil Hirst also won for Congs against Gary Rogers 177-103 (conceded just 30). John Hirst was Congs final "winner" over John Rider 129-93 (but as John R receives 40 on their handicap difference, he was St Andrews A's only 'net' winner of the evening). So, the end match result was a convincing home win 879-761 to Pudsey Congs. 

At Littlemoor the Deaf Centre were also in a 'must win' scenario (the new rule was definitely followed here!). Home man Ralph Allan was drawn out against his "regular" Deaf Centre opponent Ian Ford and Sid Ash (substituting for Graham Tudor) was drawn against the Deaf Centre's number one, Jeremy Dixon. Ralph did well, scoring at most of his visits and beat Ian by 109 (178-69) despite conceding just 25. On the other table, Sid was receiving 85 on the handicap difference from Jeremy... who started well and continued in that vein, but he couldn't quite establish a big enough lead to make enough of a difference, That one finished 153-61 to Jeremy, so Sid did very well to keep Jeremy's net win down to just 7. So, going into the next two games, Littlemoor had the advantage... Home man, John Allan was drawn against Ihjaz Hussain and Dave Howarth was drawn against Graham Lambert (subbing for Deaf Centre's Brian Robinson). John and Ihjaz had their usual close encounter, which finished 138-127 to John, but conceding 30 to Ihjaz on the handicaps, this resulted in a net win for the Deaf Centre man by 19. On the other table, I was aware that the scores were just about levels for most of the way between John and Ihjaz; and also conceding 40 points to Graham on our handicap difference, I knew I had to win by at least more than 40 (hopefully more). I must admit, I had some good running at times and so ended up winning by 113. I have to say as well that Graham was quite unlucky at times, often with nothing much to go at. So, it finished a convincing 809-678 to Littlemoor to keep us in the competition we have won for the last two seasons!

This coming Thursday, we effectively have two semi-finals, with all four teams needing a win to qualify for the final. St Andrews B have home advantage against Littlemoor and Pudsey Congs will travel to Princeville. Good luck to all involved.

By David Howarth

League Secretary

As we have moved into the Christmas month, the league title race is put on hold as usual, in favour of the Team Knockout competition, followed by the Individual Merit and Pairs Preliminary Rounds.

On Thursday there were two Team KO matches... 

Second in the league, Bradford Deaf Centre, were at home to 4th placed St Andrews B and so ought to have been pre-match favourites. However, the scorecard shows a 773-705 win to the visitors. St Andrews B had just a 10 point advantage on the handicaps, so there wasn't that much of a difference between the two sides. Dave Smith outscored Jeremy Dixon (143-131) despite their handicaps being 55 and 5 respectively. A 32 break by Dave was probably the winning contributory factor there. John Bedford was just edged out 125-123 by Deaf Centre's Ihjaz Hussain, but with five points advantage to John on the handicaps, the overall win can be credited the other way. In the other two games, with handicaps added, St Andrews B's Steve Boocock beat Ian Ford (110-81, with just a 10 point advantage to Ian) but Graham Lambert's score of 88 was enough to "beat" Steve Clark who scored 107, but the handicap difference between them was 35 in favour of Graham. Very well done to St Andrews B though, who will have a chance to get some practice in this coming Thursday.

At St Andrews A, league basement dwellers, Princeville will also have been the outsiders, based on league positions. Again though, the tables were turned, as the scorecard shows an excellent 99 point win to the visitors. Princeville's Martyn Britton outscored Graham Pearson 111-108 and with the handicap difference of 50 in Martyn's advantage, this equates to a handy 53 point win. St Andrews A's Nigel Brayshaw had an overall win over Ed Lawson, but Neil Lee's 95-75 win over Keith Tomlinson wasn't quite enough, as Keith's handicap advantage was 25. The "performance of the week" though, by far, has to be awarded to Princeville's James Butcher, who overwhelmed Gary Rogers 201-49 (handicap difference 80 in favour of Gary). Although the scorecard doesn't show any breaks, Gary's comment on the Facebook page was "I know he definitely got a 34. I was totally outplayed, James will know more". Well done to James and to Princeville, who will also have a week off this coming Thursday.

There were also two Pairs matches played this week with mixed fortunes for Littlemoor's players. On Thursday at Pudsey Congs, there was another overwhelming win, but this time it was for brothers Mick and David Hirst. Dave beat Peter Allan 200-189, so a close one, going into the second game... However, the scoreboard photo that Peter sent me shows a 200-107 win for Mick over Ralph Allan... there's no details from (man of few words) Pete, other than "Hirsts beat Allans". Well done to Dave and Mick.

At St Andrews on Wednesday, Graham Pearson and Gary Rogers were up against John Allan and Graham Tudor. John's message to me reads "Graham and I won. Graham just lost to Gary 201-197. Second game, one-way traffic, I won comfortably"... again, no other details, so well done to Graham and John.

This coming week, in the second round of the Team KO comp, the Deaf Centre will be visiting Littlemoor and at School Street, Pudsey Congs will welcome St Andrews A. Please remember that the decision on who plays whom, should be drawn from a hat, but as players arrive at different times, initially, a bit of compromise and common sense should be applied. Usually, though, it's best that all players are present before the second game begins.

Please also remember that if you have an opportunity to get your Pairs and Individual Merit matches played early, then there's nothing to stop this happening. If you need any contact details for opponents, then just get in touch with me for assistance.

The Players Table will remains "as is" until the league programme resumes in January. 

By David Howarth

League Secretary

This week's matches featured the top three in the table against the bottom three; and it was second placed Bradford Deaf Centre who prevailed overall. They were at home against St Andrews A and secured a convincing 5-1 win. Jeremy Dixon had breaks of  35 and 25 in his 200-154 win over Graham Pearson. Ihjaz Hussain's 186-175 over Neil Lee was a little closer, with both players registering breaks in the early 20's. The Deaf Centre's Brian Robinson also had a bigger win (200-146) against Nigel Brayshaw. Gary Rogers spared the visitors blushes though with a 200-180 win against Ian Ford. 

Congs were at Princeville and returned to Pudsey with 4 of the 6 points. Richard Bowes Facebook comment this week simply read "My miserable form continues but a good team result". James Butcher, has sent me the following (more comprehensive) assessment of proceedings:- 

"First up was James (Butcher) v Richard (Bowes) and Keith (Tomlinson) v Phil (Hirst). The top board game got off to a bright start. Richard scored consistently with good command of the balls. Break building looked very promising, but the top cushion pockets were not kind when a big conversion was on. James countered reasonably and a 20 break may have been more had a regulation in-off red did not stray out of play. Richard had momentum in the middle and latter stages. clearing the deficit whilst James scoring lost all momentum. After a further 31 break by Richard, the scores were level.  James played a high-risk long range cannon, then stayed on the table with a sequence of in-offs until the bell went. 

On the other table, Phil caught up with Keith and got into the lead. But the second half was nip and tuck, Keith registered a 16 break and could not find another gear. Phil edged the win.

Next up was Martin (Britton) v John (Hirst) and Ian (Tomlinson) v David (Hirst). John caught up with Martin slightly before the 130 mark and powered on from there. Martin did find some late rhythm, but John was comfortably in the 190 mark, to close out soon after.

Ian started off with a 16 break but had very little run of the balls afterwards. David was up and running after his first proper visit.  Turning around a near 40 deficit to a 40 lead.  David's cannon play was on point, en-route to a 23 break towards the end."

See the scorecards page should you need to see more details. Although Littlemoor retained the top spot, they are now being hunted down, as they could only manage a 3-3 at St Andrews B. They started off brightly when John Allan edged out Dave Smith 197-157 with breaks of 29 and 21. Graham Tudor then looked likely to make the score 2-0 especially after a 29 break, but was pipped at the post 200-191 by John Bedford who finished off very well. Dave Howarth then pulled one back for Littlemoor and retained his 100% record this season in a "to-and-fro" battle with Steve Clark to win 200-188. Following that, with by far the strongest performance of the evening, came from St Andrews B's skipper, Steve Boocock. He gave Ralph Allan few chances to get in. He powered his way to a 200-131 victory, scoring double figure breaks at almost every visit.

Littlemoor's 7 point lead will stay that way until 2025 as we now move into the Team Knockout competition. So, this coming Thursday, in Group 1, Bradford Deaf Centre are at home to St Andrews B and in Group 2 St Andrews A will entertain Princeville. Please remember that all players scores start on zero and the handicaps are added at the end. Also, the decision on who plays whom, will be made by drawing names from a hat. We realise that not everyone always arrives at the same time and so initially, to get things started, a little bit of compromise and common sense should be applied. Usually, though, it's best that all players are present at least before the first game is over. 

Please remember also, that the Individual Merit and Pairs have now been drawn and so these could be played during any free weeks or evenings you may have... just contact your opponent(s) if you want to re-arrange - these matches don't have to be played on the specified date if you mutually agree to something earlier.

David Howarth

League Secretary