The Carlisle Snooker League took a break from the usual league format last night to get stuck into knock-out matches.
Teams were involved in the opening round of the Team KO, sponsored by Woodpecker Kitchens and Bathrooms.
It is a handicapped competition based on league positions from last season and the players are pre-drawn at random. The winning team is based on points scored in all frames, rather than a frame-by-frame basis.
Rock A entertained RAOB B (who received 75 points start) and in frame one Neil Walby gave the home side a good start by beating Jamie Blakey 52-40.
The game swung in Neil’s favour by potting a crucial blue and pink at the end of the frame. He went in off the black with his last shot which reduced the overall deficit to 63.
In Frame two John Steventon (Rock) beat Alan Jardine. Alan was in front for the majority of the game, but a couple of fouls (which he owned up to before the ref could call them) allowed John to turn the tide and win 66-41. It left RAOB B in front by 38pts.
Frame three saw the Rock’s Simon Elston carry his fair share of luck against John Greenland which allowed him to win 62-23 and put The Rock in front by a point on the night.
In frame four John Metcalfe (Rock) was against debutant Martin Wannop for RAOB and was able to use his experience to dominate the frame with various double figure breaks.
He ran out a 94-37 winner, which extended The Rock’s advantage.
In the final frame Peter Dean from RAOB had to beat Paul Scott by 59pts to win the match. It proved a bridge too far, as with the score at 49-42 to Peter, he needed six snookers and a free-ball with the remaining last red, so he decided to concede.
This meant that The Rock go through to the quarter final next month.
In another of the eight matches played SECC D entertained Eastriggs A with a 50 pt head start and it provided a hard fought match.
In the opening frame Carl Short came up short against Robert Kerr 44-46, reducing their lead to 48 pts.
In frame two, Dan Blenkinsopp played really well with some crucial potting against Davy Smith to win 62-35 which now gave SECC D a 75 points lead.
In frame three Archie Walker was playing old team mate Chris Sharkey in a frame which Chris dominated to win 75-35 to close the gap back to 35.
In frame four the visitors once again reduced their deficit even further to 16, when Brian Peat played really well to best Jim O’Donnell 57-38.
So like many of these handicap matches, everything came down to the final frame with Davy Campbell attempting to claw back their 16 point deficit against SECC D captain Jack Bowman.
It proved to be a difficult task, as Jack had his potting boots on, when hitting a 27 break mid-frame. This helped him win the frame 69-34 and the match 248-247. So once handicaps were added, SECC D won 373-322.
The Rock A and SECC D are joined in the quarter finals by Qzone, The Rock, RAOB A, SECC, SECC A and Ex-Servicemens C, who all won their respective matches on Tuesday night.
