Princeville Patriots play their final home league game of season with a tasty rival clash against St Andrews "A". Whilst neither side have nothing to play for in the league, this was certainly no dead rubber and a possible indicator to see how both sides would fare in the Pudsey League Cup in a fortnights time.
First up was I.Tomlinson and N.Lee. Neil was notably impressed with the hi-tech scoring system that the Patriots have in place, where the yellow and white counters representing the ball colours interchange as the official match marker put the handicaps up as soon as the break-off was decided.
St Andrews Methodist Church are holding a Easter Fayre next weekend and the Billiards Institute, in conjuction with Tifosy, have launched a crowdfunding scheme called "Upgrade the Parish" in order to upgrade the Billiard Room with a new electronic scoreboard and refreshments stall. Billiards enthuisasts and the wider public can donate monies and receive a gift in return, or make a bid for a range of items on auction. A £2 donation will guarantee a seat for the 2016 Individual Billiards Final and Presentation Evening with tea and biscuits. One item up for bidding is the original script of the 2015 Individual Billiards Final and Presentation Evening, officially signed by Pudsey League President and scriptwriter Tony Ward, starting at £20. But the two biggest prizes on offer are a seven hour net session and a one-to-one coaching session, with Pudsey internet sensation Fred Boycott. Due to huge interest from the cricketing community, bidding has already begun at £200 and is expected to reach four figures.
Both Ian and Neil started off in attacking form, albeit scoring points in instalments rather than heavy accumulations. Ian held a small lead, but as his scoring opportunities dried up, Neil started to move through the gears and led by 10pts at the halfway stage. However the game turned on it's head as Neil played a foul stroke and Ian took full advantage by racking up a 23pt break and another in the mid-teens in three visits, both breaks started off by scoring 6pts in one go. Neil replied with a 20pt break of his own, but Ian finished off proceedings with a 13pt victory.
Over on the other table it was K.Tomlinson and G.Pearson. In an interesting observation, Graham sported a very stylish yellow Adidas classic polo shirt whilst Keith sported his official (almost) white Princeville Billiards polo shirt. In an ironic twist, Graham opted to let Keith break off with the yellow ball, which caused mild bemusement in the Billiard room.
Keith started off rather strongly and got to a lead of 50pts early on, but struggled to kick on as he appeared to have peaked too early. Graham struggled for momentum in the first half, but battled on by reducing the deficit in instalments and was trailing behind by less than 20 with five minutes remaining. Keith was really struggling to get over the line, whilst Graham had enough momentum behind him to snatch an unlikely victory. Any sensational comeback was not to be as Keith was saved by the bell to record a 2nd win for the Patriots, but his poor performance did not go un-noticed by the Patriots playing staff.
After a refreshing tea interval with some tales from a bygone era, next up was J.Butcher v A.Instrell and D.Hardcastle v G.Rogers. Despite a poor break-off, James started off brightly and scored some a healthy amount of points during visits whilst Andy struggled for run-in. When opportunities did come, unforced errors became a part in Andy's game as he could not quite get to grips with a sluggish table. There was one hairy moment in the game where official match marker Ian rolled the ball back on the table, hit the middle pocket knuckle and was about to clash with the other balls. However James was alert and displayed his cricket fielding skills by swooping in to intercept the ball, almost like running in from mid-wicket to stop a single. Eventually James recored a 65pt win and secured a 3rd victory for the Patriots.
Over on the other table, Don was found often trailing on the back foot against Gary though at the halfway point managed to get within parity. However Gary found another gear and recorded a solid solo win for St Andrews "A".
The Patriots have finally ended their losing streak of six matches to record their 1st team victory of 2016 with a 4-1 win, a huge monkey off the players backs as the league season comes to a close next week. Not everybody was in celebration mode as Bob Willis reserved criticism for the Patriots captain and placed him on the dock in a special edition of The Verdict. "Well Charles..............I don't know how Keith managed to get a healthy lead because of the shots he played towards the end was absolutely brainless. At that point you would be forgiven if he was going to Paarl on holiday next week, not Perth. If this was a 200 up game rather than a 50 minute one then Graham would have won. Just as well I don't work in the Aviation industry because I would be strapping Keith onto the wings on his flight to Down Under based on that second half performance."
Next week, the Patriots close out the 2015-16 League campaign with a stablemate match against Princeville "B" in what may well be a race to the bottom.
