Snooker: Trophies for Milne and St.Pats lads

Milne was a model of consistency since Christmas having won his last 10 matches in a row to secure victory over Mickey Quinn in second and Paul Currie in third.

Heading into the last week of action the title was still up for grabs as a defeat for Milne coupled with a victory for Quinn would have resulted in the two players having to contest a playoff for the title.

To add to the drama the last two games were played side by side and consisted of the top four players in the league as Quinn faced third placed Currie as Milne faced fourth placed Gerry McAuley.

The opening frame between Milne and McAuley was a tactical affair with both players failing to capitalise on opportunities that came their way but it was Milne that settled quickest as he took the opening frame.

The match surprisingly ended within the next 20minutes as Milne improved significantly with breaks of 61 and 75 to run out a deserved 3-0 winner and in doing so ensured that his name would be the first to be engraved on the new Premier Individual title.

On adjacent table Quinn was having a battle royale with old adversary Paul Currie, who raced into a deserved two frame lead, Quinn perhaps being deflated by what was going on in the table beside him.

Quinn then seemed to relax and got a frame on the board but it was to be a temporary reprieve as Currie closed out the match by taking the fourth frame on the colours.

The other matches carried little significance but Martin O’Hagan, Conor Morgan and John Donaghy all recorded victories, while Sean Doyle will take on Enda O’Hagan later in the week to ensure that all fixtures has been fulfilled.

The youthful Luke Doyle, Eoin Doyle and Ciaran Mc Laughlin lead by the experienced Hugh Mulholland have been crowned Glenview Trophies Knock Out Cup champions following a deserved victory over St Kevin’s.

The youngsters went into the final with a combined 77 point start but were not expected to come out on top against experienced opponents.

Eoin Doyle put up a tremendous effort in holding his opponent Anthony Mc Erlean to just five points and when his brother Luke put a similar showing against Kevin Murray it meant that St Kevin’s had failed to make any significant inroads into the 77 point lead.

The real turning point came in the next match as Ciaran Mc Laughlin played superb snooker to overcome the challenge of Dessie Murray by an emphatic 35points.

The margin of McLaughlin’s victory coupled with the fine effort of the Doyle brothers meant that Hugh Mulholland held an unassailable lead of 112 points in the last frame against Jordan Shivers. The Castledawson teenager battled to close the gap but there was to be no miracle as Mulholland closed it out and ensured a memorable first season for the youngsters.

All teams and players are asked to make arrangements to ensure team and individual matches are played as soon as possible to prevent any delay to completion of the season.

Individual League Table

Pld Pts

Brian Milne 22 19

Mickey Quinn 22 17

Paul Currie 22 16

Gerry McAuley 22 14

Conor Morgan 22 13

Sean Doyle 21 11

Joe Loughran 22 10

Martin O’Hagan 22 10

Enda O’Hagan 21 6

John Donaghy 22 6

Kieran Cassidy 22 5

John Halferty 22 4

High Breaks:

Brian Milne 96, 80, 75, 71, 68, 68, 66, 61,61 58, 57, 57, 52, 51

Gerard McAuley 92, 77, 72, 64, 64, 55, 52

Mickey Quinn 92, 69, 61, 56, 55, 54

Sean Doyle 91,78, 71, 69

Paul Currie 82, 66, 63, 53, 53, 52

Kieran Cassidy 79

Joe Loughran 74

Enda O’Hagan 72, 62, 55, 54

Conor Morgan 69, 65, 59, 58, 57, 52

Martin O’Hagan 65, 58, 54

John Halferty 55

John Donaghy 51, 50