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.

STAFFS INTER-LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION MATCH 4

Stafford Blaze vs Leek (20/05/2011) @ Leek.

Stafford Blaze hosted Leek in the latest fixture of the Premier Inter-League season.  Once again skipper Lee Haidarovic did not have a full squad to choose from which has been very apparent since the beginning of the season.  Unavailable for this latest game included Craig Parsons & Kieron Johnson (work commitments); Ian Lewis (illness); Will Edge (personal reasons) & Lee Whitehouse (no show).  On a good note Spence Trow (the MVP player of last season) was persuaded into coming back and skipper Lee gave him a starting place at the expense of the captain.

The match started off like a horror show as, frame after frame, the Blaze fell further behind with reliable and experienced players all falling to their Leek counterparts whom went into a quickfire 4-0 then 5-1 lead.  However, Simon Davies (his first win of the season), Scott Haidarovic, Chris Broomhall & Brendon Ruttledge all kept their nerves to lead the fightback and go into the interval trailing 5-4.

The second half however was a carbon copy of the first half as Leek again stormed into a 4-0 then 5-1 lead. Again, the Blaze came back with successes for Spence Trow, Paul Loughhead, Simon Davies & Chris Broomhall (2 wins on the night).  Unfortunately, by the time Chris had won his game the match was already lost as on the other table the two captains squared up and Leek skipper Colin Leather (at his second visit) cleared the table to give the Leek side the win.

This latest setback should be fatal regarding a challenge for the title this season, next up for the Blaze is an away trip to Afford Players which will be another difficult task.

This match, held at St Georges, was brought forward due to a problem with the original scheduled date.

It was the Rickerscote team who flew out of the blocks going into a 2-0 lead before the Cue Ts hit back with two wins of their own, including an 8-ball from Steve Finney in the 4th frame, to share the spoils at the half-way stage.

Ricky A then reclaimed the lead by winning the first frame after the interval. Once again the Cue Ts hit back to level the score at 3-3 thus taking the tie into a final frame decider.

So, it was left to the captain of each team to battle it out and send their side into the final. Inevitably, for such a close match, the frame went down to a black ball game. Clair Maslin (Cue Ts) then had a chance at glory when she went for a difficult cut into a corner pocket but the black stayed up and, worse still for Clair, it stayed over the pocket. Up stepped Mick Bryant who seized his chance to pot the black ball but was agonisingly helpless as the cue ball followed it into the same pocket.

It completed a remarkable run to the final by the 2nd division team who had already dispatched two established 1st division teams (Rileys C and Hop Pole C) in the previous two rounds of the competition.

The Cue Ts now have a wait to see who they will play in the final. The other semi-final is due to be contested between Rileys Cue and Rileys A at the Rickerscote Arms on 12th June.

STAFFS INTER LEAGUE ELITE DIVISION MATCH THREE

Stafford Sunday v Cannock Chase @ Rileys 15th April

Stafford had the bare 9 players to pick from. 4 players dropped out during the week and so back came experienced Kev Brown, who was making his first start of the season as Stafford went in search of their first point of the campaign.

Simon Key got the Stafford lads off to a good start with a fine clearance and Steve Finney pulled off good win over County and Tour player Lee Grout. Captain Dave Whitfield, facing defeat was then given a chance and he duly took it with an 8 ball clearance to level it 3-3. However Cannock showed their quality and then raced into a 7-3 lead with Stafford looking at another poor defeat.

Simon Key then executed another great clearance along with Steve Finney as the Stafford lads fought back. Tom Tonna and Mick Addison also contributed with fine potting to level the tie at 7-7. The next 2 frames were of high quality with Dave Barker dishing off his opponent's dry break, while Dave Whitfield was on the receiving end against his opponent Rob Murray who also dished.

The scores were 8-8 going into the last 2 frames. Kev Brown was up against his Doubles partner Andy Rawlinson (who plays for Cannock) and it was the latter who came out on top to make it 9-8 to Cannock. So it came down to Mike Barker to salvage a draw. After an exchange of nervy shots, Barker had a chance but missed the black and let his opponent in to seize the chance and give Cannock a 10-8 victory.

This was a much improved performance by the lads and some notable performances stuck out, especially from Simon Key who was the MOM. Steve Finney also picked up a double on the night.

STAFFS INTER-LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION MATCH 3

Afford Plaza vs Stafford Blaze (15/04/2011) @ Fenton.

Stafford Blaze travelled to Fenton for their first away game of the new season against table topping Afford Plaza.  Skipper Lee Haidarovic had some work to do to even get a side for this game as no less than five players pulled out of the game within the past 24 hours.  Having said that, he did just that, by giving an earlier than scheduled debut to new signing Craig Parsons.

The first half of the match witnessed some high quality throughout, where only one mistake was needed to be on the losing end.  Up against a very good side, the Blaze found themselves a quickfire 7-1 down with only Chris Broomhall picking up his first win in 5 games with a 7 ball clearance.  A win for Brendon Ruttledge in the last game of the half gave the score a disappointing look of 7-2.

However, the second half started more brightly and 4 wins in the opening 5 frames saw the Blaze fightback to 8-6 with John Grobnik, Dave Baker, Ant Whitehead and Chris Broomhall all winning.  But, some more superb finishing by the home team saw the next two frames go in favour of the Plaza giving them an unassailable lead of 10-6. Craig Parsons gave himself a debut to remember with his first victory as a Blaze player after his opponent missed a relatively straight black, leaving it in the jaws.  However with three difficult pots still to go, he kept his nerve to sink the black.  Scott Haidarovic was unlucky in his last game to make the final score 11-7.

Man of the match was Chris Broomhall with 2 wins on the night including a superb first game clearance.

STAN BENT TEAM KNOCKOUT Sunday 27th March 2011.

It was the Quarter Finals of the Stan Bent Team KO and big victories for lower league opposition were very possible.

Rileys Cue T's from the 2nd div were still on a high after knocking out highly fancied Hop Pole C (winners 2009) in the previous round and did the same to 1st div Rileys C. Russ Pibworth got them off to a good start then Steve Finney pulled off a double to make it 3-2. Then it went to a decider and it was left to Ainoa Villar who saw the Cuties home with a fine snooker escape to pot the black.

Rickerscote A who currently lead the 2nd div unbeaten faced a tough challenge from in-form Tap n Spile. It looked as if it was going to form with the Tap going 2-0 up but back came the Ricky as they went 3-2 up. Phil Alldiss won 2 of those and when it went to a decider it was left to John Lainton who also picked up his 2nd win of the night to put the Ricky through 4-3.

Rileys A, 2nd in the 1st div, were made to work hard for their 4-3 win over a spirited 3rd div Perkins Social. Andy Rawlinson (2) incl a 'dish', James Morrison and Jim Simpson saw the Rileys team home.

2008 & 2010 winners Rileys Cue were up against 3rd div leaders Ricky C and after the first 2 close frames where Kev Brown and Dave Barker were successful for the Cue men both Dave Whitfield and Mike Barker cleared with one visit to book their Semi Final spot after running out 4-0 winners.

STAFFS INTER-LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION MATCH TWO

Stafford Blaze vs. Burslem (25/03/2011) @ Riley’s Stafford.

Stafford Blaze took on visitors Burslem in the latest Inter-League match on Friday night hoping to get a first win of the season under their belt.  The majority of the team that played Trent Trophies Baize were available with the exception of Simon Davies who was replaced by the newly signed and returning Scott Haidarovic.

Unfortunately the Blaze couldn’t have got off to a worst possible start when the experienced pairing of John Grobnik and Dave Baker both lost their opening matches.  This left Paul Loughhead to try and keep his personal 100% record alive and did so in stunning fashion with a five ball clearance.  Further wins for Brendon Ruttledge, Scott & Skipper Lee Haidarovic meant that the Blaze only went into the second half trailing 5-4.

The second half started off as a tight affair as the opening four games were shared with John & Ant Whitehead coming out on top but Dave and Paul losing.  However this is when the Blaze started to fall apart as no more wins during the remainder of the second half saw them slump to a disappointing 12-6 defeat.

On reflection, the Blaze didn’t do enough in the second half to challenge and of the seven frames dropped in the second half, only one of these frames may have gone the other way if luck was on the Blaze’s side as the visitors thoroughly deserved the two points.

Hopefully this can be forgotten when the Blaze go on their first away game of the season on the 15th April.

There was no man of the match in tonight’s game as nobody did enough to warrant the MVP award.

STAFFS INTERLEAGUE ELITE DIVISION MATCH TWO REPORT

Afford v Stafford Sunday (25/03/11) @ Longton Snooker Club

Stafford Sunday were hoping to put up a better performance travelling to Afford in this SCPA interleague Fixture. They welcomed back Alan Sim, Martin Priestley & Simon Key. Dave Barker and Mick Addison got Stafford off to a good start but then missed chances and careless play let a 2-1 lead become 6-2 down. However, Tom Tonna cleared well to nick the last one of the first half to trail by 3 frames. 

Simon key returned to the team and showed how much he was missed with a quality clearance to make it 7-4 down. The frame of the night however belonged to Tom Tonna as he broke off and duly cleared to record a fine dish and put Stafford back in it. Alan Simm was gifted a frame after his opponent potted the black but went 'in-off' to make the scores 8-6 down. Unfortunately the next 2 frames were the deciding frames and with a bit of luck could have gone Stafford's way, but it was not to be and Stafford trailed 10-6. Sean Alldrit and Steve Finney managed to put some respectability into the scoreline, winning the last two frames, although Sean's game also saw his opponent pot the black followed by one of Sean's balls in the middle. The Final Score was a 10-8 loss but an improvement from the last match.

The MOM on the night was without question Tom Tonna for his 2 wins, incl a dish.

STAFFORD SUNDAY POOL LEAGUE SINGLES & DOUBLES COMPETITION 2011

It is that time of the year for all participating players who played in the Parkside Electrical Sunday Pool League Winter 2010/11 Season to have the opportunity to enter this Annual event.

Players who qualify must have played in at least 3 matches (NOT 3 frames) during that season.

There will be Prize Money (dependant on how many entries) plus Trophies. 

Entry Fees are SINGLES - £2.50 each and DOUBLES - £5.00 per pair.

EMAIL the League Secretary for applications and arrangement of Fees.

ALL Monies to be handed to the LEAGUE OFFICERS. Contact Details on your Fixture Lists. Memos will be distibuted to the teams over the next couple of weeks.

STAFFS INTER-LEAGUE ELITE DIVISION MATCH ONE

Trent Trophies B v Stafford Sunday (18/02/2011) @ Green Baize, Hanley.

Stafford Sunday opened their Inter-league campaign in the Elite Division for 2011 against a very strong Trent Trophies B side. Captain Dave Whitfield gave debuts to both Neil Dale and Ben LeMaistre as some of last season's squad were not available due to other commitments. Sean Alldritt, Mick Addison and Steve Finney won their 1st frames as Stafford struggled to keep up with the quality from the home side as games passed with ease thus going into a 6-3 deficit at the interval. The second half saw Stafford have more of the play with chances going begging and this resulted in TTB making the most of the opportunities. Tom Tonna and Sean Alldritt (his 2nd win of the night) were the only victors and so left the final score 13-5 to the hosts.  

STAFFS INTER-LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION MATCH ONE

Stafford Blaze vs. Trent Trophies Baize (18/02/2011) @ Riley’s Stafford.

It’s a new season in the Staffs Inter-League competition and with no local derby this year it was up to the Blaze to put together a string of fine results in order to challenge for this year's title.  Incoming players for the 2011 season included Simon Davies & Kieron Johnson who will hope to fill the void left by the departing Spencer Trow and Scott Haidarovic.

Team captain Lee Haidarovic was unable to call on a full squad for his first outing back as captain but believed he still had enough to secure all two points against a Baize side that only picked up a point from their respective matches last season.

The Blaze started off brightly and efficiently with the experienced pairing of John Grobnik and Dave Baker being too good for their Hanley based counterparts.  Good solid wins for Paul Loughhead and Ant Whitehead meant that the Blaze would take a quickfire 4-0 lead.  However, in typical Blaze fashion, sloppy play in the next 4 frames from the Blaze had them pegged back to 4-4 before Brendon Ruttledge luckily scrapped a win to give the Blaze a slender 5-4 interval lead. 

The second half was a carbon copy of the first as both John, Dave and Paul all won but then a mixture of sloppy play and luck came into play to bring the TT team back in the game to make the score 8-8 going into the last two frames.  Ian Lewis & Brendon Ruttledge were the two players whom hopes were relying on and whilst Ian lost his game, Brendon kept his nerve to win his to make the final score 9-9.

Man of the Match was a close call between John and Dave but the latter gets the vote for his brilliant six ball clearance in his second game.

Next up Burslem at home.