The Reardon at Stoke is always a popular venue for the Amateur Billiards Circuit, not least for the excellent standard of catering supplied by Peter Shelley, who has been staging tournaments at his club since the circuit was first established in 1991. There was an entry of 52 players for the penultimate event of the season, but unfortunately staff shortages meant that Shelley was not amongst this number, his presence being required to service the needs of his customers. He did, however, find time to take part in the Plate competition, and enlivened that event with a string of big breaks including two centuries in the final.

The recent bad weather may not have put off the players, but the resultant moisture seems to have penetrated into some very strange places, as Martin Goodwill discovered. Taking out his cue for the first-round match against Norman Routledge he found that the tip was soaking wet! Mark Hatton, who was scheduled to play his match after Goodwill, came to the rescue by loaning his cue, whilst the damp tip was propped under the hand-dryer in the gent's toilet for some intensive dehydration! However, the emergency treatment was of no avail as Goodwill failed to get through this match, Routledge winning by 48 points. Routledge went on to make a century break in the next round, which was one of only three in the main competition, before subsequently going out to the perennial Wessex champion, Brian Harvey.

The event was won by Phil Mumford who was responsible for the other two century breaks, including the best of 115 on his way to the final. The Cambridge player has made significant improvement since his first appearance on the circuit three years ago, but he was pushed all the way in the final by young Rob Hall (Lincoln). A break of 97 by Mumford towards the end of this game proved to be the deciding factor. It opened up a good lead for the Cambridge Snooker Centre manager, but Hall refused to give up, and with a series of smaller contributions was just 13 points behind when time was called.

In the semi-finals Mumford had defeated John Mullane (Winchester) who is another player having an excellent season. Despite the need to do more travelling than most to compete on the circuit, he is a strong contender for a place in next year's English team, this result moving him up to 7th place in the latest rankings. Rob Hall's route to the final included a good win over Brian Harvey at the same stage.

The winner received £120 and the runner-up £80, with proportionate prizes for earlier rounds.