Div 3 Cup Final: Gotham RBL 4-3 Rileys (12/04/11)

[Steve Butler]

The 7–frame divisional cup format has a knack of producing tense, exciting matches and that's exactly what was on view at Lenton Liberal Club as division 3 league champions Rileys took on division 3 runners-up Gotham RBL.

Frame 1
Nick Kirkman was receiving 7 points start from Aaron Cahoon.  I did not see too much of the frame because I was playing on table 2 but I am told that Cahoon had a couple of crucial flukes that cost Kirkman dearly.  Cahoon ran out a comfortable winner in the end to put Rileys 1-0 up.

Frame 2
Steve Butler was receiving 7 points start from James Stone in what was a fairly tense frame early on.  Stone uncharacteristically missed some relatively easy pots and he kept leaving Butler on.  Without producing any major breaks Butler managed to carve out a healthy lead and Stone needed a snooker with green to black remaining.  Nobody had told Stone that we were not playing for points so he proceeded to pot the colours one at a time until Butler drew his attention to the format.  It proved irrelevant in the end as Butler potted the pink to level the match at 1-1.

Frame 3
Gotham's man of the match Dave Griffiths played some great matchplay snooker against the dangerous Rob Pugh.  The Rileys man, who was conceding 21 points start, only managed to score 11 points and he had to watch Griffiths build an unassailable lead which was more than enough to put Gotham 2-1 up.

Frame 4
Steve Burrows ran Griffiths close for the man of the match award with some excellent potting.  He was receiving 21 points start and Hopkin soon found himself needing 5 snookers.  A few more good pots and it was all over, Gotham now 3-1 up and needing just one more frame for the match.

Frame 5
Richard Burrows was receiving 35 points start from Marcus Langford but the Rileys man played very well in patches restricting Burrows to just 6 more points and reducing Rileys' arrears to just one frame.

Frame 6
All attention turned to the mega tight frame between Steve Kent and Lee Thorpe.  Thorpe was giving 7 points to "Kenty" and the Gotham man extended his lead by picking off a few reds early on.  Neither player could take any colours with their reds and this seemed to prompt a change of tactics by Thorpe which proved very fruitful.  He proceeded to lay 3 or 4 excellent snookers which Kent could not escape from.  This put Thorpe 13 points in front going into the colours and the lead spurred him on as he picked them off to seal the frame and level the match at 3-3.

Frame 7 (Pairs decider)
The team captains took a few minutes to select their pairings for the all important deciding frame.  Gotham put forward Steve Burrows and Dave Griffiths, both 28 handicappers.  They had both played very well in their singles frames and with a good handicap they had every chance.  Rileys selected Aaron Cahoon and Marcus Langford. They would have to play off scratch but they had both won their singles frames comfortably so there really was no other choice for Rileys captain Thorpe.

Burrows potted the first red to put Gotham 29 points in front but he had no colour to go for.  Cahoon then fired in two breaks of 37 and 16 to wipe out Gotham's lead and turn the frame on its head.  It was then Griffiths' turn to sparkle as he made solid breaks of 9 and 21 to make the scores 59-53 in Gotham's favour.  It was all getting a little bit exciting now and you could hear a pin drop amongst the crowd of around 20 spectators who were on the edge of their seats.  Cahoon rattled the yellow in the jaws of the pocket and this allowed Burrows in to pot yellow, green and brown.  He was then left with a straight frame ball blue into the corner pocket but the nerves must have taken effect as he rattled it in the jaws.  The blue was potted by Cahoon but he missed a simple pink to the middle fluking a snooker behind the black.  Griffiths missed the pink (apparently he tried to pot it!)  and left it for Langford.  The Rileys man potted the pink but rattled the black which shot across to the other corner pocket.  Could Burrows hold his nerves and sink the black?  You bet he could! Well done "Buzz" and well done to the great Gotham team – Division 3 Cup Winners 2010/11!

A huge thanks to the Rileys team for making it a fantastic night full of laughter and excitement.  It's a shame anyone had to lose a match like that.

Also a very big thank you to the members and staff at Lenton Liberal Club.  It's always a great atmosphere and the tables are superb.

Looking forward to the Secretary's Shield final in two weeks time.

Good luck to Rileys next week in the Knockout Cup final.

:bravo: :welldone: :bravo:


Champions!

Gotham RBL				Rileys
Nick Kirkman (14)	26	0   -   1	72	Aaron Cahoon (7)
Steve Butler (14)	60	1   -   1	38	James Stone (7)
Dave Griffiths (28)	72	2   -   1	11	Rob Pugh (7)
Steve Burrows (28)	62	3   -   1	11	Dave Hopkin (7)
Richard Burrows (35)	41	3   -   2	84	Marcus Langford (0)
Steve Kent (35)	27	3   -   3	51	Lee Thorpe (28)
S Burrows & Griffiths (28)	80	4   -   3	77	Cahoon & Langford (0)

	Singles Frame Played	Pairs Frames Played	Singles Win %	Pairs Win %
Steve Butler	17	10	88%	60%
Dave Griffiths	14	7	71%	57%
Steve Burrows	17	15	71%	73%
Steve Howard	17	18	53%	61%
Nick Kirkman	16	18	44%	50%
Steve Kent	9	5	33%	20%
Richard Burrows	9	7	11%	57%
Maurice Hudspeth	1	0	0%	N/A
Don Butler	2	2	0%	0%

[ellism2]

Well done Gotham - Rileys are a strong team!

Sounds like it was a cracker!
:welldone: :bravo: :happy:

[Mike Langdon]

Well done Gotham a fine victory over a good team. :bravo:

All three divisional finals went to a final frame decider which for me suggests that this format is the way forward for our KO & Plate competitions next season. It certainly brings excitment and drama and i'm pretty sure that the 4-3 scoreline has been the most common result in the divisional cup matches this season. Just hope it gets the nod at the AGM.

I also note Gotham could be on for a cup double if they can beat Pegasus A in the secretary's cup.

[Steve Howard]

Well done . . . what excitement down to a final frame . . .
And final black ball too . . .
:welldone:

[Steve Howard]

Have to agree with you Mike . . .great excitement in this particular format.
And sure is the way forward i agree . . .
You can't beat these last frame 'cliff hangers' can you? :thumbup:

[maqsood]

sounds like an absolute cracking match there - just read the whole report and what a cracking final frame . well done Gotham and to "buzz" and really bad luck to Rileys- you cant really get much closer to that.

I bet some of the rileys lads walked out looking like this:




cheers

Bash