Dean and Robert are double tops!

DEAN Greer and Robert Hamilton are the new holders of the Doubles trophy in the Ballymena and District Snooker League following their 3-2 win over David McClintock and Rodney McFall in the final in the Minnesota clubrooms.

The trophy had been held for the last two years by the Fountain duo of Conor Byrne and Jamie Martin neither of whom are playing league snooker this season.

Dean, who plays for Minnesota Strikers, and Robert, a member of league newcomers 147 Rockets, received a 33 point start on handicap against their more experienced opponents.

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In the first frame Robert settled the quickest of the quartet and although making no substantial breaks, the young pairing continued to add to their lead as the Minnesota A pair struggled to get into the frame.

Trailing 21-64 with five reds left, a miscue from David proved terminal in the frame as Robert picked off a couple of reds and blacks forcing the opponents to concede.

In frame two David and Rodney made a much better start and good safety play from the pair forced mistakes from their young opponents and with four reds left they had edged in front for the first time in the frame.

With the Minnesota pair, both members of the side which performed well in the recent all Ireland championships, 50-38 ahead with two reds left Dean caught a safety shot way too thick and David was able to extend the lead to 63-38 at the yellow.

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Robert had a go at the yellow and missed the pot but left a fortunate snooker. Rodney was unable to escape and the door was open for Dean to pinch the frame.

The Strikers player, however, failed to pot the yellow and let David in to take yellow and green. Rodney then left a snooker on the brown and although Dean hit the brown, he left it for David to step in and secure the frame.

In frame 3 Dean and Robert continued to add steadily to their lead as David in particular didn't play to the normal standard he is capable of.

Ahead by 50-13 Robert missed the reds altogether and hit the black. Although the black was sent up the table to the side cushion Rodney took the remaining seven reds with mainly pinks and blues as his well constructed 50 break put his side 71-50 ahead at the colours.

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Dean took yellow and green to reduce the gap and a period of safety play ensued on the brown. The run of the balls turned in favour of the Minnesota men and David held his hand up by way of apology as his attempted safety shot saw the brown dive into a middle pocket. He then added blue and pink to put his side within a frame of victory.

Frame four saw the pendulum change again and Rodney was left shaking his head as consecutive safety shots glanced the pack of reds only for the cue ball to disappear into the green pocket.

With one red left, David and Rodney trailed by 46 points and despite several good attempts they could only force one foul from their opponents.

Rodney failed to hide the red and Dean produced a good long pot to force a concession and send the match into the deciding frame.

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It developed into a scrappy encounter as both sides erred on the side of caution, playing safe and not going for too many risky pots. By the midpoint of the frame, Dean, a runner up in last year's doubles with Rodney Dunlop, and Robert still held around a 30 point lead.

The key moment of the match arrived when Robert attempted a long red to a corner pocket. He missed it only for the red to find its way back up the table and into the yellow pocket.

Robert then proceeded to pick off the loose reds before going in off the blue having made 27.

With their backs very much to the wall David missed a blue and after Robert potted a red, the Minnesota pairing, now needing snookers, conceded the frame and match.

RESULTS

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Round one: D McClintock/R McFall (Min) 2, A Watson/C Brammeld (Foun) 0; N Curtis/D Brammeld (Foun) 2, G McAuley/A McErlaine (Dun) 0; B McTaggart/M Murphy (Dun) 2, G Kirkpatrick/J Stewart (Raft) 0; M Thompson/B Hannaway (Min) 2, T Magill/R Hayes (147) 1.

Round two: D McClintock/R McFall 2, B Darragh/P McQuillan (Dun) 1; N Curtis/D Brammeld 2, J Bingham/L Kelly (Foun) 0; B McTaggart/M Murphy 2, L Clewer/A Bradley (Foun) 0; M Thompson/B Hannaway 2, R O'Doherty/K McGrath (Raft) 0; D Greer/R Hamilton 2, P McCook/M Heggarty (Raft) 0; W Dobbin/G Craig (Min) 2, P Brammeld/S French (147) 0; R McDonnell/JJ O'Neill (Dun) 2, M Crilly/M Crawley (Dun) 0; D Swann/H Larkin (Min) 2, R Maxwell/A McAlonan (Raft) 0.

Quarter-finals: McClintock/McFall 2, Curtis/Brammeld 0; Thompson/Hannaway 2, McTaggart/Murphy 0; Greer/Hamilton 2, Dobbin/Craig 0; McDonnell/O'Neill 2, Swann/Larkin 0.

Semi-finals: McClintock/McFall 2, Thompson/Hannaway 0; Greer/Hamilton 2, O'Donnell/O'Neill 1.

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