Wednesday 19 October 2011

Results from Tuesday 18th October

HEADLINES -- Rockers back on top -- Barbarians get 1st win -- Battle of the Trojans ends all square -- Greenisland up to 6th

Rockers 11-3 Monkstown
Teddy Bears 5-9 Pirates
Alpha 5-9 Barbarians
Spartans 11-3 Eastway
Castle 9-5 Scorpions
Valkyries 3-11 Greenisland
MSC Trojans 7-7 Whitehead Trojans

Valkyries 3-11 Greenisland. Greenisland travelled the 2 miles or so down the road to Carrick, to face the Valkyries in the Brown Cow. And they took the early advantage by winning the first 2 frames through S.Lennon and G.Burns. But back came the hosts to level at 2-2 with wins for A.Galloway and G.Thompson. Greenisland then took control of the match winning 9 out of the next 10 frames to secure the 3 points and 6th spot in the table for Manager Harry Warwick. J.McIlroy ended the night on a high for the Valkyries winning the 14th and final frame. Best scorers on the night were G.Burns and S.Lennon for the visitors, both on 3/3.

Castle 9-5 Scorpions. Castle, still bouyant after beating the Rockers last week, needed to concentrate on the job in hand against Jonny Thompsons Scorpions. And nerves were settled when ex Scorpion C.Howard got out of 5 snookers before eventually winning the first frame of the night. D.Irwin doubled the lead, but J.Nelson broke and dished to get the visitors off the mark. A.Toner restored the 2 frame advantage in an uncharacteristic tactical frame for the Portrush man. The next 2 were shared, Rafferty for the Scorpions and Irwin with his 2nd for Castle. C.Montgomery took out a fine finish to keep the Scorpions in the match at only 4-3 down at the interval. It was nip and tuck stuff as Howard broke and dished only for Rafferty to again bring the deficit down to a single frame at 5-4 Castle. But the hosts then turned the screw with a McCorry break and dish and  a clearance from Toner from his opponents dry break. Nelson won the 12th frame for the visitors to keep their hopes alive but wins for Meredith and McCorry again gave Derek Whiteside's Castle the all important victory which keeps them joint top of the table on 12 points with Rockers, Pirates and Spartans. Great attacking pool all night from both sides.

MSC Trojans 7-7 Whitehead Trojans. In the"Battle of the Trojans" it was the Whitehead men who raced into a 4-0 lead with wins from veteran S.Hamilton, T.Heyes, A.Matthews and Captain G.McCormick. The Monkstown lads though took the next 2 courtesy of wins from J.Murdock and D.Montgomery but the improving T.Heyes won his 2nd to give the visitors a healthy 5-2 interval lead. Whatever the home Captain Rab Brown said to his team definitely registered as they came out all guns blazing winning 5 in a row to lead 7-5 with 2 to play. On the board were Captain R.Brown himself, M.McMeekin, A.McMeekin, D.Montgomery with his 2nd of the night and a tidy break and dish from J.Murdock for his 2nd of the night too. But new boys Whitehead Trojans are grinding out results and after Heyes notched up his hat trick in the 13th, the reliable S.Hamilton won them a point by winning the final frame of the match. All in all a fair result.

Rockers 11-3 Monkstown. After last weeks setback against Castle, The Rockers knew they had to up their game for this tricky fixture against Monkstown. In a scrappy start to the match, the home side led 3-0 although it could easily have been 2-1 to the visitors. The Champions increased their lead to 6-1 at the interval with P.Henderson being the only point scorer for Monkstown after ripping out an unlikely clearance. But the Rockers kept up the pressure with 4 more frames including a breathtaking finish from A.Arbuthnot. R.Henderson replied for Monkstown, the irresistable R.Butler restored the 9 frame advantage with a difficult pinpoint finish. The away side secured the 14th and final frame courtesy of a wonderful clearance from R.Nelson. For The Rockers, Butler, Arbuthnot and Harris all scored the maximum 3/3. On paper it looks like a hammering, but it could have been a lot closer as several frames were very close.

Spartans 11-3 Eastway. Spartans got their title bid back on track with a solid performance against Tom Larmour's Eastway.The 3 M's, McWhirter, McDowell and Martin all won to give the hosta an early 3-0 lead. R.Whiteside pulled one back for the Rathcoole lads before Martin won his 2nd in a tactical frame that lasted over 30 minutes. McDowell with his 2nd and K.English made the interval score 6-1 for the absent Tommy Maguire's Spartans. McDowell and Martin completed their hat tricks straight after the break to ensure the 3 points would be staying in Whitehead. McWhirter and English made it 10-1 before G.Orr with some fine potting marked another on the Eastway scorecard. An unbelieveable cut on his last colour gave M.Greer an easy black as the visitors ended the match on a high, but R.Hawkins sunk the final black off the night to keep their title ambitions very much alive even though the scoreline was slightly flattering.