INSTITUTE DOWN TIME

JUST a reminder to members that the Institute will be used as a Polling Station on Thursday May 5th so will be closed for normal business all day long and  Bolehill Improvement Group stage one of their quarterly meetings at the club on Tuesday May 17th between 7-9pm during which time normal use will be suspended.
Thank you.

END OF SEASON REVIEW

OK I know the No 3 team have not finished their fixtures as I write but as Scott of the Antarctic once said "I may be some time" if I keep hanging on for their completion, so much so that I will have forgotten what happened with the other teams given my advancing years!

Starting with the young uns, obviously it was tough in their debut season and as tends to happen with struggling teams one or two lost interest and started other pursuits which meant they weren't always available for the team, sometimes at short notice. So Shaun had a thankless job as captain and needed a bit more support at times, not only that but it does spoil the league for everyone else if players start not turning up or pulling out at short notice.

At least the team have managed a couple of wins lately and have been helped out by the league's special dispensation rule which means they can call on other players from the club to help them try to fulfil their fixtures.

The No 2 team look likely to win the "B" Division section of the league and had some excellent wins during the campaign, they used a large squad of players and Simon Zoppi enjoyed a good year individually which could yet see him win the most matches in the section (still waiting on a few results).

The No 1 team thankfully showed a few signs of perking up late on in the season after a good start and a poor middle bit but finished with exactly half the points available to them which was down on last year though that was expected with the unavoidable loss of a player and generally less table time for a few of the lads.
So overall a mixed bag but hopefully the only way is up both for the club's fortunes and local snooker in general!!

Duffield take the spoils on first Bolehill visit

Bolehill v Duffield Left-Right: Matt Deegan, Tom Lucas, Ian Birks (partially obscured), Danny Cooper, Mick Bunting (obscured), Paul Beech, Jimmy Gratton (forefront), Dwayne Poyser, Sean O'Sullivan and Guy Shirley.
Also present: Ricki Slack behind the lens, blame me for those missing heads!!

WEDNESDAY April 13th saw the return match of a previously arranged friendly between Duffield Club and Bolehill Institute. The first match held last month saw Duffield win 5-3 on home territory and this was their first ever visit to the Bolehill locality apart from navigator Jimmy Gratton who had previously played for Belper Strutt Club.

Sean O'Sullivan a new recruit to Bolehill with three wins out of three in the league to his name, started proceedings but admitted to being a little unsettled by the 20 minute time clock that was in operation and in quite a tight finish it was Matt Deegan who put the visitors 1-0 up leading 38-20 when the minutes had elapsed.

Ricki Slack looked set to equalise when haring off at the start of his frame but Dwayne Poyser refused to be phased and in a thrilling finish worthy of the Sky Snooker Shootout, potted a fantastic pink and black  to snatch the frame 47-44 with the seconds running out rapidly as he did so.

In fact he just got the final shot away right on the 20mins clock buzzer, and though the black entered the pocket just afterwards, we got straight on to the hotline to Barry Hearn (!) and he said it was OK, giving the nod for a 2-0 to Duffield in dramatic circumstances!! Memories of Robbo against McManus at Blackpool all over again!

Bolehill fought back in frame three with Mick Bunting producing his best performance of the season with a dazzling display of potting to defeat Danny Cooper 79-40, someone commented that it was like Tony Drago on roller skates, but certainly Mick seemed to take really well to the shot clock conditions. Danny himself had a 22 and an 18 break which made up his score so shows how well Mick played.

Sean played his second frame next against Paul Beech who had impressed in the first match at Duffield and again looked a force to be reckoned with in his 73-20 success which included breaks of 28 and 24.

Ian Birks was up next for the home team and he narrowed the deficit with a 55-18 win over Tom Lucas who has done very well in this season's Derby League so an excellent win for Ian.

At 3-2 it was time for some food and suitably replenished, Duffield strengthened their position aided by a 45 break - the highest of the night - from Jimmy Gratton as he defeated Guy Shirley in the next frame 81-23.

Guy had no luck in the next either when paired with Mick Bunting as they came up against an inspired Paul Beech and Matt Deegan in fine fettle and Duffield went further ahead at 5-2.

The eighth frame was nip and tuck until the colours and with the scores about level, Ricki Slack and Ian Birks were in with a chance of pulling one back but Ricki rattled the green in trying to pot it thick to hold for the brown and instead their opponents Jimmy Gratton and Dwayne Poyser stylishly cleared up with 25 to make it 6-2.

The pairs matches were being played as Scotch doubles affairs, which can often be seen in the Mosconi Cup annual pool event held each year just before Christmas.

The night was still young for Duffield in this kind of form but though Bolehill were now down to just the last two men standing, some pride was clawed back as Ricki and Mick overcame Danny and Tom 51-28 and make it 6-3.

And in what was to be the final frame of the night, there was still some fantastic snooker to be witnessed, Ricki and Mick compiled a joint effort of 22 to which Jimmy and Mark hit back with 36 but after a tit for tat battle on the colours, the home pairing prevailed 64-49 with the final match score being 6-4 to Duffield.

Ricki thanked Duffield for making the effort to come and fill in what otherwise would have been a blank "bye" week in the league and for being such great sports and competitors over the two games, and the visitors said how much they enjoyed their first ever visit to Bolehill and were very impressed with the way the table was playing. Thanks to table fitter Mr Briggs for working his magic on it a few weeks back in that respect too!!

All in all some really quality attacking snooker played in the right spirit and nice to get the chance again to play under shot clock conditions too, which certainly freshened things up a bit and ensured it was a lively encounter throughout! But mostly it was about the camaraderie more than anything else and a good night was had by all present.

GAMES NIGHT PUT BACK TO NOVEMBER

WE'VE had to cancel the Brazilian Games Night that was to go ahead on the first Saturday in March, as it proved an inconvenient date for the grass skirted ladies we had lined up for the evening.
But rest assured they have promised me they will be back on the re-arranged date which will probably be either Saturday 12th or 19th November (assuming they are not having a secondary Bonfire Night this year!), which should hopefully prove more popular as the darker nights will be back again.
We were to have held it in that month last year but it was delayed while our chairman was recovering so hopefully it will be all systems go later in the year!!

LATEST COMPS / EVENTS DATES & RESULTS

QUIZ NIGHT Saturday 26th February @ 8.30pm open to all.


J HAYWOOD CUP 1st round draw:
1: C Marchington/J Hopkinson bt M Bunting/C Brough.
2: J Lynam/L Murphy bt R Slack/I Cresswell.
3: S Zoppi/J Bradbury v A Brough/M Forster (match aborted?)
4: S Bunting/D Martin bt I Peacock/A Hopkinson.
Semi finals:
C Marchington/J Hopkinson (absent ill) v J Lynam/L Murphy (no new date arranged)
Winners 3 v S Bunting/D Martin (date has passed)
Final (TBA)

(Anyone not able to play on date specified must arrange alternative at time of cancelling or else forfeit due to time constraints; this tournament should originally have finished at the start of December!!)
This will be the last year of this format for obvious reasons!!
In future it has been agreed to play it as a team competition featuring the line-ups selected for the League and any other group of players who wish to collaborate.

Snooker Scratch 1st round: Mon Jan 24: M Bunting bt D Martin; S Zoppi bt J Lynam.

Mon Jan 31: A Brough bt A Hopkinson; I Peacock bt M Forster.

Mon Feb 07: R Slack bt I Cresswell; L Murphy bt C Brough.

2nd round: Mon Mar 14: S Zoppi bt M Bunting; I Peacock bt L Murphy; Mon Mar 21: S Bunting bt J Bradbury; R Slack bt A Brough.

Snooker Handicap 1st round: Mon Jan 24:  D Martin bt M Bunting. Mon Feb 14: S Bunting bt A Brough; R Slack bt M Forster.

Mon Feb 21: I Cresswell bt J Bradbury; L Murphy bt C Brough.

Mon Feb 28: I Peacock bt J Lynam.

2nd round: Mon Mar 28: 6.30pm S Bunting v L Murphy; S Zoppi bt A Hopkinson. Mon Apr 04:  D Martin bt I Peacock; R Slack bt I Cresswell.

Handicaps: R Slack owe 14; A Brough owe 7; S Zoppi scr; I Peacock rec 7; M Bunting, J Lynam, M Forster rec 14; I Cresswell, S Bunting, L Murphy,

D Martin, A Hopkinson rec 21; J Bradbury, C Brough rec 28.

Billiards Handicap 1st round: Mon Feb 28: D Martin bt S Bunting; A Brough bt R Slack.

Semi final: Mon Apr 11: 6.30pm A Brough v D Martin; 8pm A Hopkinson v M Bunting.

Handicaps:  R Slack owe 55; A Brough scr; M Bunting rec 10; A Hopkinson,

D Martin, S Bunting rec 35.

HALF TERM REPORT

I THINK its fair to say its a "transitional" season for most of the teams at the Institute this year, I know that often is a metaphor used when things aren't going too well (at least in football; Derby have been wheeling it out for the past three seasons it seems anyhow lol) but there has been some signs of promise mainly from the No 2 team.

Although three 5-0 defeats have ensued, two of those were in the opening weeks of the season and the third one against a very strong Edgefold line-up intent on getting their title challenge back on track. And there have been excellent wins over Belper Strutt Club No 1 at home (the champions the season before last) and also Ripley Cloud 9 No 2 away (who are a very useful up and coming young team).

The No 1 team after quite a decent start have faded a bit, not firing at all in the cup competition and also suffering a few heavy league defeats to decent opposition, but perhaps alot of that is down to lack of table time for many of the squad due to other commitments. But with a string of home games to come maybe all is not lost yet.

The youngsters in the No 3 team are still battling away without yet registering their first win but came close last week when losing only 3-2 to Belper Q Club No 1. Jake Lynam as previously mentioned lifted the Flying Snooker Handicap recently and has made a good impression on his debut season, and some of the other lads have probably just been out match-played on occasions or would have a few more points in the bag but they should only get better in the future.

Good luck all for the second half of the season!!

Also don't forget the Quiz Night to be held on Saturday 26th February @ 8.30pm, open to all interested and Alternative Games Night held on Saturday 5th March @ 6.30pm, open to all members.

LYNAM UP FOR JAKE!

THE ANNUAL Christmas Party Night was held on Saturday January 15th and attracted around a dozen competitors for the varied games, buffet and social evening.

Jake Lynam was the biggest winner of the night, netting £21 from the winner-take-all pots from both the Flying Snooker and Darts competitions as well as the trophies themselves.

The final of the snooker (played with a full pack, the early rounds used only 3 reds) was a thrilling encounter which went down to the final black as youngster Jake took on experienced David Hopkinson.

And after missing an attempted long-pot, Jake's hopes seemed to be dashed with the black seemingly rolling over a baulk pocket only for it to amazingly drop in and land him the prize.

As a recognised league darts player, it was no surprise when Jake also came out top in the arrers, defeating Mick Bunting in the final for a lucrative evenings work.

Mick gained compensation by beating Dwayne Martin in the dominoes final to win £11 plus trophy while an all-family affair saw Dan Hopkinson beat grandfather Alan in the crib final to become the youngest ever winner and earn a much coveted £5!

Thanks to everyone who brought in the food, especially the delicious pork pies tendered by the legendary culinary wizard L Williams himself which were an absolute treat!

Though never being one to bask in the limelight, he had been and gone before many people had even gotten around to thanking him (or indeed realised he was actually there) - I think he was frightened off by the fact he had drawn Jake in the first round of the snooker to be honest!!

Don't forget more prizes to be won on Saturday March 5th at the Alternative Games Night which will be slight variations on the usual themes, including maybe the first ever Brazilian Snooker Championship held in the UK, be there or be square for a bit of history in the making!!