Balreask maintain winning ways
Balreask produced a stunning come-from-behind victory to maintain their place at the top of Meath Pool League Div 1, while Ollie's are still searching for their first win of the campaign.
DIV 1
Balreask v Bective A
This match was like the clash of the titans between two of the strongest pool teams in Meath over the last couple of years.
The battle started off with the first five frames going against the break in a very ironic twist, as all players on these two teams could break and finish. Frames alternated from the first to the fifth frames with wins for Richard Scotty Burry and Josh Byrne for The Balreask and James Darcy, Nigel Rennicks and Keith Cahill making it 3-2 for Bective A.
However a very determined Ciaran O'Sullivan was not prepared to keep the script running and he snatched the win for Bective A making it 4-2 in their favour.
As soon as the doubles started the Balreask side jumped into action with wins for the pairs of Keith McGibney and Richard Burry and Martin Keenan and Ian Govender making it 4-4.
With the pressure simmering Keith Cahill and Rod Clifford put Bective A back on track with a well timed win making it 5-4.
With this match heading to the singles the Balreask needed a strong start but Rory Callan was not ready to let the Balreask back in and he made it 6-4 to Bective A.
Cometh the hour cometh the men and when the Balreask won the next three frames with wins for Keith McGibney, Frank Moran and Richard Burry making it 7-6 for the Balreask.
To top off what was an exceptional comeback the ever reliable Ian Govender got the win for the Balreask with an 8-6 final score.
Ollie's v Smyth's
Yet again both teams are full of former county A players but both are struggling to get points on the board in this very competitive league. The match started of with back to back 8-ball finishes off the break.
Gabriel Caffery broke and left a very handy finish for himself. Gabriel has had a couple of 8-ball finishes in the last two weeks.
Gavin Geraghty showed why he won a European Championship with Ireland, using all his skills to pull out an outstanding ball finish for Smyths leaving it 1-1.
Ken Martin for Ollie's was next playing Martin Rothwell for Smyth's, Ken broke and went for the finish but ran short on his second last ball, Martin used all his experience to tie Ken up.
Martin went on to win a tight tactical battle putting the Kells side 2-1 up. Kells rattled off three more strong singles matches to finish out the session 5-1 with excellent performances from Willie Reilly, Eoin Henry and AO Farrelly.
Ollie's needed a strong start to the doubles, but again Smyth's won the next two frames leaving the Kells side 7-1 up with strong wins by Willie Reilly and Kevin Mynes and the pair of AO Farrelly and Martin Rothwell with a combined age of 108 reeling in the years.
With Ollie's side knowing one more loss and they were gone the pair of former Meath player Davy Burns and Paddy Flynn in fine form getting the win Ollie's made it into the last set of singles.
However the glimmer of light was extinguished when Willie Reilly knock in the black to give Smyths an 8-2 win. In a match that was played in great spirit between the two sides with many a joke it wont be long before Ollies are putting points upon the board.
DIV 2
Foxes B v Thornes
Thorne's have been putting in some gritty displays of late but in this match they overpowered Foxes.
In the singles they jumped to a 5-1 lead with wins for Austin Gilmartin, Barry Gilmartin, Charlie Yore, Donal Forth and Jem Connors while a resilient Mick Kelly got one back for Foxes leaving the score 5-1.
The doubles did not go much better for Foxes with Charlie Yore and Jem Connors and the Gilmartins making it 7-2.
The only winning pair for Foxes was Donal and Mike Kelly making it 7-2.
In the last set of singles it was Paul Forth who got Thornes over the line with an 8-2 victory.
The Chaser v Balreask B
The Balreask men are starting to hit form with a strong win against the Chaser away from home.
In the first session of singles there were wins for Stephen Smith, Shane Dowdall, John Lynch and Tino Borez for the Balreask B, while Adam Whelan and Jim Feehan kept the home side moving.
The match was still in the mix after the first set of singles as it was 4-2 in favour of the Balreask.
In the doubles the frames alternated with the Balreask getting two and the Chaser getting one making it 6-3.
Strong pairings from the Balreask led the charge with Stephen Smith and John Lynch and Stephen Potts and Tino Borez getting the valuable frames for the Balreask B side, while The Chaser pairing of Jim Feehan and Adam Whelan could only get the one frame.
Stephen Smith put Balreask on the top of the mountain with a strong start to the singles for the Balreask B side. However Colin Carey and Adam Whelan shone for the Chaser in the second set of doubles leaving it 7-5 to Balreask B side.
With the Chaser side fighting back Stephen Potts took the win with an emphatic victory when he won the frame and the match with a score line of 8-5 for the Balreask B side.