2012/2013 NEWPORT & DISTRICT POOL LEAGUE
For immediate release
Thursday, March 14th, 2013
NRBL A MAINTAIN LEAGUE LEAD AFTER LOSING
FIRST POOL GAME OF SEASON TO KING’S HEAD A
NEWPORT (Shropshire): Table-topping NRBL A faced a tricky visit to the King’s Head to play the fourth-placed A team in the Newport & District Pool League on Wednesday night.
They began the night with a two-point advantage over Gnosall’s Horns A and ended with their first league defeat of the season, although they maintained the lead on frame difference.
Andy Miles set the away team off to a good start against Graham Tigwell, but Irene Whittington hit back against Wayne Dodd, only for Ant Heathcote to beat Phil Emery to make it 1-2. Mick Collins levelled the match against Darren Pountney and an in-form Collins and partner Ross Goodchild got the better of Pountney and Heathcote to make it 3-2 to the King’s Head. Whittington and Emery sealed the vital sixth rack and the two points with a win over Dodd and Miles.
Horns kept up the pressure with a tense 2-4 away win over the Haberdashers in Knighton and the Gnosall side are now the only unbeaten league outfit after 16 games. Dave Beaman silenced George Allen to put the home team in front, but Mick Manning levelled against Sarah Holland and Neil Dale and Colin Pink conquered Mike Jones and James Morris to make it 1-3. Manning and Pink sealed the two points in rack five, but the Knighton team earned a consolation frame against Dale and Dean Smith.
Barley Mow visited the ‘cauldron’ at the Shakespeare, with the Upper Bar side still smarting after their cup semi-final exit last week. But the visitors were no match for a rampant home side; Richard Hendy, Andy Potter and Ross Richards-Jones stunned the Barley with wins over Gary Bolton, Ant Winfield and previously-unbeaten Martin Porter and Ben Holmes sealed the points in the fourth frame against Ray Talbot. The Barley pulled both doubles frames back with wins for Talbot, Porter, Billy Holland and Kim Wan Loi.
NRBL B hosted Neil Clark Memorial cup finalists Junction A in Newport and came away with a useful two points after a tense 4-2 win.
The second cup finalists, LSC at the Tav, travelled to the Wheatsheaf and endured six frames on the notoriously tricky Chetwynd Aston baize. Greg Heathcote, John Williams and Paul Trevor put the away side into a 3-0 lead over Nigel Sandbrook, Al Harvey and Mark Hodgkinson, but Paul Skitt managed to pull the fourth rack back against Ben Longstaff to keep the tie alive. LSC saw off both doubles racks with the same eight players involved in both frames.
Tibberton’s Sutherland Arms claiming both points against a sliding Shakespeare B with the loss of just one frame, with Darren Lowe winning the solitary rack for the visitors.
The Railway Tavern hosted the Navigation and were badly defeated in a match they will not want to remember in a hurry. The Gnosall side played well, but two missed blacks by Adam Stone was the low point for the stunned home team. It means that the Tavern must win their final match of the first half of the season and hope that the Navigation lose to avoid qualifying for the inaugural Numpty Cup for the bottom eight teams. Both teams have the same frame difference.
Horns A won 4-2 against the Royal Navy Club in Gnosall and the Junction B got the better of King’s Head B in Norbury in a second foot-of-the-table match.
2012-2013 Newport & District Pool League @ March 13th
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
|
NRBL A |
16 |
13 |
2 |
1 |
73 |
23 |
28 |
|
Horns Gnosall B |
16 |
12 |
4 |
0 |
68 |
28 |
28 |
|
NRBL B |
16 |
12 |
2 |
2 |
66 |
30 |
26 |
|
King’s Head A |
16 |
11 |
3 |
2 |
64 |
32 |
25 |
|
LSC @ Tavern |
16 |
10 |
3 |
3 |
58 |
38 |
23 |
|
Sutherland Arms |
16 |
9 |
2 |
5 |
55 |
41 |
20 |
|
Barley Mow |
16 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
54 |
42 |
19 |
|
Shakespeare A |
16 |
5 |
8 |
3 |
51 |
45 |
18 |
|
Junction A |
16 |
6 |
4 |
6 |
50 |
46 |
16 |
|
Navigation |
16 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
49 |
47 |
15 |
|
Railway Tavern |
16 |
5 |
3 |
8 |
49 |
47 |
13 |
|
Shakespeare B |
16 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
39 |
57 |
12 |
|
Junction B |
16 |
3 |
4 |
9 |
33 |
63 |
10 |
|
Wheatsheaf |
16 |
1 |
7 |
8 |
33 |
63 |
9 |
|
Horns Gnosall A |
16 |
2 |
2 |
12 |
36 |
60 |
8 |
|
Royal Navy Club |
16 |
2 |
3 |
11 |
28 |
68 |
7 |
|
Haberdashers |
16 |
2 |
2 |
12 |
30 |
66 |
6 |
|
King’s Head B |
16 |
1 |
3 |
12 |
27 |
69 |
5 |
Week 16 results:
Sutherland Tibberton v Shakespeare B, 5-1
Shakespeare A v Barley Mow, 4-2
Horns Gnosall A v Royal Navy Club, 4-2
Haberdashers Arms v Horns Gnosall B, 2-4
Junction B v King’s Head B, 4-2
King’s Head A v NRBL A, 4-2
NRBL B v Junction A, 4-2
Wheatsheaf v LSC at the Tavern, 1-5
Railway Tavern v Navigation Gnosall, 2-4
2013 Market Drayton Open – singles second round draw
Greg Heathcote v R. Leese
Ant Heathcote v Brian Sumner
M. Hughes v Graham Tigwell
Wayne Dodd v Ed Keenan
D. Coulson v Mick Collins
Colin Pink v J. Reid
S. Mackay v Neil Dale
Mick Manning v George Allen
2013 Market Drayton Open – doubles quarterfinal draw
Greg Heathcote/Ant Heathcote v Mick Collins/Ed Keenan
Mick Manning/George Allen v Neil Perkins/Dean Smith
Irene Whittington/Phil Emery v Brian Sumner/Cyril Evans
R. Palin/A. Fantis v Neil Dale/H. Hughes
All matches to be played by March 30th.
Ends
For further information:
Neil Perkins, NDP Publicity Services, Tel: 07831 123153
www.ndp-publicity.com