THE halfway stage of the Mac’s Builders and Merchants-sponsored Snooker League is fast approaching and DSC Hurricanes’ lead at the top has been cut after they suffered defeat against Finch Hill 9 while challengers Finch Hill 2 and DSC Musicians both secured wins.
FH9 travelled to Douglas Snooker Club to take on the leaders and Paul Smith took the first frame thanks to a break of 20. Peter Kirkham (23 and 29) and Tom Miller (32) hit back for FH before Gary Clinton (30 and 20) levelled the contest. Martyn Lean sealed the win for the visitors in the last, despite Cameron Davies having a break of 25. The result moves FH9 up to fourth in the table.
A home win for Finch Hill 2 saw them climb to second in the standings level with DSC Musicians and only three points behind Hurricanes. Rob Callister (21) claimed the first frame, Stevie Cowin levelled with a win by just two points in the second before Darryl Hill had a 25 clearance to take the third and, with the last two frames being shared, FH2 took the extra points.
Musicians stormed to an impressive 5-0 cleansweep over DSC Empty Rockets after John Kennish got them off to a good starts with breaks of 28, 24 and 27 in the opener. Rockets’ Gary Ross (20) narrowly lost on the black in the second before Gary Conwell took the third.
Ciaran McNulty and Pat Maher recorded breaks of 20 in the fourth from which McNulty emerged triumphant before a 30 break for Chris Dagnall in the last frame completed the rout for Musicians.
Finch Hill Breakers recorded a 3-2 win at home to Peel Legion. Peter Crellin had a 24 break in the first but it was not enough as Peter Simpson claimed the opener, before Mike Crook, Graham Ashton and Steve Munk all won their frames to secure the win for Breakers.
The match between PSM Legion and Finch Hill 1 could really have gone either way as Phil Joynes won the first frame for Legion. It looks like FH’s Chris Murphy claimed the second on the black 51-62 before Paddy Delaney made it two in a row for the visitors with a narrow three-point win.
The fourth was yet another black ball frame with Shaun Roberts claiming it by a single point from Willie Craig 80-79 before Terry Boyle emerged victorious in the last to give Legion the win.
The first meeting of the two Malew teams proved to be a close one. Mark Quinn took the first on the black for Malew II but Brian Kennish, Roy Gelling and John Faragher all won the next three to secure the victory for Malew before Tony Pring pulled one back for Malew II in the last.
l The entry date for the Robbie Corkish Masters has been extended until Sunday, January 8 and entry forms for the pairs and threesomes competitions are in all clubs.
l The semi-finals of the veterans’ competitions will be held at Finch Hill on Wednesday, January 4 from 7.30pm. This is the first of two league-free nights so it should be a packed house! The first semi is between Tony Davies (DSC Hurricanes) and Frank Windsor (Peel Legion) and will be followed by Terry Boyle (PSM Legion) against Graham France (DSC Musicians) - both of the latter players should be at Finch Hill no later than 8.30pm. Best of luck to all players.
League Table
P W L Pts
DSC Hurricanes 10 8 2 49
Finch Hill 2 10 8 2 46
DSC Musicians 10 7 3 46
Finch Hill 9 10 7 3 42
Finch Hill Breakers 10 6 4 39
Finch Hill 1 10 5 5 37
PSM Legion 10 4 6 33
Malew 10 4 6 29
Malew II 10 3 7 28
DSC Empty Rockets 10 3 7 27
DSC Hustlers 10 3 7 25
Peel Legion 10 2 8 19