Balreask still in hunt for Meath Pool honours

This week's clash of The Chaser and The Balreask was a crucial contest in Div 1 of the Meath Pool League as they both tried to stay in contention for top honours.
First blood went to Balreask as Keith McGibney took advantage of a foul by Eoin Henry late in the frame to take the rack. The evening continued in Balreask's favour in the next match as Alan Smith capitalised on a dry break from Willie Reilly to come in and clean up to make it 2-0.
The third frame looked set to go in a similar fashion to the second as The Chaser's James O'Higgins looked set to capitalise on Richie Berry's dry break, but O'Higgins couldn't finish the job and Berry returned to the table to take the frame on the black and make it 3-0 to The Balreask.
Staring a whitewash in the face The Chaser eventually got on the scoresheet when former Irish international Gavin Geraghty and broke and cleaned up without giving Ian Govender a shot.
Balreask quickly restored their three-frame cushion when Martin Keenan took advantage of a poor snooker attempt by Peter Smith and potted the black to make it 4-1.
The final match of the singles also went The Balreask's way with Martin Rothwell recovering from a dry break to take advantage of unlucky play from Josh Byrne to give the Navan side a comprehensive 5-1 lead.
If The Chaser were hoping for a change of luck in the doubles then they didn't get it as O'Higgins and Reilly conceded a late foul which allowed McGibney and Frank Moran in to extend The Balreask's lead to five frames.
That five-frame lead quickly became six as Alan Smith and Keenan took out a wonderful finish and a superb black to secure the 7-1 win for The Balreask which put a major dent in The Chaser's title aspirations.
The Balreask B team had an equally comfortable evening as they scored a comprehensive 7-2 over Loughran's in a local derby. Danny Shields got The Balreask B's off to the perfect start with a win over Kenny Cahill, but Noel Flaherty leveled the match in the next frame as he edged out Stephen Smith.
The third frame went Joe McKeever's way as he got the better of John Lynch to restore The Balreask B's lead, but again Loughran's responded impressively with Dwayne Cahill taking advantage of a late chance to steal the win from Stephen Potts to make it 2-2.
However that was as good as it got for Loughran's as Balreask B took control. Tino Borez won the fifth frame with victory over Micheal Durkin and in the final frame of the singles Tony Gilkeson was left with two shots on the black to get thje better of Mattie Payne and he duly obliged to secure a 4-2 lead.
McKeever and Shields broke and sailed to victory in the first of the doubles games before Smith and Gilkeson edged out Dwayne Cahill and Shields to make it 6-2. Borez and Potts wrapped up the comfortable evenings work with a fine win over Payne and Kenny Cahill.
Carnaross Inn and Fitzsimons served up a thriller in their Div 2 meeting as Paul Clarke and Cillian Porter clinched the all-important final frame as they edged out Damo Kearney and David Gibney to seal a 7-5 win for Carnaross Inn.
Kevin Mynes got Carnaross Inn off to the perfect start with an anxious win over Kearney and in the next frame Paul Dunne got the better of Myles Murray to boost Carnaross Inn to a 2-0 lead. Eugene Yore made it 3-0 with victory over Aaron O'Brien, but Fitzsimons refused to lie down.
Joe Faulkner launched a marvelous recovery by beating Phil Yore and when Jim O'Brien and David Gibney defeated Porter and Clarke it leveled the contest 3-3 heading into the doubles.
Fitzsimons continued their winning streak with Karl Mooney and Faulkner edging out Eugene and Phil Yore to make it 4-3, but Mynes and Paul Dunne steadied the ship with victory to make it 4-4.
Fitzsimons looked to have moved into a strong position when Kearney and Gibney got the better of Clarke and Porter, but that proved to be their last win as Carnaross Inn won three frames on the trot with Mynes and Dunne making it 5-5 before Mooney and Faulkner made it dormie and it was left to Clarke and Porter to wrap up the win.