St Pats and Longfield win their key battles

AS THE second half of the Mid Ulster League gets underway the top of the table has become even more congested with the emergence of Johnny’s as an outside contender for the title following a convincing victory over St Pat’s C.

St Pat’s A and Longfield A both defeated their second string teams to open up the smallest of leads.

Defending champions St Pat’s A entertained second place St Pat’s B in a crucial match that could play a major part in the destination of this year’s league title.

Smarting from an opening day whitewash against their clubmates the B men started off in superb form with Kieran Cassidy taking the opening frame from John Paul Donaghy. Donaghy steadied the ship in the next by potting a tricky green to secure the frame and to bring his team back on terms.

Paul Currie produced a top class performance that has eluded him in recent weeks to defeat top St Pat’s B cueist Sean Doyle 2-0. Brian Milne took the opening frame against Enda McCusker to extend his team's lead to 4-1 and the signs were ominous for the challengers as Milne lead by 19 points going into the colours.

McCusker potted the relatively easy yellow and green but when faced with a tricky brown to get on the blue McCusker played the shot of the night and took the remaining balls to secure a deserved draw.

“That has been my best clearance in weeks under extreme pressure, to be honest I feel a little embarrassed now after complaining wanting more points when I can play like that, I have cried long enough that I am going to let my snooker do the talking now” said McCusker.

Longfield A and Longfield B clashed in a game that was crucial to both teams as they were in joint second position prior to this game. Philip O’Hagan surprisingly defeated Enda O’Hagan comfortably to give the underdogs a dream start but that was as good as it got for Longfield B.

Paul McGuckin is starting to prove his worth as he took both frames from Mickey O’Hagan to level matters, more importantly McGuckin is looking a different proposition in recent weeks and Longfield will surely benefit as a result.

Martin O’Hagan, who has been in poor form of late, bounced back in the last match to defeat Noel McAlllister 2-0 and to give his team a vital 4-2 victory.

Johnny’s have come from way of the pace in recent weeks and still possess an outside chance of claiming the league title following a whitewash against struggling St Pat’s C.

Brendan ‘the bullet’ Gilmore, in receipt of an extra 7 points, could not reproduce the heroics from the first half of the league when he shared frames with Gerry McAuley. This time McAuley was a man on a mission and romped to a 2-0 victory with the minimum of fuss.

Brian Milne Snr battled in vain to help get his team back into the match but young Dermot McAuley held his nerve to secure victory in both frames on the pink ball.

The wily Frankie Trolan was up against the flamboyant Damien Craig in the last match and Craig looked like preventing the whitewash when leading by 34 points heading into the colours but somehow Trolan got the snookers required and cleared the colours to claim an unlikely whitewash.

“I had heard the stories about how good a player Frankie is but tonight I got to see it for real. He is a master tactician and his ability to get snookers is mesmerising at times.” claimed Craig.

The Ardboe teams clashed in a low key affair and it would seem that both teams only have the plate competition to play for at this stage.

Young Luke Quinn defeated Conrad McCann to get his team off to a great start and when Ryan Coleman defeated Seamus Devlin the top Ardboe team were facing a humiliating whitewash. Paddy Teague fought hard to prevent the nightmare taking place and he narrowly achieved this by taking the opening frame on the colours.

The remaining quarter final in the individual championship took place on Monday night and Gerry McAuley defeated John Donaghy 3-0 to secure his place in the semi final. The match could have been a lot different had Donaghy potted an easy last black in the second frame.

The semi final line ups look like contests not to be missed as Brian Milne will play Gerry McAuley and defending champion Peter Reilly will take on Paul Currie. These matches will take place later in the season and with all four men having won the title before we are sure to be set for intriguing clashes.

The handicapped Individuals are scheduled for Sunday 21st February in St Patrick’s Magheafelt. Players will be informed this week of their opponent and time, if this does not suit the match must be played before Sunday 21st, no exceptions.

League Table

PPts

St Pat’s A 9 35

Longfield A 9 33

St Pat’s B 9 31

Longfield B 9 31

Johnny’s 929

Ardboe A 9 23

St Kevin’s 8 20

Ardboe B 9 20

St Pat’s C 9 18

High Break List

Brian Milne (St Pat’s A) 116

Gerry McAuley (Johnny’s) 92

Sean Doyle (St Pat’s B) 87

Gerry McAuley (Johnny’s) 85

Brian Milne (St Pat’s A) 83

Brian Milne (St Pats A) 80

Gerry McAuley (Johnny’s) 74

Enda McCusker (St Pat’s B) 68

Paul McGuckin (Longfield A) 66

Gerry McAuley (Johnny’s) 64

Conrad McCann (Ardboe A) 56

John Donaghy (St Pat’s A) 55

Gerry McAuley (Johnny’s) 54

Brian Milne (St Pat’s A) 54

Paul McGuckin (Longfield A) 52

Brian Milne (St Pat’s A) 50

Fixtures (Monday 15th February)

St Pat’s B v St Pat’s C, Johnny’s v Longfield B, Ardboe A v St Kevin’s, Longfield A v St Pat’s A. Johnny’s Bye