ENGLISH COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

The Pocket Snooker Club, Kidderminster

Sunday 16th January 2000

The closing stages of the County Team Championship were played on Sunday 16th January at Pocket Snooker Club, Kidderminster.

The format involved each of the three-man team playing one hour games with aggregate scores to determine the winner. Two pairings played simultaneously, followed by the third pairing. Norfolk 'A' and Devon were weakened by the absence of Foss Wilson and John O'Neil respectively, their places were taken by Clive Scott and Bob Gold.

John Smith, proprietor of the Pocket Snooker Club, presents the 'County Cup' to the winning Cleveland team (L-R) John Smith, Darren Kell, Lee Lagan and Mark Hatton

Cleveland came to the event as reigning champions and determined to remain the only team to have won the event since it was reinstated by the EABA last year. Paul Bennett's move to the professional ranks created a vacancy which was filled by Paul's team-mate at the Hemlington club, Mark Hatton. He proved to be an excellent substitute as he despatched Devon's Bob Gold in the semi-finals with a winning margin of exactly 200 points. With Darren Kell also winning comfortably Lee Lagan was under no pressure in the final game, but still looked impressive as he cruised to an easy victory which included two century breaks.

Yorkshire's match against Norfolk "A" was an altogether closer affair with the first two games being shared. Gary Rogers was well beaten by Phillip Welham although Stephen Crosland kept Yorkshire in the hunt by a good win over David Nichols. Even so, Richard Lodge started the last game against Clive Scott 118 points behind on aggregate. Scott's tactics of defending this advantage were almost successful, but with time running out Lodge put together a run of 47 at his final scoring visit to give Yorkshire a narrow victory by just 8 points! In the final, Yorkshire started well, with both Lodge and Rogers producing creditable victories. This gave Stephen Crosland a massive 163 point advantage going into the last game against Lee Lagan. However, this advantage was quickly reversed as Lagan swept into the lead with a wonderful break of 242. This was followed by additional runs of 101, 105, 83 and 67 as Crosland was overwhelmed by the quality of Lagan's billiards. The performance ensured that Cleveland were crowned champions for the second year running, taking the "County Cup" back to Teesside together with the £200 first prize.

Yorkshire collected a consolation £150 as runners-up. In the play-off for 3rd and 4th place, Devon produced a good performance to overcome Norfolk 'A' which included a notable victory by Robert Marshall over Phillip Welham.