Princeville Patriots played their final Pudsey Billiards League fixture of the 2014/2015 season, entertaining St Andrews "B". A match where the Patriots were still in contention for defending their title, although they had to reduce a 2.5pt deficit over St Andrews "A" (who played against Princeville "B"). Not the easiest of tasks when a maximum of 5pts can be won in any one game.
The implications stood as follows - any team win for St Andrews "A" would crown them as league champions, whilst the "Patriots" needed to better St Andrews "A" result by 3pts.
Realistically a 5-0 win for Princeville Patriots would give them every chance, question was how to go about it? Not an easy objective to achieve when the team is generally out of form, registering just 3 wins in 9 games. Whilst brainstorming for ideas in a pre-match team meeting, top board player J.Butcher suggested to play the two in-form players in an attempt to create momentum. An idea which received full backing from the acting captain I.Tomlinson and fellow team-mates, D.Bowers and D.Hardcastle.
Starting the 1st half of matches was J.Butcher versus an in-form S.Clark, reported "not to have missed a thing" in the last league fixture against St Andrews "A". D.Hardcastle was up against occasional player W.Robinson, deputising for regular top man S.Boocock.
S.Clark continued where he started, getting off to a flying start and making most of a 30pt handicap start by increasing his lead to 45pts. This left James wondering what to do and how to overcome such a deficit, especially when losing was not an option. Playing the percentages became a feature as James launched a comeback, scoring points in instalments and playing safe when no obvious scoring shot was on. Steve continued the all out attack philosphy in an attempt to race to 200 before the 50 minute time limit was up.
By the halfway stage James reduced much of the deficit and kicked on from there, producing a valuable 19pt break to go within single points of victory. The game eventually finished with James clinching a potted red into the middle pocket, after placing Steve in double baulk region to win by 25pts with 6 minutes remaining.
On the other table, D.Hardcastle maintained a small lead against W.Robinson, although there was little between the players. Both players had a habit of producing scoring shots out of nowhere, then followed with an erratic miss. As the game reached it's final minutes, both players struggled to put points on the board despite the balls being left in good scoring positions. Eventually the 50 minute buzzer went off and Don by 6pts.
Meanwhile over in Pudsey, news filtered out that St Andrews "A" were also leading 2-0 at the halfway stage and one more point away from winning the 2014/2015 league title. The "Patriots" scenario was made simple, losing does not become an option.
Next up was I.Tomlinson v A.Ward and D.Bowers v M.Barnes.
Both Ian and Anthony was involved in a scrappy game, where both players struggled for momentum. However Ian was first to show the iniative with a graft rather than craft philosphy, scoring whatever points was available and playing safe when no. Anthony could not get any momentum going, exclaiming "I've never been frustrated in all my life". In the end it was a regulation win for Ian, albeit tension played a key factor with the title race reaching a climatic stage.
Over on the other table, lady luck shone on Dave against Malcolm, who had the feeling of dejavu from the previous fixture in early February. Although to Malcolm's credit, he persevered and found a lot of momentum with some fluent shot scoring and kept within sight. However Dave held on at the end and won, giving Princeville a 5-0 victory.
After waiting a good 10-15 minutes, news filtered through that St Andrews "A" got a 3rd win which was enough to win the 2014/2015 Pudsey Billiards League title. Later it was discovered that the final scoreline was 3-2 and St Andrews "A" won the league by half a point. An agnoisingly cruel way to miss out on defending the title, more so when unbeaten in the first ten games.
