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It was a case of double delight for Hills Lane A and Shifnal
F last week as the Telford Snooker League season drew to a
close with the finals of the two cup competitions.
Having retained their first division title for a fourth successive
season, Hills Lane were looking to add the Team Knockout Cup
(sponsored by Paul The Window Cleaner) to their trophy cabinet
when they took on third division Bayley D in the final at
Shifnal War Memorial Club.
Despite receiving a 150 point handicap the Bayley started
the day as underdogs and as it turned out not even captain
Steve Lane's lucky red socks couldn't help them as their first
division opponents turned on the style to comfortably secure
a famous league and cup double.
Matt Bailey set about reducing the Bayley's initial lead
with a solid 69-33 win over Dave Williams before captain Ian
Duffy put the Madeley side within touching distance with an
accomplished performance - taking the next frame by 80 points
against the Ice Man Bill France.
Shaun Harris has been in superb form this season winning
the most wins in division one as well as the highest league
break when he missed out on a century by just a single point
a few weeks ago. So it was with some trepidation that Bayley
captain Steve Lane stepped up to try to try to stem the tide.
Alas his efforts were to no avail as Shaun knocked in a run
of 46 with his first visit to the table and quickly followed
that with a 31 break to put his side into an overall lead.
It was a lead they never looked like surrendering as Matthew
Davies continued in the same vane with a 42 break on the way
to defeating Darren Rhoades leaving Darren Pountney to wrap
things up with a 54-48 win over Brian Aberdeen in the last.
The Madeley side were not the only team looking to secure
a league and cup double that evening - as just down the M54
at the Bayley Club Shifnal F were attempting to add the Consolation
Cup to the second division title they had clinched a week
earlier.
Their opponents in the final were third division Maddocks
D - and they set about protecting their 95 point handicap right
up to the final frame of an intriguing contest.
Spencer Rowley's 57-46 win over Colin Smith reduced Maddocks'
lead to 84 points and a tight second frame also went Shifnal's
way as Chris Painter edged out Brendan Wincott by 51 points
to 43.
Wally Harper was in devastating form in the next frame as
he finished off a superb display against Maddocks captain
Roy Lowe with a 25 clearance to put Shifnal in front overall.
But any thoughts the Islander's had of clinching the trophy
were put on hold as Ken Davies potted some brilliant balls
- including an almost impossible black along the bottom rail
- before defeating the unflappable Dave Peplow by two points,
57 to 55.
Shifnal's overall points advantage was now just eleven points
as Nev Whitehead took on Mick Wincott in the final frame.
And although Mick put together some fine snooker in the early
stages of the frame, Nev kept his nerve and potted the final
red to leave the Maddocks player requiring a snooker before
taking the frame and match by 58 points to 23 to add the Consolation
Cup to Shifnal's ever-growing trophy cabinet.
STEVE FLETCHER
Steve.Fletcher@telfordsnooker.com
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