HEADLINES
PIRATES STORM THE CASTLE ~ GREENISLAND UP TO 5TH ~ MSC TROJANS WIN BIG DERBY MATCH
Pirates 8-6 CastleWhitehead Trojans 9-5 Alpha
Scorpions 5-9 Spartans
Barbarians 11-3 Valkyries
Eastway 5-9 Rockers
Teddy Bears 6-8 Greenisland
MSC Trojans 8-6 Monkstown
Teddy Bears 6-8 Greenisland. S.Lennon opened the scoring for the visitors but this was short lived as R.Williams broke and dished to level at 1-1. H.Warwick and P.Akehurst gave Greenisland a 3-1 lead before D.McIlwaine reduced the arrears for the Bears. A brace from G.Burns and D.Baird secured a healthy 5-2 interval lead for the away side, in which both sides enjoyed a bowl of stew. The next 4 frames were shared, Burns and Lennon for the visitors, McIlwaine and B.Fleming for the hosts. At 7-4 up Greenisland only needed one more frame to win the match but the Bears are resilient and wins for Williams and P.Patterson ensured we would have a last frame decider. But Greenisland's Baird held his nerve to give the visitors a narrow 8-6 win and 3 points that sees them leapfrog the Teddy Bears into 5th spot.
Whitehead Trojans 9-5 Eastway. New boys Whitehead Trojans welcomed Alpha down to the Whitehead GRSC for this League match. The hosts went 2-0 up courtesy of R.Baird and S.Hamilton but Alpha's P.Templeton reduced the arrears to 2-1. A.Matthews and Trojans Captain G.McCormick took the next 2 to give the home side a 4-1 lead. The last 2 before the break were shared A.Hall for Alpha and Baird again for the hosts. After G.Jones gave Trojans a 6-2 lead Hall replied with his second win of the evening to make it 6-3, but the 3 points were guaranteed for the Whitehead team courtesy of another Matthews and McCormick double. Alpha took 2 out of the remaining 3 frames through M.Kitson and Templeton to give a final scoreline of 9-5. Best for the home side was Captain McCormick on 3/3 and for the visitors A.Hall and P.Templeton both scored 2/3.
Pirates 8-6 Castle. The experienced Castle team were paper favourites in this joint top of the table clash in the Brown Cow Inn, Carrickfergus. But Roy McMurtrys Pirates hadn't read the script. They raced into a 3-0 lead as they strived to continue their good start to the season. A.Corrigan defeated A.Toner, S.Carson edged out D.Irwin and Corrigan with his second in a long drawn tactical frame against Paul Roberts were the scorers. The next 2 were shared, T.McCorry for Castle and P.McCaffrey for Pirates leaving the score at 4-1. J.Meredith with a tactical win and T.Whiteside won the final 2 of the first half and seemed to have kick started the now all to common Castle comeback. But the Carson brothers of Chris and Steven had other ideas and soon restored the hosts 3 frame advantage at 6-3. Needing just one for a guaranteed point, Pirates S.Carson looked to be on his way to getting it until a roll off handed the frame to C.Howard. An Irwin win ensured a nervy finish but Pirates weren't going to be denied at least a point and McCaffrey made it 7-5 to the Brown Cow team. Enter Irwin again with a pinpoint break and dish over A.Moore to take the match to the 14th and deciding frame but it was Pirates Manager Roy McMurtry who was joyous when McCaffrey with his 3rd of the match started the home team celebrations with an 8-6 win, a result that even only a year ago most would have thought unthinkeable. Pirates, move into 2nd place joint top on points with Spartans, and should now be considered genuine title contenders. A double header on 5th (Knockout Cup Semi Final) and 6th December (League) against The Spartans could be key in their quest fo any honours this season.
Scorpions 5-9 Spartans. Jonny Thompsons Scorpions entertained the League Leaders at the Lighthouse Bar in this City Air Express Carrick Pool League fixture. But it was the visitors who edged ahead through E.Martin. The lead was short lived though as C.Rafferty cleared the table after a dry break from E.McDowell. And the home team went ahead when J.Nelson finished in a precise manner in Frame 3. The next 2 were shared, R.Hawkins for the visitors and J.Nelson with his second for the Scorpions. K.English and E.McDowell won the final 2 frames before the interval to give Spartans a 4-3 lead going into the 2nd half. Frame 8 was pivitol, an English win against Scorpion talisman Nelson gave the visitors a bit of breathing space at 5-3. Martin made it 6-3 But a quickfire 8 ball clearance from C.Montgomery kept the match very much in the balance at 6-4. W.Smyth was unlucky in Frame 11 when a miscue let in S.McWhirter to finish and put Spartans on the hill. But another delightful Rafferty clearance brought it back to 7-5. With news filtering through that rivals Castle had dropped points at Pirates, Tommy Maguire urged a big effort from his remaining 2 players as he knew one more frame would keep his team top of the table with this tricky fixture out of the way. And he was answered in Frame 13 by McWhirter who sunk the black to give Spartans the vital 3 points. Hawkins completed the evening off for the away side with a tidy finish to give a final scoreline of 9-5.