This report covers the Round Robin Stage
A report for the Last 32 may be viewed here

This years Interleague, as you would have expected was full of surprises and one of the biggest was Chester Le Street getting to the semi final before Rochester finally found a way to stop their progress. Another shock was Trent Trophies A going out at the Hands of Reds Elite at the last 32 stage. Trent Trophies were once the absolute top dogs in Interleague circles but over the last few years there has been a marked improvement and generally teams have got better and better whilst Trent really can’t improve too much on their squad.

Trent Trophies losing to Reds Elite at any stage a few years ago would have been unthinkable, because Trent Trophies were so far ahead of everybody else. However, with teams like Reds Elite getting better all the time the gap between the two sides is narrowing sharply, this despite Trent Trophies showing no visible signs of being any weaker at all.

The continuous improvement applies to a number of teams, who a few years ago were considered just as canon fodder for teams like Trent Trophies, Triangle, and Dawley A but increasingly, the once minnows are biting back and the event is becoming more and more open,

Last year we had Colchester A reaching the final of the knock out cup, they did not get near Sun Valley in the final to be honest, but the point here is that they had to take out teams that they would not, prior to last year, be expected to beat and to book their place in that final they had to oust teams like Leicester in the semi final to get there.

This year we had Chester Le Street turning up for the first time as a team and reaching the semi final of this event – Chester Le Street do have some very talented players in their line up but it is almost unheard of these days for a first appearance of a team to end up with a semi final spot. They had a very rough ride to the semi final, they had to beat East Herts in the group section and in the knock out section they dispatched Godalming, Dawley A and Red 1 before going out to Rochester those were all big scalps.

Another of the big winners were Ely who finally got to play on the hallowed turf of Vauxhall Holiday Park on a Sunday morning – you know you have made it when you get to play on the Sunday morning. Ely have been playing here for years but had never made it through to the Sunday before. Apart from Chester Le Street mentioned above Howden, Maidenhead A, Northwich, Bicester Select, Waterloo and Lancaster all stamped their mark on the event by winning their respective groups and posting their intentions for the future. Special mention should go to Northwich and Lancaster both appearing at the event for the first time as a team and winning their group.

On the subject of special mentions you have to feel sorry for Brighton M who set the unenviable record of playing 36 frames in their two group matches and only won two of them – 1 in each match. I have been trawling through the records that I have and sad to say that I couldn’t find a team that has posted a worse team score in the event so they will go down in history as the worst interleague team to have appeared in the national finals. The good news is that it has not deterred them and they hope to come back in October.

There were a few big losers as well, biggest casualty by far was last October’s ko cup winners Sun Valley being dumped out of this event by Godalming in the group stage following in the big guns in for an early bath section were East Herts, Surrey warriors, Wigan, Small Heath, Corn Exchange, Ipswich, Barking Phoenix and Bedford A. these are all teams who are no strangers to the business end of the competition and their demise at this years event meant it was others who had the chance to put their names forward as contenders.

For Leicester this is all academic, they have just added the Interleague title to the Intercounty championships they won earlier in the month. They way they did it looks impressive as well; they played 69 frames on their way to the title and conceded only 32. And 13 of those were in the group section. Leicester’s route to their first Interleague winners title reads like this; they beat Surrey Warriors 10-8. Kendal 9-5, All’oas 10-3, Folkestone A 10-5, Ely 10-3, Brighton 10-6 and finally Rochester 10-2, this was all done in the absence of their two (arguably) best Players Tom Ford and Mark Selby who were in China for the Snooker event over there.

With that, we come to the reverse overview; this has been painstakingly put together by me as a way of saying sorry to all the teams who complained about there being no draw overview this year. I have gone through every score card and compiled a match report on every encounter from the group stage to the final, so if your team was there then there will be a report on how you did in writing somewhere on this page. It has been arranged in table order so if you can remember your table number you can go straight there, if not then happy hunting!!!

Table One.
Table one, Match one, that where the defending champions begin the defence of the title they won last year. If you are not the holders it’s not easy to get drawn on table one because you know you will be playing the team that went all the way last time. However that was the fate of Surrey Warriors and Kendall.

Tommy Donlon set Leicester on the road when he took the first frame. Jason Retter and Rob McGowan struck for Surrey Warriors to give the Surrey outfit the edge in the early stages of the match. Steve Chambers levelled for Leicester only to see Richard Lambert restore Surry Warriors lead.

At this point Leicester put on a spurt with Gavin Lomax, Steve Robertshaw, Lee Ross & Vinnie Allen all winning their frames to put Leicester 6-3 up at the half way point. Any thoughts that Surrey Warriors would collapse under the pressure were dashed when Rob McGowan won his second of the match in the opening frame of the second half. Andy Lee won the next for Leicester then Charlie McKinley, Jason Retter, again, & Neal Rolfe all combined to level the match at 7-7

Gavin Lomax, with his second win of the match put Leicester back in front followed by a Steve Robertshaw win put Leicester back in the driving seat at 9-7 up. Ray Scott added another frame for Surrey Warriors to give the Surrey boys the chance to draw the match with a win. Vinnie Allen made sure that did not happen with his second win of the match to secure Leicester a hard fought 10-8 victory.

Kendall then took on Surrey Warriors who set about them from the off, taking 7 of the first nine frames. Things got even worse for the Cumbrian outfit as Rob McGowan & Simon Le Marchant added to their first half wins. Kendal then found a way to win some frames as they won the next four on the spin, the match was put beyond the reach of Kendal when Richard & Martin Lambert added to their first half wins to secure the match 11-7

When Leicester took on Kendal all Leicester needed to progress was the draw and given that Kendall failed to get close to Surrey Warriors in their first match things looked a formality for Leicester. This proved to be true as Tommy Donlon & Andy Lee set Leicester on their way. Leicester pilled on the frames to lead 7-2 at the half way stage. For kendall there was no way back from this but they did manage to win three of the opening four frames before Steve Morris gave Leicester the frame they needed to secure their passage through to the knock out stage of the event.

Table Two
Pocket Rockets B Radcliffe got this group underway and first blood went to Radcliffe but Pocket Rockets hit back with wins for Craig Haynes, Graham Flounders and Gary Francis to lead 3-1. Radcliffe then won three on the spin. Pocket Rockets came back with a five frame salvo that led to a 10-8 for Pocket Rockets.
Wolverhampton Wednesday on paper were the team most likely to be the winners of this group and stamped their authority on the opening frames as David Brooks, Mark Williams & Jamie Wylde all won. Radcliffe finally got of the blocks when N.Gaunt won their first frame. For the remainder of the first half things remained stable as the teams traded frames with Radcliffe pulling the score back to trail by 5 frames to 4.

At the beginning of the second half Radcliffe decided to mug Wolverhampton Wednesday by taking the opening three frames to lead 7-5. Wolverhampton Wednesday did not have what was needed to pull the match out of the fire and eventually went down 10-8

This of course meant that Wolverhampton Wednesday would have to beat Pocket Rockets by a score greater than 10-8 if they were to win the group – Radcliffe were hoping for a 10-8 win to Wolverhampton Wednesday so that a play off would have to be used to separate the teams. For Pocket Rockets as long as they avoided defeat they would win the group.

Wayne Gardner won the opening frame for Pocket Rockets but that was the end of the good news as far as Pocket Rockets were concerned as Wolverhampton Wednesday took the next eight frames to destroy Pocket Rockets chances of progression. Wayne Gardner won the opening frame in the second half. But that was the end as far as Pocket Rockets were concerned as Wolverhampton Wednesday ran out 11-4 winners to overcome a first match defeat but still qualify for the knockout section. It must have been hard for Radcliffe to take seeing the team they beat go through instead of them but that’s how tight the margin is between qualifying and going home.

Table Three
In an ironic twist of fate the opening match on this table saw a team (probably) playing for the last time as a unit in the Interleague take on a team playing in their first Yarmouth event as a team.

The mighty All’oas took on West Yorkshire’s Shakespeare and Showed Shakespeare what happens if you are not on the top of your game as Lee Clough, Skipper Nathan Bridges, Damien Milnes and old war horse Mick Timmins all won their open frames to give the Lancashire boys a healthy 6-3 lead. The same players combined in the second half to produce a comfortable 12-6 win.

Shakespear then had to take on Aylesbury and got the same treatment from the Milton Keynes team as Larry Baker, Jamie Whitaker and N. Goodyear won the first of their two wins to go 6-3 up at the half way point. Shakespear got going in the second half as they started to mix it with Aylesbury. Mick Bagshaw even had time to win his second of his brace of frames before Aylesbury’s Steve Bye sent them packing with the frame that won the match 10-8 for Aylesbury.

The All’oas had a two frame advantage going in the group decider with Aylesbury so Aylesbury needed a good start to make a match of it but that did not happen as Mr dependable Lee Clough and Nathan Bridges won the first two for the All’oas. Martin Langley posted Aylesbury’s first frame of the match. But the All’oas kept Aylesbury at arms length but winning frames in-between the Aylesbury successes and led 6-3 at the mid way point.

The All’oas decided to stick with the same two openers in the second half so Lee Clough and Nathan Bridges did their bit again by winning the first two frames of the second half with this time the two wins put the All’oas on the brink of progression Kev Close put the final nail in Aylesbury’s coffin when he won the All’oas’ ninth and group deciding frame.

Table Four
Walsall A must have been fairly confident of winning this group when they saw the group draw. And on the day when the ever faithful Carl Butler put Walsall A in front things looked like they were going to plan. N.V.P.L.A from Northamptonshire came back with three frames. Walsall levelled the match at 3-3 when Jason Whitehouse knocked in a eight ball clearance any thought s that Walsall had weathered the storm were dashed when N.V.P.L.A won the final three frames of the first half to lead 6-3.

Carl Butler again came up trumps when he won the opening frame of the Second half but again N.V.P.L.A came back with a three frame run started by Neil Ward winning his second of the match and finished by a fine eight ball clearance by Danny Quinn. By now Walsall A must have been thinking things were not going to plan. This theory was confirmed when Steve Cox and Dave Biseker won their second frames of the match to guide N.V.P.L.A to a surprise 12-6 win.

Maidenhead A really turned the screw on Walsall when they meet in the second match of the group by winning the first three frames to leave Walsall A staring down the barrel of Interleague elimination. Matt Highway, Dave Turner & Paul Waterfield did what they could by winning both of their frames. But Maidenhead’s John Sheil, Bradley Robinson, Chris Fawcett & Terry Dingley won two out of two for their team to give Maidenhead a 10-8 win and consign Walsall A to a very rare early bath.

N.V.P.L.A must have bee thinking that impressive 12-6 win over Walsall A would see them through but Maiden head were in killer mode. N.V.P.L.A got the scoring underway through Shane Hall but then Maidenhead hit N.V.P.L.A for the next five frames to snatch the initiative. With the bit between their teeth there was no stopping then and Andy Brant, Bradley Robinson and Danny Ralput killed off the match when they won their second frame of the match to give Maidenhead a unassailable 10-3 Lead.

Table Five
Howden got their campaign underway with a tough starter against Shrewsbury B with the best of starts as they took the first four frames. Dan Summer posted Shrewsbury’s first frame. But Howden hit them for another four frame run to lead by an amazing 8-1.

Things got a little better for Shrewsbury in the second half as Sam Wright, Steve Booth and Adam Sykes all won for the Shropshire outfit. However Anthony Myers, Gary Yates, Geoff Rankin and Darren Copperwheat all added to their first half wins for Howden to win what seemed a very tricky fixture 14-4

The third team in this group are no slouches either and despite the mauling they got from Howden, Shrewsbury showed no side effects as they took three frames on the spin even though they lost the opening frame. Marlow drew level when Skipper Andy Houiellebecq and Steve Carmichael won their frames. Shrewsbury again went on a three frame blitz to lead 6-3 at the turn around. Shrewsbury got to 9-6 up thanks to Danny Summer and Jon Sykes winning their second frames of the contest. Shrewsbury however couldn’t find the winning frame Marlow came back at them and took the final three frames to force the draw.

Marlow then took on Howden knowing only a win would be good enough for them to progress. Howden through Dave Stevens, Darren Copperwheat and Anthony Myers between them clocked up six fast frames to give Marlow a mountain to climb if the were to win this group. A mountain too far as Marlow crashed to a 9-5 defeat.

Table Six
Saw Penwith Rockets had what many would consider as a nightmare start their campaign as they had Trent Trophies A to get past if they wanted to win the group. Whilst it is true that Trent Trophies A have not been having a good time of it recently after dominating the event for a long time they are still a team that oozes class. In the end Penwith Pirates were not able to get a toe hold in this match as Liam White, Mark Blackshaw, Darren Lightfoot, Nick Weller and Jamie Croxton all won both their frames and to add insult to injury Lee Kendal produced an eight ball clearance in one of his frames to completely over run the Penwith Rockets 12 – 3. Matthew Cook was the only winner of the Rockets as he won two of the three frames they won himself even more impressive than that was that to wing them he beat Gareth Potts and Adam Davis.

By the time Penwith Rockets took on Gosport A they must have known that their competition was over and all they had to play for was pride. For Gosport a big win was what was required to get as close to Trent Trophies A score as possible so when they meet in the next match thing would be fairly even at the start. Gosport got of to a flyer as they took the first four frames without reply thanks to Gary Moore, Dan wells, Joel Pickersgill and Steve Parker. Things went a bit pear shaped after that as Penwith fought back by winning the next three frames through Damien Stokes, Ben O’Brian and Robin Cripps. The final two frames were shared to make the half time score 5-4 to Gosport.

Dan Wells, Joel Pickersgill and Steve Parker again won to restore the advantage to Gosport but yet again Penwith came back at them and the final score in the match was\10-8 to Gosport leaving Gosport knowing that they would now have to beat Trent Trophies A to progress.

The match between Trophies A and Gosport .Gosport started out even as the first four frames were shared but then the Trent Trophies A engine kicked in to life and collected frame after frame until Gareth Potts and Liam White won their second frames to clinch the win for Trent Trophies A at 9-2 and install Trent Trophies A safely in the last 32

Table 7
Cheshire’s Northwich started their first ever outing in the Interleague with a magnificent eight ball clearance from Shaun Brearley against their opponents Croydon. Danny Evans and Rod Altes gave Northwich a dose of interleague reality when they won their frames to lead 2-1. Northwich drew level again only to see Leon Pope and E. Essgrove win the next two. In the end Northwich recovered enough to tail by a single frame at the end of the first half.

When Croydon went 9-7 up thanks to doubles from Danny Evans, Graham Sweetenham & Leon Pope it looked like the end of the road for Northwich but they fought back through doubles from skipper Kev Barry and Shaun Brearly. Alan Backhouse gave Northwich the draw when he netted the final frame of the match.

Croydon lost the toss to see witch of the two teams above would take on Overseal – another first timer at the Interleague. Croydon set about Overseal right from the start as they took the first four frames. Overseal got of the mark when Smith won their first frame. Croydon then took the next three frames to lead at the half way point 7-2.

Croydon killed this match off when Rod Altes, Kyle Pickett, Wayne Pope, Danny Evans and Andy Essgrove got their second frame wins of the match. Kyle Pickett’s second win was an eight ball clearance. With the score at 13-2 to Croydon the match was over when Overseal added three frames to make the final score 13-5. The only Overseal player to win their two frames was Neil Brown.

Given the score in Overseal’s first match Northwich had been set a high mark to win the group. The frames were traded fairly evenly by the time the first half ended with Northwich leading 6-3 but losing the group to Croydon on count back. Realising that they could only drop one frame in the second half if they were to qualify by right from the group they set about Overseal and Shaun Brearley, Steve Drinkwater, Hubert, Alan Backhouse and N Hubert won to double their personal tally and in doing so gave Northwich the 14-4 win the needed to win the group. Croydon missed out on the chance of winning the group by a single frame. A perfect illustration of how fine the line can be here when it comes winning and losing in the Interleague.

Table 8
The opening match in this saw another firs timer at the Interleague Stockport took on Bracknell & Ascot A and went 2-0 down as Darren Warrington & Dave Bryant. But Dyer and Foley levelled the match at 2-2. For the remainder of the first half of the match the frames were shared with Bracknell & Ascot taking the odd frame to lead 5-4. Stockport took the first frame to level the match.

Bracknell & Ascot then hit Stockport for three frames thanks to firstly Steve Ring, then Darren Warrington and Dave Bryant with their second win of the match. At this point the wheels fell off as far as Bracknell & Ascot were concerned as Stockport won the final five frames thanks mainly to Jason Gardner & Paul Clarke winning their second frames. Those frames secured a 10-8 win for Stockport which was a good morning’s work for a new team.

The defeat meant that Bracknell & Ascot had to take on and beat Dawley A if they wanted to stay in the event. Unfortunately for Bracknell & Ascot Dawley A don’t have a reputation of doing favours. They battered Bracknell & Ascot to the tune of 15-3 with Craig Reynolds, Scott Yardley, Williams, Keith Blackham, Dave Blagborough and Keith Price all helped themselves to two frames each. The win signalled that Dawley A were in one of their kill everyone modes. It was that mode that saw them an Interleague title.

Dawley A’s demolition of Bracknell & Ascot probably put the fear of god in to Stockport who may not have been aware of Dawley’s fire power before they saw it with their own eyes. When their match started Dawley took the first frame and to Stockport’s relief they took the next through Mark Watson to give them hope that they could live with Dawley.

Unfortunately for Stockport that was as good as it got as Dawley took the next nine frames to crush the life out of Stockport.

Table 9
The first match in this group saw Rochester – a team with such a pedigree in this event and Corby – a team with so much potential. Rochester came out of the blocks first winning the first three frames through Ian Kettel, Neil Ward, with an eight ball clearance, and Jamie Kitchen. Phil Hargin then registered Corby’s first frame. Any hope that Corby could recover from their start were dashed when Jordan Church, Richard Conn, Martin Prime, Willie Anderson, Dean Cole and Ian Kettel with his second win to put Rochester 9-1 up. With the match all but over, Phil Hargin, with his second frame of the match and Kev McCallum added another two frames to their side of the scoreboard. The match was killed off when Jordan Church knocked in Rochester’s second eight ball clearance of the encounter. From that point it was just a question of how many frames Rochester would win by, the answer to that question was 14-4.

This meant that Corby would have to play another of the great names in the Interleague, Wigan. Kev McCallum got Corby of to the best possible start. Wigan came back and won the next two the second of which was an eight ball clearance from Shawn Dawber. As much as Wigan tried they could not shake off the attentions of Corby and when the first half was over Wigan could only muster a 5-4 lead.

The next frame was awarded to Wigan for a dress code violation and an ugly confrontation took place between the referee, the organisers, and members of the team. The result of this confrontation was that Corby was thrown out of the event.

This meant that Wigan had mo match to continue with the decision was made to award Wigan a 14-4 win so that when they took on Rochester it would be a level field.

Once the fracas had died down the match between Rochester and Wigan got underway. Carl Bromley struck first for Wigan but then Ian Hubbard with an eight ball clearance, Jamie Kitchen, Jordan Church, Martin Prime, Willie Anderson and Ben Savage all won for Rochester to lead 7-2 at the half way point.

The writing was on the wall for Wigan when Ian Kettel knocked in an eight ball clearance and it was only a matter of time before Rochester won. It fell to the in form Jordan Church to wrap the win up for Rochester at 10-4.

Whilst it was an emphatic win for Rochester it must be said that Corby’s antics will have done them no favours at all – depriving some of their players of the chance to warm up before they faced Rochester and hopefully Corby will be dealt with within their own county for the disgraceful and disrespectful antics they inflicted on the event

Table 10
Milton Keynes A had to face one of the best teams in the event in P.J.'s Stourbridge and found the going tougher than they hoped as Rob Clark, Hiten Patel, Rob Chilton and Ben Swinnerton combined to give P.J.'s Stourbridge a 4-0 nil lead. It’s hard enough to come back from a four frame deficit against most of the teams here but nigh on impossible against P.J.'s Stourbridge. The Milton Keynes duo of Mark McCauley and Jody Willers won both their frames unfortunately only Paul Sedman came through as a winner for Milton Keynes in a 12-6 reverse.

Milton Keynes’ failure to win many frame allowed Rob Clark, Rob Chilton, Pat Ward & Neil Raybone to win two frames apiece

Penrith must have thought they had a chance against Milton Keynes but the Buckinghamshire team did to Penrith what P.J.'s Stourbridge had done to them and took a 4-0 lead thanks to Jody Willers, Mark McGauley, Scott Willers Darren Roberts. John Martin & Alex McClelland pulled two back for Penrith. But Milton Keynes won the final three frames of the first half to lead 7-2.

Penrith put up a bit of a fight in the second half thanks to Brian Hetherington, Robert Gregg, Alex McClelland and Terry Elliot all won. But Milton Keynes still won the second half thanks to wins for Mark McGauley, Darren Roberts, Dave Minster & Dan Morgan to make the final score 12-6 to Milton Keynes.

Penrith probably felt like going to the bar and having a good few drinks rather than face P.J.'s Stourbridge after the mauling that P.J.'s Stourbridge gave Milton Keynes. As might have been expected P.J.'s Stourbridge made short work of Penrith, allowing them only one frame before getting the ninth frame to ensure that P.J.'s Stourbridge would be included in the draw for the last 32.

Table 11
This group saw two first timers at the Interleague, Chester Le Street and Blackburn go head to head in the opening match. Blackburn drew first blood when Ryan Brogan got them of the mark. Marc Farnsworth responded for Chester Le Street with an eight ball clearance. Johnny dean restored Blackburn’s lead. Chester Le Street then went on a four frame unanswered run which helped to give them a 6- 3 lead at the halfway point. Blackburn’s fate was sealed when Ian Staines, Marc Farnsworth, with his second win, and Stu green all won. This put Chester Le Street 9-3 up and on the brink of victory, Blackburn did stage a bit of a comeback by winning 4 of the final 6 frames but it wasn’t enough to stop Chester Le Street winning 11-7.

The other team in the group was East Herts, once a real powerhouse, but have had to rebuild the team after losing four of it’s top performers. That said they still have on paper at least a quality team. Brendon Colyer and Danny Miller got East Herts of to the perfect start when they won. Blackburn’s Johnny Dean then won for his team. This was followed with wins for East Herts trio of Tony Vickers, Ashley Sealy and Rob England.

From 5-1 up it looked like it was going to be a bloodbath but Darren Waring & Peter Bhogar won their frames to trail 6-3 at the end of the first half. Brendan Coyler and Danny Miller again won for East Herts to put them 8-3 up. Blackburn clawed another two frames back when Carl McDonald and James Brookens won. The win for East Herts was sealed when Ashley Sealy and Rob England won their frames. Perry Gillett gave East Herts an 11-7 win to ensure that when East Herts took on Chester Le Street it would be a straight race to 10.

East Herts got of to a perfect start when Brendon Coyler won the first frame but this was cancelled out by Marc Farnsworth winning his for Chester Le Street. Des Smith and Tony Vickers restored East Herts advantage. But Chester Le Street hit back with a four frame salvo through Trev Walton, Michael Oliver, Phil Cox and Mark Stevenson. The half ended with Chester Le Street just in front at 5-4.

Des Smith levelled the match when he won his second frame of the contest. Chester Le Street took control of the match when angina they hit East Herts for four frames to put them 9-5 up. With East Herts needing to win the final four frames to force a play off things did not look good. Chester Le Street consigned East Herts to the big name fallers in the group stage when Phil Cox gave Chester Le Street their 10th and winning frame.

Table 12
This group saw Battersea take on Long Eaton in what looked like a fairly even contest but Long Eaton set about Battersea from the start by winning the first two frames. Tony Bradley got Battersea on the road when he won his frame. Long Eaton then won the next two frames to pile the pressure on. Back came Battersea by winning the next two frames the first half ended with Long Eaton winning the final two frames of the half to lead 6-3. the second half saw Long Eaton take complete control of the match as Chris Burkey, Clive Moore, Brian Flindall and Jamie Fyson all won to push them over the winning line, in fact of the second nine frames Battersea only won one of them and that was thanks to Harry Woolf winning his second of the match. This gave Long Eaton a comfortable 12-5 victory.

Bicester Select was Battersea’s next obstacle and the match started of in much the same vein for Battersea as the struggled to keep pace with Bicester Select. Jim Waters won the opening frame for Battersea but Bicester Select stuck back through Pete Armitage, Alan Bremner, Sam Donaldson & John Bland who at the end of the first half found themselves leading 6-3. For Battersea there was no real way out of this the only thing they could hope for was to keep the score down to a reasonable level. That didn’t happen either as Bicester Select piled on the misery as they took frame after frame and eventually beat them by the same score Long Eaton did. That left Battersea winning just 10 of the 38 frames they played in the group stage.

All that meant that is was now down to Long Eaton and Bicester Select to slog it out for the right to reach the last 32. Brian Findall got Long Eaton’s quest underway when he won the opening frame with an eight ball clearance, but Bicester Select fought back with a three frame run that saw them take the lead for the first time in the match, despite wins for Long Eaton’s Chris Burket and Glyn Slatcher Bicester Select reached the half way point with a healthy 6-3 lead.

It wasn’t long before Bicester Select crushed the life out of Long Eaton ads they too the first three frames of the second half to reach 9 frames needing one more for the win they were made to wait as Clive Moore kept Long Eaton’s vague hopes alive with a win. It fell to Nick Gaul to ensure that Bicester Select progressed to the last 32 and he duly obliged putting Long Eaton out of their misery.

Table 13
Saw two giants of the Interleague world go head to head in the opening match of this group Small Heath verses Tolworth could easily be semi final match. That is the track record both these teams boast in the event. Tolworth struck first through Frankie Strivens and Steve Petty. Tony Fry got Small heath on the road with his win. Matt Cooke, Dave Hall, Andy Sutherland and Jason Norris piled on more pressure with their wins for Tolworth. Small heat finished the scoring in the first half when Ian Priest and Sanjay Pudden won making the half time score 6-3 to Tolworth.

Small Heath set about keeping themselves in the event through Kev Creswell, Tony Fry (again) Dave Preece and Rod Banister all won to pull it back to levels at 7-7. When a team like Small Heath gets the bit between their teeth they are incredibly hard to stop. Tolworth though are one of the teams that have strength all the way through the team.

James Bowry and Dave Hall won vital frames for Tolworth that stopped Small Heath from overwhelming Tolworth and put the Surrey side on the brink of wining with 9 frames already banked in their account. Small heath’s Ian Priest kept the match at boiling point when he won for Small Heath. It now came down to a single frame for Small Heath it was Sanjay Pudden and for Tolworth it was Jason Norris. Two massive players playing a massive frame with both their respective team’s hopes pinned on them.

Jason Norris came out the victor for Tolworth to win 10-8 and all but knock Small Heath out of the event before they had chance to make their mark. As if to underline the importance of the first match Small Heath raced to a 6-3 lead against N.N.P.L. as Liam Driver, Tony Fry, Dave Preece, Rod Banister, Ian Priest & Sanjay Pudden all combined to give N.N.P.L. the same headache they had against Tolworth.

N.N.P.L. are not at quite the same level as Small Heath and Small Heath really turned the screw when they won the first seven frames of the second half to wrap the match up in double quick time. The final score was 13-5 to Small Heath. The funny thing was that in winning by that score they had effectively knocked themselves out of the event – if they beat them by such a margin what hope would they have against Tolworth?

Tolworth set about doing what they had to do when Matt Cooke, Dan Reeve & Dave Hall put the first three frames in Tolworth’s bag. Mark Turner and Ian Stevenson pulled two back for N.N.P.L. but Frankie Strivens and James Bowry restored Tolworth’s advantage. Richard Begley and Jay Patrick ended the half with two winds for N.N.P.L. to trail just 5-4 – could an upset be in the making?

No Tolworth came out for the second half with all guns blazing as Matt Cooke, Dan Reeve, Dave Hall & Paul Wildman gave Tolworth an unassailable 9-4 lead. What ever happened from then would not alter the fact that Tolworth would be the group winners.

Table 14
In this group Renegade B took on Harlow and won the first two frames thanks to Derek Sim & Luckvinder Birdy, Richard Bailey managed to post Harlow’s first win of the match which was followed by Renegade B winning another two frames through Ed Rumsey and Rod Harvey. Renegade must have bee more than a little shocked to see the next four frames go to Harlow after all their hard work in building up the lead. At the start of the second half Luckvinder Birdy and Derek Sim combined again with the same result – two wins. Harlow came back again with wins for Andy Stilwell, Rob Gardener and Sean O’Mara to snatch the lead again. Tony Price won Renegade’s final frame of the match before Harlow wrapped an 11-7 win with frames for Gary Ploughman, Liam Thompson and Adrian Parsons.

Of the three teams in this group Corn Exchange would be considered as the most likely to progress from the group. Dave Oxtoby started the wins for Corn Exchange and was no doubt shell shocked when he saw his team loose the next seven on the bounce. Skipper Jon Shapland closed the first half with a win for Corn Exchange.

I don’t know what the plans were for Corn Exchange for the match but I am sure working out how to come back from 7-2 wasn’t on the list. Corn Exchange started their bid for recovery with a win for Marcus Harrison followed by one for Craig Larkin, then Dean Simpson, then Jamie Pegg. It must have been seen with some relief in the Renegade camp when Dean Hardesy and Ed Rumsey produced back to back wins to win the match for Renegade and stop the come back in its tracks. Craig Bouncefield and Jon Shapland won the final two frames to make the final score 10-8 to Renegade.

The mathematics in the final match was fairly simple Harlow could afford a defeat providing it was no more than 10-8. Harlow’s Andy Stillwell got the first frame to settle their nerves. Craig Larkin levelled for Corn Exchange but Rob Gardner won his for Harlow. Corn Exchange took the next three frames through Dean Simpson, Ed Key and Jamie Pegg to unsettle Harlow.

Liam Thompson and Gary Ploughman kept Harlow on course for qualification when they won their frames. In the second half the frames were traded on one for one basis until the frames ran out and although Corn Exchange won by 10-8 it was not enough to get them through.

Table 15
Cambridge K.S.R. took on Bicester County Club in the opening match of this group Shane Ridgeway got Bicester County Club underway with his win. Cambridge K.S.R. came back with two wins that got them underway. Paul Paddick brought the teams level again. Ed Savory and Martin Early again gave Cambridge K.S.R. the lead. Bicester County Club came back again with wins for Richards Gunn and Paul Watson that brought the first half to a close with Cambridge K.S.R. just in front at 5-4

The second half started the way the first did with Bicester County Club taking the first fame this time through Steve Joseph. And just as they did in the first half Dom Cobley & Sawas Kides won for Cambridge K.S.R.

Then Bicester County Club started a drive that saw them win five of the final six frames to record a 10-8 win when for most of the match they had been playing catch up.

Whether Cambridge K.S.R. were stressed out at the way their last match went we will never know but in their match against Waterloo they had nothing to offer as Waterloo went on a blitz. Only Sawas Kides and Neil Williamson won for Cambridge K.S.R. things didn’t get any better in the second half either as only Julian Vargas and stalwart Dom Cobley were able to find wins.

For Waterloo however there were double wins for Jerry Tickell, Alex Lawrence, Brendon Connors, Peter McCarthy and Alan Formosa who secured a 14-4 win

This meant a straight race for Bicester County Club and Waterloo with Waterloo having the advantage of only needing the draw.

Table 16
Saw yet another clash between two teams on their first visit to the national finals as a team Hinckley made an immediate impact on Bramley as they won the first four frames. John Gillen then won for Bramley. Then Hinckley then went on the rampage again taking the next four frames to end the half with an 8-1 lead.

It was fairly obvious that Bramley were not going to come back from that sort of deficit but they had a good go, despite losing the first frame of the second half Bramley finally decided to show they could compete and started winning frames. The fight back started by Craig Senior and was continued by Rob Johnson, Bruce Hutton, Adam Smith, John Gillen, again, and Steve Gillen.

So from being 9-1 down Bramley managed to fight back to a, given the circumstances, a respectable 11-7

Bramley’s next task was to have a pop at Renegade although it could be argued that they might be a sterner test for the new boys. Renegade struck first through Peter Lofts but Bramley struck back with Bruce Hutton and Mark Meadmore. Eddie Barker then by virtue of an eight ball clearance levelled for Renegade. Bramley got another two frames through John and Steve Gillen. Renegade finally got going at the end of the first half when Rob Uzzell, Ray Wooton and Stuart Harness all won to end the half 5-4 up.

So far so good as far as Bramley were concerned, but Peter Lofts eight ball clearance added to Bramley’s woes when he won for Renegade in the opening frame of the second half. Craig Senior won for Bramley. James\McCarthy and Eddie Barker both won their frames for Renegade. It was at this point that something clicked in the Bramley camp as Phil Smith, Brian Whitaker and John Gillen all won for Bramley to put them back in the match at 8-8. Renegade finally got the better of Bramley when they won the final two frames of the match through Ray Wooton and Stuart Harness.

Renegades win set up a head to head with Hinckley for the group. Renegade took control of the tie when they took the first 6 frames which included anther eight ball clearance from Eddie Barker. Yates and Randall clawed two frames back for Hinckley but in reality it was too little too late.

Renegade A won the group when Eddie Barker won again to set Renegade up for a 10-4 win

Table 17
This table was without doubt this year’s group from hell all three teams are quality. Sun Valley have won the Interleague Knockout cup and is a force to be reckoned with. Godalming and Ipswich are usually last 16 to last eight and onwards material.

That must have been a frightening prospect for all three when the draw came out. It won’t have been made any easier when they went to the table. The first match was between Sun Valley and Ipswich and as can happen when two top sides meet once one of them gets on top it can be impossible to stop them. Richard Twomey won the first frame with an eight ball clearance for Ipswich but Steve Hotchkiss and Bayden Jackson won for Sun Valley with an eight ball clearance Ipswich came back through Matt Purnell ironically with an eight ball clearance in the very next frame and Michael Punschart.

Sun Valley stole a march when Liam Stanley, Jason Rimmington, Dave Atherley & Jim I’ Anson all clocked up wins to put Sun Valley 6-3 up at the end of the first half. Sun Valley went further ahead when Chris Rigby put Sun Valley 7-3 up and looking pretty.

At this point something in Ipswich clicked and they started to win frames first through Matt Purnell and Richard Twomey with their second win of the match, then Alan Mower, Parry, Mark Keeble, Richard Sparkes with and lastly Ned Acton who all combined to notch Ipswich’s to 9 frames to force a 9-9 draw when it looked like they were going to get battered..

Godalming were reminded of just how tough this group was going to be when Richard Twomey took the first frame for Ipswich with an eight ball clearance. Godalming struck back though with a three frame run through Darren Dodds, Michael Cook and Dan Reeve. Mark Keeble and Richard Sparkes won for Ipswich to level the match. James Hammond won Ipswich’s final frame of the first Half but it was sandwiched between two Godalming frames from Mark Mault and Lee Hudson to close the half with Godalming leading 5-4.

Ipswich then did the same as they did in the first match, let the opposition win frames unchallenged first by Max Brooker then Paul Bunyard, Darren Dodds, Michael Cook who all won their second of the match. Dave Tootill, Dan Reeve, Mark Mault and lee Hudson all won to crush Ipswich 13-5 the only bright spot of the second half for Ipswich was\Richard Sparkes win with an eight ball clearance.

That set up a head to head group decider between Sun Valley and Godalming what a mouth watering tie this looked – and so it proved, Chris Rigby got Sun Valley underway but Paul Bunyard levelled for Godalming. Neil Jones restored Sun Valley’s lead. Then Michael Cook, Dave Tootill, Dan Reeve, Mark Mault and Louie Ayres all won to lead 6-3 at the half way point.

Things got even worse for Sun Valley when Darren Dodds & Michael Cook both won for Godalming. Sun Valley were now staring elimination in the face and as only a team with their class can do, mounted a fight back with wins for Neil Jones, Clint I’ Anson, Jason Rimmington and Lee Howitt, Sun Valley were now on a mission and all bar Jason Rimmington’s frame were eight ball clearances – that’s three out of four frames ended in one visit – class, pure class. However Just when they were getting a head of steam up with the come back with the score at 8-7 to Godalming the come back was stopped in it’s tacks when Godalming got the frame they needed to win the group thanks to Dave Tootill. That meant two big names were out and Godalming were through.

Table 18
Saw last October’s finalists Colchester take on Gravesham A. Colchester started their quest to reach another major final with gusto as\Carl Caney, Karl Matthew, Darren Sadler, Steve Kane, Gary Rooke, Chris Cass, Ashley Troath and Graham Bryan won their frames to take a\9-1 lead at the end of the first half. C. Harvey was the lone winner for Gravesham.

Things did not get any better in the second half as Colchester racked up another 8 frames to win the opening match 16-2

City of Leicester then took on Gravesham A and Mick Green won the first frame for City of Leicester, Gravesham then won three frames on the bounce through Mannerings, Frazier Lineham & Walker. City of Leicester then did the same thing through mark Taylor, Steve O’Connor and skipper Jason Stephens. Keenan and Balland ended the half with two more wins for Gravesham that enabled them to end the half 5-4 up. Frazier Lineham won again in the opening frame of the first half but City of Leicester came back with 3 wins on the spin and this turned out to be the pattern of the second half and the match eventually ended up 9-9 – not really enough for either team.

Why was it not enough? Simply because City of Leicester now had to face Colchester as it happened City of Leicester didn’t need to worry about it as Colchester took complete control of the match through wins for Carl Caney, Jeff Hynds, Karl Mayhew – with an eight ball clearance, Darren Sadler and Steve Kane. With the score at 5-0 there wasn’t much for City of Leicester to do Paul Mundon gave City of Leicester their first frame but Colchester then carried on winning frames through Chris Cass, Ashley Troath and Graham Bryan that meant Colchester only needed 1 frame in the second half to win the group. Any Alexander staved off the inevitable when he won for City of Leicester. Jeff Hynds then wrapped qualification up when he won for Colchester.

Table 19
Driffield made a welcome return to the Interleague when they took on Romney Marsh. Driffield skipper Adrian Walton won the first frame. Kevin Miles won for Romney Marsh to level the match only to see Driffield’s Michael Ireland level the tie again. Romney Marsh then put a spurt on and won the next 5 frames through Jon Bayford, Scott Hanson, Guy Ruddy, Terry Wilson & Conrad Gornam. John Dowling stopped the rot when he won the final frame of the half leaving Driffield trailing 6-3.

Adrian Walton again came to Driffield’s rescue again when he won the opening frame of the second half. Jon Bayford edged Romney Marsh closer to the win when he won his frame. Driffield then won the next three frames thanks to Michael Ireland, Bob Chard and Daniel Gladstone to put the pressure on Romney Marsh by pulling the scores together at 7-7. Conrad Gorham and Guy Ruddy won their frames to put Romney Marsh on the brink of the win. However Driffield had Stuart Frazer and Jon Dowling to keep them in the hunt by winning their frames to make the final score 9-9.

Romney Marsh lost the toss and was put in to bat again by Driffield. E.H.P.L. were very fast out of the blocks as they won the first 5 frames thanks to Matt Humphrey, Alan Robinson, Dave Short and Mark Beesley. Guy Ruddy got Romney Marsh on to winning ways with the final four frames being shared between the teams to leave Romney Marsh with a mountain to climb at 7-2 down.

Romney Marsh tried to stage a fight back as Frank Sargent, Dave Woodbrignall and Kev Miles all won but E.H.P.L. killed the match off when Mark Beesley, Gary Keefe, Tony (the cake maker) Henderson and Dave Langham won to give E.H.P.L. a comfortable 12-6 win.

This meant that E.H.P.L. had the advantage of only needing the draw to ensure passage but decided attack was the best policy as Matt Humphrey, Alan Robinson & Dave Short all won their frames. Steve Gee got Driffield’s first frame but Mark Beesley & Mark Gibson added to the pressure when they won for E.H.P.L. Jon Dowing claimed another for Driffield but that was the end of the road for them as Gary Keefe, Dave Langham, Dave Short & Lee Pateman combined to give E.H.P.L. the magic ninth frame the ensured they were the group winners.

Table 20
Saw Leeds take on Lowestoft and it was Lowestoft who started the brighter of the two teams with Karl Sutton knocking in an eight ball clearance and Steve Ashby winning their frames but Leeds came back with a five frame blitz through John Towey, Dave Graham, Paul Davies, Paul Buck & Marl Lamb. Phil Allman claimed one back for Lowestoft but it still mean they trailed Leeds 6-3 despite their good start.

Leeds piled on the pressure through Lee Betts and Andy Quinn before Karl Sutton and Phil Allman gave Lowestoft brief hope when they won their second frame of the match. Leeds made sure of a good win when Paul Davies, Mark Lamb and finally John Betts won for Leeds to give them a 12-6 win.

Folkestone also fell foul of the Karl Sutton first frame win for Lowestoft but they gradually got themselves back in to the match with first half wins for Steffen Godden, Mark Wynn, Jeff Fordam, Steve Qiunhell and Steve Souter. The first half ended with Craig Smith winning for Lowestoft as did Steve Ashby and Dave Sutton earlier to end the half trailing by the single frame at 5-4.

The group decide was between Folkestone and Leeds with Lee Betts winning the opening frame for Leeds. Steffen Godden levelled for Folkestone and that set the pattern for the first half as the frames were traded on a fairly even basis with Leeds looking good with a 6-3 lead at half time.

Folkestone then took the match by the scruff of the neck and won six frames on the spin through Barrie Hughes, Andy Quinn, Darren Fordham, Steffen Godden, Steve Quinnell and Mark Wynn which put Folkestone 9.6 up.

Leeds stopped the rot and gave them a chance to save the match when Tony Towey and John Betts won for Leeds. The match was put beyond Leeds reach when Tony Smith won the final frame of the match for Folkestone which took them over the fishing line. Leaving Leeds to rue the missed opportunities they had in the match.

Table 21
Ely took on new boys Belper in the opening match of this group. And the new boys took the game to the season professionals Ely when Rich Barnes and Daniel Binder won for Belper. Phil Harrison got Ely into the winning way when he won his frame. Luke Hartshorne got Belper back on the road with his win but they were pegged back by Trieve Rolfe & James Parker with their wins. Ian Burroyne and Steve Burton restored the advantage for Belper when they won their frames. Ely’s Stu McPherson closed the half with a win making the half time score 5-4 to Belper.

Belper went further ahead when John Slack and Luke Hartshorne added another two frames their team. Reeling that they were very close to losing the match Ely fought back with wins for Phil Harrison again, Jamie Jameson &Trieve Rolfe, Steve Burton & Steve Robertson pushed Belper to the brink of winning when they won their frames.

It took Evans and Stu McPherson of Ely to win both of the final two frames to keep Ely fighting even though the wins could only produce a draw.

Ely lost the toss and were put back into the fray against Coventry Reds. Phil Harrison and Trieve Rolfe got Ely underway with their wins. Coventry Reds came back with wins for Kev Farrelly & John O’Shea. James parker gave Ely back the advantage when he won his frame. Jamie Connolly and Martin Kirby gave Coventry Reds the advantage when they won their frames. The final two frames were shared which meant that Coventry Reds were going into the break 5-4.

I don’t know what the half time team talk from skipper Dale Parson consisted of but it sure had the desired effect as Ely won all nine second half frames to win 13-5 and leave Coventry Reds staring in disbelief at what had just befallen them – from being 5-4 up and competing well they had just crashed to a 13-5 defeat.

The true cost of that second half collapse will have been rammed home to Coventry Reds players when they reutilised that they would need a massive win to go through. The match ended with the score at 6-2 to Coventry Reds when they reached the point where they could no longer win the group.

Table 22
Brighton M arrived at the Interleague as a new team with high hopes but they had to face a good Reds Elite side. Chris McDermott got Reds Elite of the mark when he won the opening frame but Brighton M levelled through Mark Chapman but then things did not go according to plan for Brighton M as Reds Elite won the next seven frames through Mick Adams, Steve Mullan, Mark White, Callum Mullherne, Steve Sears, Vikh Mahk and finally Liam Farrell. Things didn’t get any better for Brighton M in the second half as all the players just mentioned in the Reds Elite all won again but this time they were joined by Glen Dunn who helped Reds Elite complete a shut out in the second half to win the match 17-1

Having been soundly thumped, Brighton M moved on to try their luck with Trent Trophies Pirates and things went wrong from the start as Tim Lawton & Darren Henshall won for Trent Trophies Pirates. But then Jason Tanner won his frame for Brighton M and gave them hope but Chris Barrs, Paul Ward, Sam Carter, Andy Woodhouse, Bruce Higham and Gareth Davies all won for Trent Trophies Pirates to win the first half 8-1 and guess what, Trent Trophies Pirates won all nine second half frames to run out 17-1 winners.

After the match the Brighton M captain asked if that was the worst ever performance by a team at the Interleague, this got us checking the records we have and we could not find a team that had played all 36 frames in a competitive situation and only won 2 frames. So we are of the opinion that yes this is the worst ever performance by a team here. It should be pointed out that we have had teams that have lost 18-0 but they have all done better in the second match.

It was safe to say that Brighton M were to play no part in deciding who would win the group that was going to be a straight head to head between Reds Elite and Trent Trophies Pirates

Wayne Connor and Chris Barrs got Trent Trophies Pirates off to a great start when they won their frames. But Liam Farrell got one back for Reds Elite only to see Darren Henshall, Sam Carter, Bruce Higham and Gareth Davis all won for Trent Trophies Pirates. With Trent Trophies Pirates leading by 6-2 and looking pretty Reds Elite suddenly went in to overdrive as Vikh Mahk, Mick Adams, Steve Mullan, Mark White, Liam Farrell, with his second of the match Glen Dunn, Steve Sears, Callum Mullherne, and finally Chris McDermott won the next nine frames to win the match 10-6.

Table 23.
Saw the non appearance of Grove Elite because they found late in the day that they were short of available players. What this meant to Barking Phoenix and Nuneaton A was that they would have to play each other twice – not an ideal situation but the best given the circumstances. Captain Zed and his Zedettes got of to a good start when Rob Gould and Steve Adams both won their frames. Nuneaton came back with wins for Dave Willis, Scott Varden & Nigel Griffiths. Danny Light put Barking Phoenix back on level terms when he won his frame with an eight ball clearance. Lee Steptoe and Mark Chapman put Nuneaton back in front by two frames when they won their frames. The half ended when Richard Moore won for Barking Phoenix which meant that they were only trailing by the odd frame.

Rob Gould then levelled when he won the opening frame of the second half. Nuneaton went ahead again through Scott Varden, John Martin & Karl Knight. Barking Phoenix again attempted to come back this time through Sean Hayden. Nuneaton’s Mark Chapman put them in a position where they were not going to beat in this match. Neil Randle made sure that Nuneaton won the match with his win. Mark Yates and Richard Moore made sure that although Barking Phoenix had lost, the gap between the two teams was the smallest it could be.

In the next match Rob Gould and Steve Adams again won for Barking Phoenix to put the teams level. Paul Willis and Scott Varden wiped that out when they won their frames for Nuneaton. Then Mark Yates and Tony Pointer won for Barking Phoenix to pull it all back together again. Lee Steptoe and Ben Gilbey won for Nuneaton. Barking Phoenix’s Sean Hayden made sure that his team went in to the half time break leading 5-4.

The match was killed off when Nuneaton’s John Martin, Karl Knight and Paul Willis all combined to put Nuneaton 7-5 up from this point onwards it was all going to be very tough for Barking Phoenix to qualify.

Steve Adams and Sean Hayden won their frames to keep Barking Phoenix in the hunt but the end came when Nigel Griffiths and Lee Steptoe won their frames for Nuneaton and in doing so pushed Nuneaton to 9-7 up and there was no way that Barking Phoenix could now qualify.

Table 24
This group saw Stafford take on Taunton LVA and it was Taunton LVA that got of to a flier as Scott Baldock, Craig Burnett, Ben Holly & Paul Grant all won their frames. To give Taunton LVA a 4-0 lead. It wasn’t until frame 5 that Stafford finally got of the mark when Andy Rawlinson. Shaun Barnet & Mark Grant added to Stafford’s woes as they won their frames. Just as it was beginning to look pretty depressing up popped Steve Finney and Gavin Davies with two frames, Davies’ win was via eight ball clearance for Stafford which made the half time score 6-3 rather than 8-1

At the start of the second half Ben Holly & Paul Grant pushed Taunton LVA towards the win when they won their frames. Then out of the blue Stafford exploded in to action when John Grobnik, Simon Key, Andy Rawlingson, Mick Addison, Mark Barker, and Steve Finney all won to catapult themselves into a 9-8 lead. The miracle come back was thwarted by Taunton LVA’s Mark Grant who won the final frame to stop the slide and grab a 9-9 final score.

Stafford lost the toss and so had to go straight back in to action this time against Dinnington. Stafford drew first blood through John Grobnik, Steve Finney & Mark Barker. The first Dinnington frame winner was Malc Kelwick but Andy Rawlingson, Dave Barker & Gavin Davies won their frames. Whilst for Dinnington it was T. Garner and Vince Ley who won their frames and brought Dinnington in for the break trailing 6-3. things got turned completely turned round as Terry Stevenson, John Carswell, Alan Dale, Malc Kelwick, Tony Garner, Glen McKay & Vince Ley all won to give Dinnington a 10-8 win and leave Stafford with the distinct feeling they had just been mugged.

That meant that Dinnington went head to head with Taunton LVA
In the deciding match of the group, Dinnington continued their winning ways when Terry Stevenson and Alan Dale won their frames but Taunton LVA came back with an eight ball clearance from Ben Holly this was followed by wins for Adam O’Connor and Shaun Barnett. Dinnington hit back with wins for John Carswell, Mark Lancashire and Russell Oakley whose frame brought the half to a close with Dinnington just in front at 5-4.

Taunton LVA came out for the second half and just steamrollered Dinnington as Scott Baldock, Craig Burnett, Ben Holly, Adam O’Connor, Shaun Barnett and finally Paul Grant all won to dump Dinnington out of the event

Table 25
Trent Trophies B started their campaign of with a tough match against Lowestoft Town Select and indeed Lowestoft Town Select took the first frame through Darren Belton. Trent Trophies B came back with wins for Ross Harding & Paul Bowell. Lowestoft Town Select came back through Lee Cubitt. Trent Trophies B then put on a bit of a sprint with 3 frames from Olly Booth, John Hugs & Chris Evans. Steve Tongs clawed one back for Lowestoft Town Select but John Clowes ended the first half with another win for Trent Trophies B to lead 6-3.

Lowestoft Town Select could have done with winning the first frame after the restart but Trent Trophies A B’s Ryan Cope made sure that didn’t happen when he won his frame.

Lee Cubitt did his best to keep Lowestoft Town Select in the match when he won. The match was put beyond the reach of Lowestoft Town Select when Paul Bowell, Mark Buckley and Olly Booth won their frames. The four remaining frames were shared when Chris Evans and John Clowes won for Trent Trophies B. whilst for Lowestoft Town Select Steve Tongs and Alex Wright won to make the final score 12-6 to Trent Trophies B

Lowestoft Town Select then had to take on Gosport B and thing started going a bit Pete Tong from the off when Darren Belton and Tim Goodhand won for Lowestoft Town Select. Dean Winter got Gosport of the mark when he won his frame. Lowestoft Town Select then won another two frames through Lee Cubitt and lee Little.

Gosport then hit Lowestoft Town Select for 4 unanswered frames thanks to Dave Barker, Alan Overy, Graham McAllister and Ricky Dean to end the half 5-4 up.

If they could keep that lead then they would have a chance when they played Trent Trophies B in the final match. Again, things did not go quite as planned as Steve Tong and Lee Cubitt regained the lead for Lowestoft Town Select. Dean Winter then levelled the match when he won his frame.

The match as a contest was killed off when Tim Goodhand, Keith Peck & Alex Wright all won their frames for Lowestoft Town Select. Alan Overy and Graham McAllister came back and won their frames. Finally, the draw was taken away from Gosport B when Troy Jacob won the final frame for Lowestoft Town Select to make the final score 10-8 to Lowestoft Town Select and give Gosport a real fight if they wanted to qualify for the knockout stage.

Gosport B won the first frame of their match with Trent Trophies B thanks to Dave Barker. But that was the only frame they won as Trent Trophies B turned on the style with wins for Rob Harding, Chris Evans, Paul Powell, Olly Booth, Kieron Boulton, John Hughes, Dan Rush & John Clowes won the next eight frames to crush the life out of Gosport B.

Table 26
Cannock took on Reds 1 in the first match in this group with Cannock winning the opening two frames through lee Grout and Daniel Moore. The good start was undone when Reds 1’s Gary Cox and Dean Davies. Then back came Cannock with a brace from Tony and Nigel Wilby, Reds 1 again come back with wins for Martin Elks, Scott Halcrow and Darren Leeson which gave Red1 a slender 5-4 win at the end of the first half.

Things were back to all square when Lee Grout won the first frame of the second half. But Red 1 came back yet again with a two frame run through Dean Davies and Martin Groves. Dave Shaw closed the gap when he won his frame for Cannock. That was the point at which Reds 1 kicked into gear and took the next 5 frames on the spin to win the match 12-6.

Radstock were next up for Cannock but things started badly for Radstock when Lee Grout and Daniel Moore took the first two frame. Dave Mattravers then won for Radstock to ease the pressure. However, Cannock then took the next five frames on the bounce to lead 7-1 thanks to Tony Wilby, Chris Jerome, Dean Machin, Nigel Birch & Rob Murray. The final frame of the half was won by Mark Wilkinson for Radstock.

At the start of the second half Neil Ford added another for Radstock. Tony Wilby then really put the pressure on Radstock when he won his frame. Things started to ease a little as first Dave Mattravers then Matt Bull followed by Alan Alsop. Simon Withers, and Derek Barber all won for Cannock to level the match at 8-8. Dean Machin put Cannock on the brink of victory when he won. The match was drawn when Mark Wilkinson managed to win the final frame of the match for Radstock and earn a hard earned draw and kept the team in the hunt for the group when they took Red 1 on in the group decider.

Radstock set about Reds 1 from the start and won the first three frames through Neil ford, Dave Mattravers and Matt Bull with an eight ball clearance. With a three frame advantage all Radstock had to do now was keep Red 1 at bay and it would be they who won the group. That didn’t happen though as Red 1 won the next two frames through Dean Davies & Dave Lane. John Ford added another to Radstock’s total when he won his frame. Radstock’s flying start was cancelled out when Martin Elks & Scott Halcrow won for Reds 1. Radstock went in to the break leading by a single frame when Dave Barker won his frame.

Matt bull added to Radstock’s restored advantage when he won the opening frame of the second half. Roy Pontefract then cut the lead when he won his frame. Neil ford and Dave Mattravers – with an eight ball clearance won their frames for Radstock to leave them needing two from the last four frames to score a memorable victory and qualify for the knock out section of the event.

Reds 1 manage to thwart Radstock’s plans by winning the next for frames on the spin though Dave Lane, Darren Leeson, Martin Elks and Scott Halcrow. Those wins shot Reds 1 from the brink of defeat to crossing the winning line.

Table 27
Chesterfield are one of the Interleague perennial dark horses who always manage to pop up in the business end of the event without actually setting the event on fire. This indicates that they have built over the years a very settled side and work together as a team. Their opponents Lowestoft Select have been here a few times in various guises so this had the makings of an interesting tie. Chesterfield got things on the way when Jordon Johnson won the first frame. Lowestoft Selecta’s Russ Quorn got his team on the scoreboard. That pattern of Chesterfield winning a frame followed by Lowestoft Select cancelling it out in the frame carried on right to the end of the first half when Chesterfield finally found a way two win two frames back to back which meant that they would go in to the half time break leading 5-4. Chesterfield’s first half winners were Dean Watts, Gav Ward, Mark Thomas & Steve Finnegan. Lowestoft Select’s frame winners were Robbie Clear, Ady Clark & Dan Bridle.

Jordan Johnson got Chesterfield of to a winning start in the first match of the second half but Lowestoft Select hit back with wins for Pete Cook & Robbie Clear which levelled the match at 6-6. The wheels fell of for Lowestoft Select at this point as Chesterfield won the last 6 frames thanks to Jordan Johnson, Bob Snell, Gav Ward, Steve Evans, Mark Thomas, Steve Finnegan and finally Shaun Wilson. The win put Chesterfield in a commanding position in the group and put Lowestoft Select on the back foot needing a solid performance in their next match if the wanted to stay in the event.

Lowestoft Select’s next opponents were St Albans Saints. Kieran Marron won the opening frame for St Albans Saints but Lowestoft Select came back to win the next four through Russ Quorn, Ashley Holmes, Andy Walden & Robbie Clear. St Albans Saints managed to get themselves back in the match when Kt Wong, Jason Harding & Tony Hawes won three of the final four frames of the first half to trail 5-4 at the interval.

St Albans Saints continued their winning ways in the second half as Kieran Marron won again this time with an eight ball clearance this was followed by wins for Dave Ody & Kevin Moyles which gave St Albans Saints a 7-5 lead.

Lowestoft Select then mounted a rearguard action and took the final six frames to win the match 11-7 thanks to wins for Russ Quorn, Pedro Campos, Ken Ford, Robbie Clarke, Dan Bridle & Ady Clarke.

The final match of the group between Chesterfield and St Albans Saints turned out to be a pretty one sided affair as Chesterfield took the first seven frames through Jordan Johnson, Wayne Parsonage, Bob Snell, Dean Watts, Gav Ward, Steve Wilson and Mark Thomas. Before St Albans Saints could even get going they were dumped out of the event by a rampant Chesterfield side that had just book yet another appearance in the last 32.

Table 28
Holderness took on Suffolk Rude girls first in this group and found them a real handful as Leah Willet, Sue Osbourne and Vicki Layton all won but that was the end of the good news in the first half for Suffolk Rude girls. Holderness through Dave Hanraham, Chris Wilson, Jason Welsh, Chris Young won the next four frames to snatch the lead. Suffolk Rude girls brought the scores back together again at 4-4 when Hayley Harding won her frame. Paul Bristow ended the half with a win for Holderness.

Wayne Bristow added t6 Holderness’ lead with his win. Suffolk Rude girls then hit Holderness with a 4 frame salvo with wins for Claire Seaman, Leah Willet, sue & Rebecca Osbourne that saw Suffolk Rude girls take an 8-6 lead. Jason Walsh got one back for Holderness, however, Kim O’Brien won her frame to put the girls 9-7 up. The win was denied to them when Skipper Pete Everington and Paul Bristow won the final two frames of the match for Holderness,

Newbold were Suffolk Rude girls’ next opponents and again they went in front thanks to Leah Willet. Newbold came back with a six frame run thanks to Richard Marples, White, Russell, Turner, Hall & Dave Knowles. The half closed wit Hayley Harding and Kim O’Brien winning the final two frames of the half for Suffolk Rude girls.

Vicky Layton won the opening frame of the second half to cut the gap further but Newbold won the next through Richard Marples. This was followed by Leah Willet winning her frame this pattern continued up to the 15th frame when Newbold killed the match off with a four frame run that made the final score 12-6 to Newbold.

In the group decider Wayne Bristow, Pete Broughton, Dave Hanrahan and Dave Hughes gave Holderness the perfect start with their wins. Of the next five frames Wall, Hardy, Gibson & Rob Titchner all won for Newbold. If it hadn’t been for Jason Welsh winning his frame Holderness would have let all that good work that gave them a 4-0 lead slip to 5-4 reversal at the half way point.

The next five frames were more or less shared with Newbold winning the odd frame to level the match at 7 a piece. Holderness squashed any hopes that Newbold would turn the match around when they won three frames on the bounce which gave Holderness the magic 10th frame to secure the win.

Table 29
Saw Dover take on Bedford A, for Dover it was the first time here, whilst for Bedford A it was one of many appearances here but this one would be special because they would be losing Skipper James Griffin who has decided to play within Cambridge for the next season.

Dover won the first two frames through Andrew Biggs and Paul Allister but these wins were cancelled out when Dave Herbert and Clinton Johnson won for Bedford, the later via an eight ball clearance. Ben Herring won his frame for Dover but back came Bedford through Vince Staccia with another eight ball clearance for Bedford. Bedford went in front for the first time in the match when Derek Prince won his frame. Jason Herring pulled it all back together when he won his frame. The first half ended when Paul Frith won for Bedford with yet another eight ball clearance.

Dave Herbert won the first frame of the second half with an eight ball clearance. Paul Allister got one back for Dover followed by an eight ball clearance for Simon Dodwell. Dover managed to draw level again when Ben Herring won his frame. The end came when Bedford won three from the final four frames thanks to James Griffin, Cleveland Thompson & Derek Price to win the match 10-8.

That meant that Dover would take on Lye & Stourbridge and they had a dream start when Paul Allister, Nixon, King Robertson and Briggs gave Dover a 5-0 lead Lye & Stourbridge are a good team and the start was probably a bit unfair on them but they set about repairing the damage when Daniel Ward, Martin Lloyd and Jason Priest all won their frames to give Lye & Stourbridge hope sandwiched in between those wins was a win for Dover’s Yerring. Lye & Stourbridge drew level when Mark Jones, Mark Wood and Paul French took the opening three frames of the second half. So from being 5-0 up Dover had been pegged back so the task for Dover was now to stop Lye & Stourbridge from overrunning them. Nixon managed to win his frame for Dover then Rick Wooldridge won for Lye & Stourbridge which left four frames to play and although Lye & Stourbridge got to 9 frames first Dover won the final frame to force the draw.

In the group decider Mark Jones got Lye & Stourbridge started but Mark Seaman knocked in an eight ball clearance to level the match Lye & Stourbridge again tried to break free when Paul French and Rick Wooldrige won their frames. Once Lye & Stourbridge had the advantage they were reluctant to let go. Terry Teivans and Simon Dodwell both won their frames but Daniel Ward, Chris Price and Jason Priest really put the pressure on Bedford when they won their frames to end the half with a 6-3 advantage.

Paul French turned the screw even tighter when he added to Lye & Stourbridge’s total. Mark Seaman kept Bedford in the match when he won his frame. However, Mark Jones kept the advantage going for Lye & Stourbridge. Just when it looked like what ever Bedford did Lye & Stourbridge had the answer. Bedford led by James Griffin started a fight back as James Griffin, Terry Teivans, Derek Price and Simon Dodwell all won to drag Bedford back in to the match at 8-8. Lye & Stourbridge won the match when Daniel Ward and Martin Lloyd won the final two frames of the match to halt Bedford’s march in their track and in doing so win the group.

Table 30
Saw two Interleague heavyweight champions go head to head in a match where to lose would almost certainly mean elimination. Weston and Brighton are two of the biggest teams in the event with history going back years. Weston won this event in 1997 and Brighton recently reached the final of the knock out cup so these are two teams who expect to do well.

Weston were first out the blocks when Alan Llewellyn, Graham Hewlett and Russell Burgess all won. Moray Dolan with an eight ball clearance and Darren Welfare won the next two for Brighton. Jeff Jones kept Weston on track with his win. Dean Torode won his frame for Brighton only to see Simon Baker do the same for Weston. The half closed when Lee Nelson won his frame for Brighton to tail by 5-4

Jon Sanders brought the two sides together when he won the opening frame for Brighton and then went into the lead for the first time in the match when Moray Dolan won his second of the match. Russell Burgess and Anthony Doble restored Weston’s lead when they won. Lee Nelson and Paul McNeil gave Brighton the edge when they won their frames. Weston eventually got the better of Brighton through Alan Smith, Simon Barker and Joe Nozekay winning the final three frames of the match.

Brighton showed just how dangerous they can be when they took on Luton Elite and raced to a 6-0 lead through Damien Campsey, Steve Ringsell, John Sanders, Moray Dolan and Darren Welfare

Luton Elite got on the score board when Rob Dawson won his frame and Paul Cox then added a second. These two wins were cancelled out by Dean Torode and Lee Nelson won for Brighton to lead 7-2 at the half way mark.

The life was squeezed out of Luton Elite when John Sanders, Moray Dolan & Damien Campsey won the opening three frames of the second half. Luton Elite did get to win three more frames thanks to Craig Pearce, Rob Dawson and Paul Cox.

Those three wins were wiped out when Lee Nelson, Darren Welfare and Dean Torode won their frames to win the match 13-5. They now had to hope that Luton Elite would beat Weston if they were to progress.

Weston took three of the first four frames through Alan Llewellyn, Russell Burgess and Paul Marsh. With things seemingly going well for Weston Luton Elite stunned them with a six frame salvo from Paul Cox, Paul Turnstill, Rob Dawson, Ben Turnstill, Alan Shields and Martin Smith. That ripped Weston from the comfort zone into the eye of a storm. Weston fought back to lead 8-7 thanks to wins from Russell Burgess, Anthony Doble, Paul Marsh and Jeff Jones. With the match in balance Luton Elite knocked Weston out of the event by winning the final three frames of the match through Banks, Paul Cox and Paul Turnstill.

Weston could not believe what had just happened to them, they were out of the event despite beating Brighton. Brighton on the other hand could not believe their luck they won the group on count back.

Table 31
Saw Wessex take on Lancaster in the opening match and Lancaster set about Wessex from the off as the won the first four frames thanks to wins from Wayne Corless, John Fox, Paul Ireland and Ian Corless. Tom De Vulder posted Wessex’s first win but this proved a minor disposition for Lancaster as they took the next two frames through Peter Woodruff and Steve Sparkes. Chris Montague doubled Wessex’s tally when he won his frame the half ended very profitably for Lancaster when they won the final frame thanks to Craig Dodd. At 7-2 down Wessex could only hope for a bit of damage limitation. That went out the window when Lancaster the same as they did in the first half and won the first four frames.

Wessex won the next three frames through Tom De Vulder. Simon Fletcher and Sue Ramsbottom but that nice little run was way too late to have any affect in the outcome of the match but did serve to show that Wessex could win frames. The match was put to bed when Lancaster won the final two frames of the match to run out 13-5 winners

This meant that Wessex went straight back on again against Dawley B this match proved to be a much tighter affair than the first one and Wessex won three of the first four frames thanks to David Flooks, Chris Montague and Tom De Vulder. Dawley’s frame was won by James Price. Dawley pulled their socks up and levelled the match when Aaron O’Donnell and Phil Bufton won their frames.

Wessex won the next two through Dave Kavenagh and Sue Ramsbottom. Dale Blagborough ended the half with a win for Dawley. The wins continued at the start of the second half thanks to Crompton and James Price. Wessex came back with a brace themselves with wins for Dave Flooks & Tim Raine. Then the match petered out with neither team being able to steal a march on the other and the final few frames were shared as was the match at 9-9.

When Lancaster and Dawley B in the group decider it was Lancaster that held the advantage of only needing to avoid defeat to book their place in the last 32. Dawley on the other hand were acutely aware that only a win would be good enough to see them trough. Wayne Corless won the opening frame for Lancaster to set the ball rolling. Phil Bufton levelled with his win only to see Paul Ireland restore it for Lancaster. Mick Pidgeon pulled it at back together again with his win. Ian Corless then put Lancaster back in front. Dawley finally took the lead when Aaron O’Donnell and Steve Moreton managed to win back to back frames. It was now the turn of Lancaster to play catch up.

Catch up they did when Ashley Lord won his frame. James Prince then brought the half to a close when he won to give Dawley a 5-4 lead at half time. Lancaster won the opening two frames of the second half to screw Dawley’s chances right up through Wayne Corless and John Fox.

Dawley struck back though through Dale Blagborough, Phil Bufton & James Price to go 8-6 up. If Dawley thought they had weathered the storm they were made to pay for it big time as Lancaster won the next three frames through Peter Woodruff, Steve Sparkes & Ashley Lord and in doing so reached the nine frames they required to go through the knockout section leaving yet another big team wondering where it all went wrong.

Table 32
Saw St Johns take on Leicester City in the opening match of this group and St Johns stole a march on Leicester City when they won the first two frames through Scott & Shane Surridge. St Johns joy was short lived as Leicester City came back and won the next five frames thanks to Rich Philips, Ady Frost, Scott Taylor, Paul Bright and Gaz Mitchell. Dave Moss stopped the slide for St Johns but Leicester City won the final frame of the half thanks to Lee Brown.

Again the Surridge boys combined and gave St Johns hope as they cut the deficit to within a frame with their wins. Steve Cook extended City of Leicester’s lead with his win. St Johns eventually drew level when Chris Haywood and Luke Kendrick won their frames. Daz Lynch put City of Leicester back in the driving seat when he won his frame but St Johns came back with a win for Mark Hogan. The end for St Johns came when City of Leicester won the final two frames of the match thanks to Paul Bright and Gaz Mitchell.

St Johns then had to take on Dorking and this time won the first three frames and again it was the Surridges who were responsible this time though they were aided by Mark Prosser. Steve Rains and John Leach won the next two for Dorking to cut the lead down to a single frame. St Johns them hit Dorking napping and took advantage by winning the next four frames courtesy of Chris Hayward, Skipper Mark Hogan, Luke Kendrick and Nathan Williams to lead 7-2 at the end of the first half. Rick white and Tony Pankhurst pulled two back for Dorking, however, Scott Surridge and Mark Prosser added to their first half wins to cancel out Dorking’s fight back.

Again Dorking tried to fight back with wins for John Leach and Wayne Duffle which made the score 9-6 to St Johns. This meant that Dorking were going to need all three of the remaining frames to win the match. St Johns made sure this did not happen when Dave Moss and Mark Hogan won their frames either side of Tony Pigeon’s win for Dorking.
Because of the defeat at the hands of St Johns, Dorking now had to take on City of Leicester with one hand tied behind their back. In the end it didn’t master as City of Leicester took 7 of the first nine frames to lead 7-2 and from there, there was no way of saving the match for Dorking, short of a miracle that is. This time round there was no miracles and City of Leicester duly got the ninth frame they needed to win the group and despatch Dorking to the bar to drown their sorrows.

Tom Fahy - Tournament Director

A further report on the Last 32 will be available shortly