Alan got
us going and it was a game where he potted some decent reds but could not
pot a colour for love nor money. So he fell some way behind and looked like
he had well and truly lost it. But he managed to get the one snooker he
needed and then gradually reduced the difference. In potting the blue, he
really was in with a real shout but the pink was safe on the side cushion,
so all he could do was play safe, with the black over the middle pocket. The
black actually made his safety shot more difficult, as he had to make sure
he missed the cannon. Well he did so, but actually caught the pink too thin
and knocked it towards the corner pocket and that was end of frame.
Mark played their best player and both of
them made rather shaky starts. Mark potted some good balls, but was not
putting together the really big breaks he was last year. However, after a
bit of a safety bout, Mark eventually did put a 40 break together and from
then on, he was never in danger.
Paul was next and was pretty confident
as he was starting to get his game going in practice, but as is often the
way, it can often be different when you play a match. His opponent managed
to get ahead early on and basically Paul had 2 good chances to get back into
it, but could not take them. There was 1 red left on and he tried for a
while to get a snooker which might have led to a free ball, but even though
the colours were grouped to make it easier to get a snooker he only managed
to get 2 snookers and his opponent got out of them, so Paul decided to call
it a day.
Dave was on at the same time as Paul
and he played really well. His game went to the wire and was rather
controversial. He played a nice snooker on the pink, which his opponent got
close to, but missed. The referee (who incidentally was not one of their
players) then proceeded to ask whether he should call a miss. Eventually he
decided not to call the miss so inevitably Dave went on to lose.
Luke was last and this game really
swung one way then the other, with neither building up a huge lead.
Inevitably, it went down to the black and Luke had first chance. The black
was on its spot and Luke was basically in ideal position - a ball he would
pot every time, but of course on this occasion he didn't. The black came
onto the top cushion, but still in readily pottable position. Unbelievably,
his opponent then wobbled the black and left it for Luke who basically could
not miss.
So a 3-2 defeat for us - it could have
been worse but could also have been better if we'd had a bit of luck.
