Going into this week's matches, Littlemoor were 6 points clear of nearest rivals Bradford Deaf Centre. Yet, despite losing 4-1 at Princeville this week, that 6 point lead was maintained; as BDC were also defeated by the same score at third placed Pudsey Congs. That excellent win for Congs leaves them just one point below BDC and 7 points off top spot.

At Congs, with breaks of 39, 49 and 33, Richard Bowes had a 199-124 win over Jeremy Dixon. Dave and Phil Hirst both reached 200 in their wins over Brian Robinson and Ian Ford respectively, although Dave's win was by the narrowest margin of one point. The Deaf Centre's only winner was Ihjaz Hussain 185-157 against Mick Hirst. Richard's Facebook comment reads "A good result for us and close to the 5 but for a penultimate visit of 20+ by Ihjaz just as Mick had got to 3 behind."

James Butcher has sent me the following match report of Princeville's win over league leaders Littlemoor:- 

“Coming into tonight's game, Princeville were forced to ring in changes.  Including a late withdrawal from ever present Keith Tomlinson. With a number of unavailable players, a replacement was found in the final hour. Having a squad size that Surrey County Cricket Club would be proud of does help in such an emergency situation. Meanwhile, Littlemoor had two players in the Midlands. One on a course, the other attending a Billiards masterclass.

First up was Edward (Lawson) v Peter )Allan) and the two Grahams (Bentley and Tudor). Edward got off to a steady start, albeit with some veiled shots that might look legitimate, but were declared as unintentional. It took a while for Peter to get used to the slow and lifeless far table.  But when he did, he strung a 16 break and halved the deficit to 16 at the halfway stage. The game was played at a good pace. Edward scored a little run and kept the scoreboard ticking over to maintain his lead. However, Peter added another teen break to get within 10pts and had enough time to generate a comeback. But it was Edward who moved from 190 to 197, then clinched it with a pot red to win by 25pts.

Over on the other table, Graham T (Littlemoor) got off to a good start and at one point was 40pts ahead. But, Graham B gradually got into the game and chipped away at the deficit. A double figure was recorded, and then added an 18 break to get into an 8pt lead with less than a minute to go. Although Graham T registered two scoring shots, they were of long distance and the bell went before he could play the next shot.  

Next up was James (Butcher) v John (Allan) and Steve (Gatenby) v Dave (Howarth). James got off to a solid start, getting into a 15pt lead before John could get off the mark. John looked to be up and running when he got off the mark, but the top left hand pocket showed a lot of resistance to the balls. James continued to build momentum, navigating a tricky table with care and concentrated on getting individual shots. After a break was ended, John was left with little to go at. The table provided no assistance to get out of complex shots that required some pace. James had the better table time, continuing from last week’s performance and built a lead beyond 50pts with the clock ticking down. As the match concluded at 50 minutes, James secured a second successive league win in 2025.

On the other table, the MVP of the Pudsey Billiards League carried on with his rich vein of form.  Although Steve did string a couple of double figure breaks, he was unable to cope with Dave's scoring prowess, who often enjoyed a 'street' lead. Dave raced away at the final street and brought a point back to LS28. “

That very good win for Princeville lifted them up to fourth, but they are still a full 15 and a half points off the top. Is there enough of the league season left for them to make a serious challenge for the title?

At St Andrews in the derby, it was the A team who finished on top. They had wins from Gary Rogers and Nigel Brayshaw over John Oyston and Steve Clark respectively. Dave Smith and John Bedford were the B team's winners against Neil Lee and Graham Pearson. The A team won the aggregate by 31 points.

On Friday we drew the Individual Merit and Pairs first rounds after two preliminary rounds were concluded, with the last Individual Merit match played just in time on Friday morning in which Brian Robinson beat James Butcher. The draws can be found on the appropriate page.

This coming week, St Andrews B will be at the resurgent Princeville; Littlemoor will be visiting Bradford Deaf at (the apparently lively!) Windhill Cricket Club and Pudsey Congs will make the short trip to St Andrews A.

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary

Footnote : I have further updated the Players Table on Sunday evening at 7.10pm. Both Peter Allan and Graham Bentley are now in the main table as they have played 5 matches each (one less than half of the total matches played so far... i.e 12).