Here you will find reports from old
Inter-League games
sponsored by
Day Of Destiny
Glossop travelled with a near full strength
squad to Long Eaton on Sunday (16th) knowing a draw was about as
much use as a glass hammer and defeat may lead to a
miserable 6th place finish. With Phil O Sullivan backing
out at late notice due to work commitments and Malc Burgess
unavailable for the trip it left a 10 man squad the task of
playing current inter-league champions.
Glossop have been a revelation this year and
many predicted us to finish bottom of the inter-league this
season (many of those votes were from people in Glossop).
Glossop lost there first 3 games to the Corn Exchange, Belper
and Overseal (two of those sides finished in the top 4).
However this season we have gone from strength to strength
with players like Paul Smith (Jiff), Ricky Bradbury, Phil O
Sullivan and Allan Roberts all coming in during the season.
Those players have transformed the side lately and with James
Hardy, Perry Roberts, Tony Smith (Fred), Joal Stone, Steve
Bennett, Malc Burgess, Paul Roberts and Adam Clark all being
involved throughout the season.
Anyway I'm sure everyone is dying to know how
we got on, so I'd best tell you. First up the Mexican
(Steve Bennett) played Long Eaton captain Daz Smith and took out
a decent finish to make it 1-0 to Glossop. However Long
Eaton quickly responded as Kev Webb broke and dished v Ricky
Bradbury. Derbyshire A player Chris Burkey was on the
wrong side of a Jiff finish to make it 2-1 Glossop but again
long Eaton leveled as Steve Butler beat the porn star.
Adam Clark then made it 3-2 Glossop beating Glyn Slatcher but
for the third time in a row long Eaton pulled it back making it
3 all through Keith Smith who Beat The Rock. Robbo then
pulled out a nice solid and lets face it typical Robbo finish to
make it 4-3 and James Hardy overcame Sam Hicklin to make it 5-3.
Perry Roberts who was a little late in arriving made it 6-3
beating Glenn Richardson who had gone for it from the off.
Glossop had played very well and had looked to have built a good
lead. Unfortunately for Allan Roberts he was forced to
watch the second set from the sidelines as the side were
performing so well I couldn't justify dropping anyone.
Anyway into set two Glossop looked to have
started in perfect fashion as Adam Clark was on his last ball
with the black nearby but a poor positional shot cost him and
Steve Butler made it 2 from 2 for Long Eaton to reduce their
arrears to 2 frames. But the Mexican was having none of it
and promptly dished to make it 7-4. Chris Burkey
reduced the gap back down to two frames by beating Jiff after
Jiff had missed a very tough black. But Glossop produced
another spurt as Ricky Bradbury produced the shot of the day to
get on his last ball, he subsequently made it 8-5. Kev
Webb nearly made it back to back dishes but a loose positional
shot cost him and Tony Smith fudged his way to two visits and it
was 9-5. However Long Eaton were far from finished.
Joal stone missed a finish and eventually gave two visits, Keith
Smith made no mistakes and it was 9-6. Paul Roberts then
played a loose shot when he had his frame won missing a snooker
to which Glenn Richardson made a stunning cut to make it 9-7.
However its ok because its Glossop captain to the rescue, or
not! James Hardy left one short and gave two visits whilst
trying to cover a bag after failing to break and dish. Sam
Hicklin promptly cleared and it was 9-8. But Mr. Magoo was
on last versus Ash Sallis and surely Magoo would do what he
loves to do play last with all the pressure and win! Well
all was looking good when he went for his finish but snookered
himself on his last ball. Ash played what I can only
describe as the non percentage shot trying to cover the black
which was tough to say the least. Perry was left the
easiest of finishes which he took out for a 10-8 Glossop win
(under a lot of pressure). That win also clinched Perry
the team rankings with 4 defeats all season and no games missed,
Glossop captain James Hardy was one win further back but both
should be proud of themselves this season!
Well Done Glossop- You did your
town proud and should be going to the national finals in
Yarmouth in April 2008!
A Nail Biting Finish
It could prove to be one of two things for Glossop on the 16th
of December, it could be a famous victory or it could be an oh
so close!
When we sat down (Perry and myself) and discussed this season we
decided that we'd hope to finish with a couple of wins and to be
honest we have in our own eyes over-achieved for our first year.
I'd not like to take anything away from the players that we had
at our first game, but we have tinkered throughout the season
and been lucky enough to attract players to our fold that we
hadn't previously banked on getting. The change in the
Glossop & Longdendale rules was a massive victory for myself and
my squad and I have seen it as such since the day it happened.
All of a sudden I had players asking me about my team our
results and even players wanting to play. If that's not a
positive move then nothing ever will be.
Our star man has without a doubt been Perry for a self confessed
blind man (and he isn't lying) he has returned figures of played
14-4 (league) 3-1 (Yarmouth) 11-1 (Cup day) making 28-6 up to
this point, he has beaten players like John Mc Mahon and Craig
Bishop of Ilkeston who are both top players. Which at any
standard is good but the overall standard he has faced has been
excellent. As an old hand and former IPA player we'd
probably have struggled to get everyone up to speed with world
rules without him and having Steve Bennett, Joal Stone and Adam
Clark at every match with experience has helped us no end.
But the players newer to world rules have taken to it well.
The best new world rules player is between Fred and Robbo, both
have very similar records. Robbo was stunning at Yarmouth
and both were solid on cup day. Fred is 3rd in the league
rankings for Glossop players winning 60% and Robbo is not far
behind. Overall they are very similar but Robbo has gone
from strength to strength this season and is currently looking
like the real deal at this level.
Anyway back to the important thing, Long Eaton away. We
are playing one of the best sides away in their own backyard and
we don't need a point we need two! So, in theory we will
turn up and get beaten, say thanks very much and finish 5th.
In reality we want this game more than they do, we have started
to fire. They have just been beaten by the Corn 13-5 and
we are now on a 3 game winning run and a 6 game (league only)
undefeated run. If you ignore our first 3 games which to
be fair came too soon for the lads we have been one of the form
sides. We went to Ilk B with a seriously depleted squad
and still came away with something. We went to Ilkeston A
(champions elect) and drew 9 all, we are the only side to get
anything out of them. If you ignore 3 frame play offs we
were never beaten at cup day and in Yarmouth we had 8 men and
lost 10-8 twice (effectively drawing over 8 players twice).
We are going in the right direction and are solid 1-9 now which
wasn't the case early doors. However Long Eaton have won
this league before and are apparently a stronger unit now.
Have some top sticks and will fancy this because they only need
a point. I expect this match to be 10-8 either way or a
draw. I don't see one side running away with it and our
heads certainly won't go down at any point. We will scrap
for everything because its in our nature and we are taking
everyone down including Allan Roberts who is coming back from
uni.
The goal posts have moved so many times this year and we went to
Yarmouth which we'd never counted on in our wildest dreams.
No doubt having two of the area's top snooker players dedicating
a good year to pool has helped us no end and they are both going
to learn a lot playing on the Premier Pool Tour in 08. I
know it brought Joal on playing and practicing against these
boys and overall that's far tougher than anything local
inter-league has to offer. But you only get one chance at
inter-league, if you make mistakes at big events you have other
frames to fall back on at inter-league you have no margin for
error. Long Eaton will want to beat us as much as we want
to beat them. I honestly believe we can win and I'm sure
they will too. it boils down to the day, the team I pick
and how they perform. However saying all that its not the
be all and end all to Glossop whether we win or not but long
term we will want to make Yarmouth a regular fixture in our
calendar, if only to see Robbo's camp dancing!!!!!
A Bit More Like It
Glossop's season hinged on them beating Chesterfield Charity at
home on a wet and windy Tuesday night at the White Hart.
Glossop need a magic top 4 spot to qualify for the national
finals at Great Yarmouth in April. Most people had written
Glossop off after their first 3 games, some before a ball was
even struck. Yet here we are one win away from an almost
certain top 4 spot. Basically Ilkeston A, Corn Exchange
and Overseal will take the top three spots baring some sort of
disaster from the Corn or Overseal. The 4th spot is
between Belper who have to play the Corn and Chesterfield, Long
Eaton who have to play the Corn and us and our bunch who
currently sit in 4th.
Obviously our lot were really up for this game and Chesterfield
have during the season had a bit of light hearted banter on
derbyshirepool.com with us. However there season has not
gone as well as they had hoped and they sit in 7th on 4 points.
The match started with Steve Bennett making light work of
Chesterfield captain B J O Neill clearing his first visit after
a dry break and a tactical foul by his opponent. He then
played S Lavender who came up dry and Steve dished. Great
start and a good performance from the Mexican who hasn't always
been firing on all cylinders this season. Luckily he is a
class act and can get two frames under pressure which he did
when we needed it most. Next up Robbo was gifted a tough
chance by A Mason and managed to miss his first ball leaving a
clearance making it 2-1. Then Ricky Bradbury stepped up
and made a top finish to beat W Peacock and it was looking good.
However C Bartrum hit straight back beating the Porn Star to
make it 3-2. However quick fire wins for Adam Clark, Perry
Roberts a break and dish from James Hardy and a first win for
Jiff made it 7-2 after 9. Completing the set was Malc
Burgess who was incredibly unfortunate to go in off on the black
making it 7-3, which quite frankly he didn't deserve.
Into the second set Ricky started off by beating A Mason with
yet another top class performance. Rick is such a solid
competitor and why GMC never picked him for their county team a
few years ago is beyond me, he is a massive asset to us.
He was followed up by some Porn Star magic as Reyes broke and
dished to make it 9-2 and make 1 point certain. Adam Clark
then got a little unlucky with a rattled ball and played a poor
safety shot and was beaten by BJ O Neill who cleared up well.
Phil O Sullivan or Ronnie for short showed loads of his
snooker class to make a finish with no margin for error to put
the team over the winning line. Not a bad debut for a
player who will pick up world rules in the coming months.
He was followed by Jiff who took out a superb finish to make it
100% for him for the match and stretch the lead further.
Perry Roberts the beat C Bartram to make it 12-4 and then James
Hardy was left with a tough finish that he spurned and E Burton
stepped in to clear and make it 12-5. Paul "Robbo" Roberts
then sealed the finish with a bit of gloss for the Glossop boys
and made it 13-5. Roll on the 16th December where it will
literally be a Yarmouth decider away at Long Eaton.
Heanor Away
For the first time ever I really can't be
bothered writing a report. Its not because I don't want to
write one its simply because I left with a bitter taste in my
mouth. The game started well from my point of view.
We won the opening two frames with Steve Bennett defeating Paul
Williamson and Adam Clark who was cueing excellently defeating
Lee Ryan. Then I had two very strong players next up with
Joal Stone and Fred. Joal missed the black that I'd bet
anything on him potting and Fred looked all at sea on an easy
finish with two visits and it was 2 all. It really should have
been 4-0 which can be frustrating however the table was so slow
it was unreal and that was making any sort of flowing pool hard
work.
Next up Paul Roberts defeated Heanor captain
Lisa Hutsby followed by Malc Burgess who beat Dagg Isakston.
Glossop captain James Hardy then beat Lee Theakstone and it was
5-2 and honestly should have been more!!!!!! Paul Smith on
debut then played Kevin Knott and started slowly. Jiff is
a wonderful asset to have as his snooker game will quickly adapt
to world rules. However things aren't helped when the
referee who we later found out to be bladdered called a hand
foul claiming Jiff touched the black with his hand. Jiff
turned to the ref and said he didn't touch it. No one else
saw the foul from either side and I'm sorry but a player knows
the moment they touch a ball with their hands. Their
player who had the decency to come over and say he didn't want
to win like that hadn't seen anything wrong with Jiffs shot.
I was very annoyed the ref offered no justification to anyone
inc the player involved especially after Jiff told him he
didn't. Had he made a mistake then surely owning up to it
after the frame would have been good. Worst thing is he
was stood upright the wrong side of the action with a pint in
hand and I felt sorry for Jiff and the team. Ironically
the next game up was the referee from the last frame v Magoo.
Now this guy had a record of 12 and 2 apparently and Perry beat
him without honestly breaking sweat. Quite frankly he must
have been drunk to play as poorly as he did or he is the most
lucky player on the planet to win 12 frames.
In the second set which Glossop didn't start
quite so well Adam Clark lost to Jamie Scothern after playing
yet more top notch pool and leaving himself Chinese on the
black, unfortunately he hit the knuckle and his opponent
cleared. Steve Bennett then played a fairly bizarre shot
and gifted his frame and all of a sudden in it was 6-5.
The porn star then won a tense battle to make it 7-5 but Joal
who was having an off day by his standards lost to a great
finish from Paul Williamson and it was 7-6. Robbo again
beat the Heanor captain with a good finish and opened up the
gap, but full credit to Heanor the wouldn't go away. Paul Smith
then lost a tactical battle to Dave Allsopp after very
ironically touching a ball with his hand that no one saw and
owning up for it straight away. Malc Burgess failed to hit
a cushion after contact with the frame won it was 8 all and
going to the wire!
Luckily for Glossop James Hardy & Perry
Roberts were on last two legs and have only dropped 7 frames
between them all season. Both players were playing the
same players from the first set and James won a tactical battle
which he never looked like losing and it was 9-8. Perry
then played......yes you guessed it.....the guy that reffed Jiff
(Paul Grybas). Perry yet again beat him, however both
players had chances and Perry held his nerve to clear up to win
the match 10-8.
As a footnote it put a real dampener on things
from our perspective that a ref made a poor call. As
players and as a team we accept a refs decision is final and
abide by those rules. You trust a ref to be doing his job
correctly, however to offer no explanation to a player or team
when something controversial and in my eyes 100% incorrect is
pathetic. He let himself and his team down who I will go
on record as saying are a good bunch.
Glossop Overcome Derby
The village team from Glossop overcame a far more
experienced side as they beat Derby at the White Hart. In
Glossop's first season in the Derbyshire Inter-League they
have given as good as they have got in all but 2 games where
they were soundly beaten by Corn Exchange & Overseal teams.
This was Glossop's first ever meeting with Daz Finch's Derby
side boasting several County players. It started well
for Glossop as Adam "Clarky" Clark saw off Jason Hill.
However Fred (Tony Smith) then came undone against
Derbyshire A player Mark Mc Neish who cleared after Fred had
played a deliberate foul. Joal "The Rock" Stone then lost to
Tony Arnold but he missed a thin black completely after
clearing well. Mr Magoo then hit the table and to be
honest he played very much like his namesake and was a
little fortunate after missing a straight black against Dale
Wigely. Up next Malc Burgess matched Leigh Mannion all
the way and Leigh snatched at a couple of half blacks and
turned one attempt down, however Malc agonizingly rattled
his last ball and gave Leigh a make-able black which he did
making the score 3-2 to Derby. Steve Bennett restored
parity beating Jim Wigely. Glossop captain James hardy
was gifted 2 visits after a Darren Finch foul break and
after missing an initial doubled black he made sure on his
next visit to put Glossop in-front. Glossop went
further ahead as Graham Roberts beat Trevor Cately.
Then Jonny Wild had an mare with 2 on his last ball and
eventually lost to Phil Handford..
After the first set Glossop were marginally ahead 5-4 but
all that was to change as Steve Bennett decided 2 on his
black wasn't enough against Tony Arnold, Malc Burgess lost
to a fantastic finish from Mark Mc Neish and Adam Clark did
all the hard work but left himself no black after looking an
absolute cert. Glossop were reeling at 7-5 down.
However this Glossop team doesn't seem to know when to give
up and Perry Roberts lifted spirits with a fortunate win
after failing to hit a cushion after contact with 2 on the
black. However he had played really well up to that
stage so maybe justice was done. Fred then beat Jason
Hill but again Derby had a slight chance of that frame but
Jason never looked comfortable. After Graham Roberts had
completed a two out of 2 Glossop were 8-7 up. Any
chance of a Derby 2 points evaporated as James hardy broke
and dished to put Glossop 9-7 up against Dale Wigely.
Jonny Wild wasn't to be denied and really should have had 2
wins today but had to settle for just the single one beating
Trevor Cately. to seal the 2 points. Joal Stone then
completed a miserable trip for Darren Finch as he beat him
to give the Glossop boys an 11-7 victory.
Great Yarmouth October 2007 (courtesy of the Mark Smith
diaries)
This season Glossop
entered the Derbyshire Inter-league which was a big step for
pool in Glossop. The aim was to spread the word and get people
interested in World Rules. Glossop would pit their wits against
eleven of the best teams in and around Derbyshire including the
likes of the Corn Exchange, Ilkeston A, Belper, defending
champions Long Eaton, Overseal and Chesterfield. At this moment
Glossop sit half way in the table in sixth place which is a
brilliant achievement in their first season, however the
biggest achievement this season was when Glossop qualified for
the Inter-League Knockout Cup which is staged at the Vauxhall
Holiday Park in Great Yarmouth. Over the years this has
been a Mecca for English pool and is the self styled Wembley.
The team left Glossop for
Yarmouth around 2:00pm Friday lunchtime for the five hour
journey. We felt we took a very good team with us James
Hardy as captain (IPA tour 2005, Derbyshire A 06,07, Premier
Pool Tour 06,07), Perry Roberts (former top 20 IPA just a few
years ago and winner of just about every major honour in Glossop
& Hyde), Adam Clark (Derbyshire B 06, PPT 07), Steve Bennett
(Derbyshire A 06, Derbyshire B 07, PPT, beaten former world
champion & current amateur Champion Carl Morris), Paul Roberts
(Gay Dancing Champion 1975-2007, best average/ most wins Hyde &
Glossop & won most Individuals & team honours Glossop & Hyde),
Allan Roberts (Sussex County B 06, best average Brighton div 2),
Tony Smith (every honour locally I can think of many times over)
and Graham Roberts.
There were ninety-five
other teams all descending on the Holiday Park. We arrived to
see a lot of top name players in action. Carl Morris from Stoke
on Trent (former two time world champion) was taking part in the
National Amateur Championship which he eventually won by beating
Robert Warne 8-1 in the final. This weekend was going to be the
biggest weekend of some of our player’s pooling lives. The team
relaxed Friday night watching matches across thirty-two tables.
The team couldn't have a late night because the following
morning was the start of the Inter-League Knockout Cup and
Glossop was first on at 9:00am against Cambridge Snooker Club on
table four. However captain James Hardy, Paul Roberts &
Tony Smith sat watching pool until nearly 1am (tut tut).
Things could not of
started any worse for Glossop as one of their top players failed
to show up which was a big let down as they now gave them and
any other team they would play a 2-0 head start. Which at
this level makes qualification almost impossible. This was
made worse as Jonny Wild who is a member of the squad was unable
to play as he hadn't been available for 50% of Glossop's games
so far this season.
Glossop got off to a slow
start as they were under pressure from the first break knowing
they were already 2-0 down. It was nip and tuck all the way,
however a series of missed blacks from Allan Roberts, James
Hardy, Graham Roberts and Adam Clark cost Glossop 4 frames and a
strangely out of sorts Tony Smith who missed a finish that he'd
put away 99 out of 100 meant Cambridge had grown in confidence.
Paul Roberts who was on fire returned figures of 2 for 2 but
even with a last frame break and dish from captain James Hardy
Glossop was unable to scrape even a point for Glossop who really
should have won easily with or without a full compliment.
this meant a heartbreaking 10-8 defeat which crushed the Glossop
boys who had very high hopes of getting through their group.
Glossop were straight on
because of losing this time faced Macmillan of West Yorkshire.
Glossop knew that their fate was out of their own hands they had
to beat Macmillan better than a 10 -8 and hope Macmillan then
won their next game against Cambridge S.C. and not beat a 10-8
win. Steve Bennett got the team off to a good start beating
Gary Greenwood, Graham Roberts made it 2-0 beating Steve Pullan
and Glossop were flying. However the 3rd frame was
conceded to allow a rocking Macmillan side something of a break.
And after a dish it was all square. Macmillan grew in
strength and were 6-3 up at the turn around, which was a little
harsh on Glossop but they couldn't argue as Macmillan were
playing the far more consistent pool. It got worse for
Glossop as yet more frames were thrown away and Glossop found
themselves down 8-3 (note 2 frames were given to Macmillan).
The fight back started and it quickly became 8-6 before
Macmillan ended Glossop's hopes as they edged a tight frame to
get over the line. Glossop made the result respectable as
they won 2 of the final 3 but it wasn't enough and they lost
10-8.
All the lads can hold
their heads high as over 8 players Glossop matched both their
opponents and will rue the fact that they were short one player.
Thinking of what might have been the lads went to watch the
rugby and saw England beat Australia over a few beers and went
to hit the town. Back in the pool hall Macmillan proved
too strong for Cambridge winning 10-7 with one frame left and
went on to the knockout stages where they were thumped 10-3 by
South Norfolk.
The eventual winners were Trent Trophies A who beat South
Norfolk in the last 16.
the Trent Trophies side include England captain Lee Kendal, two
time & current world champion Gareth Potts, IPA top 10 player
Adam Davis, England u21 International Liam White and the list
goes on and on and on............
Here are Trent Trophies
lifting their trophies and taking away the winners purse.
Ilkeston B v Glossop
Glossop were left in a tricky position playing away at
Ilkeston B, a game they more than fancied when they looked at
their upcoming fixtures. With three late withdrawals from
their squad (Graham Roberts, Paul Roberts & Malc Burgess)
Glossop were left with 8 players and the added fact that it was
the Manchester derby that afternoon they had little chance of
getting a 9th player to turn out for them. So as it turned
out James's wife who is a very accomplished player at league
level ended up playing as to avoid giving frames away.
Glossop started poorly with the usually reliable Steve Bennett
wasting a good chance to win the first frame. This set the
tone and Glossop found themselves 2-0 behind with Allan "Selby"
Roberts nearly pulling a hard finish out on a dodgy table.
However it wasn't long before Glossop started firing Adam Clark
dished to pull one back and Joal Stone who is fast becoming one
of the most consistent members of the Glossop side making it
2-2. In a return to away day action the Scouse Porn Star
made it 3-2, however Jonny Wild handed a frame back but was a
little unlucky how his DF had turned out. James Hardy then
restored the lead with another frame to add to his own personal
collection and Perry Roberts who was down as 9th player
dispatched the Ilkeston captain to make it 5-3 and Glossop were
in great position in the last frame of the first set with
Samantha Hardy dominating her opponent and on a finish. However
a very lucky fluked snooker later and the fact Sam knows as much
about world rules as Mark Smith knows about dishing Ilkeston
were able to steal the frame and make it a real nail biter.
The half time pizza came out which this reporter has to say
went down very well indeed! and then it was back into action.
Steve Bennett and Selby started set 2 off for Glossop with Selby
taking out a good solid finish to get Glossop ahead 6-4.
Adam Clark was on his second successive 7 ball of the day and
had negotiated his way to his last ball and Steve Bennett was
sitting pretty on the black with seemingly two more frames in
the bag. However disaster struck for Glossop as Steve missed the
black which completed a miserable day for his personal tally and
the Hood (he looks bloody scary, lol!) who deserves special
mention for Ilkeston completed the double over Steve to make the
score 6-5. Adam didn't trust the less than straight table
2 and played with some pace on his last ball where as he would
have been able to just drop it in on a better table, however he
left a very tough double on the black which he missed and his
opponent took out his own finish eventually after giving Adam a
slight sniff of the black into half a bag! somehow Glossop only
found themselves at 6-6 which was a real kick in the teeth.
However, Joal "The Rock" Stone was genuinely a rock and won
another although he did have to improvise after rattling his
last ball. Glossop were back to 7-6 with the next two
frames being shared as the mighty porn star was back in full
flow (well I think that's what it was) making it 8-6 however Sam
was given no chance by Ash and he quickly made it 8-7.
With Glossop's two most consistent players on next it looked
like Glossop should be able to sneak the win and James Hardy can
consider himself fortunate his opponent didn't clear after James
had failed to see the obvious in off into the middle bag from
the tightest of angles (the silly bugger). However, James
sailed through his remaining five and the black to guarantee the
draw at worst. Perry then had a major lapse of cushion
after contactitus (a rare disease I am told) which affects old
men who look and drive like Mr. Magoo! meaning 9-8 to
Glossop with Jonny "Wild Thing" against a lad who did look very
much like a young Phill Taylor so no wonder why his nickname was
"The Power". Jonny initially had control of the table
however his lack of world rules fudging showed through as his
opponent bossed the tactical battle and eventually had Jonny in
such a bad way that there was only ever going to be one outcome.
Glossop still came away with a lot of credit considering they
had been left in the turmoil by players pulling out, but will
definitely see this as the one that got away.
final score Ilkeston B 9-9 Glossop
Ilkeston A v Glossop
The Rivalry of cup day was more than captured
again as Glossop and Ilkeston A had what is now a traditional
ding dong battle. In the two previous meetings the teams
had battled out 9 all finishes and really the bookies should
have been looking for more of the same as they went at it for a
3rd time. However, Ilkeston are top of the Inter-League
and Glossop after playing many of the top sides early in the
campaign lay in 8th place. This was also a slightly
tougher fixture as it was away and Fred "The Scouse Porn Star"
Reyes called in sick the morning of the match.
Ilkeston needing the win to continue their
push for top spot started brightly as they won the first frame,
however Glossop hit back to make it 1-1 through Allan Roberts.
The tit for tat continued as the teams shared the first 8
frames. Another phenomenal finish from the Rock was
probably the highlight and he made a very difficult finish look
easy. The 9th frame Perry Roberts played yet more
impressive pool and took out a good finish to put Glossop 5-4 up
at the turn around. That soon became 6-4 as Steve Bennett
dished but it was down hill from there. Malc Burgess and
Allan Roberts had chances but never got going to lose, quickly
followed by Adam Clark who had another off day and Jonny Wild
who had a gilt edged chance. Joal Stone was fluked however
his opponent cleared well afterwards, but it was no consolation
for him. This left James Hardy, Perry Roberts and Paul
Roberts all needing to win for Glossop to take an unlikely
point. However James was up to the task against Richard
Hobson who had beaten him on cup day. Perry Roberts was
against Derbyshire A player Craig Bishop however the frame will
be remembered for all the wrong reasons as the referee wrongly
called a foul on Perry who had nominated a ball with a foul
snooker and ball in hand however hadn't pointed to it.
Perry had described the ball he was going to play and the rules
state that this is absolutely fine. However with the
Glossop captain out of the room Ilkeston carried on without a
ruling in place and the balls were put back as near to how they
lay with Perry having 2 visits on a simple black. This
misunderstanding took nearly an hour to resolve, however it was
eventually sorted to most peoples and most importantly both
players satisfaction. Perry slotted the black home and it
was now a real white knuckle ride. At 9-8 Paul Roberts who
was well used to this situation as he was in the identical
position on cup day knew he had to win. He did after a few
nudges on the black managed to slot it home to upset the leaders
and get Glossop a deserved and valuable point away from home.
Inter League Report (Cup Day)
Glossop's first trip in to the team knockout
trophy started at 10.30am at the Corn Exchange Derby on the
30th of April 2007. Glossop took 10 players down to
the event. James Hardy (captain), Perry Roberts, Tony
Smith, Allan Roberts, Graham Roberts, Steve Bennett, Joal
Stone, Adam Clark, Paul Roberts and Malc Burgess. All
Players were used and rotated in what turned out to be a
very busy day for the Glossop Boys who remained on the
tables throughout the event without getting any form of a
break!
Glossop's first match was against highly
fancied Ilkeston A who were amongst the pre event favourites.
After the 18 Frames Glossop were 9 all the highlight being
Back to Back break and dishes from Joal "The Rock Stone"
against Derbyshire A Player Mick Davis. The Teams went
to a three frame play off. James Hardy, Perry Roberts
and Steve Bennett stepping up with Perry and Steve winning
to give Glossop an 11-10 victory against a far more
experienced team.
Glossop Then went on to play Belper who had
edged them out in the league meeting between the sides
10-8. However this Glossop outfit was slightly more
experienced and were able to more than match Belper and draw
9-9. Again a three frame play off was the only way to
separate the sides with Graham Roberts, Perry Roberts and
Steve Bennett stepping up for Glossop. However,
Glossop this time lost 11-10 narrowly and went into the
losers half of the draw which meant they had to play
Swadlincote. As time started to get more pressed this
match was opened up to four tables and Glossop Prevailed by
11-6 although two of the frames were in play and effectively
dead rubbers. Perry Roberts wasn't needed for his
second frame and was already 5 and 0 and looking his usual
calm self. Glossop then went on to play Ilkeston B who
were a second year inter-league team aiming to put out the
new Glossop side. However Glossop were starting to
play some good stuff themselves and managed to overcome
their opponents 10-8 with Perry Roberts yet again getting
them over the line after taking a superb frame under intense
pressure. This was the narrowest of victories for
Glossop but ensured Glossop at the worst 4th place with a
good chance of making the losers final and an unthinkable or
3rd place finish.
Glossop were yet again to meet Ilkeston A
who the had sent to the losers half of the draw far earlier
in the day. After a tense match Glossop managed to get
themselves 9-7 thanks to a win from James Hardy and with
Joal Stone and Perry Roberts both still out on the table
things were looking very good for the Glossop Boys, however
both lost and another play off was more than on the cards.
Glossop chose the same 3 players for this game than played
Belper although Joal Stone was desperate to take part.
Perry took yet another victory to put Glossop 10-9 up and
his own personal record was almost faultless with only one
defeat during the day. When Steve Bennett back doubled
his black in to the middle bag Glossop were through, however
in a cruel twist of fate his white went in the bottom corner
bag and the scores were level again at 10-10. This was
harsh as a ball was part covering the bottom corner bag and
the white still found its way in. Graham Roberts was
still in play and looking good as his opponent had managed
to leave himself no black and all Grahams balls were in open
table. However yet more bad luck was to strike and his
opponent did all he could and hit the ball hard. The
Black came off two of Grahams balls and crawled agonizingly
in to the top corner bag and Glossop were beaten 11-10 after
dominating all 3 of the play off games. Glossop
finished 4th overall which should be good enough to get
Glossop to Yarmouth and the national finals in October.
Well Done Glossop
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