Northants Bar Billiards League

Recap

A little piece of history was made in the Northants League on Monday as we welcomed the first Winter League match for the almost entirely new team from the Red Lion and what a privilege it was to host the defending Division 1 League Champions and Cup Winners from Rushden. After their surprising result at home in Week 1 Rushden were looking to bounce back with a convincing performance – they had not prepared for the commitment and eagerness of the home team – nor were they quite ready for the table! The first leg saw Andy lose his opening break of 300 or so which allowed Jim to edge ahead. Neither player was able to master the difficult break shot and so spent much of the time at the top of the table. Andy compiled a fantastic 1,200 break to edge ahead only to lose them courtesy of a black peg. His job had to start again – he set about his task with a determination that will serve him well for the season ahead and steadily ate into Jim’s lead. Sadly the clock beat him in the end and Jim ended with a rather fortunate win – the champions were off and running. In the second leg again the break shot got the better of Damo and his early miss gave Lorin the chance he needed. Lorin showed that the shots were possible as he took the several chances he was offered to stretch into a winning lead. Leg three saw Andy Chambers eventually master the tricky break and compile a good score to convincingly beat Jason. Despite the result the plucky challenger was gracious in defeat and enjoyed the learning experience. The break proved to be the deciding factor in leg 4 – Chas could get it and home player Norm could not. This allowed the visitor to score more than his opponent at every visit to the table – a winning strategy if ever there was one and it gave the champions their match win! For the final leg ex-Red Lion man Stewart had the opportunity to protect his 100% winning record. He too struggled with the break and watched with frustration as his opponent seemed to crack the code! Dunc, who enjoyed a fantastic summer league, proved that he will thrive this season and did enough to secure the third highest total of the night and, more importantly for both teams, the leg. A 2-3 result was by far better for the home side than the visitors but an indicator, one feels, of the ambition of the Red Lion team.