On Sunday 20th January, thirteen county sides gathered at the AtackCentre Nuneaton for a wonderful day of Team Billiards. The competition was played on a straight knockout basis with first match losers eligible for entry into the Plate competition. Each match consisted of a nominated three man team playing one hour per player with total team aggregate deciding the tie. Plate matches would be of thirty minute duration.
The 1st round draw resulted in byes to the quarter-finals for defending champions and warm favourites Cleveland, Cambridge "A" and Cheshire. The closest match in the 1st round was the game between Devon & Merseyside—the pivotal game being contested by Michael King of Devon and Dennis Marr. A high quality encounter resulted in Michael prevailing by one point, but the recovery of a 100 point deficit by Dennis during the course of the game enabled Merseyside to triumph overall with the aid of narrow wins from Ken Jones and Gerry Dickson over Andy Radford and Bill Andress respectively. In the Yorkshire v Wessex encounter, Phil Davis representing Wessex made the worst possible start when Steve Crosland accumulated 160 points before Phil had scored. With the aid of a big win by Richard Lodge over Michael White including a 99 break, Yorkshire comfortably progressed in this tie. Other 1st round matches resulted in comfortable wins for Cornwall, Norfolk A and Norfolk B.
The quarter-finals saw the meeting of Cleveland and Yorkshire and incredibly Steve Crosland was once again drawn to play Lee Lagan— or should it be sit and watch Lee Lagan! As in the Sealand ABC, Steve was forced to sit out runs of 211, 115 & 157 as Lee completed a 544- 136 victory. With such a winning margin the result of the match was never in doubt.
The "A" Team won the battle of the two Norfolk sides, with big wins for Dave Nichols and Phil Welham over Jim Temple and John Carman respectively. The other two ties were closely contested—Gerry Dickson of Merseyside went into the last game defending a 35 point lead over Cheshire, but Norman Routledge won the game by 89 to put Cheshire through.
An excellent performance by Ivan Chambers secured victory for Cambridge "A" against Cornwall. His 397-173 win over Noel Meagor was the key to Cambridge's success along with a good victory by his son Jimmy over Charlie Gay.
In the semi-finals, Cleveland eased past Cambridge "A" with success in all three games, but the other semi-final was more keenly contested. With the aid of a 140 break Paul Dunning, representing Cheshire, beat Fos Wilson 295-133. Unfortunately for Cheshire at the same time on the next table Dave Nichols was defeating Norman Routledge 355-159 to leave Norfolk with a 34 point lead going into the last leg. Although Cheshire's Tony Done had his chances, eventually Phil Welham wore him down to put Norfolk "A" through.
For Norfolk to stand a chance in the Final it was imperative for them that Dave Nichols could find a way of "holding" Lee Lagan. The fact that he couldn't bears testimony to Lee's ability to move up a gear when the chips are down. Although playing below his best, Lee still produced a break of 155 at a crucial stage which along with two 50+ breaks resulted in victory for him by 259 points. Although defeated by Philip Welham, Mark Hatton played some solid match billiards to hold the ex-Amateur Champion to a 275-236 scoreline, in a game which Norfolk would have hoped for a bigger win. Darren Kell's 273-169 victory over Fos Wilson rubber-stamped Cleveland's victory.
The plate competition was unique in producing a tie on total aggregate between Cambridge "B" and Wessex - Cambridge progressing on the grounds of winning the games 2-1, all of this in the only game in the 1st round! The semi-finals saw straightforward victories for Devon and Hampshire over Cambridge "B" and Kent respectively. The final resulted in victory for Devon over Hampshire, with a 71 point win by an impressive Michael King being the key to their success.
EABA Chairman, Peter Shelley, presented the prizes to the winners along with the County Team Cup to Cleveland captain Mark Hatton. During his speech Peter commented on the strength of this event and how he fully expected the entry to grow to at least 16 teams next season. He thanked Bob Coles and his staff for their continued support of Billiards at the Atack. Last, but not least, he thanked the referees who had given their time to support their counties and the EABA during the day—their help is always appreciated.
Special praise for the organisation of the day should be given to Steve Crosland and John Richmond who ensured that the day ran so smoothly from a timing point of view. Thanks also to Derick Townend who helped with the admin on the day.
Preliminary Round
Yorkshire bt. Wessex 811-562. R. Lodge (99) 286 M. White 158; S. Crosland (57, 56, 54) 288 P. Davis (56) 120; R. Patterson (54) 237 B. Harvey (79) 284. Cornwall bt. Kent 822-556. D. White 289 C. Carpenter 194; N. Meagor (68, 58) 240 A. Phillips 202; C. Gay 293 C. Summers 160.
Norfolk "A" bt. Cambridge "B" 954-501. F. Wilson (54) 208 M. Willard 186; P. Welham (90, 69, 54) 416 P. Hilsden 139; D. Nichols (56, 55) 330 K. Lloyd 176.
Norfolk "B" bt. Hampshire 702-461. J. Temple (55) 191 P. Adams 165; I. Dennis (70) 236 T. Azor 213; J. Carman 275 E. Shorney 83.
Merseyside bt. Devon 762-688. D. Marr (52) 263 M. King (59) 264; K. Jones (52) 251 A. Radford 205; G. Dickson (55) 248 W. Andress 219.
Quarter-finals
Cleveland bt. Yorkshire 1068-532. M. Hatton 213 R. Lodge 212; L. Lagan (211, 157, 115) 544 S. Crosland (72) 136; D. Kell (57) 311 R. Patterson 184.
Cambridge "A" bt. Cornwall 769-715. A. Henke 137 D. White (92, 56) 342; I. Chambers (53) 397 N. Meagor 173; J. Chambers (52) 235 C. Gay (63) 200.
Norfolk "A" bt. Norfolk "B" 875-568. D. Nichols (76, 75) 358 J. Temple 187; F. Wilson 179 I Dennis 187; P. Welham (85, 62) 338 J. Carman 194.
Cheshire bt. Merseyside 639-585. T. Done 162 K. Jones (72, 52) 274; P. Dunning (70, 62) 240 D. Marr (52) 163; N. Routledge 237 G. Dickson (51) 148.
Semi-finals
Cleveland bt. Cambridge "A" 918-544. L. Lagan 341 T. Henke 180; D. Kell (75, 61) 357 I. Chambers 178; M. Hatton 220 J. Chambers 186.
Norfolk "A" bt. Cheshire 829-652. F. Wilson 133 P. Dunning (140, 66) 295; D. Nichols 355 N. Routledge 159; P. Welham (66, 52) 341 T. Done 198.
Final
Cleveland bt. Norfolk "A" 939-615. M. Hatton (66, 50) 236 P. Welham (89) 275; D. Kell (53) 273 F. Wilson 169; L. Lagan (155, 56, 55) 430 D. Nichols 171.