Champs given a tough test on opening night
Reigning champions BallPoint, were pushed all the way in their first match of the new Bridgnorth Snooker League season.
Ballpoint had to come from 2-1 down to see off St John’s 3-2 in a keenly contested clash.
Neil Pearson gave the champs the early lead with a hard fought win against Ash Ward.
Simon Manning then got the better of BallPoint’s new signing Greg Knuess to level the match.
St. John’s then took a 2-1 lead thanks to a 71-8 victory from Martin Lippitt over Dan Morris.
Steve Powell then did a similar hatchet job on Josh Summers, beating him 60-9, to bring the match level.
The decider saw BallPoint’s Paul Harper edge out Tim Steele.
Three teams – Chelmarsh B, Broseley A and St John’s B –started off with 4-1 victories.
Chelmarsh B overcame Broseley, with two of the victories being decided on the final black as Chris Lewis and Mike Rogers beat Owen Hughes and Nick Carson respectively.
A commendable 30 break from Gary Smith helped him get the better of Andy Carson, Broseley's consolation came from Simon Mcloed with the aid of a 32 break.
Excellent wins from Roger Lees, Neil Caswell, Matt Smout and Cameron Barden were more than enough to see Broseley A past Chelmarsh A.
Casewell also knocked in the highest break of the opening evening, a tidy 38.
The final score could have been 5-0 had it not have been for a black ball decider won by Chelmarsh’s Pete Skidmore against Gary Watson.
Comfortable wins from Jason Brown and Braden Michael, who respectively demolished Kath Gill and Chris Jepson, helped St John's B see off Alveley C.
Mike Crawley and Pete Williams also struck for St John’s B, while a vintage performance from Reg Burton against Mark Jones earned Alveley C their consolation.
Carl Walker, Chris Petford and Beamer Jones ensured Shifnal B of a 3-2 winning start to the season, on the losing end were Alveley B’s Gavin Flower, John Beddoes and Arek Ziemkiewicz.
The two frames claimed by Alveley came from Martin Coffey Jnr and Dave Jones.
Coffey Jnr produced some excellent snooker when beating the league’s number two seeded player, John Fallows. Meanwhile, Jones brought the evening to a close with a hard fought win over Andy Jordan.
