WEEKLY UPDATE 21st DECEMBER 2023

The last update of 2023 and so on behalf of the League Committee I would like to wish all players and web site visitors a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Successful New Year 

Not much action on the tables this week but plenty of shenanigans off it. The draw showed, that in the preliminary rounds of the Individual Billiards and Snooker competitions, there would be two snooker games and one billiards at Princeville, with the other billiards being at Littlemoor. (Peter Turner and Jeremy Dixon might be inclined congratulate themselves on being the only ones to play their match as drawn!!) First Ralph Allan relinquished home advantage, requesting to play Trevor Kershaw at Princeville, rather than opening up at Littlemoor for just the one game. Then John Bedford advised that he and Richard Bowes had postponed their snooker match until 20th February, when both would be playing pairs at Princeville, and would play the snooker on the same night. Then Peter Wood damaged his back playing football over the weekend and request postponement of his billiards against Stephen Kershaw. I still went along to referee for Trevor and Ralph, only to see later on Facebook that Richard Bowes and John Bedford had actually played their snooker, but at Pudsey Congs.

So what happened in games actually played. Peter and Jeremy go started first at Princeville, with Jeremy going in off at the break to add to Peter's 42 point handicap advantage. Another in off later in the frame, plus some good pots from Peter saw the home man take the first frame with three colours remaining. Trevor and Ralph both got going early, as the second table offered more encouragement than in some weeks. Ralph's first scoring visit was a break of 19, to add to his 80 point handicap advantage and both players seemed to score as every visit as the scoreboard rattled along. An excellent 39 break by Trevor (13 in off reds with the white in baulk)  reduced the deficit to around 50, which Ralph maintained until the 50 minute mark - although still about 25 short of the 200 target. With the clock not in play in this competition the game continued, as the cushions started to attract the balls, as often seems to happen on this table as the evening progresses, and the scoring slowed somewhat with Trevor gradually catching up, and after a bout of safety play, Ralph needed 11 and Trevor around 30. Trevor's opportunity seemed to have arrived but an unfortunate cover followed by a miscue prevented a break developing and Ralph got the 11 required for victory, in a match which had lasted about 70 minutes.

On the other table the snooker was still going on, as Jeremy had dug in to take the second frame and after about another 15 minutes he took the third as well, to complete his recovery and a 2 - 1 victory. Information I've received about the game at Congs, says that Richard Bowes also came from a frame down to beat John Bedford and included breaks of 30 and 31 twice in doing so. In the final frame, Richard only won it on the black, with John telling me that he had missed an opportunity to pot the final black that he cannot forgive himself for. Hopefully he will have got over it by the time the league program recommences on 2nd January. It's a derby week at Princeville, while the Deaf Centre teams visit Pudsey

Stephen Kershaw

Secretary

 WEEKLY UPDATE 17th DECEMBER 2023

It's been another bad week for the Princeville teams - particularly the A and C teams, who failed to pick up a point between them for the second week in succession, once again against the two teams from the Deaf Centre. Princeville C have now had three nil's in a row and the A team three in the last four matches - roll on Christmas!!

At Pudsey things looked brighter for Princeville  B and D, when they took three of the first four points available, and only missed out on the fourth when Peter Allan made 29 points from his last two visits, to sneak in front of Peter Turner at the bell - but two big wins for Pudsey, at the top of the order in both matches, saw Princeville B unable to add to John Bedford's win in the opening game, while Dave Howarth's win, against Chris Jarvis, took the aggregate point as well for Pudsey A to secure a 2 - 2 score line against Princeville D.

The highlight of the evening at Princeville was a 30 break for Deaf Centre B's Peter Wood, which puts him in pole position for the higher handicap break prize. Princeville C's Keith Tomlinson was the closest to stopping Deaf Centre A's charge - losing by just 9 points, but most of the other wins for the visitors were by fairly comfortable margins.

I've not been able to load the scorecards for the last two weeks and I don't really know why but I'm hoping for further tuition from James Butcher early in the New Year and so hopefully I will be able to catch up then. They are however on the Facebook page

Deaf Centre A have now moved level with Pudsey A on 20 points at the top of the table, with Princeville D in third on 18. Deaf Centre B remain in touch on 16 but there is then a 5 point gap, which the four teams in the bottom half of the table will struggle to bridge in the second half of the season - which starts on 2nd January

This coming week is the preliminary round of the Individual Billiards and Snooker competitions and it looked like all four games would be at Princeville, after and Ralph Allan switched his billiards match there against Trevor Kershaw, rather than opening up at Littlemoor for one game. However, John Bedford and Richard Bowes, who will both be in action at Princeville in the Preliminary Round of the Billiards Pairs on 20th February, have decided to play their snooker match on the same night rather than this week - that could be quite a long evening!! 

So this Tuesdays matches are 

Billiards

T Kershaw v R Allan

S Kershaw v P Wood

Snooker

P Turner v J Dixon

Stephen Kershaw

Secretary

 WEEKLY UPDATE 9th DECEMBER 2023

It was a bad week for the Princeville teams this week, with the four teams picking up only 2 points between them. Perhaps the most surprising, and most damaging, defeat was the D team's 3 - 1 defeat to Pudsey A, who leapfrogged them to lead the table. Deaf Centre A's 4 - 0 victory over Princeville A allowed them to join Princeville D on 16 points, one point behind the new leaders. Deaf Centre B are on 12 after a 4 - 0 win against Princeville C and therefore retain some interest at the top, but the rest are grouped together between 8 and 10 points with a lot of ground to make up over the remaining 8 fixtures.

Pudsey A's 3 - 1 win follows two 4 - 0 victories in the previous two weeks, and this one could also have been 4 - 0 until Mick Cockcroft secured a point for the home team in the last game. At the Deaf Centre, nobody in the Princeville A team ever threatened to stop the home teams march but Peter O'Connell's single pointy victory over Keith Tomlinson, in the first game of the other match, did not suggest a 4 - 0 home victory for Deaf Centre B, who had only picked up one point in the previous three matches. In the other match at Princeville, John Bedford got the B team off to a good start but Richard Bowes breaks of 57 and 31 secured an advantage for the visitors, before Dave Howarth just overhauled Peter Turner's handicap advantage in the closing stages, to secure a first win of the season for Pudsey B

This coming week the Pudsey teams have home advantage, with the league leaders meeting Princeville B, while second placed Princeville D will play Pudsey B. Deaf A who are also joint second visit Princeville C, while Princeville A will entertain Deaf Centre B

At this week's :League Committee Meeting the draws were made for the preliminary and first rounds of the Individual and Pairs competitions, with the preliminary round of the Individual Billiards and Snooker to be played on 19th December. The draws can be found on the Merit and Pairs page and a video of the draws can be found on the Facebook page. Anyone unable to play on 19th December should re-arrange their match, either for 20th February, when the first round of the Pairs is being played, or for a mutually agreed date before then. A player drawn at home who cannot play on 19th December or 20th February will forfeit home advantage

Stephen Kershaw

Secretary