Newtown Pool League; "Playing Premier Pool in Powys"
Click here for the RESULTS for the 2008 Finals on Sunday 4th May
Finals Day Photographs Published
This report was sent to the County Times on 11th May, 2008 |
Newtown Pool League returned to their original venue for their 26th Finals Day, with the Elephant & Castle staging the event for the climax to the 2007/08 season. As the League continues to grow each year, so does the standard of pool played by the League's top players and sides. Once again, young Drew Hughes grabbed the headlines and almost dominated the day as he and his Lion side won everything they competed in.
The Youths competition continues to grow and hit a record high this season with 54 entries in the Under 14s and Under 18s sections; all four youth semi-finals and both finals lived up to expectations producing exciting pool to the appreciative audience.
The Elite were on a high coming into the Finals looking for a League and Cup double, but they were up against The Lion who had something to prove after dipping right at the end of their campaign which cost them second place. The Final started badly for the Lion though, as they spurned chances to go 2-0 ahead, only to find themselves 2-0 down until a Drew Hughes 7-ball special dispatched Glyn Davies and put the underdogs back in the match. The match finished in the the 9th frame with Alan Jones and Steve Sherlock triumphant over Paul Allen and Mark Crees to hand the Lion the League Cup.
Apart from the Gordon Price Handicap, which traditionally goes to the wire, all the other Cup games went the full distance, but the Gordon Price winners were especially keen to impress after having already lost their opening Cup final in the Division 2 & 3 Cup. Newly crowned League Division Two Champions, Herbert Chirbury came to Finals Day with the chance of a treble season, but they were beaten by the Dolau, 6-5 in the opening cup final, Mark Bebb losing out to the experienced Mark Borland in the play-off. So, winning the Gordon Price Cup was not debatable for the Herbert and they soon disposed of their 2-0 handicap, beating the Buck Inn, Newtown 6-2 thanks to Gary Gindrat and Adi Davies doubles partnership in the 8th frame.
The remaining cup match, The Consolation Cup, was expected to be a walkover for the experienced Bettws side against the very young Buck Hotel C side from Division Three, but whilst Bettws went on to win it, the Buck had ample chances to seal a victory but James White and Dave Woosnam held on to win the 9th and deciding frame.
With Drew Hughes having already helped his Lion side to win the League Cup, he went on to help his Threesomes side dispose of the runaway favourites - Wayne Smith, Glyn Davies and Paul Allen of the Elite. Partnered by Steve Sherlock and Alan Jones, Drew's side held on well and it was Alan Jones who settled things, beating Paul Allen in the decider.
Drew, at 18 years of age, can no longer compete in the League's Youth events, so he was determined to go out in a blaze of glory, but amongst the hefty youth entries this season were some exciting players from the Llandrindod Wells area and amongst them was young Graham Hicks. Drew had beaten Luke Evans in his semi-final whilst Graham Hicks had scraped through against Mark Tanner and the final proved to be very exciting, but going to Drew 3-2.
In the final of the Under 14s, young Connor Davies has been making a name for himself by playing for Wales this season, but he did not have things all his own way in this tournament; he was made to fight for his place in the final by beating Jake Bayliss 3-2, whilst his opponent, Amy Harris had a 3-0 success against Matthew Davies. Impressing everyone with her coolness, Amy was ice-like in her concentration and had a chance to win the final, but left her final ball sitting on the edge of a pocket allowing Connor to make it two in a row after he beat her in last year's final as well.
Amy was not finished for the day though, partnering her Dad, Peter Harris in the Mixed Doubles Final which they won against the very experienced Richard Wyatt and Grafia Janczur of Welshpool. Amy used her coolness to great effect and helped her Dad through to a 3-0 victory. 26/5/08 - 1500hrs
Recent Reports / Updates
Players of Year 2007/08 season
Photographs of Finals Day kindly taken by Graham Lewis and will be published this weekend.
