Peter Gamblin produced a consistently solid performance to retain the Under-16 Championship title at his home club in Lincoln. In his first match against Jason Thomas, Gamblin made a break of 49 at his third visit and thereafter was never in trouble as he completed a comfortable 288-155 win. Also looking good in the quarter-finals was Michael Donnelly. He was in action even earlier with a 50 break at his second visit and maintained a good run of scoring to finish with an impressive average of 11.3 in a 385-80 victory over Nathan Mann.
James Roberts suffered something of a handicap when he miscalculated the opening time of his Norwich club and was unable to collect his cue on his way to the venue. Faced with prospect of having to use something from the public rack at the Breaks Club, he was fortunate to be able to borrow a cue from a travelling Teesside supporter. Even so, he could not be expected to produce his best and went down 306-158 to Teesside's Danny Beagrie—who may well have had something to say to his supporter had Roberts found the borrowed cue to his liking!
Twelve year-old Dominic Mulhall was the other winner in the opening round, a fine break of 51 being the highlight of his 246-185 win over Calvin Daws. However, his competition came to an end as he ran up against Peter Gamblin in the semi-finals. A score of 340-171 may look rather one-sided, but Gamblin certainly didn't have things all his own way, with 113 of these points coming in his last four visits! The early part of the match was very close and it was only when Gamblin produced breaks of 33 and 34 that he established a significant lead. Mulhall refused to give up and again closed the gap with a break of 41, but couldn't maintain the pressure and fell away towards the end.
The other semi-final was not only an all-Teesside affair, but the two players, Danny Beagrie and Michael Donnelly, come from the same club in Middlesbrough. Beagrie managed to pull off a very good win, this being the first time he has defeated Donnelly in competition. To do this he had to come from 74 points behind at one stage, to secure a narrow 24 point victory and a place in the final at his first attempt. Peter Gamblin is becoming something of a seasoned campaigner and with his opponent appearing in his first National final was a strong favourite to retain his Under-16 title. A slow start by both players ended with a break of 52 by Gamblin which took him 68 points clear of Beagrie. From here, opportunities were shunned by both players, but Gamblin steadily drew away and finished a comfortable winner 300- 163.
There was good support for the event with an estimated 80-100 spectators in attendance during the day. At the conclusion, trophies were presented by Mr. Fred McDonnell, Chairman of the Lincolnshire B&SA. The overall standard in the Boys' Championship was as good as we have seen for many years, with every match producing at least one 40+ break. The best of these came from Danny Beagrie with 53 in his semi-final. It is clear that there are some very talented young players who will be moving towards the senior ranks in the next few years.