|
Sotonsnooker
|
|
Snooker Bonanza 2011 comprising 23 teams Dave Mumford and Paul Solloway are Snooker Bonanza Champions yet again. In the final at the Chandlers Ford Snooker Centre, Chandlers Ford Longshots held off the determined Eastleigh Railway Institute Cuemen to win the 2011 Bonanza, on the black, in the final and deciding frame of the evening. Justine Mines and Paul Shears earned points for the Cuemen while Rob Leach Lewis and Dave Mumford replied for the Longshots. 2 - 2 and the single frame decider saw Mines take on Mumford. Mines forged ahead, building a break to go 42 points clear but Mumford dug in, clawed his way back, and leveled the scores at 60 apiece with the black glued to the bottom rail. Safety play ensued until Mumford was presented with a fine cut to the "yellow" pocket, and his team lifted the Bonanza trophy for the 4th time. Mumford and Solloway were on the winning side in 1987, 1996, 2008 and this year 2011, a unique record that will stand for many years, I think. Here is Tim Dunkley's report ............. IT HAD just turned midnight
when Chandler’s Ford Longshots skipper Dave Mumford ended an epic and
nail-biting Summer Bonanza final on the last ball of the tie-break frame. The
43-year-old admitted he was in “shock” after cutting the final black into
the yellow pocket with the rest. “To
turn up every week and try to do what you did 15 years ago gets harder and
harder and harder,” he said. “I
pot about three balls a year with the rest. So to get the final black with the
rest adds to my current state of shock.” First-time
finalists Eastleigh Railway Institute Cuemen traded blows with the 2008
champions for nearly four hours in the 32nd Bonanza final at Chandler’s Ford
Snooker Club. At
2-2, Justin Mines was elected to take on Mumford in the decider. The
Railway number one will rue a missed black off the spot while on a 29 break when
the frame was at his mercy. And
he may consider himself unfortunate after a doubled match-ball blue hit both
knuckles of a middle pocket. Mumford,
who sunk the blue and pink to level the scores on the stroke of midnight,
described his opponent as “quality”. “Justin
knows his way around the table,” he said. “He’s a very tough opponent.” REMARKABLY,
Dave Mumford and teammate Paul Solloway have now been Summer Bonanza champions
in four different decades. They won
the title in 1987 and 1999 with Winchester Snooker Centre and 2008 and 2011
with Chandler’s Ford Longshots. Mumford
said it was a “very special” achievement.
Paying
tribute to teammates Mitch Wade, Paul Solloway, Rob Leech-Lewis and Graham
Hollick, Mumford said: “We wouldn’t have got here if it wasn’t for them. “I’m
immensely proud of what we’ve achieved.” The
first two frames took 70 minutes. Mines
had given the Railway a 1-0 lead with a 43 break against Wade. Leech-Lewis
potted a long green to square the match against Pete Owen. And
things weren’t about to speed up after the mid-session interval. Mumford
won a 52-minute marathon against Jamie Coyle on the final black after trailing
60-0 at one stage. But
Railway skipper Paul Shears’ 33 break against Solloway forced a late-night
decider. Reflecting
on the campaign, Mumford said: “We’ve had a fantastic time; we’ve been to
some wonderful clubs; we’ve met some great people; we’ve played some
fantastic matches. “Credit
must go to Jim Everett for giving this fabulous competition new life after all
the hard work put in by the previous tournament director, Tony Aldridge. “They
have created snooker’s version of the FA Cup at a local level.” As
is traditional, sponsors Chandler’s Ford SC will donate the £360 entry fees
to the champions’ chosen charity. Longshots
opted for a local cancer charity which has been helping a “special person”
from the region’s snooker community. Frame
scores (h/caps), Longshots first:
Mitch Wade (0) 28-64 Justin Mines (8), Rob Leech-Lewis (12) 68-43 Pete Owen
(28), Dave Mumford (-10) 82-68 Jamie Coyle (28), Paul Solloway (12) 36-83 Paul
Shears (28). Tie-break: Mumford (-10) 67-60 Mines (8).
earlier rounds EASTLEIGH Railway Institute
Cuemen steamed past Ashlett Club C to move to within one match of a first ever
appearance in a Summer Bonanza final. Railway
stalwart Justin Mines kept his side on track for victory but it was one of his
three county pool playing teammates who completed the 5-3 aggregate win over the
Watersiders. Skipper
Paul Shears said: “We’ve done more than we possibly imagined we could do. So
everything from here is a bonus.” Defending
a 3-1 away lead, the Railway opened up a three-frame gap in the return leg after
star player Mines cruised past Nick Miles with a 40-plus break. But
defeats for Jamie Coyle and Shears left Pete Owen with the task of securing
victory against Jody Miles. Shears,
43, said: “Pete’s a proper snooker player although he had to rein that in
because this guy was potting balls off the lampshades. “It
was alien for Pete because he’s about the most attacking player I know.” A
succession of fouls left Miles chasing snookers on the colours. “We’ve
had a fantastic season,” added Shears. “Everywhere
we’ve been we’ve had cracking nights. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.” Coyle
is unavailable for the semi-final against Shirley Conservative Club at
Chandler’s Ford Snooker Club on Monday. He will be replaced by John Barton. Elsewhere,
Shirley’s Dave Smith is licking his wounds after twice being thrashed by Super
League player Steve Cole (Park Gate Gangsters). Cole
compiled an 82 break in the first leg and then restricted Smith to just three
points in the return match. Dave
Terry, Aaron Squires and Southampton pool champion Adrian Sturgess won as the
Shirley side notched up a 6-2 aggregate victory. Chandler’s
Ford Longshots skipper Dave Mumford was delighted to avenge his first-leg defeat
by Chris Holland (Hamble Give Us A Break). Despite
conceding a 16-point start to the 70-year-old 13-time Town Champion, Mumford
clinched frame and match. Longshots’
semi-final opponents are Totton Wrecks, who edged Park Gate Reserves 5-4 over
the two legs. Quarter-final
second-leg results (h/caps):
Park Gate Reserves (10) 2 Totton Wrecks (10) 3 (agg: 4-5), Chandler’s Ford
Longshots (12) 3 Hamble Give Us A Break (22) 1 (agg: 5-3), Eastleigh Railway
Institute Cuemen (28) 2 Ashlett Club C (24) 2 (agg: 5-3), Shirley Conservative
Club (24) 3 Park Gate Gangsters (8) 1 (agg: 6-2). Semi-final
ties (C/Ford SC, Monday, 8pm):
Eastleigh Railway Institute Cuemen v Shirley Conservative Club, Totton Wrecks v
Chandler’s Ford Longshots.
PARK Gate Reserves and Park
Gate Gangsters will join the top two sides from each of the three round-robin
groups in the last-eight of the 2011 Summer Bonanza. The
two best third-placed teams, determined by percentage of frames won, qualified
for the knockout at the expense of their clubmates, Park Gate Tips. The
quarter-final draw will appear on next Saturday’s snooker page. Group
A: Park Gate
Reserves (10) 3 C/Ford Miscues (20) 1, Hamble Give Us A Break (22) 3 Woolston
T&L A (28) 2, Shirley Cons (24) 3 Netley Central B (24) 2, Acorn Social (20)
1 Sarisbury B (14) 3. Breaks:
Mark Croot (Netley Central B) 47.
Group
B: Sarisbury C (38)
2 Bitterne RBL A (26) 2, Woolston Social C (30) 4 Eastleigh WMC C (34) 0,
Woolston T&L B (34) 3 Ashlett C (24) 2, C/Ford Longshots (12) 1 Park Gate
Gangsters (8) 3. Breaks:
Paul Naismith (Woolston T&L B) 43.
Group
C: C/Ford Chancers
(26) 1 Park Gate Tips (18) 3, Totton Wrecks (10) 3 Eastleigh Railway Institute
Cuemen (28) 1, Eastleigh WMC A (30) 3 Lyndhurst WMC (32) 1. Breaks:
Ben Tanner (Eastleigh WMC A)
39.
earlier news SOUTHAMPTON league Division
4 champions Woolston T&L B are finding handicap snooker against better teams
in the Summer Bonanza “a different kettle of fish”, according to their
skipper. Keith
Castles’ side climbed off the foot of Group B with a 3-1 home win over
Sarisbury C following an “unexpected” 4-0 defeat at Bitterne RBL A the
previous week. “That
upset us a little bit so we had to try and redeem ourselves,” said Castles,
who is still “hopeful” of qualifying for the knockout. Elsewhere
in Group B, Nick Miles reckons Ashlett Club teammate Dave Matthews rode his luck
with “three or four outrageous flukes” to pinch the fifth frame decider
against Paul Stenning (Park Gate Gangsters). WEEK-FOUR
RESULTS (HANDICAPS) Group
A: Shirley Cons (24)
3 Park Gate Reserves (10) 2, Sarisbury B (14) 1 Netley Central B (24) 3, Acorn
Social (20) 3 Woolston T&L A (28) 2, Hamble Give Us A Break (22) 3 C/Ford
Miscues (20) 1.
Group
B: Woolston T&L
B (34) 3 Sarisbury C (38) 1, Park Gate Gangsters (8) 2 Ashlett C (24) 3, C/Ford
Longshots (12) 3 Eastleigh WMC C (34) 2, Woolston Social C (30) 3 Bitterne RBL A
(26) 2. Breaks:
Mitch Wade (Longshots) 58; Lee Ashbolt (Park Gate) 32.
Group
C: Eastleigh WMC A
(30) 3 C/Ford Chancers (26) 1, Worthies Social (20) 1 Eastleigh Railway
Institute Cuemen (28) 3, Totton Wrecks (10) 2 Park Gate Tips (18) 3.
Handicaps, Fixtures and Results
GROUP C
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||