THURSDAY 21st AUGUST 2008

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QBALL B

This week it was time for the double header against the Qball ‘B’. The match was moved to a Thursday as both tables at the Tulip were in use last night. The stakes could not have been higher with the Tulip starting the evening 29 points behind The Blue Lion and 28 points behind The Flyer with 28 points available on the night.

Waspy stepped up for frame one, won the toss but had a dry break. His opponent came to the table with a good chance of making a total clearance but broke down after potting only 3 balls. The frame then went a bit messy with a mixture of misses and tactical shots by both players. Waspy then gets his chance and he clears down to 3 balls but was unlucky to miss a double to continue the clearance. A visit or two each produces an opportunity for the Qball player who clears to the black but fails to get position and misses the pot on the black. Unfortunately Waspy missed what was only a half chance at a pot and the Qball player finished the job off. 0 – 1

In Frame two Andy won the toss, elected to break and potted a yellow. Choosing reds he went on to clear 5 balls but snookered himself on the next ball. After a successful escape, Andy was soon back to the table as the Qball player only managed to pot 1 ball. Andy pots 1 but misses the last red. His opponent looking like he might take full advantage, potted two balls but went in off playing the third ball. Andy then made no mistakes and finished the frame off. 1 – 1

The first 45’s was played by Trevor and Mike. Mike was called back from his summer sabbatical due to other players not being available. Whilst there was nothing note worthy to say about the frame, highest break of 9 LOL, Mike and Trevor plodded through and secured the frame 45 to 29. 3 – 1

Gordon was asked to play the third singles and could not believe his luck when his opponent broke, potted but failed to nominate giving away two visits. Gordon needed no second invitation and cleared the table. 4 – 1

Keith had a dry break in the 4^th singles and it didn’t look good when his opponent looked set to clear the table. Fortunately, one awkward shot cost him the clearance and from then on we were treated to a long tactical battle. Now Keith does like a tactical battle and sure enough Keith made it count and took the frame. 5 – 1

The second 45’s was played by Andy and Waspy. Once again there was not a lot to report back but the Tulip pair ground out the win with constant small breaks taking the frame 45 to 21. 7 – 1

Mike was asked to play the 5^th singles and got an early chance after his opponent failed to hit a cushion, giving Mike two visits. Mike potted 5 balls and used up one visit. The 6^th ball proved to be too much of a cut and the chance of a clearance had gone. The Qball player then cleared all his balls but missed the black into a corner. Unfortunately Mike was unable to capitalise and one visit later the frame was lost. 7 – 2

Trevor, captain for the night in the Cat’s absence, played the final singles. Despite snookering himself he never looked in danger and duly took the frame. 8 – 2

Keith and Gordon played the final 45’s and as was the theme for the 45’s tonight, there were no big breaks. However, there was some great tactical play with Keith making sure that the Qballs best potter did not get any easy openings. This ensured that the final game was secured 45 to 25. 10 – 2

This result puts us 5 points behind The Blue Lion and 4 points behind The Flyer. With the Tulip playing the Blue Lion next, the bookies favourite would surely be The Flyer for the title. All we can do is try and get a big win at home next week and who knows…..perhaps if some of the other teams could take a few points off The Flyer (please!).

FINAL SCORE

TULIP ‘C’ 10 - 2 Qball ‘B’ (counts twice)