The first final of the season in the L&L Property Contractors Snooker League was the Division Two top four play-off.
Staged at Maryport Social Club, league champions Workington’s United Club took on second placed Workington Veterans Club B.
It was the Division Two winners who came out on top in a tense match which culminated in a deciding frame 3-2 victory.
In the first frame Vets B’s Sal Cakmak opened up the scoring and with his season’s best break he confidently constructed a well put together contribution of 38.
The United Club’s Brian Kendall was not deterred, however, and in producing some measured potting he slowly clawed his way back into the frame.
Cakmak stuck to the task, however, and in clearing the colours he needed the Vets B cueist put his side 1-0 up with a 49-25 win.
Frame two between Vets B’s Shane Evitts and United Club’s Dave Chapman saw a safety-first approach dominate the early part of the game, as it took 15 minutes before a ball was potted.
Even though the deadlock was eventually broken scoring was stifled as all the reds had accumulated in one corner of the table.
As the game progressed Chapman started to look the more assured of the two players and in grinding out the points he required the United Club cueists eventually went on to win 60-51.
At 1-1, the United’s Club’s Division Two leading player, Clive Lister, opened frame three with some fine potting and carefully built a small lead.
An out-of-sorts Paul Vickers tried desperately to drag himself back into the game but as a number of chances eluded him the Vets B player was up against it. Needing snookers with the brown remaining Lister potted the aforementioned brown with the long rest only to leave it on the table for the white to strike it.
This foul left Vickers a needing only one snooker and with a number of superb attempts Lister was feeling the pressure.
Nevertheless, Lister patiently awaited his opportunity and in eventually taking the balls he required the Vets B talisman took frame 76-51 for a 2-1 United Club lead.
Frame four saw the early chances fall to United Club captain Andrew Mitchelhill but in not making as much from them as he would have expected Vets B’s Michael ‘Sid’ Walker grew in confidence.
This positivity led to a nice lead for Walker but with a couple of reds remaining Mitchelhill had a chance.
Potting a good couple of balls the United Club cueist looked to be pinching the frame, however in leaving the yellow it was Walker who cleared the necessary balls for a 59-38 victory to take the match to a decider.
The deciding frame started with a good opening red from United Club’s Mark Suitor and with one good pot after another he gave himself what was essentially an-18 point start.
This seemed to rattle Vets B captain Geoff Banton and even though he created some decent opportunities for himself he just couldn’t manage to string a break together.
This allowed Suitor to maintain his small advantage and the longer the frame progressed the more important the points difference became.
As the colours approached Suitor was still in front, and what was now a healthy lead proved to be enough for the United Club player to eventually take the frame 59-24 and clinched the title for a brilliant league/playoff double.
