WEEKLY UPDATE 24 APRIL 2025

Individual Billiards quarter finals this week with 3 games played at Princeville. In the one not at Princeville, Sid Ash made home advantage count and beat Richard Bowes 200-178, despite Richard's best efforts with breaks of 48, 39 and 33!!

Two games had started at Princeville when I arrived, but I'm told that John Bedford (who started with a 95 point handicap advantage), opened up with a break of 17, which was quickly followed by a 38 from Chris Jarvis. On the other table, I'm told that Jeremy Dixon had included a 10 shot in the early exchanges (fish & chips anybody?) while Ian Ford 'was being Ian Ford!!'

Jeremy Dixon was still 60 points adrift when I arrived, but seemed to be pursuing relentlessly, without any significant breaks. Scores were level at about 160 and a win for Jeremy looked in the bag. John Bedford meanwhile was playing very nicely and, with Chris getting few opportunities, was still 80 points up at 160. He continued to add to his lead, until a late chance for Chris produced a run into the 20's, but it was too little too late and another nice run saw John winning 200-97. It had become scrappy fayre on the other table, as neither player was able to make the decisive move, and Jeremy eventually scrapped home 200-190

The third game started quite even on handicap, as Gareth Kershaw trailed Peter Allan by only 5. Gareth was soon in front, with both players looking good for their handicaps in the early stage. Gareth was scoring just a few more points in each exchange and managed to pull comfortably ahead. Mid game however there was a long dry spell for both players with little to play at - sometimes by design and sometime by accident. However, Gareth got going again first and led by 30, needing only 8 more. Peter then got a few chances to set the nerves jangling, but Gareth eventually got out by 15.

This coming week (29th) is the Snooker quarter finals, with 2 games at Princeville having been brought forward to Thursday (24th) due to holidays. John Bedford tells me he is hoping to play Richard Bowes at another venue (?),  while Ralph Allan and holder Chris Jarvis are drawn to play at Pudsey (bowls permitting!!).

Stephen Kershaw

Secretary

 WEEKLY UPDATE 22 APRIL 2025

Congratulations to Pudsey B, who this week won the Play Off competition, to add to the league championship trophy they won earlier this year. They beat Princeville C  4 - 0 in this week's Play Off final at Littlemoor but the result was rather closer than the score line suggest - Graham Tudor beat Graham Bentley by 2 and then Sid Ash beat Keith Tomlinson by 22, leaving Princeville's Paul Devitt with a deficit of only 24 points to make up, going in to the final game against Dave Howarth (on top of a handicap difference of 65) As things turned out Dave won the game by35 thus avoiding the need for a shoot out.

Dave's report on the match is as follows:

The two Graham's (Tudor and Bentley) started first. It was a bit of a see-saw game where both had a lead of about 20 at different stages. So it could have gone either way, but Graham T just snatched it at the end.

Sid (Ash) caught Keith (Tomlinson) up quite early on, but couldn't maintain any sort of a lead & so we witnessed another nip & tuck affair for quite a long way. It was only in the last 2-3 minutes when Sid played his best billiards to win by 22.

In the game between Paul (Devitt) & me, it was a slow burner, with Paul threatening to catch me around the middle of the game, as he got to within about 25, after maybe 3 breaks into double figures and not much in reply from me. However, on a notoriously quirky table, he later struggled to make enough at each visit to get "too close for comfort". I definitely then had the better of the running towards the 15 minutes to go stage, when Paul was now having to try increase his tempo. The dwindling time was definitely still on my side. The 35 point win for me makes it look quite comfortable; but I was only confident of success when there was only 3-4 minutes left and I had increased my lead with a 15 break. The 65 point handicap difference between us, plus the 24 points advantage from the previous 2 games probably left Paul with a bit too much to do in the allotted 50 minutes.

This coming week is the quarter finals of the Individual Billiards Competition with 3 games at Princeville on Tuesday, including one between Ian Ford and Jeremy Dixon from the Deaf Centre. In the other two games Gareth Kershaw plays Peter Allan and Chris Jarvis plays John Bedford. In the game not at Princeville, Sid Ash has home advantage against Richard Bowes. The following week is the Individual Snooker semi finals, but 2 of the games have been brought forward to this coming Thursday (24th) to accommodate holidays. I will be playing Gareth Kershaw and Mick Cockcroft has home advantage against Brian Robinson. The other Snooker matches on Tuesday 29th are John Bedford against Richard Bowes and Ralph Allan against Chris Jarvis.

With all team matches having now been completed the H Kershaw Memorial; Trophy scratch competition has been arranged for Wednesday 14th May and invitations will be issued this week

Stephen Kershaw

Secretary

 WEEKLY UPDATE 13 APRIL 2025

Pairs Quarter Finals this week - three at Princeville and one at Pudsey.

At Princeville the action started on Monday, with Trevor and Gareth Kershaw playing Jeremy Dixon and Ian Ford. The first game was close, with Gareth eventually beating Ian by 6, before Trevor stormed to a 400-267 victory over Jeremy, including breaks of 39 and 30. Trevor commented afterwards that he hasn't played much better than that in a long time. (Looks like the right time of the season to be coming into form!!). Sid Ash has been in good form all season, and it continued on Tuesday against Brain Robinson. I was refereeing on the other table but Sid seemed to be in play every time I looked across. Brain only got to 143 and most of those seemed to come after Sid had passed 180. There was then a bit of a marathon session, as Ihjaz Hussain attempted to repair the damage against John Allan. A 37 break at one stage helped Ihjaz along the way but John held on to win 400-376.

It would be fair to say that it was a very slow start to the first game on the other table, as both Edward Lawson and Ralph Allan both struggled to get the scoreboard moving. Edward gradually started to pull away and a win by 40+  looked on the cards as he passed 180, but then Ralph suddenly looked a completely different player as he came charging through towards the end, and Edward had to rely on a rather fortunate 6 shot (balls in two different pockets ) to get home by 3. This left me starting 190-147 in front, against Richard Bowes, and chances seemed to come my way to add to this lead in the early stages. Richard's 46 break (14 in-off reds with the white ball stuck in baulk) made me think that maybe I hadn't made enough from those early chances, but Richard wasn't able to conjure up another significant break and I sneaked home 400-380.

Dave Howarth provided the following report on the match at Pudsey:

Peter (Allan) started quite well helped by a few trademark flukes, but once Mick (Cockcroft) got his eye in, also assisted by some handy running, he eventually closed in on Pete around the 175 mark & finished the game off well (201-186 to Mick).

In my game, both Chris (Jarvis) & I scratched around for a while, but after about 10 minutes, our scoring became more frequent. I was able to maintain a decent lead for a fair way, until Chris made a well worked 36 break, which got him to within about 20. He then caught & just passed me around 372. This set things up for, what ended up being a nervy finish. Both of us spurned some fairly easy chances with the winning post in sight. I think I just had the slightly better running at the end to sneak me home. It could quite easily have gone the other way though. At 400-393 Mick & Chris can consider themselves to be a bit unlucky.

This coming week is the final of the Play Off competition between Pudsey B and Princeville C. To avoid a clash with a bowls match at Littlemoor on Tuesday, the match has been switched to Thursday. Good luck to both teams who finished first and second in this season's league table.

The following week (22nd April) is the quarter finals of the Individual Billiards competition and, as far as I know, all four games are being played on the scheduled Tuesday evening date, but the Individual Snooker quarter finals the following week, clash with a couple of holiday commitments, so two of the games at Princeville are being played ahead of schedule on Thursday 24th April.

Stephen Kershaw

Secretary

 WEEKLY UPDATE 7TH APRIL 2025

Firstly apologies for the late update - a combination of the nice weather and a busy weekend

This is the third year, of the end of season Play Offs, and the first time that the teams finishing first and second in the league table have also reached the Play Off Final. Champions Pudsey B have taken a pretty straightforward route, beating Deaf Centre B 3 - 1 in the Qualification Play Off and Deaf Centre A 4 - 0 in last weeks semi final. Princeville C, who finished second in the regular season, have taken a more circuitous route to the final. Missing captain Keith Tomlinson, they lost their Qualification Play off 3 - 1 at home to Pudsey A, who therefore took the home semi final spot. Princeville C's captain returned, however, for the quarter final, and led from the front as he won by 68, playing first against Princeville A, before his teammates completed a 3 - 1 victory. In the semi finals they came up against Pudsey A again, but not in a repeat of the original fixture, as this time it was the Pudsey team with home advantage. Princeville's captain again got them off to winning start, for another 3 - 1 victory. So the final will be Pudsey B against Princeville C, and is scheduled for Tuesday 15th April, but as there is a bowls match at Littlemoor that night, and so we are currently looking to agree an alternative date.

I am indebted to Dave Howarth for the following report on the two semi finals

Pudsey A v Princeville C

Peter (Allan) said his own game wasn't really up to scratch as he lost by 27 to Keith Tomlinson. Ralph (Allan) said the games between him & Graham (Bentley) are always close & he just edged it. Despite an early 46 break, John (Allan) said he did very little afterward that & said there wasn't much left for him to go at, plus he said Paul (Devitt) played tactically very well to ensure his lead was maintained. (3-1 to Princeville C)

In our match (Pudsey B v Deaf Centre A), Sid (Ash) played well after a slow start. A 24 break got him back in front & although Peter (O'Connell) threatened to re-take the lead, he didn't quite get there. Sid played his best billiards close to the end to extend his lead to win nicely.

Graham (Tudor)'s visits to the table were generally more productive than Brian (Robinson)'s. However, Brian somehow managed to stay in touch. It was a nail-biting finish but Graham just clung on.

In my game, it took me a few visits to get some composure & this gave Ihjaz (Hussain) a few chances. He got to within about 5 points adrift. But then once I'd managed to string a few shots together, the running then changed & stayed with me. I established a lead which was around 40+ at one stage with 3 or 4 double figure breaks, followed up with very little to go at for Ihjaz. I then adopted a tactically safe game when the time was running out & Ihjaz then probably played his best billiards, when doing his best to get back in. But the lead was just too much for him to claw it all back. The 4-0 scoreline makes it look like we won easily, but I only felt confident about it with about 5 minutes to spare.

This coming week (8th April) sees the Quarter Finals of the Billiards Pairs competition. Trevor & Gareth Kershaw have brought their match against Jeremy Dixon and Ian Ford forward to Monday, to accommodate a theatre visit on Tuesday, leaving space for two matches at Princeville on Tuesday - Ihjaz Hussain & Brian Robinson v John Allan & Sid Ash and Richard Bowes & Ralph Allan v Stephen Kershaw & Edward Lawson. The other quarter final, at Pudsey, is Dave Howarth & Peter Allan against holders Chris Jarvis & Mick Cockcroft.

The draws for the Individual Billiards and Snooker Quarter Finals were made last week and if you've not seen them on Facebook, they are now showing on the Merit and Pairs page. I am also able to confirm that the Finals Night and Prize Presentation on Tuesday 20th May will again be held at Gt Horton Conservative Club and we are very grateful to the club for again hosting our end of season event. Spectators will be welcome

Stephen Kershaw

Secretary