Mark Takes League Form into Mac and Jack
By Graham Clark

In this weeks matches of the Formby & District Snooker League attention has moved away from the League to Cup action in the form of the ‘Mac & Jack Team Pairs’ Quarter Finals.

Les Dodd’s B won through to the semis after a hard fought home tie against Legion B. In receipt of 38 points handicap start the visitors quickly extended the lead to 46 thanks to Carl Finlayson and Dave Rimmer’s victory over star pairing Dave Hagan & Paddy Tyndall, this despite Dave knocking in a 20 break. Frank Bradley and Peter Tomlin narrowed the deficit to 33 in frame 2 leaving an uphill task for Dave Hartley and Mark Hopgood in the decider. However the Les Dodd’s pair proved up to the task, Mark taking his impressive unbeaten record into the Cup with a fine 37 break under extreme pressure. The Southport side eventually ran out winners by an aggregate of 18.

The Princes Street’s A team also progressed, beating Holy Trinity away having conceded 28 points on handicap. Dave Mills and Graeme Booth swung the game firmly their way by defeating Luke Palethorpe and Paul Formby by 91-22 in the opener. Peter Cook and Kenny Woodward clawed back 38 of the 41 deficit in frame 2 to give the home side a chance. However Andy Rae and Jamie Campbell saw the Southport side home with a 72-35 victory over Jame Holman and Colin Robertson.

The tightest game of the Quarter’s came at the Gild Hall where Our Lady’s B beat the Brook by just 9 points having received 10 on handicap. Phil Kershaw and Jason Francis had extended their advantage to 40 in frame 1, a lead which was protected by Colin Watterson and John Mooney in frame 2. This left Phil Harbon and Dave Aughton chasing a a victory of 37 to secure the Brook’s progression to the Semi-Finals. The Brook pair performed well but he task proved just too much, falling 10 points short of their target with a 65-38 win.

Con Club B have taken the final place in the Semis with a workmanlike away victory over Legion C having conceded 59 points on handicap. Conceding such a big start it was important the visitors won all 3 frames, which they did in a steady if unspectacular fashion. Ritchie Bell proved the pick of the performers, impressing in the crucial opening frame, sending them on their way to a 31 point victory.

The Semi-Finals are scheduled for Monday 12th December with the Final on Wednesday 21st December. The draw for the Semis was made on Sunday by a neutral committee member and paired Les Dodd’s B at home to Con Club B and Our Lady’s B at home to Les Dodd’s A.