ALFRETON PM No2 & CLAY CROSS No2 TO MEET IN FINAL

MARK BOWER put Clay Cross No2 ahead

THERE was a calm before the storm as three semi finals took place before the main showdowns at the end of the T & M Motors Snooker League season with the Jaeger Trophy playoffs taking centre stage alongside the remaining Jimmy Harper Cup fixture.
The league champions Alfreton Palmer Morewood No2 took on fourth placed Edgefold No2 in the end of season top tier competition and were firm favourites with the Matlock side having struggled for personnel in recent weeks and were again missing hotshots Scott Brooks and Reece Johnstone for this encounter.
Ben Monk took the opener for the hosts 82-58 in what looked one of the toughest match-ups of the night with last season's open handicap winner Josh Dakin.
Young Kai Hopkins added the next with a 78-35 success and the outcome was secured with Jack Lowe's 55-13 win in frame three, which meant a tenth consecutive occasion the team at the summit had made the final.
Carlos Zaragoza made it four as he spoiled the return of Trevor Wright who was back from an enforced layoff before Lowe and Hopkins completed the nap hand in the doubles.

Bolehill Institute No1 travelled to runners-up Clay Cross Brotherhood No1 bidding to improve on their less than stellar play-off record but it was Mark Bower who struck first for the hosts with a 67-37 salvo.
Ricki Slack (55 break) was in his best form for some time to equalise, having been unlucky earlier in the frame when in splitting the pack from the black, he saw the cue ball disappear in-off but recovered in fine fashion to engineer a 85-18 success.
However, that was as good as it got with John Roseman (21 break) re-asserting the home team's advantage with a hard fought 77-47 victory and then Callum Greenfield (29 break) always holding sway to seal the deal with a 68-30 win and leave Bolehill with just one final appearance (albeit a winning one) from 12 play-off ventures.

There was drama in the Jimmy Harper Plate contest, with Belper Royal British Legion thinking they had snatched overall victory when potting the black in the doubles leg but there had been an error in scoring and the incorrect target had been set meaning it was the hosts Clay Cross No 1 who were actually still in front.
The select committee deemed a replay of that leg later in the week to be the fairest option, but the Clay Cross pair of Duncan Waring and Graham Jones made no mistake in that so the result stood.
Wayne Shooter edged the opener on the black before an 88-49 Graham Jones riposte was followed by Tony Blant's 57-42 success.
Justin Weller, turning out for the second time as the reserve, took a 67-46 triumph to keep them in the hunt but ultimately it was to no avail when the mathematics were finally sorted.

Jaeger Trophy play off semi finals: Alfreton Palmer Morewood No2 5, Edgefold Matlock No2 0; Clay Cross Brotherhood No2 3, Bolehill Institute No1 1.
Jimmy Harper Plate (Team Aggregate Consolation) semi final: Clay Cross Brotherhood No1 293, Belper Royal British Legion 290.
Breaks: R Slack (Clay Cross Brotherhood sponsored player of the week) 55; C Greenfield 29; J Roseman 21.