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