The L&L Property Contractors Snooker League saw the Eric McMullen Memorial Team Knockout Handicap Trophy take centre stage this week.
After four intense first-round qualifying matches Station Road, United Club B, United Club A, and Workington Cons all emerged victorious.
They each displayed skill and resilience to give them the perfect start to their qualifying campaigns.
Maryport Social hosted Workington’s Station Road, with the visiting team putting in a dominant performance across the new format of five singles and two doubles frames to secure a comprehensive 6-1 win.
The opening frame saw Ben Scott (+38) face Tom Thompson (+22). Despite Scott’s efforts, Thompson took the frame 68-37 to put Station Road Club 1-0 up.
In the second singles, Maryport’s Andrew Sharp (+32) fell to a solid Chris Hunter (+30) performance, who won 57-35.
The doubles frames followed, and with Andrew Scott and Andrew Sharp (+32) unable to overcome Mike Walker and John Teasdale (+21), the Station Road Club pairing took the game 61-34.
Maryport Social fought back in the second doubles frame however, with Greg Todd and Gary Miller (+42) defeating Kevin Kirkham and Darren Lawson (+11) for a close 64-55 victory.
Returning to singles, Andrew Scott (+31) was beaten by John Teasdale (+20), 55-41, while Greg Todd (+48) lost to Kevin Kirkham (scratch), 80-53.
In the final frame, Gary Miller (+35) faced Darren Lawson (+22), with Lawson winning 75-38 to give Station Road their decisive 6-1 victory.
Workington’s United Club B pitted their skills against Whitehaven’s Rack Shack and in another compelling contest United B clinched a solid 5-2 win.
The match began with United B’s Richard Kirkham (+31) narrowly defeating Peter McAvoy (+32), 56-53.
However, in frame two United B captain Stephen Jackson (+35) couldn’t hold off the challenge of Adam Morilla (+39), who levelled the match by winning 75-43.
In the first doubles frames, Adam Sowden and Stephen Harrison (+42) took on Rack Shack’s Peter McAvoy and Adam Morilla (+36) and in claiming a comfortable 59-23 win it was the United Club B who moved 2-1 ahead.
Stephen Jackson and Andrew Carter (+40) secured another United B doubles win in the next, defeating Chris McKelvey and Lee Dougherty (+41) 55-36, giving United B a 3-1 match lead.
Back to the singles frames, United B’s Andrew Carter (+45) defeated Lee Dougherty (+40), 62-22 for 4-1, and as Adam Sowden (+46) defeated the Rack Shack’s Chris McKelvey (+42), 56-33, it put the United B outfit firmly ahead at 5-1.
Stephen Harrison (+37) played the final frame of the match against Andy Moore (+30). An even game was close throughout but it was Moore who won 65-45, leaving the final score at 5-2 in favour of United Club B.
In a high-stakes Division 1 showdown, Workington’s Veterans Club A faced fellow townies United Club A.
In a closely contested match, United Club A took an unreachable 4-1 lead but were eventually pegged back to 4-3.
The first frame saw Mark Tunstall (+25) from Veterans Club A lose to David Chapman (+24) in a gruelling encounter, 56-36. Mark Tatton (+26) responded for the Veterans A with his best performance of the season so far defeating Clive Lister (+18) with a 69-39 scoreline.
At 1-1, in the first doubles frames, the first Veterans A duo couldn’t overcome Peter O’Hagan and Mark Suitor (+21), as O’Hagan’s break of 39 led United to a 75-29 victory.
The second of the doubles frames saw Veterans A captain Kevin Basnett and Mark Tunstall (+13) face Andrew Mitchelhill and David Chapman (+18). A mid frame well constructed break of 41 from Mitchelhill ended up being enough to secure a 60-23 win for a United A 3-1 lead.
In the fifth frame, Paul Smith (+38) faced Peter O’Hagan (+6) and even though Smith maintained his lead until four reds remained it was O’Hagan who cleared with a fantastic break of 49, winning 86-54 which gave United A an unassailable 4-1 lead in the process. Veterans A fought back winning frame six 61-22, before Kevin Basnett (scratch) defeated Mark Suitor (+32) with a 44 break, for a 93-48 victory to claw the match score back to 4-3 in United Club A’s favour.
In the final match of the week, Workington Conservative Club took on Workington Golf Club and with a brilliant comeback from 3-1 down the Cons side secured a tight 4-3 victory.
The opening frame saw Brian Kendall (+50) take full advantage of his handicap to defeat Brian Walker (+20), 75-48.
In the second frame, Lewis Tilley (+40) defeated Julian Plaza (+21) on the black, winning 69-65 to tie the match.
The doubles frames brought further drama. Ryan Ismay and Lewis Tilley (+25) narrowly defeated Alan Moore and David Holland (+17), 48-37, and in the second doubles frame, Simon Fraser and Bryan Walker (+24) overcame Ryan Barker and Brian Kendall (+40), winning 58-48 for a 3-1 Cons Club lead.
Back to singles, and in frame five Alan Moore (+13) played superbly, beating Simon Fraser (+28) 71-39. David Holland (+21) then defeated current league singles handicap champion Ryan Ismay (+10) with a dominant 68-20 display, to tie the match at 3-3.
In the decider, Ryan Barker (+31) secured the match for Cons by defeating Mark Brasted (+14), 76-34, to complete a fine match winning comeback.
