After a fortnight's break to take in the first rounds proper of the Pairs and Individual Merit competitions, we made a return to the race for the league title. Princeville's form has been up and down all season, possibly due to the fact they have struggled to have a "regular four". Their skipper, James Butcher, on the other hand, has been their mainstay, playing all sixteen matches so far. He has kindly sent me the following from their home match against St Andrews A this week:-

"First up was Edward (Lawson) v Gary (Rogers) and Steve (Gatenby) v Nigel (Brayshaw). Nigel got off to a bright start and registered a 20 break, en-route to building a handy lead. Steve had little in the way of run in and momentum. He stabilised a 20 point deficit.  But Nigel wrapped up the game past the 40 minute mark. 

Edward made the first initiative with a 16 break. Gary did get back to parity with a couple of runs, but was up against an unforgiving table. Edward had better fortune where a stray ball seemed to find a pocket. Edward led for the most part, but Gary fought back and brought the deficit to single figures. With 90 seconds to go, a pot red opportunity was presented but it required a rest and an extension. Gary could not get the right execution and conceded a foul. At that point, Edward added a scoring shot to effectively win before the 50 minutes was up, but Gary ended the game with a six shot. A 200 up game may have yielded a different result. 

Next was James (Butcher) v Graham (Pearson) and Neil (Lee) v Graham (Bentley). James and Graham P started openly. The handicap difference was maintained for the 1st 15 minutes. However, James's short game was not on point and Graham P seized the initiative, by playing an effective long game and continuing to accumulate points towards the 200 mark. Graham P wrapped up the game in 40 minutes.

On the other table, Neil got off to a strong start against Graham B and did not really look back. Graham B did find some scoring form late on as Neil was stuck in the 190s for a while.  But the deficit was too great to climb. Another unsettling night for Princeville in the end."

So, St Andrews A's substantial 155 point win was easily enough to overhaul their 122 point loss to Princeville in January, and helped them to a convincing 5-1 win on the night. 

At St Andrews, Bradford Deaf were the B team's opponents. The home side, having not had a league win since the middle of November, will have been hoping to turn that poor stat around. And, although they didn't win this one either, they can rightfully claim they weren't defeated. The scorecard shows wins for John Bedford, and the two Steve's (Boocock & Clark) for St Andrews B. However, Jeremy Dixon's 85 point win against Dave Smith, which included breaks of 22 & 39 actually ensured three points for the visitors on the night, as it not only won them the match aggregate point, but it also won them the double aggregate point, to nick them a 3-3 draw.

This week's table topping clash between Pudsey Congs and Littlemoor was described last week as  "possibly season-defining"... In those terms, it didn't disappoint. In my WhatsApp message to the Littlemoor team, pre-match, I advised  "No pressure, but if we can secure two or, preferably, three points on the night, I'd be happy". As it turned out, Congs won the match 4-2 to reduce Littlemoor's lead at the top to a much closer four and a half points... Kicking off for Congs, Richard Bowes somehow, didn't seem his usual self, but maybe that was due to his opponent, John Allan, occupying the table very well with some regular scoring, to keep him in front despite breaks of 30 and 40 gradually reducing RKB's deficit. It wasn't until there were about 90 seconds left when John missed an easy red over the middle that RKB seized his chance and sneaked past John to win 153-143 at the bell. Up second, were Phil Hirst against Littlemoor's in form Graham Tudor. This one was a little more like "one way traffic", with Graham winning well 200-152 to put his side back in a strong position, particularly for the double aggregate point. 

Next up, were home man John Hirst and myself. My good running for this season continued early on and at one stage, assisted by a handful of outrageous flukes, I was nearly 50 in front. However, John persevered really well and drew back to just about level, when the running changed again. Then, with some renewed confidence, he waltzed past me to deservedly win 200-189. Congs captain, Dave Hirst's form has been excellent recently, and having gone back to his old cue, it's won him his last six league matches. Knowing a big win was needed, to try secure the double aggregate point, he set off well against Ralph Allan. This was another "one way traffic" affair. The running was mostly with Dave and although Ralph tried hard, things just didn't go his way at all. Dave therefore ran out confidently to win by a convincing 200-138, but it wasn't quite enough to pull back the double aggregate after Littlemoor's 52 point win in the corresponding fixture in January. Littlemoor had Graham Tudor to thank for his 48 point win earlier to keep that point in their pocket. 

I asked our interested spectator, John Rider, if he had learned anything in watching most of the match. His response was "Yes, quite a few things... but nothing from you"! Thanks John, I suppose I walked myself straight into that one...

This coming week, Congs will make a visit to Bradford Deaf's current venue of Windhill and Daisy Hill Cricket Club (6:30pm start please). Littlemoor have home advantage to Princeville and there's a derby at St Andrews. Good luck.

By David Howarth

Secretary