St Andrews staged the Individual Merit semi-finals this week. My first job is to apologise about the fact that I couldn't be there - I was needed at Littlemoor to referee a Pairs semi-final match in the Bradford League. 

The news I have from St Andrews is that Richard Bowes beat Neil Lee 200-142 and in doing so, he made two breaks of 44 and 42. In the other semi-final, Dave Hirst beat John Bedford 200-164. 

At the last League meeting at the end of April, we decided that as Littlemoor would possibly be available on Thursday the 22nd (and definitely on Friday the 23rd May), we chose it as being the venue for the Individual Merit final and presentation evening... It's the most popular venue amongst the majority of you, mainly because of it's ability to provide good refreshments. 

Please be aware that we DO NOT make any firm plans at the start of the season for where the Presentation Evening will be, as Littlemoor's availability is often in doubt at this time of the year, due to the crown green bowls being in full swing. So, at the league meeting, and in the knowledge that should Richard win his semi-final; and that he would be unlikely to attend the presentation evening; we took the decision that the two losing semi-finalists should have a 'qualifying play-off game' to decide who would play in the final on the presentation evening. Without having a 'play-off' in this situation, we wouldn't have had a final to stage, and would probably have had to award a 'walk-over'... not an ideal situation, but it's far better than having no billiards to stage on the night. 

In the game between the two losing semi-finalists, it was John Bedford who was the winner. I am unaware of the scores in that one. So, the finalists for the Individual Merit next Thursday the 22nd are David Hirst and John Bedford. 

We do hope to see you all there... pie and peas will be available, in addition to the usual liquid refreshments and I do still need to know from some of you team captains how many attendees you are likely to have, so we know how many pies to buy!

David Howarth

League Secretary