Princeville Patriots, who have gone winless in 2016 thus far, faced Littlemoor Baptists in a basement battle. This is a far cry from the Patriots who had title aspirations at the halfway stage, now suddenly find themselves trying to avoid the wooden spoon. Prior to tonights game, three of the Patriots were involved in Bradford Sunday School League Billiards. J.Butcher and D.Hardcastle of Princeville "A" found themselves part of a whitewashing against reigning champions and current leaders Eastbrook, whilst captain K.Tomlinson was subject to a heavy defeat for Princeville "B" against Bradford Deaf Centre.
First up was I.Tomlinson and League Secretary/Press Officer D.Howarth, along with D.Hardcastle and P.Allan. Ian started off very well against Dave, who was cueing beautifully and scored frequently on most visits to get almost 50pts at one stage. Dave struggled to find any momentum, finding himself in the proverbial long grass but even some regulation shots were glaringly missed. From the middle phase onwards, Ian was in sight to record a comprehensive victory but scoring opportunities became increasingly limited and at times relied on a few flukes to get the scoreboard ticking. With less than 10 minutes to go, Dave went all John Virgo and instructed team mate Peter to "pot as many balls as you can". Ironically it was Dave who played like a snooker player on Big Break as he kicked into overdrive, significantly reducing his lead and momentarily looked like snatching an unlikely win at the death. But he was always up against the clock and one unenforced error too many meant Ian won by 19pts. A well deserved win, but possibly an opportunity missed to have made it one sided.
Meanwhile on the other table, Don found himself on the back foot against Peter, often playing shots that rattled the jaws and lost by 38pts.
At the half-time tea interval, Ian called an emergency team meeting and cited that the players are not looking out for each other mid-match and analysing game scenarios. A fair point to make given in-game communications levels have dropped off from last season and has potentially cost the team points.
Next up was J.Butcher and G.Tudor along with K.Tomlinson and R.Allan. After the early exchanges, James got off to a flying start and controlled his match throughout. Graham struggled to keep in contention, finding himself awkward long range strokes and even scoring shots from closer range were not converted. Bearing in mind of the half-time team talk and analysing the other tables progress, James looked to take the initiative and looked good for a big win. On the other table, Keith found himself often trailing behind against Ralph and was roughly 40pts at one stage. Although credit to Keith he did pull it back to within parity, however it wasn't enough as Ralph kicked on towards the end and sealed a convicing 50pt win. Back on the other table, James completed a 65pt win but securing the aggregate point proved to be in vain as the Patriots lost by 5pts and found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-2 scoreline.
This result has put the Patriots 1.5pts adrift from bottom and a long way from any title aspirations, a complete contrast from 12 months ago. Next week the Patriots travel to Pudsey and play against league leaders St Andrews Foxes.
EXCLUSIVE: Footage of D.Howarth playing against the clock
