This week, the Individual Merit's last 16 matches were all played. All 8 matches were effectively won by the "home" player... 

At Pudsey Congs, Dave Hirst was a comprehensive 200-134 winner over Littlemoor's John Allan and Richard Bowes must have overwhelmed the Deaf Centre's Ian Ford by 200-155... and in doing so, he recorded breaks of 36, 47, 49 and 54. Well done to him!

At St Andrews, John Bedford managed to sneak past the Deaf Centre's skipper, Brian Robinson 200-197. John's Facebook comment reads "Brian played very well and was very unfortunate to lose 197-200". In the other two matches there, firstly in an even closer finish, the A team's Neil Lee edged out his team mate Graham Pearson 200-199 and then the B team's skipper, Steve Boocock, beat John Rider 200-172.

At Littlemoor, Jeremy Dixon had offered to play Ralph Allan there, instead of at Windhill Cricket Club. Ralph willingly accepted and took full advantage to win 200-173. Although Jeremy outscored Ralph, he just wasn't able to get himself nearer than 20 adrift. At the same time, on the other table, Peter Allan was taking on Stephen Kershaw. Conceding 100 to Peter, and playing on table that is now notoriously quirky, was never going to be a straightforward match for Stephen. From what I heard, Peter had a fair bit of running and some good fortune mixed in with quite a few good shots, and (apparently) was never really threatened, to win by 200-113. In my own match against St Andrews A's Nigel Brayshaw, I took the lead at around the 120 mark, but always felt I was in a battle. Neither of us played particularly well, and the good fortune I have had, just about all season so far, was still with me and saw me home 200-175. The score-line suggests it was quite a comfortable win, but the reality is, it was quite a bit closer than that.

This coming week, we will see the quarter-finals of the Pairs. Last season's winners, Littlemoor's John Allan and Graham Tudor have been drawn away to play Jeremy Dixon and Ian Ford - presumably this will be played at Windhill, as yet I haven't heard anything different. Myself and Sid Ash will also be travelling to Bradford to play father & son Trevor and Gareth Kershaw, as will Neil Lee and Nigel Brayshaw, to play recent previous winners, Stephen Kershaw and Ed Lawson. In Pudsey, at Congs, Dave and his big brother Mick Hirst, will take on Ihjaz Hussain and Brian Robinson. Good luck to all involved.

The next round of the Individuals and Pairs are not until April, so the next league meeting will be held on the 28th March 2025 at St Andrews.

By David Howarth

League Secretary

Predictably, this week, the top three in the table beat the bottom three. Littlemoor's 5-0 demolishing of St Andrews B increased their lead by one point at the top to 6.5 as Pudsey Congs could only beat Princeville 4-1. In third spot, Bradford Deaf travelled to St Andrews A, and scraped the coveted aggregate by just one point (766-765) with all four games impressively reaching 200. Their winners were Jeremy Dixon and Ihjaz Hussain. For St Andrews A, Nigel Brayshaw and Gary Rogers claimed a point each to lift their team off the bottom.

At Pudsey Congs, Princeville's ever changing line-up returned to Bradford with just the one point. Making his fifth appearance of the season, Edward Lawson edged out Congs John Hirst 200-196. Gareth Kershaw, making just his second appearance and Steve Gatenby, making only his fourth, both lost out to Dave and Phil Hirst respectively. Richard Bowes was back in good form for Congs, making breaks of 50, followed by a decisive killer-blow - an unfinished 42, to take down James Butcher 200-139. Incidentally, glancing at the Players Table, James is one of just five players to have played all 15 league matches. Three of the others are all from Bradford Deaf.

Littlemoor's relentless march continues, with the aforementioned 5-0 home win against St Andrews B. Top board man John Allan had a convincing 200-132 win over Dave Smith. On the other table, Graham Tudor had a bit more of a struggle, but came good close home to edge out Steve Boocock 190-179. Ralph Allan was always in command against John Bedford. John fought back well close home, but just too late to make any serious threats. In my game against Steve Clark, it was quite close up to half-way, but after that, some more good running enabled me to win quite comfortably in the end (200-163) with 12 minutes to spare.

This coming week the race for the league title takes a break whilst we compete for the Individuals and Pairs over the next two weeks. Ian Ford, will be up against it, facing Richard Bowes at Congs, but receiving 180 points (!!) may well help him in his cause to retain the title. Also at Congs, in arguably the tie of the round, Dave Hirst will face John Allan. Both have (incredibly) won this competition four times. 

Please remember that in the Individual Merit and Pairs competitions, the clock stays in the cupboard, with the matches NOT being restricted by time. Good luck to all of you still involved.

By David Howarth

League Secretary

There were two 3-2 away wins this week and, for the first time this season, the other one finished all square, at 2.5 each.

Bradford Deaf's home matches continue to be played at Windhill & Daisy Hill Cricket Club and this week the visitors were Princeville, who have won all their matches so far in 2025. They were able to keep that winning run going, with wins from Graham Bentley and, making his seasonal debut, Stephen Kershaw. Brian Robinson and Ihjaz Hussain were the home team's winners. A 32 break by Ihjaz (the highest of the evening) over James Butcher ,went a long way to securing him a handy 200-143 win. However, it wasn't quite enough to secure the aggregate point, as Princeville edged that by just 2.

At St Andrews, the B team got off to the best possible start against Pudsey Congs, as Dave Smith beat Richard Bowes by a convincing 200-105. A 43 break from Richard wasn't enough to claw back the 155 start he had to concede. However, it was a downhill struggle after that for the home team as there were wins from three Hirsts... Mick beat John Bedford, Phil beat Steve Boocock and then John beat Steve Clark. Dave Smith's big win over Richard though, was enough to keep the aggregate point in St Andrews B's pocket, by 34.

St Andrews A always seem to save their best for visits to Littlemoor and this time around it was no different. In the top versus bottom clash, it was a struggle for the league leaders. Littlemoor's John Allan and Dave Howarth only managed half a point between them, as John drew his game at 171 apiece with Neil Lee and Dave suffered his first defeat of the season to the quickly improving John Rider (200-165). So, it was up to Ralph Allan and Graham Tudor to rescue something for the table toppers. Graham's excellent form continued and took around 42 minutes to see off Nigel Brayshaw 200-146. On the other table, it was closely fought, but Graham Pearson finished best of the two with a 200-185 win over Ralph. The crucial aggregate point went the way of Littlemoor by just 4 points. Pudsey Congs are therefore, bit by bit, edging closer to Littlemoor, who still sit at the top but now by 5 and a half. The top two will face-off in what could be a season decider at Congs in the first match of next month.

This coming week is the last of the matches in the third quarter before we get back into the Individuals and Pairs first round matches. Congs will be at home to Princeville, Bradford Deaf will be at St Andrews A and Littlemoor will be looking to get back to winning ways against St Andrews B.

By David Howarth

League Secretary

Princeville registered their first whitewash of the season this week at the expense of St Andrews B. After spending around half of the season either at or very close the foot of the table, they are now the team who have the best form in 2025. Their win was enhanced by the fact that St Andrews B were only able to field 3 players, as Steve Clark became ill on his way to the match and returned home. We hope he is now feeling better. Consideration has been given to whether the outstanding game could be played on alternative dates, but St Andrews B have since decided to concede the un-played point to Princeville.

Here is James Butcher's report on the three games played:-

“First up was James (Butcher) v David (Smith) and Keith (Tomlinson) v John Oyston. The top table game got off to a slow burn, with both players picking up points in instalments.  James made the first initiative with a 15 break, with David reciprocating on the following visit. James made the first significant move with a constructed 25 break. David was left very little to go at. The slow, low and residual damp conditions under baize at BD7 made escape shots tricky to execute. Akin to a County Championship game being played in early April. James continued with momentum, playing a more expansive and all-round game. Ranging from strong potting, including one off the cushion, to a few wild Bazilliard Ball flukes. David was thwarted by the rattling jaws of the top pockets. Particularly by the left one, where a shot was played and cued on point, only for the laws of physics to be broken. Only the bell prevented James in reaching 200pts, as the game was closed with an unfinished break of 15.

On the other table Keith gradually caught up with his opponent, although John O did play a few good half ball shots in the early stages. By Keith's own admission, he was below par but got the job done.

Next up was Graham (Bentley) v John (Bedford), as the Horton Bank Top institution went all Crucible Theatre and became a one board venue. Lights were dimmed in absence of a rising partitioned wall. The match started off rather fast, as John scored a double figure break in his first visit and Graham soon reciprocated. Graham enjoyed the better first half, as he built a lead of around 30. John, with his back and cue against the solid stone wall.  Was initially in a period of struggle. The cue balls had a tendency to stick to the cushion, due to the atmospherics. Legend has it that The Borrowers reside under the institute and divert the heating below floor level after 9pm, for their underground cue sports competitions. After a forced error which resulted in a "foul" stroke (although John made a valid point that the aforementioned stroke was practically unavoidable), he started to make a comeback and overturned the deficit to a 16pt lead. It looked like John was about to convert to 200pts and record a win, but Graham B went "Hold my Beer" and out of nowhere ran out with a 24 unfinished break.”

Littlemoor's visit to Windhill Cricket Club didn't start as planned, as the Bradford Deaf boys were expecting them to arrive at around 6:30pm. However, Littlemoor's players had not received the "early start" request and strolled in some 40 minutes later! 

Please note that the official request now from Bradford Deaf is that, whilst they are playing at Windhill CC, that an early start of 6:30pm is requested, due to them having just the one table at their temporary venue. 

Aside from the unfortunate late start, Littlemoor began very brightly with an excellent win by Peter Allan 200-154 over Brian Robinson. Next up, the "home" side pulled one back when Ian Ford beat the visitors super-sub, Sid Ash by 10 (187-177). Then, in a hard fought third game, I managed to continue my unbeaten run with a narrow 9 point win over Ihjaz Hussain, who battled very hard all the way. The last, and top board game, featured regular rivals Jeremy Dixon and John Allan. John's newly shortened cue, also bearing a new tip, did the trick and gave him a fairly comfortable 193-149 win. This sealed an excellent 4-1 away win for Littlemoor, to keep them clear at the top.

At St Andrews, their A team suffered a 5-0 defeat for the first time this season at the hands of Pudsey Congs. Their winners were Richard Bowes (assisted by a 42 break) over Neil Lee. Dave, Phil and John Hirst were also all in good form with all three scoring 200 against Graham Pearson, Gary Rogers and John Rider respectively (191, 154 & 190). (Keep going John Rider - that first league win is just around the corner).

This coming week, Princeville need to find their way to Thackley Old Road (BD18 1DR), St Andrews B (hopefully this week with a full team, and no mishaps on the way!) will face Pudsey Congs and St Andrews A will be calling round to Littlemoor.

By Dave Howarth

League Secretary