During the season Brian Harvey scored 9 centuries with a highest of 185. Dick Watts scored 5 breaks over 50 with a highest of 92. Brian reports that Brian Loder made a break of 71 which was highly commendable in that his previous best was only around the 40 mark.
| M. White
| 600 | G. Warren
| 280 | ||
| B. Harvey
100, 52 | 600 | R. Tabb
66, 57, 51 | 469 |
| B. Harvey
93, 82, 74, 59, 54, 52 | 750 | M. White
| 420 |
Ray Moore has sent a computer printout showing full details of the whole of the Taunton and District Billiards league. Someone (Ray?) has put in a deal of time and effort to produce these details which must be very interesting for the players and surely stimulate interest. The games are 150 up off handicap and some of the handicaps are rather startling. Brian Harvey plays off a handicap of -330 in the Hocking Trophy and -340 in the Taunton League. Despite this, Brian lost only 4 games throughout the season which seems pretty good to me off such a handicap. Dick Watts likewise lost only four games off his handicap of -220. A Mr. R. O'Conner of the Railway"A"lost only one game from a handicap of -20. Final results show a high degree of competitiveness as the points difference between top teams and those at the bottom was not great. The game seems to be in a reasonably healthy state in that corner of the country despite Brian Harvey's rather gloomy letter published in the January issue.
There was an exciting finish to an excellent season which saw defending champions Stoke needing two decisive victories to retain the title. The first of the two matches resulted in a fine 7 - 2 victory for the Stoke men. Peter Shelley topped the 500 mark in two of his one-hour games and he also made three centuries. He was ably supported by Tone Keeling and newcomer to billiards Claudio Ravignanni. Stoke needed to repeat this score against Nottingham and they very nearly did so. The final scoreline of 6 - 3 meant that they trailed Derby by just half-a-point. But Nottingham still had a chance. They would need to beat Rugby by 5 clear points to become champions in their first season. They certainly tried. Jamie Moore had two centuries and Tom Martin one, but Ellis Lloyd rescued Derby with two wins restricting Nottingham to a 6 - 3 win and leaving the Derby team champions by that half-point. Only one point separated the first three teams. The standard of this league is very high for amateur play. There was one double century, and thirteen other centuries from eight different players. Newcomers to billiards, Claudio Ravignanni and Ian Hurdman have made an excellent showing. As John says, if a few more such good cuemen could be attracted to the game, then its future in the Midlands would be looking quite rosy.
| Derby | 33 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 32.5 |
| Nottingham | 32 |
| Nuneaton | 30 |
| Kidderminster | 28 |
| Rugby | 21.5 |
| Banbury | 12 |
All teams played six matches. The Highest break was 200 by David Rees of Derby. Peter Shelley had most wins with 16 from 18 games. Jamie Moore of Nottingham had 14 wins, and Colin Routledge of Derby had 13. Tom Martin (Nottm,) Alan Orton (Nuneaton,) and John Smith (Kidderminster) all had 12 wins. Century Breaks D. Rees (Derby) 200. J. Smith (Kidd) 169.114. Peter Shelley (Stoke) 125.112.100.100. Tony Keeling (Stoke) 121. Tom Martin (Nottm) 115. Jamie Moore (Nottm) 114.102. Ian Hurdman (Kidd) 110. Trevor Scott (Kidd) 108.
John Smith will arrange a one-day tournament and AGM early next season. Any proposals or enquiries should be forwarded to the league secretary John Smith on 01905 424221 Well done John.
Phil Welham took the title for the fourth time in six years defeating Clive Scott in the final. There was a highly encouraging 32 entries.
| C. Scott
(Norwich) | 234 | J. Carman
(M. Constable) | 208 | ||
| P. Welham
(Swaffham) | 399 | J. Heyhoe
(K. Lynn) | 308 |
| P. Welham
66, 55 | 479 | C. Scott
| 308 |
Fos Wilson (Norwich) beat Clive Scott (Norwich) 350 -152 to take the Norfolk Title for the fifth time in six years. There were 29 entries. In an early round, Colin Extall (Norwich,) had a fine break of 139 unfinished.
Norwich 'A' were the Champions with Stiffkey 'A' the runners up. Fos Wilson (Norwich 'A') had the season's highest break - 149.
Saxlingham were the Champions with Woodside the runners up. Fos Wilson had the highest in this league also - a very good 154.
Fos Wilson completed a fine season by taking the £100 first prize. This was no mean feat as he defeated a number of good players, and in the final, that fine amateur Albert Salisbury. Lady professional Karen Corr lost by only eight points in her quarter-final with Neal Spellman. Fourteen year old Dean Bavister did well to reach the semis.
| F. Wilson
54 | 226 | D. Bavister
| 154 | ||
| A. Salisbury
| 335 | N. Spellman
| 152 |
| F. Wilson
67 | 312 | A. Salisbury
| 168 |
Phil Welham reports that the number of teams and individual players is slowly increasing in the Eastern area and there will be a county junior team next season. All-in-all the future for billiards in the Norwich area looks quite bright.
Than you Phil.