In the eighth league match of the season all teams paid respects to two former players who sadly passed away this week. Doagh Dragons' Tyler McConnell aged 37 and Bay City Bowlers' Tommy Hutton aged 91 were remembered in a minutes silence before the matches.
Whitehead Rangers Trojans vs Whiteabbey Legion
The Legion got of to a great start with Andrew Buff winning a great tactical match between him and Stephen Hamilton. Darren O'Neil then won the next frame for Legion. The Trojans then won next frame with a grain finish from Christopher Hobson. The next 3 frames were won by the Legion which give them a great lead 5 frames to 1. Gordon McKinty then won the last frame of the first half 5- 2 to the Legion. The second half got of to another great start with Andrew Buff and Rab Butler winning their frames. The Trojans start the fight back with Christopher Hobson winning a tight frame against John Rainey. Then Trojans Stephen Hamilton, captain Girvan Fleming and Matthew Thompson winning the next 3 frames made it 7- 6 to the Legion. Then the Trojans come back was stop by Legion Rad Butler winning the last frame of the night final score was 8 - 6 to the Legion seeing legion move up to 7th in the league.
Stadium vs Spartans
Spartans got off to a good start with Robert Hawkins punishing
Lewis Neill when he failed to complete what was turning out to be a great
clearance, 1-0 Spartans, next up Stadium Vice Captain John English was able to
make the most of his opportunities and get the game back to an even 1-1, Bryan
Elwood was up next against Alan Johnston, the latter of the 2 is the one that
would come out on top after Bryan rattled the black and left just enough space
for Alan’s last red to pass into the same pocket, 2-1 Spartans, Mark Millar Jnr
stepped up next for stadium, very fortunate to get a shot as Thomas Fleming was
on fine form and potting them off lampshades, Thomas the player who came away
with the win as Mark not able to make the most of his chances, 3-1 Spartans, up
stepped Stadium Captain Christopher McCurry next hoping to stopped the rot,
unfortunately unable to do so as Kenny English showed his experience to see out
the win in what was a back and forth game, Spartans 4-1, still hoping to find
some form and a few wins Stadiums William McCullough was next at the table
against the very experienced Trevor Whiteside, Trevor able to use that
experience to punish William on his missed chances, Spartans 5-1, James
Robertson was up last for Stadium in the first half, bit of misfortune at times
but ultimately outplayed by Alan, 1st half finishes 6-1 Spartans in a much
closer game than what the score line shows.
Galacticos vs Colts was 9-5 keeping Galacticos within touching distance of the leaders.
The second half had unfortunately more of the same from Stadium's perspective as Billy Pawson was able to come out on top after a long gruelling frame filled with many snookers, Spartans 7-1. Lewis Neill was able to get one back for Stadium with a quality performance against the NIPA over 60’s Champion Robert Hawkins, Spartans 7-2, Christopher hoping to be able get on the back of that momentum next however after losing the lag was broke and dished by the top quality Thomas Fleming, Spartans 8-2 and the win now confirmed, with the chances of a bonus point looking slim for Stadium that soon become impossible with Big Kenny winning the next for Spartans and getting them to 9-2, a great battle in the next game between Mark Jnr and Trevor with the latter coming out on top in the end, Spartans 10-2, Alan able to claim the next in a long back and forth frame, Spartans 11-2, Robert able to take out a nice finish and finish off the night well for Spartans. Stadium 2 Spartans 12 in a second half that was very much one sided.
Titans vs Grange was 7-7 seeing the Larne men rescue a vital 2 points to stay within touching distance of the league leaders.
Tigers vs Pink Ladies saw the Tigers move up to eighth in the league with a convincing 12-2 home win.
Bay City Bowlers vs Q Club Larne was a 4-10 away win moving the Larne men into the top half of the table.Railway Blues vs Times Bar Scorpions. Lee McIlreavy put the Tigers Bay men ahead with some confident potting. Darren Whiteside made it two and Davy Blair soon made it 3. Josh McIlroy stopped the rot with a great finish for Blues. Stephen Johnston soon made it 1-4 before a vintage display from Gareth Curlett as he broke and dished to reduce the arrears to 2-4. Paul Kerr made it 2-5 in favour of the boys from Times Bar at half time. Josh McIlroy took out another fine finish for Railway Blues but Paul Kerr, Stephen Johnston and Darren Haddock got Scorpions over the line and secured all three points. Darren Whiteside took out a well worked out break and dish, cutting a tricky black but inadvertently potted the cue ball too, giving Gareth Curlett and early Christmas present and technically his second break and dish win of the night. Davy Blair soon made it 4-9 and captain fantastic, Lee McIlreavy took out the finish of the night to make it 4-10. This result sees the Times Bar Scorpions finally put a bit of distance between their rivals going into the international break.
Carrick & District Pool League sponsored by SKC Gaming NI would like to wish all of our players, officials, carers and managers the best of luck as they head off to foreign lands to represent Northern Ireland in the European Championships next week.