World Suicide Prevention Event held by Carrick & District Pool League

On World Suicide Prevention Day the Carrick & District Pool League were honoured to have Graeme Anderson from Ulster Motivational facilitating a bespoke workshop focussing on the mental health of pool players. 

The main themes were 'Speak, Ask and Listen'.

If we are concerned for any of our team mate's mental health we need to ask "Are You OK?"

ASK TWICE. Because our default setting is to respond with "100% or I'm sweet or Dead on.

We don't have to have all the answers we just need to actively listen.

The league would like to thank Graeme for an informative session, Laura from Impact Network NI for funding the event, Jess from Greenisland Community Council for her hospitality and the players who selflessly gave up their time in the hope that they might be able to be there for a team mate in distress.

The league will be developing a short video from the session and we will share it across all teams for the people who could not attend.

The Greenisland Men Mean Business

Welcome to our 2025/26 season sponsored by SKC Gaming NI. 

The Q Club Titans welcomed and the Bay City Bowlers.

The Bowlers got out of the gates first with a first frame win from Richard Topping. Titans' new signing Stuart killer Kelly quickly drew level with a great clearance. Bowlers again dug deep to win a tactical exchange with already a veteran of the game and current Larne league player of the year, Dean the dark destroyer McDonagh taking the Bowlers 2-1 up. Titans then showed their class winning the next 9 frames via Ryan Mckillop, Riley Patterson, Alan Corrigan, Dean and Stuart. leading 10-2. Bowlers' Ryan Ward took the 13th and Stuart Kelly made it 11-3 on the night. Players of the Night Stuart Kelly 3/3, Ryan McKillop 3/3. A great night was had by all 🎱🎱🎱

Q Club Larne is a hotbed of pool. Q Club A Team pulled out all the stops to whip The Legion 3-11.

Stadium Bar, making their debut in the league, got a baptism of fire away to defending champions Galacticos. The champions took the first with an emphatic 8 ball clearance from Ryan Marcus after a dry break wasn't capitalised on. The visitors drew level with a nice long black from Lewis Neill.
Galacticos elder statesman Paul 'OMH' Harris steadied the ship with a swift whitewash to put the home team 2-1 up. New signing Jack Carson put the Galacticos further ahead with a pinpoint clearance before Ryan Marcus took out his second of the evening to put the hosts in a comfortable lead.
Gary Wallace took out a patient frame to give the hosts a 6-1 half time lead after Gee Crawley had added to the lead. Paul Harris took out an impressive finish incorporating a stunning double in the next and Gary Wallace patiently eked out another frame to ensure the champions started the season with three points.
Phillip Watson got another on the board for the visitors with a composed finish and Bryan Elwood added to the visitors total with a sublime run out.
Any hopes the visitors had for a bonus point ended in the next with another patient performance from the ever impressive Wallace.
Jack Carson got the hosts to double figures before Kyle Robinson finished the night off with an exemplary finish for the visitors.
Final score Galacticos 10 - 4 Stadium

The Greenisland Derby between The Pink Ladies and The Colts


Colts raced to a 0-7 whitewash. The second half went the same way all seven frames going to the Colts to complete a 0-14 whitewash to take the Colts to the Top of The Table for at least one week.

Wins for the Colt’s 3 Frames A Harris & J Patton & 2 Frames Each for G Burns, A Watters, D Harris & A MacKay. The Result Flattered the Colts as some of the Pink Ladies were unlucky not to take a few frames in each half . Best for the Pink Ladies was Tracey Cook and Wendy Long who both came close to winning their frames but came up short in the end. Final Score Pink Ladies 0 - 14 Colts


The Times Bar teams started well too. The Tigers romped to a 12-2 victory over the Knockout cup champions, Railway Blues.

A fixture both sides always look forward to with great friendships and bonds established between the players. On this occasion though the Tigers seemed determined to get off to a fast and winning start, wins for Stephen Simpson, John Fulton, Scott Pettigrew, Kye Robinson and Stephen McWhirter had the Tigers 5-0

up. The last 2 frames were shared with Rab Brown getting the Blues off the mark and Stephen Simpson taking his second win of the night to leave half time score 6-1!!

Stephen McWhirter got the second half off to a winning start for the Tigers before a nice clearance from Wes Smith reduced the deficit to 7-2. That was as good as it got for the Blues though!! Wins for John Fulton (with a notable 8 ball clearance), Scott Pettigrew, Johnny Eccles, Tom McGurk and Kye Robinson taking the last five frames!!

Final score

Tigers 12 Blues 2

Notable performances from Stephen Simpson, John Fulton, Stephen McWhirter, Scott Pettigrew and Kye Robinson each with 2 wins from 2 games. 

Great night as usual and I’m sure the Blues will hope to revenge the result when the sides meet again later in the season

Last years Players Memorial Champions, Times Bar Scorpions also had a convincing 2-12 win away to a strong Granges side in Grange Ballyclare (1) Facebook

Our first live streamed match of the season was selected because on paper it was to be an epic and very close encounter. Unfortunately Granges had a few of their first team players out.

The first four frames were shared before Paul Kerr Kick started the Scorpions into gear with a sublime break and dish in frame 5. Times Bar Scorpions went on to win the next 9 frames on the trot. 3/3 for Paul Kerr and Lee McIlreevy. 2/2 for Darren Whiteside and Stephen Johnston.

In the Whitehead Derby the Trojans hosted the Spartans. The Trojans, with 3, very welcome, new signings got off to a flyer, quickly going 4-0 up with wins from Gary Fitzsimmons, Gordon McKinty, Stevie Hamilton and Chris Hobson. The Spartans fired back with 5 frames on the bounce, with wins from Paddy Graham, Kenny English, Alan Johnston, Mark Millar and Alan Johnston again, before the Trojans stopped the rot and levelled at 5-5. The final 4 frames were hard fought affairs and were shared between the 2 teams, for a fair result on the night of 7-7. Best for Trojans were Stevie Hamilton and Chris Hobson with 2/2. Best for Spartans were Kenny English with 2/2 and Alan Johnston and Mark Millar both with 2/3.

Galacticos start off the season with silverware

In the SKC GAMING NI LTD league opener, the Charity Shield it was the Railway Blues vs Galacticos. In an upset last season in the knockout cup final the Galacticos may have taken the Blues a little bit lightly along with some fine play by the underdogs as the Blues lifted the trophy.

Last night the league champions seemed to have learned from that encounter and punished mistakes while creating chances to run out 8-3 winners. 

A big thanks to Greenisland Workingmens club for hosting this event. Congratulations Galacticos and commiserations Railway Blues.

Next week we start the league proper with a full set of fixtures. Best of luck everyone.

SPEAK, ASK, LISTEN

At the start of our 2025/26 season we are hoping all teams will send at least one member to this event.
Graeme, a motivational speaker from Ulster Motivational will be facilitating an evening focussing on positive mental health. 
He will share tips and strategies to not only look after our own mental health but how best to look out for our team mates.
It starts at 7pm in Greenisland Jubilee Hall. 
Please share this event with your team and encourage a team mental health champion to attend.

AcornBlinds NI Knock Out Cup Draw

Carrick & District Pool League Knock-Out Cup 25/26 

Prelims Take Place Wednesday 1st October

 

Sponsored By Acorn Blinds NI Ltd 

Prelim 1 Pink Ladies vs Bay City Bowlers - Venue - Greenisland Working Men's Social Club 

Prelim 2 Times Scorpions vs Stadium Bar - Venue - Times Bar 

Prelim 3 Whiteabbey Legion vs Railway Blues - Venue - Whiteabbey Royal British Legion 

Prelim 4 The Grange vs Greenisland Colts - Venue - The Grange Ballyclare 

Prelim 5 Q Club vs Whitehead Trojans - Venue - Q Club Larne Prelim 

Prelim 6 Times Tigers vs Greenisland Galacticos - Venue - Greenisland Working Men's Social Club 

Quarter Finals Tuesday 7th October 

QF1/   Prelim 1 winners play winners of Prelim 2 

QF 2/  Prelim 3 winners play winners of Prelim 4  

QF 3/   Prelim 5 winners play winners of Prelim 6 

QF 4/  Q Club Titans vs Spartans - Venue - Q Club

We are back with 14 teams and raring to go

The Carrick & District Pool League, sponsored by SKC Gaming NI will commence on 2nd September as the League Champions, Greenisland Galacticos take on the Knock Out Cup Champions, Railway Blues in Greenisland Workingmens Club. 

The last time these two met it was the Railway Blues who came out victorious in an epic final. This Charity Shield opener for the league will showcase what we are all about. Fun and friendly competition. 

Our Charity of the year is Macmillan Cancer and we hope to raise some funds on the night so please make an effort to join the teams in person and donate your spare change on the night. 

The first full league fixture of the new season will be on 9th September. 

This year we welcome a new team from Belfast's Shankill Road, Stadium Bar. 

The amount of pool trophies around the cabinets in this venue tells us that they will mean business from day one.

Best of luck to all teams this year and we hope you have fun.

'POOL TOGETHER' END OF SEASON CELEBRATIONS

Our End Of Season Celebration "POOL TOGETHER" took place on Friday 27th June in Greenisland WWMC.

Carrick Pool League sponsored by SKC Gaming NI provides a spirit of belonging, acceptance, a safe space where we can talk without fear of judgement. There is friendly, competitive spirit and players can gain a sense of mastery, praise and recognition.

In the Pool Together celebrations we brought our members and supporters together to celebrate our players. Not just the winners but all who took part, and their loved ones.

In this thirtieth year of our pool league we had entertainment, trophies, food and more importantly built new connections and strengthened old ones.

Mental health was mentioned a number of times this year and we organised bespoke training for our players to look out for their team mates and make the league a safer environment.

We were successful in a bid to continue with supporting and encouraging better mental health and were awarded a grant for funding towards some of the costs for live streaming equipment and trophies.

Trophies were presentated by Councillor Bobby Hadden. 

The KnockOut Cup went to The Railway Blues. The final was an epic that went to a decider. Ryan Stuart ripped out a sublime finish to give the Blues glory against Galacticos on a super Saturday.

The Players’ Memorial Shield was won by Galacticos, defeating Greenisland Colts.

The Amber Castle Harbour Cup was won by Whitehead Trojans, defeating Times Tigers.

The Knockagh Cup was won by Q Club Larne, defeating Whiteabbey Legion.

Doubles was won by Titan’s Dean McDonagh & Shawn McAllister beating Grange’s Jim Gilchrist and Johnny Mackay.

Three a sides was won by Darren Whiteside. Lee McIlreevy and Aaron Leslie beating Kenny English, Trevor Whiteside and Tommy Fleming.

Seniors was won by Scorpions’ Stephen Johnston against teammate, Aaron Leslie.

Masters was won by Trojans’ Kenny English in a fabulous final against Grange’s Steven Herron.

Grandmasters was won by Colts’ Joe Patton, defeating Bowlers’ Gary McClure

Ladies was won by Jean McIlroy, defeating Billie Jo McClure.

The Player of the year went to Legion’s Rab Butler winning an impressive 49 of 61 frames played.

The Q Club Larne Open Singles was won by Titan’s Rhys McGlaughlin beating Q Club’s Ryan McKillop

The Wooden Spoon went to Pink Ladies.

League Champions were crowned in the final match of the league season. Greenisland Galacticos held off late challenges from Times Scorpions and Q Club Titans to win back to back titles. League app live was invaluable for live updates and frame differences etc.

We would like to thank SKC Gaming for their continued support of our league. Amber Castle entertainment for sponsoring the Harbour Cup and Q Club Larne for sponsoring our Open Singles event. We would like to thank Impact Network for their grant towards supporting the mental health of our players and Greenisland Club for hosting the Pool Together event.


If any teams want to join us next season, please get in touch via email at carrickpool@gmail.com or on any of our social media accounts: www.carrickpool.blogspot.com; www.facebook.com/carrickpoolleague; youtube.com/@carrickdistrictpoolleague3794

Our AGM and registration is on Tuesday 5th August in Greenisland club at 19:30 for the upcoming season.

Players Memorial Shield Goes to Greenisland Galacticos

The players memorial shield was our last competition of the year. We make a point of playing this tournament for all of the players who once graced our league and are no longer with us. This year we sadly lost our devoted player and committee member Gordon McCormick who played from Whitehead Trojans. May he rest and the others in peace.

Galacticos came through after disposing of Railway Blues to the semi finals and their old rivals, the reigning Players Memorial Champions, Times Bar Scorpions.

Scorpions had came through a tough match against Titans 5-3. Galacticos are a different animal this year and began with two break and dishes, a reverse dish. Scorpions tried to stem the tide getting two frames but at 4-2 up Galacticos' Ali Wilson eased them into the final with yet another break and dish.

In the other half of the draw The Trojans came through with a win over the pink Ladies. They met Greenisland Colts in the semis who had came through a nail biter of a deciding frame win over Bowlers and an epic win over the Knockout cup winner Railway Blues.

Colts were hitting a purple patch and soon reached the final.

In an all Greenisland Final in Greenisland Workingmens Club, the minnows of the Greenisland Colts were taking on their stablemates, The mighty Galacticos.

You would not have thought this was a mismatch as the Colts held their own the entire match a will rue some of their untaken chances. The experience and expert finishing from the Galacticos was enough to come through with a narrow victory 5-3.

Congratulations to Galacticos and thanks to Greenisland WWMC for hosting finals night.

Galacticos are SKC GAMING NI LEAGUE Champions

Tuesday night was judgement night. Theoretically, three teams could still win the league on the final night of the season.
Q Club’s Titans sat in third place, only 3 points off the leaders. Times Bar’s Scorpions sat in second place 2 points off the league leaders.
Galacticos sat at the top of the league, as they had for most of the season.
Q Club Titans could only control their match and romped home to a 12-2 victory over Bay City Bowlers. (full report to follow).
Scorpions had a convincing 11-3 victory away to Whitehead Trojans.
Scorpions’ captain, Lee McIlreevy started with intend and Davy Blair soon followed before Kenny English chipped in for the Trojans. Paul Kerr, Darren Haddock, Davy Blair and Darren Whiteside wrapped up the first half 1-6 to Scorpions.
The second half went in a similar fashion with Lee McIlreevy, and Paul Kerr winning frames 8 and 9. Kenny English took the 10th for Trojans. This was a fatal blow to Davy Blair’s hopes of winning player of the year. Darren Haddock potted a skilful black off two cushions to cut it into the middle. Paul Kerr added with a reverse dish. Yet again Trojans Kenny English stopped the rott with a great finish of his own. Lee McIlreevy finished off the match in style with a scintillating reverse dish. Final Score Trojans 3 Scorpions 11.
Theoretically and mathematically speaking is one thing, but reality is another. The Galacticos were playing the Pink ladies, who sat bottom of the league. It was a ‘Davina’ versus ‘Goliath’ match that was never going to have a Disney style ending for the ‘Pink Ladies’.
Galacticos romped home to glory with a merciless 12-2 victory over the Pink Ladies and deservedly secured the Carrick & District League Title sponsored by SKC Gaming NI Ltd.
Greenisland Colts took the points against Railway Blues 9-5.
Times Tigers had a 14-0 walkover v Grange Ballyclare.
Q Club Larne took the points 6-8 against Whiteabbey Legion.
Full reports to follow.

Whitehead Trojans are our Amber Castle Entertainment Harbour Cup Champions

The Trojans got off to a great start in the Harbour Cup Final (sponsored by Amber Castle Entertainment).

Gary Fitzsimmons, Trevor Whiteside, and Stevie Hamilton winning the first 3 frames The fourth frame was won by the Tigers’ John Fulton with a great break
and dish. The next frame was won by Trojans Chris Hobson, taking the Trojans into a 4 -1 lead. The next 2 frames shared, and at half time, it was 5- 2 to the Trojans.
The second half started with the Trojans player Gary Fitzsimmons fouling by potting the white ball with the black give the Times Bar Tigers the win. The Trojans won the next 2 frames before the Tigers fought back to make the score 7-4 . The Trojans player of the night Trevor Whiteside won the next frame to give the Trojans the win.

Congratulations to the Whitehead Men and commiserations to the Tigers. A special thanks goes to Colin Beckinsale for sponsoring this event and joining the guys in the photo. Also thanks to Q-Club Larne for hosting the final.

We will see you all on 27th June at our end of season pool event.

Q Club lift the Knockagh Cup

A close final was anticipated in the final of the Knockagh Cup between Whiteabbey Legion and Q Club. The Larne men started on fire with Kyzler Todd, Jason Voorhees and a William Irvine break and dish sending them 3-0 up. Legion captain Mark Porter battled to win the 4th frame and to get the lads off the mark but Q Club would hold a commanding 5-2 lead at the interval to have 1 hand on the cup.

The tie went back into the balance though as Rab Butler and Mark Porter won the first 2 frames to close the gap to 1 at 5-4. Kyzler Todd and Ciaran O’Toole restored the 3 frame gap and got Q Club onto the hill taking frames 10 and 11 with 2 expertly taken out finishes. The Legion wouldn’t give in however and Mark Porter completed a well earned hat trick in frame 12 and Tristan Scott Heyes took the match to the last frame in regulation with a win in frame 13. Kyzler Todd would however complete his hat trick to get the Larne boys over the line with a nervy win in the last frame.
A good win for the Q Club and both sides will meet again next week in Whiteabbey in the last league game of the season.
A massive thanks to Q Club for hosting this final.

Rhys Makes History winning the Open

Congratulations to The Iceman, Rhys Mclaughlin on being crowned the youngest ever CDPL open individuals champion sponsored by Q Club
He looked to be up against it the whole way through the final but lived up to his nickname with some lovely stuff to take the title.
A great day was had and a huge thanks to Helen, Alex and William Irvine for fantastic tables and conditions all day and sponsoring the event.
Unlucky Ryan Mckillop who seems to be always the bridesmaid in these events but was magnificent also all day.
Huge thanks to everyone who turned out for the event competition.
Hopefully see you all in GWMSC on the 27th for the end of season do.
on the photo we have the winner, Rhys And Derek Whiteside the tournament director and chairman of the Carrick District Pool League

Pooling Together for better mental health

POOL TOGETHER
Coming together in our pool league provides a spirit of belonging, and acceptance, a safe space where we can connect without fear of judgement or ridicule.
We have friendly competition and players can strive for mastery gaining praise and recognition as they progress in our sport.
Recently we had an initiative to train up local mental health champions from teams in the Carrick District Pool League. We had 12 people trained in the link life connections programme.
CDPL Pool Together project endeavours to provide an opportunity for all of our members and supporters to come together for a celebration event in Greenisland Working Men's Social Club during international Men's Health month on Friday 27th June.
During this event we will celebrate all of our players, not just the winners but all who took part in the season.
In this thirtieth season of our pool league we plan to bring in catering and entertainment for mindfulness related music.
We plan to roll out further mental health related events throughout the year incorporating TAKE 5 approaches of Connecting, Being active, Keeping learning, Giving to others and Taking Notice.

The elements of TAKE 5 are woven into all that we do throughout the season and we hope to reach more of our former players and new players through live streams.
These initiatives are gratefully supported by the Public Health Agency and Impact Network NI.

Galacticos Have One Hand On The League Title

Tuesday 20th May saw The Greenisland Working Men's Social Clubs Colts journey to nearby Royal British Legion Club in Whiteabbey in the Carrick and District Pool League Sponsored By SKC GAMING NI.
The evening began well for the home team after Colt Vice Captain Colin Beckinsale's break cue ball really quite unluckily went in off
However this mustn't detract from any credit British Legion player Andrew Arbuthnot should receive from thereafter successfully executing an excellent eight ball reverse dish clearance
The Colts were evidentally undeterred from the evenings first frame misfortune by winning each of the remaining first half games by way of Captain Harry Warwick, Christopher McCurry, Aarron Watters, McCurry, A.Watters and Beckinsale
Entering the interval with a commanding 6 - 1 lead
In similar fashion to the evenings first half The British Legion team began well again by way of a victory for Arbuthnott
This time they would win two in a row via a win in the next by Robert Butler.
The Colts would secure atleast a draw after this though winning their seventh frame of the evening via Paul Watters
And in the next Warwick would get his side over the winning line
This was soon improved on further with another win by Beckinsale
British Legion man Butler would take a consolation frame in the next before Colt A.Watters would win the evenings final frame (Meaning he would be best and only player to win three from three played) and making the final Score Royal Brirish Legion 4 Colts 10
Players of particular note for The Royal British Legion winning two from 3 played Butler & Two from two played Arbuthnott.

Titans v Scorpions & Pink Ladies v Grange were postponed due to a pool competition in the Republic of Ireland.

Galacticos won 11-3 v Bay City Bowlers and surely have one hand on the trophy as they go 4 points clear with two games to play.

Doubles delight for Dean and Shaun

Congratulations to Q Club's Dean McDonagh and Shaun Mcallister (left in photo) on becoming the 24/25 annual doubles champions. They beat Granges' Johnny Mackay and Jim Gilchrist (right in photo) in the final.

Jim/Johnny eased into the semis with 4-1 over Joe/Darren.

Paul/Davy made it to semis with a win over Scorpion team mates 4-2 Cinto/Gordon.

Shaun/Dean won a deciding frame to move to the semis over 4-3 Jack/Chris.

Last years champs Paul/Gary moved to the semis with solid win over 4-1 Jackie/Kitson.

Shaun/Dean came through another decider 4-3 Paul/Gary

Jim/Johnny made it to the final with a 4-2 win over Paul/Davy.

Shaun/Dean stepped up a gear and reeled of a fabulous 5-0 victory over Jim/Johnny to lift the title.

A big thanks go to Q Club for hosting the event.

Cinto Is our seniors champion

Scorpions’ elder statesman, Stephen Johnston rolled back the years as he came through a challenging field of very good over forties players.

His first victory was 4-0 walk, over Wayne Lewis.

In the last 16 he beat Colin Rafferty 4-0.

Trevor Whiteside took two frames but Cinto Johnston was just unstoppable on the night and he cruised to the semis 4-2.

He had another walkover from Roger Smyth in the semis before playing teammate Aaron Leslie in the final.

The final score was Stephen Johnston 6 Aaron Leslie 4. Congratulations to Stephen Johnston and to Aaron for reaching the final.

Kenny is our Master

The Carrick Pool League Masters competition for over 50’s finals night took place on 13th June.

Trojan's Kenny English overcame Darren Whiteside winning the last 3 frames on the trot to reach the finals with a convincing 5-2 win.

Titans' Jason Vorhees raced to a 4-0 lead. They say the run of the balls sometimes evens itself out. Stephen Herron ripped out some fabulous finishes to win the next 5 frames and secure his place in the final.

In the final the fine form continued and it was fairly even all the way until 4-4. Kenny English took the final by the scruff of the neck, with some fine skill shots and lovely finishes to take the trophy and a well-earned 6-4 victory.

 

The Knockagh Cup

Knockagh Cup was played on Tuesday 13th May at 8pm. Race to 8.
Whiteabbey Royal British Legion v Greenisland Colts won 8-7 after a play off frame where Colin Beckinsale inadvertently potted the black mid frame to hand their Finals night ticket to the legion.
Q Club v Railway Blues was also a great game and the Larne Boys won 8-5.
The final will take place on 3rd June at 8pm in Q Club Larne

The Harbour Cup is sponsored by Amber Castle Entertainment

The Harbour Cup, sponsored by Amber Castle Entertainment is a tournament for the bottom four teams in the Carrick District pool league.

The semi finals took place on Tuesday 13th May.

Trojans hosted Bay City Bowlers at their Whitehead Rangers fortress. Bowlers’ Ricky Topping put the first frame on the board before a brace for Trojans Trevor Whiteside, Tommy Fleming and Gary Fitsimmons and a single from Chris Hobson put Trojans on the hill in this race to 8. In a gallant display Jim Miller, Ricky Topping and Ian McMillan begun the Bowlers’ come back before stalwart Trevor Whiteside Secured the winning frame for Trojans and his Hat Trick on the night. Final score Trojans 8 Bowlers 4.


The Pink Ladies hosted the Tigers in Greenisland Workingman’s club. Tigers’ Scott Pettigrew, Stephen McWhirter, Steven Simpson, Sam Sloan and Kye Robinson took their chances and raced to a 5-0 lead. Billie Jo McClure stopped the rot and notched up a frame for the ladies. Steven Simpson chipped in his second followed by Tom McGurk and Jonny Eccles for a convincing 1-8 victory for the Tigers Bay outfit.

Thanks again to Amber Castle Entertainment for sponsoring this event.
The final will take place on 3rd June in Q Club Larne at 8pm.

Galacticos Suffer The Blues as Railway Bar Lift the KO Cup

On Saturday 3rd May, the Knockout Cup Final took place in Greenisland Workingmen’s club. It has to be said this was a David versus Goliath match. The Railway Blues sit in seventh position in the league. Galacticos are top. In their previous two encounters, the scores have been 13-1 and 12-2 in favour of the Galacticos.

The first two frames were shared with Blues Craig Laughlin going in front and Chris Carson levelling for Galacticos.

A barrage of Blues’ frames for Josh Mcilroy, Robin Kerr and Captain, Ryan Stewart put the blues 4-1 ahead.

Galacticos dug deep and international pool players, Roger Smith and Ali Wilson reduced the arrears to 3-4 at the break.

The second half got underway and Ryan Stewart secured his second frame of the night defeating Roger Smith. Blues’ Wes Smith and Josh McIlroy put the Railway Blues within touching distance of the cup at 3-7.

Galacticos are simply too strong to just roll over and one by one they fought back with wins for the reigning Carrick & District Pool League individual champion, Gary Wallace, Ali Wilson and Chris Carson to bring it back to 6-7. The experienced Paul Harris held his nerve for Galacticos to send this great match to a play off.

Galacticos’ ‘ever reliable anchor man’, international A team player, Gary Wallace was selected and Railway Blues’ Ryan Stewart faced off in a one frame shoot out for glory Click here to see the highlights.

The pair endeavoured to take control of the table in a tactical battle. Gary played a great safety before Ryan found a shot cannoning his ball into the middle pocket off one of Gary’s. With just about enough of the potting angle Ryan took a tremendous long pot landing perfect on one of his tricky colours to the middle. He dropped it in and took his last two balls, controlling the cue ball and sinking the final black for the unlikeliest but most popular victories of the season. This was a fabulous win for the underdogs and a great advertisement for our league. All players shook hands and hugged and the sportsmanship within our pool league shone through.
Galacticos were magnanimous in defeat and Blues were ecstatic in victory… and rightly so.

A big thanks go to Greenisland Workingmen's Club for hosting the final. Here's a link to the full match.

Galacticos delighted with a Draw resuming top spot

This week in the Carrick and District Pool League sponsored by SKC Gaming NI the league leaders, Q Club Titans had no match.

Nearest rivals, Galacticos and Scorpions battled to gain top spot with a win of their game in hand.

Former Scorpion Chris Carson put one on the board for Galacticos. Gordon Boomer and Paul Kerr took the next two to put Scorpions 2-1 up. Ali Wilson levelled things up and Aaron Leslie put Scorpions ahead. Aaron Rolston and Paul Harris took the next to give Galacticos a slender lead at the interval 4-3.

Scorpions came out after the interval fired up and rattled off 3 in a row with wins for Paul Kerr, Aaron Leslie and Davy Blair. 4-6 now. Galacticos took the next 2 frames with further wins for Aaron Rolston as he got out of a snooker with a hit an hope and fluked the black with a cocked hat in off the white. Gary Wallace took the next. Paul Kerr put Scorpions on the hill at 6-7 before Gary Wallace held his nerve to secure the draw after staring defeat in the eye.

Final Score: Galacticos 7 Scorpions 7. Click here to see the full match.

This result sees Galacticos leapfrog Titans and reach the summit of the league with only a few matches left.

Times Tigers v Greenisland Colt’s
Colts travelled up the Shore Road to take on their close rivals the Times Bar Tigers.
Colts got off to a great start winning the first two frames courtesy of Colin Beckinsale and Joe Patton. Tigers’ Scott Pettigrew won the third frame. Colts Chris McCurry edged the fourth.
In true form, for these two teams levelled the match at 3-3 with wins for J Eccles & J Fulton.
McCurry took the final frame of the first half 3-4 for the Colts.
Colts took the next three frames with wins for C Beckinsale, A Watters and H Warwick securing at least a draw. The next two frames where shared. J Fulton for the Tigers and J Patton for the Colts. Tigers took the last two frames of the evening with wins for K Robinson and T McGurk with a Break and dish to secure the bonus point.
Final Score Tigers 6-8 Colts

In other matches:

Grange 11-3 Bowlers

Pink Ladies 3 -11 Q Club

Whiteabbey Legion 5 Railway Blues 9.

Hatchet, Penfold and Aaron are your SKC Gaming NI 3 a sides Champions

Scorpion Fizzers are the CDPL three-a-sides Pool League Champions

Congratulations to the Scorpions’ Lee Mcilreavy, Aaron Leslie and Darren Whiteside on becoming the SKC Gaming NI Ltd 2024/25 3 a sides champions. The Fizzers came through some tough matches on their route to the final.

In the first round the Scorpion Fizzers beat Carrick Golf Club 5-1, The Glam Grans 5-0 and 'Scorpions 3' 5-0. In the semis the Tigers went down 5-1 as the Scorpion Fizzers reached eased into the final.

In the other half of the draw the Trojans’ Kenny English, Trevor Whiteside and Thomas Fleming were journeying to the final with wins over the Titans, 3 Muskaladies, the 'Scorpions 1' and the Grange to reach the final.

In the final the Scorpion Fizzers raced to a 2-0 lead but were soon pegged back to 3-3. In the business end of this match it was the experience of Lee McIlreevey and Aaron Leslie who held their nerve to win the final two frames and claim the match 5-3 to be crowned the SKC GAMING NI 3 a sides champions of 2024-25 season.

Many thanks to Q-Club Larne for hosting the event and our sponsors SKC GAMING NI.

Jean, the winning machine

Carrick & District Pool League's annual ladies competition concluded last night. Jean McIlroy won her semi final 4-1 against the ladies captain, Sarah Lou Graham in a tighter match than the score line suggests.

Billie-Jo McClure reached the final with another tight match winning a nail biting decider against Marion King 4 - 3.

Carrick Ladies Pool Finalists Jean McIlroy & Billie Jean McClure Credit: Harry Warwick

In the ladies final Larne's Jean McIiroy romped home by 5 frames to 1 against a highly talented young player in Billie Joe McClure. This is jeans second time winning the prestigious trophy. Her first time was thirteen years ago.

Massive congratulations to Jean Mcilroy our 24/25 SKC Gaming NI Ltd LADIES CHAMPION.

Many thanks to Greenisland Working Men's Social Club for hosting the event.

Seniors 24/25 is up next

Up next in the Carrick & District Pool league sponsored by SKC Gaming NI is the Seniors tournament. Players who are 40 years or more can compete in this tournament for the glory of getting their name on the trophy and enshrined in the CDPL history books.


This is one of the toughest competitions to win with talent from top to bottom: Here is a link of our first two players on the draw below having back to back dishes last night:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIN6j2ioFGb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link


Seniors draw for Tuesday 15th April. Races to 4. Loss a frame every 5 minutes a player is late. Played down to 1 winner at each venue.


In Whitehead Glasgow Rangers
@19:30
1 Aaron Reid v John Fulton
2 Jackie Murdock v Trevor Whiteside
@20:00
3 Wayne Lewis V Stephen Johnston
4 Colin Rafferty v Stephen Herron


In Q Club
@19:30
5 Jim Miller v Richard Kitson
6 Ali Wilson v Jim Gilchrist
@20:00
7 Mark Miller v Tom McGurk
8 Scott Pettigrew v Roger Smyth


In Granges
@19:30
9 Davy Blair v Andy Quinn
10 Benny Booysen v Darren Whiteside
@20:00
11 Joe Patton v Girvan Fleming
12 Jean McIlroy v Julie anne Cromie


In Greenisland
@19:30
13 Kenny English v Paul Kerr
14 Aaron L v Mark Porter
@20:00
15 Marion King v Steven Simpson
16 Jason Vorhees v Rab Butler

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18XY436GAx/?mibextid=wwXIfr

SKC GAMING NI Masters into semi finals

In the Carrick and District Pool League, sponsored by SKC Gaming NI we began our annual master’s pool championships on Tuesday night.

Four venues hosted the first rounds of heats. 

In Greenisland WWMC we had 4 preliminary matches. 

Harry Warwick put up a good battle but Mark Porter prevailed 4-2. Newly crowned Grand Master Joe Patton fell to an in form Jim Gilchrist 4-0. Darren Whiteside had a walk over from Michael Wilson 4-0. 

Jim Miller rolled back the years. He simply out potted Steven Hamilton for a 4-1 victory. 

Jim Gilchrist romped to a 4-0 victory in the first round against Mark Porter. 

In a tight match, Darren Whiteside broke and dished to go 2-1 and pushed on to a victory 4-1 over Jim Miller. 

The quarter finals saw Jim Gilchrist levelling the scores with a break and dish at 2-2 before Darren Whiteside dug deep to get over the line 4-2. 

Darren faces Kenny English, 2019 champion, who won his heat in Whitehead Glasgow Rangers Supporters Club. 

In the prelims Paul Kerr had a walkover 4-0 from Julie Anne. Stephen Johnston won 4-0 against Aaron Reid. David Blair won 4-0 against Iain McMillan and Kenny English won 4-0 against Booysen. 

Paul Kerr defeated Steven Johnston 4-1 in the first round. Kenny defeated David Blair 4-0. 

Kenny won 4-3 against the reigning champion, Paul Kerr in their quarter-finals. Kenny was 3-1 up when Paul broke and dished then reverse dished to bring it to the hill. Kenny eventually took advantage of a bit of misfortune and held his nerve to finish. 

In Times Bar Stephen Herron was flowing as he swiftly dispatched of Gary McClure 4-0. Gary Fitzimmons also won 4-0 against Girvan Fleming. Stephen won the decider 4-0 is the quickest heats of the night to reach the semi-finals. 

Steven will face Jason Vorhees. In the Q club, Jason won 4-1 against Marion King. Colin Beckinsale won 4-1 against Joaney. Jean McIlroy had a 4-0 w/o from Rab Brown and Marty Kane had a 4-0 w/o from John McClean. Jason kicked into gear and won 4-1 over Colin. Marty came through a tight match with Jean 4-3. Jason cruised to a 4-0 victory in the quarter-finals 4-0 over Marty Kane. Jason, who recently took the Larne Masters title, would love to add this masters double of south east Antrim pool leagues to his trophy cabinet in an outstanding season so far. The semi-finals will take place on 13th May (venue TBC) 19:30 start. Darren Whiteside v Kenny English Steven Herron V Jason Vorhees. 

We hope to stream this event live on Carrick Pool League Facebook channel too.

Net week is an international pool break and there are no matches. We are back on 15th April with the seniors individuals.

Match Reports/Results from last night Tuesday 25th March

● Greenisland Derby Match

Greenisland Working Men's Social Clubs Colts V Galactico's 

With both teams obviously wishing to put a strong first foot forward Colts Vice Captain Colin Beckinsale and Galactico Paul Harris were selected to get the proceedings underway 

Resulting in a close game eventually going the way of Harris

Galactico Rodger Smyth would capitalise on his team mates positive start soon making it two in favour of his side

Galactico Ali Wilson would follow suit completing the hatrick thus making it Three Nil

Derek Whiteside would perform well in the next to see his team four in front

Colt stalwart Joe Patton would temporarily stall the Galactico's progress in the evenings fifth frame however with a particularly well executed clearance

Galactico Wilson would soon see his side back on track in the sixth 

Followed by a victory by team mate Gary Wallace saw the scoreline entering the half time interval 7 frames - 1 frame giving the Galactico's a great lead at this juncture 

Both teams again selected their players to begin the second half and to no ones surprise this again would consist of Colt Vice Captain Beckinsale and Galactico Harris 

Once again although even closer than the evenings first frame as if it were possible the result would go the way of the Galactico's via an excellent finish by Harris

Galactico Smyth would improve on his first half defeat in some style it must be said by way of an impressive Break & Dish win

Colt Aaron Watters brought the Galactico's back to earth somewhat immediately after however with a courageous positional cannon on his final colour to develop and therefore pot his black ball

The next frame would also prove to go the way of the Colts with a win for Captain Harry Warwick by way of a slip of the mind rightly being deemed a deliberate foul by Galactico Wilson

Colt Patton would next make it a second half three in a row hatrick for his lads

However this was quickly undone by Galactico Wallace completing a delectable Break & Dish finish

The evenings final frame would also culminate with a Galactico win via best player on the night and infact only player winning three from three played being Paul Harris

A competitive but friendly and most enjoyable Carrick & District Pool League encounter as always was had between these stable mate teams And it would finally conclude with a winning scoreline for the Galactico's being 10 compared to the Colts 4

● The new girls, the Pink Ladies travelled to Times Bar to take on the Scorpions.

The Scorpions sit in third place within touching distance of the leaders and know that any slip ups now would be the end of their hopes of league glory.

Davy Blair got the ball rolling with a solid performance followed by wins for Lee McIlreavy, Paul Kerr, Aaron Leslie and Michael Wilson to race to a 5-0 lead. Paul Kerr added his second win as did Davy Blair to make it 7-0 at the interval.

Scorpions kept their sting fully charged as Aaron Leslie secured all three points with a sublime break and dish in frame 8. Scorpions marched on with further wins for Davy Blair, Michael Wilson, Lee McIlreavy and Aaron Leslie to make it 12-0. Billie Joe McClure and Sarah Lou Graham had chances and put pressure on their opponents in the final two frames, alas the Scorpions’ Paul Kerr and Michael Wilson breathed a sigh of relief and secured a 14-0 score line.

● Q Club 6-8 Grange Ballyclare

Q Club welcomed down old team mate Ryan Scott as he, and Jackie Murdock, brought down their Grange team from Ballyclare. A close match was anticipated and this looked to be the case as the first 6 frames were evenly shared for a 3-3 scoreline. Highlights from this session were pinpoint finishes from Jim Gilchrist and William Irvine for both teams as the other 4 frames went down the scrappy route.

The Grange however would take a remarkable 5 frame burst to claim the 3 points aided by the arrival of the experienced Wayne Lewis who scored a classy hat trick in frames 7,9 and 11. Credit to the Larne boys who fought for a bonus point and got it thanks to Marty Kane in the last frame. 

For the home team there were braces for Marty Kane and birthday boy Kyzler Todd. For the visitors the aforementioned Wayne Lewis and Jim Gilchrist bagged hat tricks.

Titans move to the top of the league

In the Carrick & District Pool League, sponsored by SKC Gaming NI,  Galacticos had no match and the trailing pack had an opportunity to catch up.

Trojans travelled to the Q Club for a clash with the second placed, Titans.
Trojans pulled the trigger first with a win from a veteran of the game, Trev Whiteside. Up stepped the Ryan the king slayer Mackillop for the Titans to take out a clinical finish. Killer Millar stepped up and done what Millar does and grinded his opponent and to submission, taking to the Titans into an early lead 2-1. Trojans ‘never say die’ attitude quickly bounced them back with a win from Chris Hobson. The crafty pensioner, Alan Corrigan was up next to break and dish his opponent in a record time of 35mins. The Titans took the next four in a row with three more break and dishes. Trev Whiteside stopped the momentum and give his side hope of getting something from the game. He took out with a great finish to take the score to 7-3. Mark Millar and Andy Quinn took the match to 9-3. Stevie Hamilton for capitalized and took out a great finish making the game 9-4 with the final game of the night was two titans of the sport Ryan the king slayer Mackillop and king Kenny English it was Kenny to win the leg and tell Ryan “That’s a proper lag.” Kenny went on to dry break giving Mackillop cherries to finish the clash off 10-4 these three points were enough to move to the top of the league.

Grange Pool Team in Ballyclare hosted third placed Times Bar Scorpions. The first frame went to Scorpions captain, Lee McIlreavey and Grange’s captain Jackie Murdoch hit straight back. Scorpions Paul Kerr took the next and Granges hit back through Richard Kitson. Scorpions took the next two frames via a break and dish for Aaron Leslie and another for win for Paul Kerr. Stephen Herron had a fine break and dish to secure a half time score line of 3-4. Scorpions rallied and raced to ‘the hill’ with three on the bounce for Lee McIlreavy, Aaron Leslie and Davy Blair. Jackie Murdoch took out a superb finish to reduce the arrears to 4-7 before Davy Adair secured the points. Darren Whiteside and Lee McIlreavy took the final two frames to give the Scorpions a flattering score line of 4-10 against a very good side. Man of the match was Scorpions captain Lee McIlreavy with a solid hat trick of wins.

Pink Ladies hosted stablemates, Colts in Greenisland WWMC derby. Glen Burns got the Colts off to a great start and each Colts team member followed suit resulting in the score line being an impressive seven nil upon entering the half time interval.

Burns would also get his team over the winning line in the first frame of the second half followed my fellow John (Cujo) McClean making the result at this stage strongly in the Colts favour with a score line of nine nil.

The Pink Ladies hit back in the next two with a most impressive win containing at least four-highlight reel shots by Tracie Cooke and a strong performance by Jean McIlroy. Final score Pink Ladies 2 Colts 12.

Bowlers vs Q Club.

The Bowlers welcomed Q Club to Carrickfergus for a competitive match. The visitors got off to a flying start, capitalizing on some early errors from the Bowlers to secure three quick wins. However, the home side fought back strongly, levelling the score at 3-3. Young Matthew Booysen had the chance to complete the comeback, but fellow youngster Joel Quinn held his nerve to secure his second win of the night. 

After the break, Q Club took the first game, but the Bowlers responded well, winning the next two to make it 5-5.

In the closing stages, Q Club’s greater experience proved decisive as they claimed the final four games, sealing a well-earned 9-5 victory. Despite the loss, the Bowlers continue to improve, though eliminating costly mistakes and refining shot selection will be key to their progress.

A special mention goes to William Irvin for a well-executed break and dish, while Ian McMillan was undoubtedly the Bowlers’ standout player, winning all three of his matches.

 

In what seemed to be an epic match Times Bar Tigers had a 7-7 draw with Railway Blues.

Whiteabbey Legion had no match.

 

Ladies pool singles tournament

The event was help on two tables in The Greenisland Working Men and Women’s Club.

There were two strong groups of highly talented female pool players.

After a gruelling night of pool the top two frame scorers from each group reached the semi-finals.

‘Group one’ had former ladies Champion and possibly the most experienced pool player Jean McIlroy topping the group with an impressive 12 wins. Second place in that group was the youngest player in the ladies section, Billie Jo McClure with 10.

In ‘group two’ Marion King topped the group winning 9 frames and Sarah Lou Graham coming in second with 7.

The semi and finals will see Jean McIlroy taking on Sarah Lou Graham and Billie Jo McClure taking on Marion King. Races to 4 in semis and race to 5 in final.

A big thank you to Greenisland Club for hosting the event.

To be decided when and where Semi-final/finals night will take place

CDPL Make the league a safer space for our players' mental health

Carrick and District Pool League sponsored by SKC Gaming NI are endeavouring to make their league a safe space to talk about mental health and lessen the likelihood of members dying by suicide.

The committee successfully applied for funding and brought in Jim Weir from Fresh Minds Education to train proactive players in Connections Link Life suicide prevention Programme.

The funding gratefully came from Carrick Community Forum. We were warmly hosted by Lisa, Jess and Aimee at the Greenisland Jubilee Centre.

Twelve participants representing some of Carrick District Pool League teams and also had a representative from Northern Ireland Pool Association undertook the training.

The dedication of those who gave up their Wednesday nights for this training was appreciated. Participants now have the skills to recognise the signs and have the confidence to talk about the elephant in the room.

Team mates will know that talking about mental health is not a taboo subject and now have a safety net in their friends in Carrick and District Pool League.

If you would like this training please contact a committee member.

In the SKC Gaming NI Carrick and District Pool League this week we had our annual Grandmaster’s Competition. This event is open to all players of 60 years and over.

The first semi final saw Carrickfergus’ Joe Patton take on Whitehead’s Stevie Hamilton.

It looked like J Patton was going to have a comfortable path to the final. He raced into a 3-0 lead (in the race to 4), A missed opportunity in the fourth frame enabled Hamilton to take full advantage and pull one back. Hamilton won the next to go within one 3-2 down. Patton came through to win the match 4-2 and secure his place in the final.4

The Second semi final was between Carrickfergus’ Gary McClure and Greenisland’s Harry Warwick. McClure struck first and soon doubled his lead. Warwick hit back taking the next 3 to lead 2-3. Harry had a great chance to win the match 2-4, with the black ball sitting beside the bottom pocket. Harry went for a cross on his last ball but didn’t hit it hard enough.  Gary finished to draw level and won the final frame to book his place in the final. 

The Final was a Race to 5

In the first 3 frames Patton’s safety was too strong for McClure and eased to a 3-0 lead. Gary McClure won the fourth frame 3-1. Patton went on to win the next two frames to secure the match 5-1 & Title of SKC Gaming NI Carrick Pool League Grandmaster 2025.