WEDNESDAY 18th JUNE 2008

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FLYER ‘A’

So here we are two games into the summer season with two wins under our belts, it was time to face the travelling Flyer ‘A’ (Flyer ‘B’ in the winter season).

The evening started well with Ian winning frame one. He started well enough potting off the break but failed to make inroads into the frame. His opponent then nearly makes a winning clearance but let Ian back to the table. One safety shot later Ian’s opponent had nothing to go at and Ian potted his remaining balls. 1 – 0

In frame two, the Flyer player broke and cleared five of his balls. He then went for a tricky cut which he left over a pocket as the white trundled up the table straight into the corner pocket. The way the balls were laying it was hard to imagine Keith making a total clearance however……a total clearance was despatched and a beaming Keith walked away having chalked one up against his former side. 2 – 0

The first 45’s saw Trevor and Waspy pair up for the first time this summer. Normally a successful pairing, however, despite playing well in practice, Trevor was struggling to make any contribution. With the Flyer looking like they were going to run away with the frame, a few unlikely misses gave the Tulip pair chances to claw back the deficit, which thanks to Waspy they did. At the death of the frame, the flyer came to the table and mopped up the last few balls of the rack to leave them 44 to 40 points ahead, with the break to come. The Flyer broke the balls but failed to pot and worse than that, failed to leave an easy pot. The pot was attempted but to the Tulip team’s relief it was missed. Waspy then came to the table and potted 5 balls to take the frame. 4 – 0

In the next singles game, Waspy still buzzing from his efforts in the 45’s ran through his balls but left no shot on the black. Waspy then played a DF giving his opponent 2 shots. However, the Flyer player was unable to get into the frame and Waspy potted the black to give the Tulip a 5 – 0 lead. As you can imagine the Tulip players were getting a little excited.

Graham was asked to play frame five but never got into the frame. Despite some good safety shots the Flyer player just always seem to have the advantage and duly won the frame. 5 – 1

Ian and Andy played the middle 45’s but were unlucky enough to be left very little whilst their opponents just kept potting. The frame was over quite quickly with the Tulip duo only registering 10 pots between them. 5 – 3

The Tulip players were getting a little uneasy now as their solid start seemed a long time ago and the Flyer definitely had the momentum. Trevor stepped up to play the seventh frame and had to stand and watch as the Flyer player won the toss and elected to break. Failing to pot it was the Flyer player who had to stand and watch as Trevor put his below par performance in the 45’s behind him and cleared the table in one visit. 6 – 3

Only needing to win one of the last two frames, Andy stepped up to play the last singles. Andy had a dry break and gave the Flyer player first bite at the cherry. He cleared a few balls but fouled giving Andy two shots. Andy then used one shot to develop a few balls and was then unlucky to go in off trying to develop his last ball and black. The Flyer player then cleared his remaining balls and the black for the frame. 6 – 4

The last 45’s was nip and tuck all the way to the end with Keith and Graham pairing up. The killer came when the Flyer left themselves on 43 with Graham at the table needing 5 or 6 for the frame and match wins. It just didn’t seem to be Graham’s night as he managed to go in off whilst making a pot, giving away the two points required for the Flyer to win the frame and draw the match. 6 – 6

Whilst most of us would have taken a draw at the start of the night this has to go down as an opportunity missed. You don’t often get these chances against quality opposition like the Flyer and it is essential that when we do, we grab them with both hands. On a more positive note the team spirit was great as was match spirit between the two teams. To quote the big Jock…… jolly good pool all round.

FINAL SCORE

TULIP ‘C’ 6 - 6 FLYER ‘A’