THURSDAY 27th AUGUST 2008

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Blue Lion

At the start of the night we all new that not only must we win, but we needed to win convincingly if we were to have a realistic chance of taking a trophy at the end of the season. Whilst a narrow win or even a draw does not eliminate any chance of silverware, we would rely heavily on the Qball ‘B’ to take a few more points from the Blue Lion than you would expect.

Andy was asked to play the first frame, won the toss, broke but failed to pot. His opponent then only managed two pots before letting Andy back to the table. Andy clears five balls but was unable to make the clearance. The Blue Lion player then clears to the black including a fluke on his last ball. However, he misses a thin cut to pot the black and Andy makes good the clearance. 1 – 0

The next frame was played by the returning summer captain Ian. This frame was more about the shots that got away from both players. Unfortunately for Ian, his cat like qualities seemed to desert him just when the team needed it and the frame was lost. 1 – 1

The first 45’s saw Trevor and Keith paired for the first time this season with the skip putting the two big potters together hoping to secure the frame. The plan seemed to work with the one exception. With Trevor not available to play next week he seemed determined to hog the limelight. With breaks of 10, 23 and a 7 to win the frame he amassed 40 of the 45 required and the frame was secured.3 – 1

Gordon was selected for the third singles. The frame was another long one with Gordon all but winning when he rattled the black. Unfortunately that was to be his last shot. 3 – 2

Waspy was sent out for the 4^th singles. It started well when following his opponents dry break, Waspy got into the balls. Unfortunately the break ended after potting the third ball. The Blue Lion player then responded by nearly clearing up only to miss his final colour. A few shots later he was back at the table, playing the cue ball through the narrowest of gaps and potted the remaining colour. The black followed and the frame was gone. 3 – 3

Andy and Ian paired up for the second 45’s. These two had paired up twice before with one win and one loss behind them. Unfortunately that record was not going to improve. Both players had two visits each with little more than half chances. On another day one of the attempts may have resulted in a pot and hopefully a substantial break. Alas, neither player brought any luck with them. The Blue Lion pair notched up 45 with Andy and Ian still in the blocks. 3 – 5

Trevor had another dry break in the 5^th singles and could only watch as his opponent cleared all of the yellows. Fortunately, his opponent was unable to pot the black. A few shots / snookers later and Trevor had the two shots he wanted. The balls were cleared and there was no mistake on the black. 4 – 5

Keith playing in the final singles made sure the frame was going to be played his way…..tactical. And when it goes this way there is only usually one outcome, a win for Keith. 5 – 5

We had already reached the point where the desired big win was not possible. However we could not afford to lose as any hopes of silverware would be long gone. Waspy and Gordon were given the task of securing the win and secure it they did with Waspy contributing 33 points with a nice 13 break in the middle. 7 – 5

Roll on next week.

FINAL SCORE

TULIP ‘C’ 7 - 5 BLUE LION