St John’s all set for an in-house battle for glory

St John’s B made it through to the shootout for silverware largely thanks to their handicap start over league champions Chelmarsh B.

However, after the first two frames they must have thought that a 182-point advantage was far less than needed.

Chris Lewis got Chelmarsh off to a good start by beating Mark Worsdell to claw back 36 points and then Gary Smith trounced Mike Crawley, knocking in a 61 break on the way to reducing the arrears to 39.

It was then that the wheels fell off the Chelmarsh bus. Paul Manning was held to a draw by Jason Brown and Roy Dickenson upset the apple cart by beating Richard Lewis to put St John’s 58 in front. Mike Rogers did his best, but this deficit proved a bridge too far when playing against a stubborn Mark Jones.

St John’s A had the advantage of a 21-point start when playing against Broseley B and they more or less held on to that lead throughout the match. In fact, they were 22 points in front after the first two frames and 23 ahead prior to the last.

Josh Summers gave St John’s an excellent start by beating Owen Hughes. This was followed by Mick Brezwyn restoring equilibrium with a similar points victory over Tim Steele. Kevin Hawkins then almost doubled St John’s lead by beating Nick Carson, only for Pete Thompson to take the match back to the starting position by beating Martin Lippitt. Eddie Mullard managed to beat Rob Powell in the final frame but not by enough to prevent St John’s A from crossing the winning line.

The all St John’s’ final will ensure a new name is engraved on the AE Bentley Cup.

The final of the Consolation Cup will be contested by Shifnal B and Broseley A.

Shifnal’s opponents, Alveley B, were unable to table a full team. So, instead of Alveley having a handicap advantage of 70 plus points, they trailed by 37 before a ball had been played.

Carl Walker, Mick Mancini Matt Judd and Terry Askew then all won as Shifnal triumphed 456-176.

Broseley A’s win against Alveley C went to the wire although the result never really looked in doubt. Chasing a handicap of 105 points, Broseley made steady progress, with Matt Smout beating Reg Burton and Gary Watson seeing off Bryan Oakley to reduce the arrears to 61.

Then came the performance of the evening from Broseley’s Cameron Barden who trounced Norman Jones to cut Alveley’s advantage to 12. Andy Garbett and Neil Caswell then saw Broseley over the line.

Both finals will be played on Tuesday, April 5.

Semi-Final Match Results

Challenge Cup. Broseley B 301 (H’c 35), St. John’s A 312 (56): O. Hughes 41, J. Summers 79; M. Brezwyn 84, T. Steele 47; N. Carson 31, K. Hawkins 46; P. Thompson 45, M. Lippitt 31; E. Mullard 65, R. Powell 53. Chelmarsh B 366 (35), St. John’s B 404 (217): C. Lewis 63, M. Worsdell 27; G. Smith 117, M. Crawley 10; P. Manning 57, J. Brown 57; R. Lewis 39, R. Dickenson 58; M. Rogers 55, M. Jones 35. Consolation Cup. Alveley C 418 (224), Broseley A 437 (105): R. Burton 48, M. Smout 72; B. Oakley 44, G. Watson 64; N. Jones 29, C. Barden 78; B. Arnold 30, A. Garbett 53; C. Jepson 43, N. Caswell 51. Shifnal B 456 (49), Alveley B 176 (84): Chris Petford 72-0 walkover for Shifnal; C. Walker 60, M. Coffey Snr 28; M. Mancini 112, M. Coffey Jnr 12; M. Judd 88, D. Jones 13; T. Askew 75, J. Wright 39.