Carlisle and District Snooker League took a break this week for the quarter finals of the Team KO Handicap.
As with previous rounds, the matches are based on frame totals rather than individual frame results and teams receive a handicap based on 2023 league positions.
SECC D (125) against Qzone (scratch) was the only inter-divisional match of the night and pitted the current champions, Qzone against SECC D from the Second Division. The home side received a start of 125 points through the handicap.
Carl Short, for the home side, was drawn to play Qzone’s number one Paul Wright in the opening frame. Carl potted some lovely balls throughout the frame and despite losing 78-39 to his classy opponent, it was a good start for the home team.
It was a similar story in frame two, with Jim O’Donnell restricting Giles Finegan from scoring heavily. The frame finished 65-29 to Giles.
Dan Blenkinsopp against Chris Forrester was a very close match, with Chris coming out on top 55-40.
Frame four saw Archie Walker for SECC use his match experience to beat Gary Lee 66-18. Once the handicap had been added up, this put SECC 83 points ahead going into the final frame and a shock result was on the cards.
The final frame was between Jack Bowman for SECC D and Ian Pattinson for the visitors. Ian tried his best to turn the match around, but Jack was able to pot a few reds with colours to reduce the scoring potential for Ian.
In the end the score finished 80-21 to the Qzone player but it meant that SECC D qualified for the semi-final for the first time by a 24-point margin on handicap.
In the clash between Ex Servicemens Club C (75) and SECC (100) Dave Turley took the first frame against Mark Taylor which hinged on a good safety on the brown to force an error. A sublime pink to set up the black meant 22 of the 25 handicap was clawed back, with Dave winning 59-37.
Stuart Telford hung on for dear life against Dave Sanderson, adding a few pinks and blacks with the reds but Dave’s strong potting kept him well in front to take the lead for the Ex. After a 79-40 frame score.
Classy snooker from Rob Woods was too much for Harry Ruddick. His relentless scoring won the frame 70-29 which effectively put the tie beyond SECC.
Stuart Styth and Andy Foster battled a war of attrition with neither player able to shake the other off completely before it finished 53-42 to Andy.
Martin Milner came to the table against Andy Bell needing to pull back 66 points. Andy was able to keep his nose in front with some assured potting and he pulled away on the colours to win 70-35 as the Ex Club advanced to the semi-finals.
SECC A (50) v RAOB A (25)
SECC (50) only had a 25 point head start over RAOB A (25) so this match was always going to be close where every point counted.
Martin Goodhead won the opening frame against Mike Dochery 58-33 for the home team.
Tommy Dobson, for the visitors, was in full control of the second frame against Mick Miller and won 75-25 to put RAOB in front by 10.
Frame three was a low-scoring affair between John Yeomans and Brian Sloan, with John eventually winning 34-26 before. Alan Trotter beat Laurie Key 56-44 to extend the overall points difference to 25 going into the final frame decider.
The final frame was between both captains and with so much at stake it was always going to be a game where neither player wanted to make a mistake. The frame went to the colours and it was Phil Wall who came out on top 34-17 against Dave Hucul, to win the tie for the home team as they advanced to the semi-finals.
The derby match between the Rock A (50) and The Rock (scratch) was always going to be a tough ask for the A team despite a 10 point per man head start.
So it proved, as in the opening frame between Dave Currie and Mally Lancaster as ‘Bomber’ had a 20 break and also potted the crucial high value colours at the end of the frame to win 70-35.
Frame two was all about the class potting from Paul Cowing for the visitors against the luckless Neil Walby. It seemed that every time Paul came to the table he was scoring double-digit breaks. Once again potting the high value colours, he ran out the winner 103-17.
Frame three between Paul Scott and Stephen Little was much closer, with Stephen galloping off into an early lead with a couple of mid-teen breaks. With a few colours left, ‘Scotty’ started to get some lovely pots of his own and the scores were level with the pink and black remaining.
An under-hit safety shot on the pink gave a chance for Stephen and he took it, potting the black as well to win 59-46.
Frame four was also a closer affair between Simon Elston and Mark Ballantyne. As with the previous three frames Mark potted the high value colours to run out an 80-44 winner.
Once the totals were added up, the match score had The Rock A trailing their visitors by 120 points, so it was highly unlikely that the final frame between John Metcalfe and Lawrence Swan would see that huge difference turned around.
However, things did get interesting for a little bit at the start of the frame when John potted the first two reds with blacks but then missed the third black.
The remainder of the frame was close, as ‘Swanny’ slowly picked away at John’s early lead to pot the final black to win the frame 60-54. The Rock advanced to the semi finals.
