Patriots in Exhilirating Spectacle

Princeville Patriots made the journey to Pudsey in what was an exhilirating spectacle against St Andrews "A".   

First up was K.Tomlinson against G.Pearson, a match known for plenty of needle.  Joining in at the halfway stage, Keith posessed a lead of 20, but Graham hit back to record a 21 break which had potential to go beyond had he not rushed a regulation in-off red to the middle pocket, which ended up in no-mans land.  So much was riding in his game, that both players made audible reactions during stroke play.  Those watching the World Snooker International Qualifiers at Preston Guild Hall may have accidentally picked up a frequency of Keith and Graham providing in-player commentary, with side on analysis provided by Neil, Gary and Andy.  Eventually Keith dominated possession in the final minutes to secure a 19pt win.

Next up was G.Rogers and D.Hardcastle, in what was a relatively fluid game.  Don held his own to start with, but Gary started to control the game by accumulating points on a regular basis and soon found himself ahead.  Despite Don's best efforts, Gary barely let up and ran away with a 21pt lead to level things up for St Andrews "A".  

On third is top table men A.Instrell and J.Butcher, both players have been involved in some keenly fought matches in recent times and this match failed to disappoint.  Although the match started off as a slow burner points wise, Andy enjoyed the better points scoring opportunity but made a fair few glaring unforced errors.  Meanwhile, James was forced to be content in accumulating single figure visits off half chances before he finally got into gear and registered a 28pt break past the halfway stage.  At 47pts behind, Andy did not lie down and soon responded with a majestic 59pt break to give him a slight lead.  With less than 10 minutes to go, this forced James to change tack by playing a more conservatively.  Unashamed to pot the opponents cue ball and go double baulk in order to prevent the game being taken away.  This worked to a certain degree, but made a mess of playing an in-off red to the bottom pocket with ball in hand.  The red ball was left over the middle bag and Andy recorded a 15 unfinished break, to win by 6pts and give St Andrews "A" a 2-1 lead.

Last on was N.Lee and I.Tomlinson in a match where if the Patriots were to record their 1st win of the season, Ian had to win by 9pts or more.  Unfortunately for Ian, it was start as you meant to go on from last week as he struggled for momentum and Neil powered his way to a 40pt lead, aided by some good fortune.  St Andrews "A" were firm favourites to record a 4-1 win, but things slowly began to change.  Ian started to find some form and recorded a break in the teens, Neil's scoring run virtually dried up and was stuck in the late 170s to early 180s for quite a while.  Ian's ball striking and cueing continued to improve, then he suddenly caught up and took the lead needing 5 to win.  Neil had an opportunity to get to 193 to at least secure an aggregate point for St Andrews, but ran out of position before getting to 190.  Ian was presented with a long range in-off and duly converted to give the Patriots a sensational 3-2 victory, greeted with an enthusiastic response from the unofficial vice-captain and a huge confidence boost to the team.

Next week the Patriots are home to Bradford Deaf Centre 4 Stars.  Team skipper Keith, possessing a win percentage record that Sam Allardyce would be proud of is unavaiable to play as he is staying at a "Quality" Hotel.  This presents a captaincy dilemma with as many three players are in the running.  Find out next week who will be the proud captain of Princeville Patriots (for one match only).

Spectators at Guild Hall listen in to the Unadulterated Filth of A.Instrell - Live and Uncut

 

Patriots get the season underway

Princeville Patriots got the Pudsey Billiards League 2016/2017 Season underway with a tough fixture at home to Pudsey Congs.  Despite the season starting a week later than in previous years, it felt like a shock to the system due to the summer weather lasting beyond the Autumn equinox.

First up was the two Tomlinsons, Ian facing D.Raw and Keith facing Pudsey League 2016 Individual Knockout Winner D.Hirst.  Ian found himself on the back foot with immediate effect as Dennis looked in imperious touch, playing a good line with the balls when attempting cannons and in-offs and raced into a healthy lead of 40+.  Although Ian did not get much in the way of scoring chances to begin with, scoring was patchy in places largely due to a lack of match sharpness and cueing deficiency.    Dennis was aided some good fortune to keep the scoreboard ticking for a while longer, but momentum started to start as Ian strung a couple of breaks in the teens to half the deficit.  However Dennis had enough in him to see out the game, scoring a flurry of points late on to win by 46pts.

The match between Keith and Dave was a slow burner with Dave holding a small lead to begin with.  However Keith kept up with the pace and found some rhythm towards the latter half of the match, eventually winning by 15pts.

Next up was an intriguing fixture between J.Butcher and R.Bowes, a well celebrated player making a sensational return to the Pudsey League along with D.Hardcastle and A.Stevens.

It was not a particularly good night for James as Richard got into scoring mode from the off, recording a 48 break in his second visit.  Things got bad to worse for James after striking the cue ball twice when attempting to pot a red into the middle pocket with ball in hand.  For a player who has been out of the Billiards scene for a while, Richard looked in good touch, possessing natural cue ball positioning when playing a range of medium to long strokes and added another break of 37.  Although James tried to reply positively, he did not have the required match sharpness to launch a realistic comeback and lost by 25pts.

On the other table, Don and Albert were keenly battling it out.  It was relatively close for the most part with Don leading a good portion of the game.  However Albert rolled back the years with a crucial 22pt break towards the end and recorded a 26pt win, which secured a 4-1 win for Pudsey Congs on the night.

Not the best start for the Patriots, a substandard performance lacking sharpness at times.  Though Pudsey Congs look like early season title contenders and even have a number of quality players on the sidelines.  

Next week is an away trip against St Andrews "A", a match sure to be keenly contested by both sides.

Princeville Patriots 2016/2017 Pudsey Billiards League Preview

After a 4 month summer break, the Princeville Patriots are back in Pudsey Billiards League action on Thursday and start the campaign at home to Pudsey Congs.

Last season was rather a mixed one for the Patriots.  The league campaign was one to forget, quite literally as Princeville A's final league position of 2015/16 is not even recorded in this years handbooks! To confirm, the Patriots finished rock bottom which is a major disappointment considering two previous seasons of finishing 2nd and 1st.  The Patriots lost in the Pudsey Cup Final to stablemates Princeville "B", largely down to Ian Tomlinson being undone by a rampant Alan Holdsworth who almost single handedly killed off the competition by the halfway stage.

In Individual honours, James Butcher missed on the Pudsey Billiards League Individual title by a single point against last seasons form man Dave Hirst in front of a packed room at St Andrews Methodist Church.  Though the Patriots top board man did win the Pudsey Billiarss League highest break award of 59 unfinished and Don Hardcastle won the Pudsey Billiards League Pairs title.

The handicap committee have not been too kind for the Patriots in this seasons campaign.  Don remains on 125 despite not having a particularly good season, James has 10pts deducted despite winning 10 out of 18 League games and an average of +14.  The Patriots management team are led to believe that Derrick has made a strong case to the handicap committee in giving James a significant deduction.  Ian has retained his handicap of 80, a slight surprise considering he has played reasonably well last year and captain Keith has his handicap increased to 85.

There is potential for the Patriots to challenge for honours if players perform consistently and as a unit, but it's not going to be an easy task with a number of good players in the league.