sNOOKER

Last updated at 12:12, Thursday, 12 April 2012

WORKINGTON Cons took a massive step towards retaining their Window Outlet Cockermouth and District Snooker League division 1 title this week with a 5-1 home win against Seaton Legion.

Ryan Ismay : A break of 37 helped in Cons’ victory over Seaton

As Whitehaven’s Marchon Club only managed a draw against Workington’s Station Road A the Cons side now take a four point lead with just two fixtures remaining. On the other hand, just a point for the Legion outfit sees them relegated to division 2 next term after a tough season.

Cons started in superb fashion in their match against Seaton as Ryan Ismay delivered a break of 37 to defeat Scott Messenger convincingly.

Frame two’s battle of the captains didn’t manage to yield a recordable break but in majestic form Cons’ Ryan Adams was equally devastating as he trounced Alan Evans.

A scrappy fourth frame fell to Legion’s Mark Tatton to pull the score back to 2-1 but with team mate Paul Smith unable to reach his previous weeks’ heroics he went down to Cons’ Ryan Barker.

A 3-1 scoreline soon moved to 4-1 with a contribution of 38 from two time county champion Alan Moore and as Mike Park grew stronger throughout the sixth frame he eventually went on to take the Cons to within touching distance of yet another title.

Station Road A’s away 3-3 draw against second placed Marchon definitely dented the Whitehaven outfit’s chances of taking the division 1 title, but more importantly for the Workington side it will now take a mammoth effort from Keswick’s Derwent club to stop them from retaining their place in the top division next season.

In an intriguing match the first two frames were shared but the biggest shock of the week came in the next as Marchon captain and four time county champion Rob Sim, was turned over by Station Road A’s Paul Johnston.

Marchon’s Vito Shipley redressed the balance in emphatic fashion in frame four with breaks of 41 & 46 to crush Mark Robertson, however as Barry Collins won the next for Station Road they held a 3-2 lead.

The last frame of the match saw Station Road A’s Iron Man Keith Telford take the table however his determined efforts proved powerless as Marchon’s Stuart Shepherd tied up the match.

Third placed John Street came back from 3-2 down to draw with Keswick’s Derwent Club. An early 20 point lead for Derwent’s Mark Forsyth applied pressure in the last as he took on current league doubles and trebles winner Peter O’Hagan. Nevertheless the Workington player made a break of 42 and he eventually took the game to the black. A prolonged safety battle on the final ball could have resulted in the game going in either way but with a coolly potted black it was O’Hagan who nicked the game.

In division 2 second placed Senhouse B took full advantage of club rivals and league leaders Senhouse A’s free week with a 5-1 home win against Workington Legion.

The highlight of the match came in frame two as Senhouse B’s Shaun Ayre won with a break of 28 and he now looks favourite to take an impressive divisional treble as Leading player, Highest break and Highest aggregate break champion.

Also in division 2 third placed United club B made a huge move towards guaranteeing a top 4 playoff place with a 4-2 home win over previously third placed Maryport Social.

A break of 28 from Maryport’s Andrew Henderson did manage to take his side into a 2-1 lead but with a win from United B captain Dave Chapman in the fourth the scores were level.

A black ball win for Andrew Mitchelhill in the next made it 3-2 and even though team mate Clive Lister made a break of 25 against Social namesake Paul Lister he still needed the last ball to record a satisfying team victory.

The remaining fixture in division 2 this week saw Workington’s Station Road B win 4-2 at home against wooden spooners Maryport Labour. This result now puts the Station Road B side in fourth place but they still have a fight on their hands with Maryport Social for the last playoff place.

League tables, player stats and all KO competition details are viewable by logging onto www.workingtonsnooker.co.uk

First published at 11:58, Thursday, 12 April 2012
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk