Northants Bar Billiards League

Recap

As a result of Norm’s late arrival, leg 4 was played first and Lorin took the opportunity to get the hosts off to a positive start. As Lorin eased to a 7k+ break never missing a 50/100 split he touched on to secure the leg. Mary could not get the break back until after the bar had dropped and left herself only the last ball – not Mary’s night. Andy took advantage of a shocking series of unfortunate rolls of the ball for Dave. Indeed it was over nine minutes into the game before Dave was able to keep a score. He left himself too much to do whilst Andy was calm and steady in his approach – precisely what was required. Two legs to the good, the home side were dreaming of a famous victory against a division 1 side. The Cock ‘A’ are not title contenders for nothing however and Tony soon took the lead against a shaky Martyn in the third leg. By now, players were finding the break a challenge despite being shown the way early on and this kept the games closer – a benefit to the division 2 side. Norm looked to have a strong chance against an unbeaten Jim in the fourth leg but Jim is showing a resilience that perhaps has been missing in the last two seasons. Jim played confidently and calmly and looked in control at all times. With his unbeaten run extending further – he left us with a 2-2 scoreline and a final game decider. Having broken the news earlier that evening about his departure in the new year, Ian demonstrated why he is one of the most valuable players in the league. Dunc stood no chance as Ian tamed the lion table showing precisely how to compile a winning break effortlessly. Losing Ian will be a big loss to the league, and huge for The Cock team – good for them that they are making the most of his skills now. A great win for the away side keeps their Division 1 challenge going whilst The Red Lion are starting to wonder from where their next win will come. Have faith!