STAFFS INTERLEAGUE ELITE DIVISION MATCH 6

STAFFORD SUNDAY v TRENT TROPHIES B @RILEYS (29/7/2011)

Stafford Sunday entertained a strong TTB side filled with County A & B players at Rileys in their latest Interleague match. The Stafford side were missing 5 players through work, family and personal commitments.

Mark Billingsley returned to the side at the last minute to help out and was put in the first 2 and returned a fine win against Carl Hough to get the Stafford lads up and going. Dave Barker pulled off a break and dish in frame 3 against Dave Jackson to put Stafford 2-1 up. Then the TTB showed their quality as they ran off 4 frames on the bounce (incl a 'dish' from Paul Powell) with clinical efficiency. Mike Barker then stopped the rot with a fine clearance against Mark Buckley to make it 5-3 but Tom Tonna wasted a good opportunity to beat an experienced John Clowes and the Stafford lads went in at 6-3 down.

The second half needed a good start but both Simm and Billingsley failed although the latter was a fraction away from a fine clearance. It was again left to the experience of Dave Barker and, for the second time on the night, cleared the table (off a dry break) to record another 'dish' against Ryan Cope. That made it 8-4 down. Finney was on next but his dry break let Carl Hough in and he repeated what Dave Barker did in the previous frame. John Clowes, in the next frame, put the match beyond doubt as he cleared up against Mick Addison. Captain Dave Whitfield then clawed one back against opposite capt Dan Rush to make it 10-5 down. Again TTB came back with another 'dish', this time it was Kev Brown who just held his cue and watched Paul Powell record his 2nd dish of the night.

However, Stafford managed to win the last 2 frames to put some respectability on the scoreline. Tom Tonna made amends for his earlier disappointment, beating Kieran Boulton, while Mike Barker recorded a fine win over County A player Lee Hammersley. This made the final score an 11-7 loss.

MOTM goes to Dave Barker for his 2 'dishes' on the night although his brother Mike pressed hard all the way. The match was played to a high standard (5 dishes) and Stafford can't complain with the result but there were some positives from the match and the team will need to take these into the next 3 matches which will decide the outcome of its Elite division status.

STAFFORD SUNDAY DOUBLES FINALS NIGHT

To be held @Rileys on Sunday 31st July 2011

7:45pm Draw, 8:00pm Start, 8:15pm Scratch.

Players attending are-

1. Daz Waters & Tim Teece (Joiners Arms A)

2. Dave Ashton & Bob Lycett (Rickerscote Arms C)

3. Paul Shepard & Simon Davies (Joiners Arms A)

4. Rob Wharne & Steve Finney (Rileys Cue / Rileys Cue T's)

Formatt for Evening is

SEMI FINAL - Best of FIVE Frames (£15 each for losing SF)

GRAND FINAL - Best of SEVEN Frames (£50 each Winners, £25 each R/up)

Good Luck to all the Finalists!!

STAFFORD SUNDAY POOL LEAGUE FINALS NIGHT

Played @Rileys, Stafford on Sunday 24th July 2011.

Rob Wharne of Rileys Cue defended his Singles Title in style with an emphatic display of potting on Finals night. He ran away with the title in the Final with a 5-0 victory over fellow teammate Dave Whitfield. It was the Dave Whitfield's first appearance in a Singles Final in 26 years of playing League Pool, and probably felt the occasion had got the better of him. However, playing aginst a player who in the last 12 months has become National Amateur Champion, IPA Club Open winner, World Masters Runner-up and also had England Trials was inevitably going to be a tall order. Rob's performance in the Final was faultless and simply overpowering as he cleared in one visit on 4 occasions leaving Dave Whitfield only a couple of chances throughout.

The Finals night, which started at the Quarter Final stage, unfortunately was missing 2 players, as they couldn't make it for various reasons. As a result Rob Wharne and Dave Barker received walkovers into the semis. This left Lee Whitehouse (Tap) drawn against Simon Davies (Joiners A). The former was in his first Finals and showed good form running out a 3-0 winner. Dave Whitfield was paired against Craig Parsons (Rileys) and after a nervy start the former came away with a 3-1 success, Parsons did have a dish in frame 3 of a somewhat nervous match!

The Semi Finals saw Rob Wharne pair up against Fellow Rileys Cue teammate Dave Barker (2009 winner). This match amazingly saw some uncharacteristic mistakes and an element of good fortune between 2 established players. However it was the consistent fine potting by Wharne that saw him home to a 4-1 success.

The other semi saw Lee Whitehouse pair against Dave Whitfield and this proved to be a much closer match. Both players played to quite a high standard as Whitfield took the first frame but back came Whitehouse who took the next two. This brought Whitfield to life and he cleared up in 3 consecutive frames to clinch a place in the Final after winning 4-2 for the first time.

In the Final though Whitfield struggled to maintain his form and Rob Wharne capitalised on this and deservedly became the Stafford Sunday Pool League Champion for the 2nd year running.

STAFFORD pool star Rob Wharne came close to pulling off a memorable win in the recent World Masters Pool Championships at Blackpool.

The 25-year-old battled through several rounds of 8-ball action, seeing off many big name players, to reach the final of the Masters, held during the World Championships at the Imperial Hotel.

Wharne eased to 7-0 and 7-1 victories in the opening rounds, seeing off the challenges of Scotsman Paul McGowan and Rob Oldfield respectively. Narrow 7-6 wins followed over Jonathan Bushnell and national trick-shot champion, Welshman Wayne Smith, before Wharne earned a place in the quarter-finals with an 8-4 success against Clint Azzopardi of Malta.

That set up a clash against Humberside’s Craig Waddington and, in a thrilling encounter, last year’s National amateur champion, Wharne, edged home 8-7. In the semi-finals, Wharne faced his toughest test yet against 2010 world champion Mick Hill, but there was no stopping the Stafford based player, who is keener than ever to turn professional.

Wharne, who turns out regularly for the Trent Trophies A side in the Potteries alongside the likes of newly crowned world champion, Adam Davis, pulled off a stunning 9-2 triumph against Hill to earn a final clash against West Midlands born Neil Raybone in the final.

Although trailing 4-1 early on, Wharne again showed his great battling qualities, hitting back to level at 4-4, but it was Raybone who emerged a 10-5 victor. Wharne, currently ranked just outside the top 40 in the country, still regularly turns out on the local scene for Rileys Cue and is the reigning Stafford singles champion. He is also an established snooker player.

“Rob is a great player and remains keen to turn professional, but just needs someone to back him. I hope someone comes along and gives him the opportunity,” said Rileys Cue team mate Dave Whitfield.

STAFFORD SUNDAY POOL SINGLES FINALS NIGHT

24TH JULY 2011 @ RILEYS, STAFFORD. (4 tables to be used)

7:25pm - DRAW TO BE MADE, 7:30pm - START, (7:45pm SCRATCH)

PLAYERS ATTENDING

1. SIMON DAVIES (Joiners Arms A) 

2. CRAIG PARSONS (Rileys)

3. CHRIS NOLAN (Metropolitan Bar)

4. DAVE WHITFIELD (Rileys Cue)

5. DAVE BARKER (Rileys Cue)

6. ROBERT WHARNE (Rileys Cue)

7. LEE WHITEHOUSE (Tap n Spile)

8. JOHN GROBNIK (Rileys C)

Format for evening for each Round will be:

QUARTER FINAL - Best of FIVE Frames (£10 for losing QF) 

SEMI FINAL - Best of SEVEN Frames (£25 for losing SF)

GRAND FINAL - Best of NINE Frames (£50 for RU, £100 for WINNER)

GOOD LUCK TO ALL FINALISTS!!

The fixtures for the new 2011 Summer League are now online. 29 teams compete across 5 groups with the first set of matches on 7th August. There is currently one place available in Group C for any new teams who wish to enter. Group A appears to be the group of death this year as it contains 5 first division teams from the last Winter season. There are no fixtures on 28th August due to the Bank Holiday. Also, this year's AGM is scheduled for Sunday 25th September - part-way through the Summer season. The Knockout stage of the competition will start on 30th October.

STAFFORD SUNDAY POOL 3RD ROUND AND QUARTER FINAL DRAW DETAILS

THE DRAW FOR BOTH THE 3RD ROUND AND QUARTER FINAL ARE NOW ONLINE. 16 REMAINING DOUBLES TO BE PLAYED DOWN TO FOUR THEN TO GO THROUGH TO THE SEMI FINALS (to be played on 31/07/2011). Both rounds best of three frames. 8:00pm start, 8:15 scratch.

STAFFS INTERLEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION MATCH 5

TRENT TROPHIES PLAYERS v STAFFORD BLAZE (24/6/2011)

The Blaze travelled to Players in Newcastle to play table-topping TT Players in their latest Inter-league game.  If the game wasn’t difficult enough - losing John Grobnik & Scott Haidarovic shortly before the game made it that little bit harder.  However, skipper Lee Haidarovic still had the bare nine fit players raring to upset the odds.

First up for the Blaze was Skipper Lee Haidarovic and Dave Baker but unfortunately after blazing out of the starting blocks with a five pots at his first visit, Lee started to get tied up by a very experienced opponent who played four consecutive snookers that, even though Lee got out of them all, couldn’t prevent the TTP player from manipulating the game to his advantage and, after a few visits, it was the TTP player that sunk the black to give the home side a winning start.  Meanwhile, on the other table Blaze’s Dave Baker also couldn’t find that finishing line and let the TTP in which was enough to make the score 2-0.  This was followed by a third straight loss meaning, at 3-0 down, the writing was on the wall for a long night ahead.  However, then came a change of fortune as, by good play or fantastic rub of the baize, Stafford pulled off 5 wins out of the next 6 frames with Chris Broomhall, Simon Davies, Ian Lewis, Paul Loughhead & Craig Parsons all winning to make the half time score 5-4 to the Blaze!

The second half was the total opposite to the first as the Blaze ran out the blocks by taking the first two frames courtesy of Ant Whitehead and the impressive Simon Davies. However, Lee Haidarovic & Dave Baker couldn’t keep the run going with the former hitting a dry break which was punished immediately.  The next four frames were shared as Craig Parsons & Chris Broomhall both won their second frames of the night (but hopefully not using up all their luck in the process) with the unlucky Paul Loughhead and Spencer Trow losing.  This meant all eyes were on Ian Lewis in the final frame with the score poised at 9-8 to the Blaze.  Ian (after earlier winning his first match of the season) seemed to be in control but good play from his experienced opponent turned the tide.  However, another great visit saw the momentum shift to the Blaze player’s side.  Unfortunately, after being given two shots, with only his last colour and the Black ball left, Ian uncharacteristically missed the chance to finish off his opponent and it was duly punished, making the final score a respectable 9-9 draw, even though the win was in sight.

MOM tonight goes to Simon Davies after winning both of his games against County level players.

Next up is a trip to the Baize for a return match against rivals Baize which will be interesting.....

STAFFS INTERLEAGUE ELITE DIVISION MATCH 5

STAFFORD SUNDAY v TRENT TROPHIES A @ RILEYS (24/6/2011)

Stafford Sunday made a good start to their recent Interleague fixture when Steve Finney beat Liam White in the 1st frame of the evening after a tactical battle had developed. The away team then strung together a couple of wins before Mike Barker stunned Gaz Potts with an 8-ball clearance after each player had made a visit to the table. Dave Barker then copied his brother with his own 8-ball clearance against Andy Lightfoot. Al Simm claimed the final frame of the 1st half after a short tactical exchange with Ade Proctor to keep the Stafford side in touching distance at 5-4 down.

TTA started to show their class after the break as the Sunday team struggled to take advantage of any chances that were presented. Mike Barker again showed the way with a break and dish against Steve Bridgewood. But that was the only success for the home team before Al Simm claimed the final frame, beating Andy Lightfoot, after a safety exchange mid-frame. The final match result was a 12-6 defeat.

The positive news on the night was the welcome return to form of Mike Barker and Al Simm with Mike pipping Al to the man-of-the-match honour.

RILEYS, Sunday 19th June 2011. Referee Miss Lynda Simpson (League Treasurer)

FRAME 1. Div one average winner and County player Rob Wharne (Cue) started off the Final against Div two average winner Steve Finney (Cue T's) and it proved to be a grueller. Wharne who was in a bit of difficulty then started to get a stranglehold on the game and gradually gained the upper hand. After an exchange of tactical play, Finney decided to pot one of Wharne's remaining set but Wharne struggled to get on the black but then pulled off a great snooker and it looked as though Finney was in trouble. After much deliberation, Finney decided he had no choice but to go for it! He superbly potted his yellow off the side cushion and it flew into the centre. It then left him the easy task of potting his last yellow and black much to the delight of his team mates to put the Cue T's 1-0 up.

FRAME 2. Dave Barker (Cue) was then up against Clair Maslin (Cue T's) in the 2nd frame. Barker has been in these situations before, knowing he had to pull out a fine performance against a determined County Ladies player. Barker got off to an ideal start potting with fluency and when Maslin did come to the table she tried to stem the flow by tactical play. However, Barker was showing fine form and cleared the table well and levelled the scores much to the relief of his team mates.

FRAME 3. Mike Barker (Cue) was then paired against Russ Pibworth (Cue T's). A series of safety shots followed a dry break before Pibworth potted the first ball but failed to take the initiative. The experience of former County player Barker eventually started to appear as he took command of the table and patiently waited for a clear chance. A foul from Pibworth presented the opportunity for Barker and, although he left himself a long straight black into the corner, he dug deep to cue it perfectly and sink the black to put the Cuemen 2-1 up.  

FRAME 4. Kev Brown (Cue) then drew Dennis Kitchen (Cue T's) in the 4th frame. Brown has possibly played in more Team Ko finals then any other player in Sunday Pool history but he found it hard going at the start with Kitchen's reputation as a fine potter in evidence. However, Brown delved into his vast experience and started to slow and restrict Kitchen's chances until Brown failed to hit the cushion. This put Kitchen back in and he had a great chance to pot the black into the corner but amazingly missed it. Brown then tried to snooker him but left Kitchen another chance. Missing the previous chance seemed to play on his mind and again he missed it. This time Brown made no more mistakes and seized the moment and eventually sunk the black to give the Cuemen a 3-1 lead at the break.

FRAME 5. Dave Whitfield (Cue) was then paired against Steve Finney (Cue T's). The League Secretary was put in the 2nd half against 1st half winner Finney and after Whitfield had won the toss, he broke and unluckily found himself behind 2 balls  After an unsuccessful attempt, Finney went for the kill but then, after potting 5 yellows, he lost position. This forced him to play safe. Finney was in control and Whitfield tried to lay a snooker but left Finney a sighter. This forced his hand to go for the finish but he unfortunately snookered himself on his last colour. The resulting foul gave Whitfield 2 visits which helped to calm any nerves as he cleared the table and won the frame and match.

Martin Priestley (Cue) and Ainoa Villar (Cue Ts) did not play on the night but both contributed to each team's progress to the final. Just reaching the final was an excellent achievement in itself by 2nd division Cue Ts, having already beaten two top 5 first division teams on their journey. The victory meant that the Rileys Cue side achieved the Winter team double for the 2nd year running.

The draw for match position saw Scott Price for the Emerald Rebels first up against Georges' captain Ian Thomas. Scott won the toss and elected to break. However, after a dry break it was up to Ian Thomas to decide the colours he was going for and try to find a foothold in the game.  He managed to pot four in a row before leaving an awkward shot on his 5th ball in which he had no alternative but to try and cover a bag as the pot was not on. However, the shot could have been better and gave the Emerald player a chance to manipulate the game into his favour.  Scott delivered a swift four ball clearance on his own then played a safety shot knowing that another mistake could be costly, his idea worked to perfection as on his next visit he simply cleared the rest of his colours, however leaving a very difficult black.  But showing his class just got down and potted a very tight angled black into the middle pocket to claim first blood to the Rebels.

Next up drew Chris Broomhall (Rebels) vs Mark Davies (Georges) and after a few early exchanges it was the Rebels player that took command and should have cleared the table at his 3rd visit but snookered himself on the black which left him no option but to give the Georges' player two shots.  This was nearly fatal as great potting by Mark Davies almost clinched the game but a bad positional shot denied him the backup of two shots and he then missed a relatively simple penultimate colour which left a straight black for Chris Broomhall who made no mistake to make the score 2-0 to the Rebels.

Up next was in-form Lee Haidarovic (2nd in the Divisional averages) against N Sambrook.  The Rebels player won the toss and decided to break but after a dry break left the Georges player with the choice of colours.  However, once back to the table Lee started to manipulate the table to stop his opponent playing and this seemed to work as once Lee was given two shots, after the Georges player had potted his red to clear the bag covering the black, Lee got down and made a four ball clearance then the black ball to win and make it 3-0 to the Rebels.

The final 1st half draw saw the experienced pairing of Will Edge (Rebels) vs Matt Smith (Georges) with the latter knowing a defeat would finish the final early.  After a few tentative exchanges early on it was Matt that took command of the game, and got down to the black ball first whilst Will still had 6 colours to shift.  However this worked to Will’s advantage as in typical Will fashion he began to position and snooker his way to reverse the tide of the frame, and once Matt gave two shots at the right time, Will had no hesitation in sinking the remaining colours and the black to win the frame and the final for the Emerald Rebels.

Going through the tournament dropping only 1 frame speaks for itself that nobody could dispute the fact that the Rebels deserved their success.  Well done to the squad which included captain Brendon Ruttledge, Lee Haidarovic, Will Edge, Chris Broomhall and Scott Price for this achievement.

RILEYS CUE – LEAGUE CHAMPIONS FOR 3RD YEAR IN A ROW!

Rileys Cue became Division One Champions for the 3rd Season in a row, (also 5 times in 7 seasons). The team remained unbeaten throughout the league season and won by an impressive 17 points from their nearest challengers. The ‘Cuemen’ were led by Mike Barker alongside Dave Barker, Dave Whitfield, Rob Wharne, Martin Priestley and Kev Brown.

Rob Wharne also came away with the most wins with an impressive 33 wins from 36 games. He also had the most 8-balls in the league.

Runners up and early season pacesetters were Rileys A who were led by Giles Eastwood and had Andy Rawlinson, Jim Simpson and James Morrison performing well throughout the campaign.

At the other end of the table both the Bear and Pheasant A and Rileys will look for a swift return back to the top flight after dropping into the second division.

RICKERSCOTE A – DIV TWO CHAMPIONS and back after 2 year absence!

Rickerscote A gained promotion back to the top tier after winning the 2nd division title. The team won an impressive 16 matches out of 20, losing only once. Captain Mick Bryant led the way with Mark Sheerin, John Lainton, Steve Bradley and Phil Alldiss all contributing well.

Emerald Rebels wasted no time in returning to the top tier after one season in the 2nd div. Captain Brendon Ruttledge was ably supported by Lee Haidarovic, Will Edge and Chris Broomhall.

Steve Finney (Rileys Cue T’s) and Jimmy Carter (Staffs Bull B) both returned 31 wins out of 40 to secure the most wins in the division.

Derek Marley (Rileys Albion) achieved the most 8-balls.

Highfields Club and Bear & Pheasant B both suffered relegation to the 3rd division with Highfields' fate being dealt with on the final day of the campaign.

RILEYS ROCKETS – DIV THREE CHAMPIONS in their 2nd season

Rileys Rockets had to wait until the very last frame of the season to secure the 3rd div title. Only 3 points separated them from their nearest challengers, Oxleathers B. Dan Warrilow led the Rockets side along with Kev Warrilow, Al Jones, Liam Kiteley, John Reeves and Mark Malone.

Kev Warrilow came away with the most wins with an impressive 30 wins out of 34.

Oxleathers B gained promotion in their first season and should be proud of their efforts after only losing once all season. Captain Kev Moore was ably supported by Tim Sargeant, Alan May and Mark Challinor.

STAFFS INTERLEAGUE ELITE DIVISION MATCH 4

LEEK A v STAFFORD SUNDAY @ Prince of Wales, Leek (20/5/2011)

Stafford Sunday made the long journey to Leek with hopes of picking up the first point of the campaign after an encouraging performance against Cannock in Match 3.

However, after starting in a positive fashion with both Tom Tonna and Simon Key winning the first 2 frames, Stafford managed to press the self-destruct button. A catalogue of missed chances and debatable shot selection contributed to their own downfall. There were so many opportunities and chances to establish a healthy lead but only Dave Barker managed to win another frame in the first half. This left Stafford again trailing 6-3 and knowing they had to improve in the Second half.

It DID NOT happen and again missed opportunities and careless play set the tone for the second half. The only exceptions came from Dave Barker, Tom Tonna (both winning 2 on the night) and Mick Addison, who took their chances. Their performances clawed it back to 9-6 down but again Stafford faltered and succumbed to a 12-6 defeat.

The overall and underlying reasons were clearly evident for Stafford's loss in this fixture - NOT taking their chances when they are given to you and if collectively the team doesn't improve then their stay in this league will be a Short one!

Stafford's next match will be at Players Pool Club in the Interleague KO Cup. This will be played on Saturday 4th June and starts at 11:30am and will be played down to the Final.