2011/2012 NEWPORT & DISTRICT POOL LEAGUE
For immediate release
Thursday, May 31st, 2012
NRBL A BEAT KING’S HEAD A TO CLINCH NEIL CLARK FINAL
NEWPORT (Shropshire): NRBL A edged a tense and exciting match against King’s Head A to clinch the Neil Clark Memorial Trophy for the first time at the Royal Navy Club on Wednesday night.
The traditional league cup knockout, held in memory of former player Neil Clark who passed away in 2006, went to the final frame after the King’s Head had twice come back from a frame down. Mick Beech got the better of Graham Tigwell in a tense opening frame but Ian Perry recovered from a foul break to edge frame two against Wayne Dodd to level the score.
Irene Whittington pushed Antony Heathcote all the way in frame three and then missed out at the end as NRBL A made it 2-1. Colin Pink and Mick Collins were evenly matched in frame six, but a Collins foul enabled Pink to leave his final two balls over the corner pockets. Faced with a ‘win or lose’ situation, Collins produced a sensational double to pot his final colour and held his nerve to take a long black into the corner to level the match.
As the tension began to mount, Beech and Pink prevailed to capitalise on a Tigwell rush of blood in frame five to put the Legion within sight of victory and Heathcote and Dodd maintained the initiative in rack six against Collins and Whittington, with Dodd sealing the winning pot.
NRBL B held the upper hand from the start against the Wheatsheaf in the third-placed play-off for the Neil Clark Memorial Trophy. Jack Jones benefited from a second chance to pot the black and put the Legion side into a 1-0 lead and Luke and Mike Jones made it 3-0 with wins over a volatile Mark Hodgkinson and Al Harvey.
Paul Skitt dug deep to outwit Liam Matthews and make the score 1-3 to the Legion side, but it was a bridge too far for the Chetwynd Aston team and Jack and Luke Jones sealed the win and third place in rack five.
Barry and Ann Clark, parents of the late Neil Clark, made a charitable donation to Shrewsbury Blood Trust Fund.
2012 Neil Clark Memorial Trophy – results
NRBL B v Wheatsheaf, 4-1
NRBL A v King’s Head A, 4-2
Ends
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