Les Dodd's and Our Ladys B Teams Crowned Champions
By Graham Clark

After the final games of the Formby & District Snooker League Les Dodd’s B and Our Lady’s B have been crowned Champions of the main League and Handicap League respectively.

Les Dodd’s B beat their C team by 6-0 in fine style. The first 4 frames were won by an aggregate of 334-86 aided by breaks of 29 (Mark Hopgood) and 20 (Jamie Rae). The whitewash, added to Con Club B’s failure to get the maximum 6 points, ensured the title was secured by Paddy Tyndall and Frank Bradley in the closing frames, the latter chalking up a 25 break for good measure.

Our Lady’s B secured the Handicap League by defeating Legion D 4-2, thus landing their sixth win of the season. Phil Kershaw and Jason Francis sent the Gild Hall outfit 2 up in decent syle. Further wins from Colin Watterson and Andy Hesketh ensured the ‘Joe Rigby’ Trophy was going back to the Gild Hall following the Our Lady’s A teams 2004-05 success.

Con Club B have to settle for runners-up again after a 4-2 win away at Holy Trinity left them 2 points short of their Southport based rivals. James Holman and Luke Palethorpe both hit 29 breaks to break the Con Club challenge against Tony and Mark Bellas. The Con’s could have lost runners-up spot as Graham Clark and Peter Brown both scrambled home after conceding frame winning opportunities to their opponents.

Les Dodd’s A finished just one point behind the Con Club after a 6-0 away win at the Ince Club. Trevor Ford (28 break) and Andy Rae both won well for the visitors. Andy went past the 2000 points scored for the season and hit a 32 break as he beat Mark Pope 69-19. This win secures Andy the Daniel Taylor Shield for the most wins in the season, 24 from 26 games. The Con Club’s Peter Brown matched Andy’s record but loses out due to a lesser points aggregate.

Legion B finished 2 behind Our Lady’s B in the ‘Joe Rigby’ after a fine 5-1 home win against Our Lady’s A. Carl Finlayson hit a 20 break en route to a 67-24 defeat of Mike McNamara and was backed up by solid victories from Harry Boydell, Mark Rimmer, Chris Howard and Dave Rimmer.

Crosby Comrades finished their first season back in the Formby league in fourth place after a 3-3 draw at the Brook. Anthny Mackay (28) and Clare Cup Semi-Finalist Robbie Radford (24) both hit breaks for Crosby while Phil Harbon (21) and Trevor Kinley both impressed for the Brook, the latter inflicting the first defeat on Neil Farrington by 57-22.

The Final match of the week saw the Legion C finish on a high with an impressive 5-1 away win at Con Club A. Terry Barlow and Ray Lavelle stood out for the visitors, Terry beat Tommy Tickle 65-27 and Ray Lavelle beat Adam Maylor 79-11.

Congratulations to Les Dodd’s B and Our Lady’s B on their deserved successes.