The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Shocks abounded in the preliminary round of the Spalding & District League Knockout Cup with four teams going through at the expense of higher division opponents.
Pyramid B led the way with a 4-1 victory over Pyramid C. They had lost every one of their Division Two fixtures so far but raised their game to see off their Division One clubmates.
Darren Hibbins (scr) started the ball rolling with a respotted black to win 49-42. Phil Cook (scr) 53-38, Richard Clark (59-55) and Roy Jackson (R14) 74-9 made it 4-0 before the visitors pulled one back.
It was also a joyful night for Division Two’s second-bottom side, with Donington B doubling their wins tally for the campaign with a 3-2 positive verdict at Division One team Services B.
They did it the hard way, hitting back from conceding the first two frames to Jason Rose (O21) 88-62 and Paul Doades (scr) 53-42.
Pat Taylor (R14) started the recovery with a 77-66 win and Dennis MItcham levelled with a 64-56 success. The pressure was on Dan Sawdey (scr) in the decider but he held his nerve with a
58-51 win against Fred Cummins (R7).
Holbeach B also flew the flag for the second tier, with a 3-2 success against a Services A team from a level higher. It was all over in the first three games, thanks to wins from Barry Haynes (O7) 81-21, Pete Mullane (O28) 66-59 and Charlie Mullane (R21) 85-76, despite a break of 23 from Chris Dunmore in the latter. The Division One team saved some face with wins in the remaining games from Courtney Boulding (R21)
84-77 after a re-spotted black, and Martin Spencer
(O21) 51-39, including a break of 24.
Things did not all go the way of Division Two teams though, with Whittlesey C crashing out 4-1 at Division Three side Gosberton C. James Elliott (O7) won the opener 61-30 but Paul Cooke (O14) levelled with a 54-42 win.
The hosts ran away with things after that as Mark Payne (O7) 62-51, Stuart Henderson (scr) 67-25 (including a 20 break) and Rob Lockett (R28) 72-46 proved victorious.
The all-Division One clash between Consti G and Services C went in favour of the former and there was also a win for top graders Holbeach C at Division Three team Consti C
Holbeach A also avoided a shock, winning 5-1 at Division Three hosts Consti D with the highlight being Wayne Dent’s (-49) 42 break in his 108-84 win against Roy Digby (R28).
Matthew Smith (-35) had opened the visitors’ account with a 93-84 win, followed by a 71-59 win from Sean Swinburn (-49) and 73-66 from Stuart Akins (-42). John Cooper (R14) pulled back a game with a 47-18 win in the last frame.
A few teams played catch-up league fixtures. In Division Two, Pyramid D climbed into mid-table with a 4-2 victory at Donington B.
A black ball game went in favour of Reagan Cooke -Holmes (O14) 53-51 against Gav Lewis (O7) and James Sharpe (O42) made it 2-0 with a 22 clearance in his
98-59 win.
Phil Burrell (scr) pulled one back 57-23 and it was all square when Paul Stewart (scr) won 47-30.
It was left to Josh Agger (O14) to see the visitors over the line with a 57-43 win against Mick Clark (R7).
There was a surprise result in Division Three, where Consti C were denied the chance to go second when they lost 4-2 at home to Consti J.
Taking advantage were Consti I, who saw off Consti D 5-1, to leave their victims still looking for a first win of the season. Three of the frames went to black ball finishes – David Twelves (scr) beat Steve Moore (R14) 57-50, Nev Vickers (scr) lost 54-43 to Geoff Ellingworth (R23) and Pete Stokes (R7) saw off John Cooper (R14) 58-52.
Jonathan Smith (R21) was a 70-40 winner and John Bellerby (R7) completed matters with a 78-59 win.
At Gosberton B there was a 4-2 win for visitors Whittlesey B thanks to successful evenings for Pawel Skutela (R7) 59-40, Karry Skutela (R28) 72-46 and Michael Foster (O14) 53-44. The home response came with wins from Nigel Goodwin (R21) 81-72 and Warren Driver (R14) 68-63.
Results – Knockout Cup, preliminary round: Consti C lost to Holbeach C, Consti D 1 Holbeach A 5, Consti G beat Services C, Donington A v Holbeach E – no result, Gosberton C 4 Whittlesey C 1, Holbeach B 3 Services A 2, Pyramid B 4 Pyramid C 1, Services B 2 Donington D 3, Sutton Bridge v Boundary A – no result.
Division Two: Donington B 2 Pyramid D 4.
Division Three: Consti C 2 Consti J 4, Consti I 5 Consti D 1, Gosberton B 2 Whittlesey B 4.
