SIX RED CUP SEMI FINALS / HANDICAPS LATEST

WE can now confirm the following dates for the Bob McCartin Six-Red Cup semi finals:

Matlock Golf Club v PJ'z Club Ripley No 1

at Edgefold Club, Matlock, Monday February 6th, 7.30pm
N Parkinson / R Slack to (arrange) referee

Belper Strutt Club No 2 v Matlock Club

at Jaxx Q Club, Belper, Tuesday February 7th, 7.30pm
Changed from original venue of PJ'z Ripley (problems with collapsed roof)

Also there has been one handicap change following last week's league match that took place.
Robert Muxlow of Edgefold Club Matlock now goes on to -10 (from -5).
Any further changes will be updated on here and communicated to the captains involved.

IAN'S RETURN REAPS REWARDS FOR MATLOCK CLUB

THE quarter finals of the Bob McCartin Six Red Cup took place this week and the tightest match of the round saw the Matlock Club gain a 4-3 win at Belper Strutt Club No 1.
Ian Rose was the man of the moment, making a triumphant return to action by winning all three frames he was involved in, firstly his own singles and then the doubles partnered by Paul Holmes and Keith Manlove respectively.

Wayne Shooter and Mark Newby had earlier given the home side a 2-1 lead, with Paul Holmes' victory in-between those frames keeping the visitors in contention.

The Matlock Club's semi final opponents will now be the Strutt Club's No 2 team who emerged from the all-Belper clash with Jaxx Q Club No 1 with a 5-2 win.

David Devenport, a recruit from the local pool scene, continued his impressive form on the bigger table as he won his singles and both his doubles matches, in which he and Dave Needham had a combined break of 22 to boot.

Steve Buckley also won his singles and doubles matches, the first in dramatic style as Kevin Holmes potted the black only to see the cue ball drift in off to concede the frame.

PJ'z No 1 of Ripley defeated Bolehill Institute No 2 for the second week running, both in cup competitions, this time by a 4-1 scoreline.

Dwayne Martin got the home side off to a flyer with a black ball verdict over Andrew Gratton but Ben Monk, helped by a 34 break, restored parity in the next and from thereon they never looked back, winning the next three frames to settle the issue.

It was a similar tale for Bolehill No 1 as Ricki Slack, with a 25 break, got his troops up and running against Matlock Golf Club but the visitors dominated the rest of the encounter and ran through the next four frames to progress to meet the Ripley team in the other semi. Graham Jones won both his singles and doubles matches on the night.

There was also a re-arranged league fixture which saw the Edgefold Club defeat Bolehill No 3 3-2 with Martyn Taylor notching breaks of 39 and 31 in the same frame. The following night Martyn continued in the same vein in the pairs handicap competition, when partnered by Mick Lane, he compiled impressive breaks of 62 and 34 to book their place in the next round.

Bob McCartin Six-Red Cup Quarter Final results: Belper Strutt Club No 1 3, Matlock Club 4; Belper Strutt Club No 2 5, Jaxx Q Club Belper No 1 2; Bolehill Institute No 1 1, Matlock Golf Club 4; Bolehill Institute No 2 1, PJ'z Club Ripley No 1 4.
Re-arranged League match: Edgefold Club Matlock 3, Bolehill Institute No 3 2.

IT'S ALL HAPPENING AT BOLEHILL IN THE CAPTAINS CUP!

FOLLOWING the Christmas break, all eyes were turned upon the first round of the Captains Cup team competition as the players resumed battle.
Three matches were played, ironically all hosted by the teams at Bolehill Institute due to a strange quirk of the draw.

First up were the No 1 team who entertained the Matlock Club and eventually ran out winners by 288-232 in a competition traditionally decided on total aggregate points.

Colin Marchington and Ian Birks won both their singles and doubles matches to decide the issue while Graeme Wood and Paul Holmes were on target for the visitors.

The No 2 team took on last years double winners PJ'z No 1 of Ripley the following night and put up a brave battle for a while.

Sean O'Sullivan and Dwayne Martin lost narrowly to Ben Monk and Andrew Gratton respectively before Keith Robertson edged Bolehill back into it through defeating John Smith.

But that was as good as it got as Lee Whatton and then the doubles combo of Ben (with a 34 break) and James Rowland saw the trophy holders through by 344-268.

Next up came the No 3 team up against the Edgefold Club of Matlock and once Martyn Taylor (23 break) and Matthew Travis had put the visitors 80pts in front after two frames the writing was on the wall.

To the home team's credit they fought back well, taking the remaining three frames courtesy of  Mick Bunting and Ian Peacock twice (including with Martin Forster in the final doubles), but were still adrift by 268-224 at the end of proceedings.

Unfortunately, PJ'z No 2 of Ripley missed their fixture at Matlock Golf Club due to an oversight, but will go straight into the Plate competition later in the season as some compensation, as will all the losers in rounds one and two.

Captains Cup team competition 1st round: Bolehill Institute No 1 (3) 288, Matlock Club (2) 232; Bolehill Institute No 2 (1) 268, PJ'z Club Ripley No 1 (4) 344; Bolehill Institute No 3 (3) 224, Edgefold Club Matlock (2) 268; Matlock Golf Club w/o PJ'z Club Ripley No 2 scr.

NEW HANDICAPS (NOW IN EFFECT) EXPLAINED

JUST A reminder that new handicaps will be in force for the resumption of matches in the New Year (indeed they were used firstly for the Shootout Night in the week prior to Christmas).
Each captain should now have a new list at his perusal for their notice board.

Essentially anyone who has won 75% or 30% relating to an eight match period will have gone either up or down a notch (the proviso being that after the half way stage anyone reaching the requisite percentage a match or two early will immediately go on to their new handicap mark, e.g. winning 6 out of 7 as an example).

Also handicaps will remain rolling for the rest of the season for players who reach the requisite percentage at a later date, e.g. winning 9 out of 12 though a players handicap will only change once during the season.

Also the top and bottom end scales of the handicap were agreed prior to the season by the committee as being -35 and +10 which is a slight increase on last season.

Immediate changes now in effect are:
B Monk (PJ'z Ripley No 1) -35
A Gratton (PJ'z Ripley No 1) -25
S Robinson (Jaxx Q Club Belper No 1) -10
A Fisher (Jaxx Q Club Belper No 1) -5
C Parker (Matlock Golf Club) -20
N Kay (Matlock Golf Club) -5
J Williams (Jaxx Q Club Belper No 2) +10
A Ballard (Jaxx Q Club Belper No 2) +5
K Whiteman (PJ'z Ripley No 2) +5
F McKay (Matlock Golf Club) +5
New registration:
W Morley (Jaxx Q Club Belper No 1) -5

The following players have not yet reached the required win or games played ratio required to immediately invoke any changes but are very close to the threshold so may be due a handicap change very shortly indeed (depending on results in the short term): A Brough, I Birks, R Slack, S Zoppi (Bolehill No 1), I Peacock (Bolehill No 3), G Jones, I McKay (Matlock Golf Club),
R Muxlow (Edgefold), P Holmes, K Manlove, G Wood (Matlock Club), F Doran (Belper Strutt Club No 2).

There are also other players as stated previously whose handicap is currently in the stationary bracket at the half way stage but could change at a later date due to runs of losses or wins. Captains will be informed at the time if a players handicap changes and it will also be published both on here and the stats website at leaguesnooker.co.uk.

This system should work better than last year when players were sometimes stuck on an unfavourable mark when they hit a bad patch of form after the half way stage (or vice versa!)

All the best for the New Year and don't forget some matches start on Monday January 2nd and throughout the week for either the Captains Cup team event or Pairs Handicap 1st round matches!

ANDREW SHOWS HIS PACES WITH A CHRISTMAS DOUBLE

ANDREW GRATTON of PJ'z Club Ripley,  winner of two trophies on Christmas Shootout Night.

THE inaugural Christmas Shootout Night held recently at Jaxx Q Club, Belper proved to be an exciting evening full of action with everyone seeming to enjoy the thrills and spills of holding three quickfire handicap events all on the same night.

Fourteen players converged on the venue from seven different teams and although mainly a fun based evening, some excellent snooker was played with all three events going to players showing very good form in the League itself.

The main event of the evening was the Christmas Shootout Singles for the Alan Hopkinson Trophy, played over one frame of six reds, and there was an early cracker with Ripley's Ben Monk knocking in a 38 break in the first round against Ricki Slack who fought back well with a 22 break himself before ultimately being beaten on the pink.

Ben continued his progress to the final thereafter, defeating Glenn Hull and Keith Robertson but waiting for him there was PJ'z No 1 team mate Andrew Gratton who had come through clashes with Kevin Holmes, Steve Robinson (on the black) and Steve Hawkins, courtesy of a 35 break in the semi.

An early 22 break from Andrew set the tone for the final and he soon drew into an unassailable lead as Ben never really got much chance on this occasion with the short format against an in form opponent.

There was compensation awaiting for Ben in the George Mills Christmas Shootout Scotch Doubles event however, as he and partner Steve Robinson of the host venue's No 1 team benefited from a first round bye before seeing off Kevin Holmes and Andrew Gratton in the semi final.

Their final opponents were Steve Hawkins and Sean O'Sullivan, regular billiards partners who by a strange quirk had been pulled out together in the random draw before overcoming Paul Ogden and Trevor Hames and then Mick Whiteman and Keith Robertson in the semi final.

The final was nip and tuck before Sean over-cut the blue into the middle pocket and Ben and Steve (Robinson) needed no further invitation to finish the job with blue and pink to secure the trophy.

The Eddie Lomas Speed Snooker Christmas Shootout involved head to head matches with players attempting to clear the colours (and in some cases 1 or 2 extra reds as decided by the official handicap) in a faster time than their opponent to qualify for the next round. A foul shot meant that an extra ball was placed on the highest available spot and this could be potted either with the next shot or after the final black (the players seemed to adopt this approach themselves so we let them get on with it in the spirit of the evening!)

No mention will be made of those matches where players ended up with more balls on the table than they started with(!) but suffice to say that there will be alot of aching feet and tweaked muscles over Christmas after this event, at least we left a spare table in between so as no one was carried off on a stretcher due to a nasty collision!!

Keith Robertson perhaps showed the sleekest turn of foot on the evening though unfortunately for him in the semi final, the balls didn't go down the pockets quite so fast as Steve Robinson switched cues half way through the contest due to his tip coming off yet still somehow scrambled over the line to reach the final in a sterling effort against all adversity.

He had earlier come through matches against Sean O'Sullivan and Kevin Holmes.

Meanwhile Andrew Gratton was pitched against formidable team mate Ben Monk in the semi final, having seen off Trevor Hames and Steve Hawkins, and this was probably the best match-up of the event with both players getting down to the black almost simultaneously but Andrew just getting his shot away first by a matter of a couple of seconds.

Steve was happy to borrow a cue for the final while his tip was re-setting but Andrew continued in his winning vein on the night, scoring an impressive success to end the nights proceedings.

In his victory speech(!), Andrew said "They say snooker is not a physical sport but they will have to think again now after this, I'll need to have a good rest over Christmas to recover from all that running around the table".

Perhaps I should think myself lucky Ben put me out in the second around after all! But it was certainly an event that could have players going from the sublime to the ridiculous in the space of one or two shots and nothing was ever definite until the final black had disappeared!
Thanks to Scott and all the staff at the host club for some excellent food and a warm welcome as well as for organising everything in such a professional manner, and most of all thanks to all the players who turned out, without whom no event could ever take place!

Alan Hopkinson 6-red Christmas Singles Shootout Handicap Trophy: winner, Andrew Gratton (PJ'z Ripley No 1); runner-up, Ben Monk (PJ'z Ripley No 1).

George Mills 6-red Christmas Scotch Doubles Handicap Trophy: winner, Ben Monk (PJ'z Ripley No 1) and Steve Robinson (Jaxx Q Club Belper No 1); runners-up, Sean O'Sullivan (Bolehill Inst No 2) and Steve Hawkins (Bolehill billiards team).

Eddie Lomas Christmas Speed Snooker Trophy: winner, Andrew Gratton (PJ'z Ripley No 1); runner-up, Steve Robinson (Jaxx Q Club Belper No 1).


Merry Christmas to everyone connected with the Darley Dale and District Snooker & Billiards League and have a great New Year too (also don't forget some matches start as early as Monday January 2nd in either the pairs competition or Captains Cup team event so check your fixture list!!) Look out for the new handicap list too, already in use.
Thanks for everyone's help during the year in getting the results in so promptly which has kept things running so smoothly - all the best over the festive period!

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED AS CHAMPS GO TOP!

LAST SEASON's A Division champions PJ'z No 1 of Ripley are back in familiar territory after a 4-1 win at nearest challengers Bolehill Institute No 1 took them to the head of the table outright.
The two sides went into the match deadlocked on 26pts each and it turned out to be an action packed night with plenty of twists and turns.

The home side had the best possible start when Ricki Slack edged out Andrew Gratton 64-51 in the opening frame. Andrew didn't enjoy the best of fortunes this time around and looked out of it when requiring two snookers with blue, pink and black remaining.

But he laid two absolute corkers which gained the required points and now needed the last three balls to force an unlikely win.

After a safety exchange, Ricki was left with an awkward shot on the blue and in trying to stun the cue ball for safety, the object ball flew twice across the table and into a baulk pocket to settle the issue in bizarre style.

Frame two saw Ripley's Ben Monk knock in an early 28 but Simon Zoppi fought back well  in potting green to pink, leaving him 7 in front with just the black on. Ben sunk it with a long pot to force the re-spot but left Simon first chance with a mid range pot into a baulk pocket.

Unfortunately for him, he overcut the black and worse still, the cue ball ended up in the middle pocket, leaving matters all square at 1-1.

The third frame was again nip and tuck with Colin Marchington and John Smith exchanging steady scoring, the best of which was Colin's effort of 20, before the frame again went Ripley's way, this time on the final pink courtesy of a thin clip from John with the rest.

Lee Whatton's break of 30 was decisive in frame four as he defeated Andrew Brough 57-21 to make it 3-1.

And in the final pairs, Ricki and James Rowland scored 21 and 22 breaks respectively before Ricki found that Lady Luck had deserted him on this occasion, potting the brown and then going in-off into the middle when looking set for the clearance.

Ben then potted brown but ended up snookered on the blue, and once again it was a tale of the unexpected at the end as he hit it full ball and knocked it straight into the middle pocket to leave the visitors 16 up with only 13 on the table and that brought down the curtain on an excellent nights snooker played in a fine spirit.

Result (re-arranged match): Bolehill Institute No 1 1, PJ'z Club Ripley No 1 4.

A Division                         P      W      L      Pts
PJ'z Club Ripley No 1        8       7        1      30
Bolehill Institute No 1          8       6        2      27
Bolehill Institute No 2          8       4        4      21
Edgefold Club Matlock        6       4       2      18
Belper Strutt Club No 1      8        3       5      17
Matlock Club                       7        2       5      12
Leading breaks: B Monk 71, A Gratton 60.
Leading wins: A Gratton, K Robertson and B Monk 7.

TREV AND MICK KEEP THEIR COOL TO ENSURE FIRST WIN

THIS week saw the chance for the two teams battling away enthusiastically without any immediate success in B Division to kick start their seasons as PJ'z No 2 of Ripley entertained Jaxx Q Club No 2 of Belper.
A win just before the Christmas shutdown would do wonders for team confidence and things looked rosy for the visitors early doors as they went into a 2-0 lead courtesy of John Williams and Andy Hayes.

However, the home team rallied superbly as Trevor Hames and Mick Whiteman won their singles matches and then earned a thrilling black ball success in the concluding doubles to pull a 3-2 win out of the fire against all odds. The Belper team for their part at least remain a point above their conquerers.

At the other end of the table, Matlock Golf Club remain unbeaten with a 4-1 success over Belper Strutt Club No 2, though David Devenport in only his second match for the visitors made a 28 break and ended the winning sequence of Graham Jones. Chris Parker knocked in a 25 for the home side.

The No 1 team from Jaxx Q Club defeated Bolehill Institute No 3 4-1 in the other game with Alex Fisher recording his seventh successive victory.

In A Division, Bolehill No 1 and PJ'z No 1 remain locked together as each recorded 4-1 wins at Matlock Club and Strutt Club No 1 respectively.

Ben Monk continued his break-building spree of late with efforts of 39 and 30 while 81-year-old John Smith  contributed runs of 33 and 22 and Andrew Gratton remains undefeated thus far, notching a 26.

And Edgefold Club of Matlock earned a 3-2 verdict at Bolehill No 2 thanks mainly to Robert Muxlow and Duncan Harwood who won both their singles and doubles frames.

League week eight results: Belper Strutt Club No 1 1, PJ'z Club Ripley No 1 4; Bolehill Institute No 2 2, Edgefold Club Matlock 3; Matlock Club 1, Bolehill Institute No 1 4; PJ'z Club Ripley No 2 3, Jaxx Q Club Belper No 2 2; Matlock Golf Club 4, Belper Strutt Club No 2 1; Jaxx Q Club Belper No 1 4, Bolehill Institute No 3 1.

A Division                         P      W      L      Pts
Bolehill Institute No 1          7       6        1      26
PJ'z Club Ripley No 1         7       6        1      26
Bolehill Institute No 2          8       4        4      21
Edgefold Club Matlock       6        4       2      18
Belper Strutt Club No 1      8        3       5      17
Matlock Club                       7        2       5      12
Leading breaks: B Monk 71, A Gratton 60.
Leading wins: A Gratton and K Robertson 7; B Monk 6.

B Division                         P      W      L      Pts
Matlock Golf Club               7       7        0      27
Jaxx Q Club Belper No 1    8       6        2      26
Bolehill Institute No 3          7        3       4      15
Belper Strutt Club No 2      7        2       5      13
Jaxx Q Club Belper No 2    8        0       8      10
PJ'z Club Ripley No 2         8        1       7        9
Leading breaks: G Jones and C Parker 40.
Leading wins: A Fisher 7; C Parker, N Kay and S Robinson 6.