As week sixteen of the DVARD Summer League fixtures are completed, both divisions’ frontrunners have one hand on the trophies and titles.
Defending champion Kevin Basnett notched up several breaks of 33, 31, 30, 30 & 30 on his way to a whitewash of Cockermouth’s Andrew Mitchelhill.
The former county champion effectively just needs any form of win against his final two opponents. The runner-up and third place are still all to play for between Mitchelhill and Workington’s Peter O’Hagan if the title slips out of reach.
The only other topflight tie saw the battle of Workington players Clive Lister and Mark Tunstall. In a tight match throughout the lead alternated with two black-ball games to boot. Tunstall managed to overcome the resistance of Lister in the deciding frame for 3-2.
In a much busier week for the second tier, Whitehaven’s Andy Moore maintained his unbeaten entrance to the summer league with another 4-1 victory, this time over Seaton’s Paul Smith, who briefly rallied at 1-1.
Moore took three comfortable frames and compiled a break of 30 in the final frame. Moore sits five points clear at the top with the key match seeing him take on Darren Lawson in the penultimate fixture, a tie which Lawson will need to win to keep his title chances alive.
Seaton’s Stephen Jackson notched up two league victories to place some pressure onto Moore with a comfortable 5-0 and hard earned 3-2 result over opponents Geoff and Paul Smith (not related) respectively. Jackson lies in second spot, five points behind the frontrunner.
Lawson earned a vital 4-1 win over Workington’s Chris Hunter to position himself in third spot. His upcoming fixture with Moore may prove the key remaining tie in division two.
Hunter fared a little better in the mid-table clash with Dave Chapman of Workington. However, Chapman came through with a 3-2 victory and a single point separates the two players.
Whitehaven’s Richard Kirkham consolidated his position with a 5-0 win over Geoff Smith.
In a rescheduled DVARD group A fixture Hunter reversed his league defeat over Lawson recording a 4-1 victory which effectively means the group qualifier will depend on whether Basnett records any form of win over Lawson in the final group tie.
Next week sees the group qualifiers decided for the semi-final placings.
