Workington Conservative Club duo, Dave Holland and Ryan Barker were crowned L&L Property Contractors Snooker League Doubles KO Handicap champions this week.
They edged out the Workington Golf Club pair Bryan Walker and Mark Carruthers (combined handicap +35) 4–2 in a high-quality dramatic final at the Veterans Club, Workington.
The opening frame immediately set the tone for the final as Holland settled quickest, crafting an excellent 30 break before adding a further contribution of 14 to move the Cons into early command.
Despite some determined safety play from the Golf Club pairing, Holland continued to pot confidently and consistently, forcing Walker and Carruthers to concede with all the colours remaining as the Cons took the opener 62–18.
Frame two developed into a far tighter encounter, with all four players producing some excellent potting. Holland again proved instrumental, compiling a well-made 29 break before narrowly missing the black.
With the frame finely balanced with only the blue remaining, Holland coolly dispatched a superb long pot into the middle pocket before following up with a confident pink into the corner to secure a hard-earned 65–55 victory and extend the Cons lead to 2–0.
The third frame remained competitive throughout, with Barker beginning to assert himself with a useful 21 break during another tactical and closely fought battle.
As the contest moved onto the colours, it was Barker again who this time produced arguably the shot of the evening, drilling in a superb long green before following it with an excellent long brown down the cushion to extinguish any hopes of a Golf Club comeback and hand the Cons a commanding 59–31 success to move within one frame of the title at 3-0.
However, Workington Golf Club responded brilliantly in frame four to keep the final alive.
After a cagey opening, Barker fired in an impressive 44 break to seemingly put the Cons firmly in control, but the Golf Club pair refused to fold.
Walker and Carruthers stayed within touching distance through steady scoring and determined safety play before Walker produced a magnificent late clearance, potting brown to pink and then doubling the black into the middle pocket to complete a superb 22 clearance and steal the frame 53–51.
Holland once again dominated the early scoring phases in frame five with excellent breaks of 38 and 14 to give the Cons a strong advantage.
However, it was Walker and Carruthers who again demonstrated tremendous resilience, digging deep in the tactical exchanges to claw their way back into contention.
With the Cons pairing leading 70–57 with 18 remaining, Walker nervelessly potted blue and pink before missing a relatively straightforward middle-pocket chance.
Staying focused, Carruthers stepped forward on the next Golf Club visit to calmly dispatch the black and snatch a dramatic 75–70 victory to reduce the arrears to 3–2.
With the tension building the sixth frame became a nervy tactical affair littered with safety exchanges and missed opportunities from both pairings.
Holland appeared poised to seal the title after working his way through yellow, green and brown only to miss the blue, keeping the Golf Club duo’s hope alive.
As the blue and pink were deposited the Golf Club team were seven points in front with just the black remaining.
Up stepped Barker however, and in producing a huge pressure shot with a doubled black the scores were level at 64–64.
The re-spotted black saw a good safety exchange and it was Carruthers who attempted to break the deadlock with a tricky double.
Seeing the black miss the Golf Club cueist turned his attention to the white ball and as it cruelly rolled in-off the title was handed to the Cons pairing with a 71–64 victory for a 4-2 match scoreline.
