HEADLINES
SPARTANS WALK THE PLANK BUT COME BACK TO STEAL THE 3 POINTS ~ CASTLE WIN LAST FRAME DECIDER ~ ROCKERS STILL IN TOUCH ~ VALKYRIES GET THEIR FIRST POINTS TO MOVE OFF THE BOTTOM ~ EASTWAY & MONKSTOWN WIN ~ BARBARIANS DRAW AT GREENISLANDCastle 8-6 Teddy Bears
Monkstown 12-2 Alpha
Valkyries 8-6 Whitehead Trojans
Spartans 9-5 Pirates
Eastway 9-5 MSC Trojans
Greenisland 7-7 Barbarians
Rockers 10-4 Scorpions
Monkstown 12-2 Alpha. Monkstown started off really well with 2 a piece from the Henderson brothers Paul and Robert giving them a healthy 4-0 lead. A.Carson put a temporary stop by securing Alpha's first frame. But another 4 frame burst by the hosts gave Monkstown the 3 points with an 8-1 lead, the frame winners being G.Russell, R.Nelson, and the Henderson brothers again, both notching up their hat trick. L.Carson won the 10th for Alpha but Monkstown completed a 12-2 rout with the final 4 frames from G.Russell (2) and R.Nelson (2), both players also scoring a hat trick on the night. Monkstown consolidate 5th position as they look forward to next Tuesday when they entertain Derek Whiteside's Castle.
Valkyries 8-6 Whitehead Trojans. Visiting Manager Gordon McCormick was hoping to get 3 points to open up a gap from the bottom 3 teams, but Clare Websters Valkyries team had other ideas as they raced into a 2-0 lead courtesy of wins from A.Galloway and L.Ruddock. But back came the Whitehead Trojans through Scott-Heyes, G.Jones and A.Matthews to lead 3-2, a position from which they expected to push on from. Valkyries levelled through the experienced J.McIlroy before G.Fee restored the hosts lead at 4-3 at the interval. Valkyries who have been rooted at the bottom of the table all season then run off 4 in a row with Ruddock, McIlroy, M.McCourt (clinical 8 ball clearance) and C.Webster (superb break and dish) guaranteeing their team at least a point as they now led 7-4. Jones won his 2nd of the night but it wasn't enough to save his team as Webster won her 2nd to loud cheers to give the Valkyries 3 well earned and welcome points. R.Baird won the final frame for Trojans but even a close 6-8 scoreline couldn't mask the disappointment of defeat.
Spartans 9-5 Pirates. If Spartans do happen to go on and win this seasons League, they may well look back at this top of the table clash as key. An out of sorts Spartans struggled to reproduce the form that seen them win 8-3 at Pirates the night before in the Knock Out Semi Final. Roy McMurtrys cueists were on their way to running out at least a draw but a missed opportunity in Frame 10 let K.English in to level the match at 5-5 instead of Pirates leading 6-4. Spartans then kicked on and took the remaining 4 frames for a 9-5 win. The relief in the air was tangible. Back to the start and it looked like dejavu from the night before as Hawkins and McDowell gave the hosts a 2-0 lead, but Pirates came storming back to take 4 on the trot through C.Carson, H.McMurtry, S.Carson and P.McCaffery with a fantastic 8 ball clearance. E.McDowell who has been in fine form recently brought the scoreline back to 3-4 in Pirates favour at the half way mark. S.Carson regained the visitors 2 frame advantage with a pinpoint clearance, but a trademark tactical McDowell win brought it back to 4-5. After English made it 5-5 in the 10th, wins for N.McKelvey, English again and E.Martin gave Tommy Maguire's team the 3 points they desired. D.Lowe then consolidated the win with a cracking long last colour and black. Pirates will feel unfortunate and rightly so, they have a resilience about them this year and will still feel a top 3 finish is within their grasp.