Looks like I will have to grin and bare it minus a cue.

Anyone got a spare.......

Other than this , It's a pub cue for the night

played and got through tonight at reds.

when the draw came out i was faced with the daunting task of playing stick and if i won , the possibilty of playing martin poole , who are very good at these rules , indeed they are far better than me.

i had decided beforehand that i was not going to go out potting , fall over and then get tortured and that i was going to try and match mick at the tactical side of the game.

frame 1. i won the toss but let mick break knowing that he would tap them, which he did. i flicked in off a couple of times but mick was far too experienced for that so the frame lasted an hour and mick soon put me in my place as he helped pot most of my balls before clearing up so i decided it was time for a change.

frame 2. i also tapped the pack but decided this time to knock every ball possible in a potting position without actually potting one. with yellows looking on mick decided to go for them but missed the second last yellow in to the middle and left me an easy finish.

frame 3 mick tapped the break again and i employed them same tactic of knocking them open. mick again went yellows but missed his second pot. i got myself in a good position but mick turned the frame on its head so i played a legal df , thinking i had played a good shot. i was wrong. mick played some great snookers and forced me into going for a very hard finish, which i didnt get and duly went in off my last ball. in my mind the frame was now over as since mick is playing world rules his potting has improved 10 fold. mick potted a couple of ball and on one of the shots he ran the ball off two cushions. i was directly behind the path of the ball and thought it may have been heading for the middle bag. it missed by about 3 inches so i gave a bit of a groan (which was not directed at mick) and mick gave me a look as if to say i was never going in off there. mick then got down quick and rushed his next shot on his last ball and it came away from the bag leaving him no shot. mick played a good shot and snookered me so i tried to come of a rail and fluke the black as well as getting a good white , which i did and got the black close to a bag. mick decided to go for a very thin cut into the corner, which he got , however the white went up and down and knocked the black robbing him of a victory he deserved.

i have a few rumours have surfaced from people that were not present. i will now answer them.........

did i cheer when mick knocked the black in? no chance its something those who know me know i would never do.

did i barrack mick when he was playing? no chance . mick is far too good a friend of mine to lose over being silly over a game of pool.

did i speak to mick during the game? yes i did give mick a bit of stick when i was playing. it was during the first frame when i kept flicking i off and giving him 2 shots but he would not pot one. i think it was on the lines of " if you give me 2 mick i will pot smoe balls" at no time did mick say to me... dont speak to me during the match as it was not that kind of match.

do i feel bad? i do to a degree because the match was close and we both played well but mick shaded it for me and only because of a cruel turn of fate did mick lose.


mick was obviously dissapointed. afterall he is far better equipped at winning this event played to these rules than me. about 3-4 minutes after the match i did go up to mick again to say i was sorry for his bad luck and he did say to me that he was i shouldnt have said anything when he was playing, however i did explain to him that i did not and that when i groaned it was not at him and only because i thought the white had a chance of going in off in the middle during one of his shots as did the others that were next to me and they were certainly not cheering me on as some of them were from micks team. mick was dissapointed in losing the match, which he should have won but he accepted this. gaz you can ask him if you like?

mick is a great pal of mine , always has been and always will be.


i played martin poole after and after 2 good clearances it was 1.1. martin snookered himself on his last ball and i scraped home.

did i deserve to? probably not as mick was so,so unlucky but hey thats pool especially over short frames.

Kev smith beat me 2-1, and then Rich Johnson beat kev 2-0 to reach the final 18.
Dave Neary beat Liam Farrell 2-1, and then beat Dave Nash 2-0 to reach the last 18 also

Last 18 confirmed as follows :-

Roger Clarke - Peeping Tom
Ian Corbett - Reds Select
Dean Davies - Reds 'A'
John Dempsey - Craftsman 'A'
Glenn Dunn - Craftsman 'A'
Andy Geddes - Dog & Trumpet
Rich Johnson - Reds X
Martin Kirby - Reds Select
Stan Makh - Craftsman 'A'
Vic Makh - Rileys Reprobates
Chris McDermott - Craftsman 'A'
Glynn Meadows - Butts Retreat
Jon McAllister - Royal Warwicks
Sam Mills - Rileys Rehab
Callumn Mulhern - King Edwards Select
Dave Neary - Reds X
Kev O'Sullivan - Weavers Arms
Alex Pyatt - Wheatsheaf 'A'

Congratulations to you all for making the third round.

Martin are you running a book this year? Any prices yet?

Roger Clarke - Peeping Tom 7/2
Ian Corbett - Reds Select 33/1
Dean Davies - Reds 'A' 9/1
John Dempsey - Craftsman 'A' 10/1
Glenn Dunn - Craftsman 'A' 7/1
Andy Geddes - Dog & Trumpet 500/1
Rich Johnson - Reds X 33/1
Martin Kirby - Reds Select n/o
Stan Makh - Craftsman 'A' 12/1
Vic Makh - Rileys Reprobates 7/1
Chris McDermott - Craftsman 'A' 4/1
Glynn Meadows - Butts Retreat 250/1
Jon McAllister - Royal Warwicks 12/1
Sam Mills - Rileys Rehab 12/1
Callumn Mulhern - King Edwards Select 9/1
Dave Neary - Reds X 10/1
Kev O'Sullivan - Weavers Arms 18/1
Alex Pyatt - Wheatsheaf 'A' 12/1