Leaders win again

The top four of Sperrin, Floyds, Bullseye A and Forge A continue to blaze a trail with only the Railway Arms putting any sort of challenge up to them as they remain in 5th place, a point behind the Forge A. Outside of this, the Bullseye Old Boys continue to be the form team as they chalked up their third win on the trot.

Blackthorn 4 – 11 Floyd’s Bar - The visitors have now won their last seven and remain only a point behind the Sperrin. Adam Watt continued his fine form with some clinical finishing against Harry Stirling, however the home side levelled after Darryl Stirling enjoyed a stroke of luck to beat Alan McBride. Floyds recovered as Ricky McMullan controlled the next against Karl Doherty, before Matthew Steen made it 3-1. Justin Mairs ensured a tight first session as he beat Scott Clark to reduce the deficit to one.

The visitors started off strongly in session two as some great finishing from Watt again, followed by McMullan put them 5-2 in front. Alan McBride soon added another but Darryl Stirling got his second to stop the rot. The session finished with Clakr getting his revenge on Mairs to leave a midway score of 7-3. Watt made it three from three at the start of the third session, shortly before McBride followed up. Ricky McMullan missed his chance to make it three from three as Davy Adams registered a good victory. However, the points were sealed as Steen and Clark both won their second frames of the night. Adam Watt 3/3

Forge Bar 0 – 11 Sperrin - The younthful Forge Bar team were handed a harsh lesson by the league leaders who remain unbeaten. Wins for Billy Moore, Lee Caulfield, Neville Smyth, Raymond Stockman and Paul O’Connor ensured a first session lead of 5-0. Strangely, O’Connor was dropped for the second session but replacement Allen Tosh took his chance as won his first frame, as the other four registered their second wins. It was left to skipper Caulfield to seal the win as he saw off the challenge of Chris Moore. Lee Caulfield 3/3

Mary Pats 0 – 11 Forge A - The Macosquin venue saw the second whitewash of the week on a disappointing night for the home side. Lee Hull got the ball rolling as he beat Brian Hutchinson with a super 8-ball finish. Chris Wade won the next in a scrappy contest, before Darren Boyd made it 3-0 with a great break and finish. March Hutchinson enjoyed some good fortune to beat Gary Kennedy, and the home side’s woes continued as Willie Eakin completed the first session whitewash.

The second session didn’t start any better for the hosts as Boyd made it two from two with a tight win over Hutchinson. Kennedy’s fortunes didn’t get any better as he gave away too many fouls against Wade. Marc Hutchinson and Willie Eakin continued the rout, despite the latter hanging the black at the first attempt. Lee Hull put his side on the hill as he beat a rusty Davy Rosborough. The victory was sealed in emphatic fashion as Boyd took out another break and finish. Darren Boyd 3/3

Railway Arms 11 – 5 Bullseye B - A good win for the home side in a game that many would have expected to be closer. Stephen Blair took the first with a great double on the black before Kenny Watton levelled after taking advantage of a foul from Johnny McDowell. The home side were back in front through an excellent Scott McClelland finish, followed by captain Arthur McMullan who beat Howard Doherty. Barry McLaughlin rounded off a good first session for the Arms with a break and finish. Stephen Blair stepped up next and matched McLaughlin’s feat to make it 5-1.

Watton pulled one back in a rematch from the first session but McLaughlin kept his side in control edging out Stephen Morton. The next two were shared, Chris McColgan for the Bullseye, McClelland for the Railway men, giving them a 7 – 3 advantage at the break. Doherty should have reduced the deficit but cornered himself on the black allowing John Huston a second chance. Blair made it three from three with his second break and finish of the night. It looked like Stephen Warwick would get the first frame of the session for the Bullseye, however, he couldn’t believe his eyes as he potted his ball only for it to jump straight back out again, McLaughlin took full advantage of his misfortune. Facing a heavy defeat, the visitors did attempt a fight back with wins for Watton and Morton. However, Stephen Blair stopped the comeback in it’s tracks with his fourth win of the night. Stephen Blair 4/4, Barry McLaughlin 3/3

Roost Bar 6 – 11 Bullseye Old Boys - A third win in a row for Keith Hunter’s men and they were helped by a great start. Two veterans met in the opener, with Hubert Smyth having the first chance but missed a straight black, George Cameron could not take advantage. George Canning took the next for the old boys before Keith Hunter made it three taking advantage of a bad miss by DD Campbell. Jeff Btucher made it 4-0 to the old boys, as he was too strong for Stewart Mitchell. The home side finally got one on the board and they had Clive Robertson to thank, despite missing the black into the middle, he got another chance from opponent Derk Allum.

Robertson was instrumental in getting his team back into the match as he beat Keith Hunter in the next, despite missing another easy black. Butcher won his second, but the Roost battled back with wins for Mitchell and Campbell. Allum then made up for his earlier slip up to make it 6-4 to his team going into session three. Allum was straight back on and followed up with another win, before Smyth added another to make it 8-4. The four game gap soon became five as Butcher won his third of the night.

Campbell won his second in a row to put a slight dent in the Bullseye challenge but captain Hunter finished off the session well for his side. Butcher had the chance to seal the match and his fourth win of the night but the pressure was too much for him as Campbell pulled off another good win. It was left to Allum to show his team mate how to handle the heat as he potted the winning black for the second week on the trot. DD Campbell 3/4; Jeff Butcher 3 4, Derek Allum 3/4

Bullseye A 11 – 1 Social Club - This match started off in scrappy fashion as the first two frames were shared, Adrian O’Kane for the Bullseye with Willie McMullan levelling for the Social Club. However, the home side stepped up a gear after this. New signing Ryan Craig showed his quality as he potted all seven reds only to miss the black, opponent David Shirlow left a good snooker, but Craig produced a great escape to pot it.

Gary Wallace opened up a two frame gap as he took out an 8-ball finish after Simon McIlreavy fouled from the break. Jimmy Moore made it 4-1 with a win over Uel Kirkpatrick, although the Social man had his chances. Craig made it a double with a good finish but not after McIlreavy had blew a good chance with a bad positional shot on his last yellow. O’Kane made it two from two as he produced an excellent finish from a tricky situation. Raymond Baxter made it 7-1 as he got the better of McMullan in a tactical battle, a good double from the Bullseye man changing the course of the frame.

Steven McIlroy got on the board for the home side, but again Kirkpatrick should have won the frame. Gary Wallace produced an excellent break and finish to put the home side well in control at the end of the second session. Jimmy Moore matched his team mate with a typical quickfire break and finish before O’Kane sealed the win with a slightly less quickfire victory over McMullan. Adrian O’Kane 3/3