Princeville Patriots resume Pudsey League Billiards action with their final outing of the league campaign against title contenders Pudsey Congs. Whilst the Patriots are nowhere near title contention, their last three games are against cup semi-finalists, which is sure to provide a valuable insight in the Patriots cup defence aspirations.
First up was K.Tomlinson and D.Raw, joining up at the halfway stage Keith possessed a good lead of around 30. However Dennis turned the match on it's head by recording breaks of 23, 24 and 26 unfinished to record a 52pt win. Keith was left rubbing his head, after nutting it on the table light shade.
Second up was D.Hardcastle and A.Stevens, an entertaining match but not necessarily through the gameplay. For the most part it was a rather close affair, but Don started to find some form and got a nicely timed 13 break to put himself 30pts in front. However Don played with the wrong ball and Albert attempted to launch a comeback, who initially started it by playing the wong ball before Don sportingly alerted both player and match referee. Though Albert did well to get back in the game, he was timed out whilst in possession and Don won by 6pts.
Next up I.Tomlinson and J.Hirst. Ian was on the front foot throughout, scoring frequently upon each visit and cueing very smoothly as he raced to a 49pt vicory to put the Patriots 2-1 up with a 3pt aggregate advantage.
Saving the best until last are the two form men, J.Butcher and D.Hirst. Although the match didn't produce much in the way of fireworks with balls jaw rattling or falling short of position, both players signalled their intentions to win. James led for the 1st half, but Dave was always snapping at the heels and got into position with a nicely timed 25pt break towards the end to win by 36pts and secure a 3-2 win for Pudsey Congs, who keep their title aspirations firmly on track.
Meanwhile the Patriots are still looking for their 1st win of 2016 and remain rooted bottom of the league, but return back to base far from disgraced. Next weeks opponents are arch rivals and cup semi-final opponents, St Andrews "A". A match which is sure to rouse the misfiring Partiots unit.
