WEEKLY UPDATE 11 FEBRUARY 2024

Congratulations to Pudsey A - who were crowned champions this week, after a 4 - 1 win against Princeville D, who themselves were one of three teams sat in joint second place. Both Deaf Centre teams were also joint second and both won 4 - 1 this week, but can't now catch Pudsey A who hold a 7 point lead with only one round of fixtures remaining

After this coming week's final round of fixtures there will be play off matches, which initially involve all eight teams and which will be played on alternate Tuesdays this year, with the Individual and Pairs competitions played on the week's in between. I have had a few questions about the play offs and so there is a separate post below, explaining the format and the new 'shoot out' arrangements for settling matches which end with a 2 - 2 score.

Pudsey A's quest for the title did not get off to the best of starts, as Peter Allan struggled to pull back Martyn Britton's 25 point handicap advantage. With about a minute to go Martyn still led by 16 and Peter was racing round the table as he compiled a break 14. With the bell about to sound, he played a cannon from red to top cushion to yellow, but struck the red slightly too thick, resulting in his ball striking the side cushion a little too soon and missing the yellow. Had he got it, it would have been the first tied game of the season.. Next up was Ralph Allan, who started 50 in front of Mick Cockcroft and then a made a break of 37 very early in the game. Flushed with this success he never looked back and won 237-110, to effectively collect not just his point but both aggregate points as well and with it the league title. The last game was another close one, as John Allan, who also had a break of 32, beat Chris Jarvis by only 8. So that's 5 games out of the last 6 for Pudsey A where the winning margin, for either side, has been less than 10. Fine margins - but well done Pudsey A.

The Deaf Centre teams slim hopes of still being able to catch Pudsey A where not helped when both teams lost there first games at Princeville. The A team's Ian Ford coming out second best in a very high scoring game with Edward Lawson, while Peter O'Connell for the B team,  lost by 9 to Dave Bowers, who came out of retirement to make his first league appearance of the season for Princeville C, deputising for Keith Tomlinson who has departed for one of his extended visits to family in Australia. That was as good as it got for the Princeville teams however, as Jeremy Dixon and Brian Robinson picked up all the remaining points for Deaf Centre A, with Edward Lawson putting in a second shift for Princeville A in Gareth Kershaw's absence, and Ihjaz Hussain and Peter Wood picking up all the remaining points for Deaf Centre B, despite Brain Haigh recording his first 30+ break of the season against the latter.

In the other game at Pudsey, Graham Tudor looked nothing like a man who has only recorded two wins all season, as he defeated John Bedford 202- 132. I then managed to make it 1 - 1, when a bit of good fortune at the end allowed me to edge out Dave Howarth 143-139, but Sid Ash then played nicely to take care of a big handicap deficit, in defeating Peter Turner, and this ensured that the four Princeville teams picked up just one point apiece this week.

In the final round of fixtures this coming week (13th February), champions Pudsey A visit Princeville B, while Princeville D entertain Pudsey B. At the Deaf Centre, the A team play Princeville C, while the B team meet Princeville A

On Friday night, Peter Wood and I played our Individual Billiards match postponed from before Christmas, and my good fortune from Tuesday continued in the early part of this game, before a break of 37 took me to 197, and a few visits later I was able to  complete a 200-166 victory. The next round of this competition will be played on 5th March - draw on the Meir and Pairs page. The preliminary round of the Pairs competition will be played on 20th February before the first round of the play offs on 27th - with all eight teams involved

Stephen Kershaw

Secretary