Early-season clash of local pool league’s ‘Big Two’ ends in stalemate

The battle of the ‘Big Two’ in the Ballymena Towers League ended in stalemate last week.
Fairhill Dreamers L-R, Ricky Allen, Sean Branigan, Nigel McMaster, Gary Allen, Ian Dewar, Kenny Allen. INBT 42-172CSFairhill Dreamers L-R, Ricky Allen, Sean Branigan, Nigel McMaster, Gary Allen, Ian Dewar, Kenny Allen. INBT 42-172CS
Fairhill Dreamers L-R, Ricky Allen, Sean Branigan, Nigel McMaster, Gary Allen, Ian Dewar, Kenny Allen. INBT 42-172CS

Michelin Masters and Meatballs - previously Connolly’s ‘B’ - produced a typically high quality match which produced an eight-ball clearance by Pat McAnally in the opening frame!

Results from the second round of league matches were:

Fairhill Dreamers 2, Fairhill Hustlers 4: In this derby match Hustlers drew first blood when Glenn Mairs beat Ricky Allenin straight frames.

Ian Dewar beat Richard Campbell 2-1 to level the match score at 1-1 even though Richard had an eight-ball clearance in the second frame.

Dreamers took the lead when Nigel McMaster came from being a frame down to win 2-1 against Paul Hayes. Game four saw the match all square after Robert Graham defeated Sean Brannigan after being a frame down. In the first frame Sean had an 8ball clearance.

In game five Mark McClelland won the first frame against Ritchie Irwin but Ritchie fought back for a 2-1 win to make the match score 3-2 for the Hustlers. In the final game Linzi McClelland also won the first frame but lost the remaining two games for a 2-1 win for Justin Kilpatrick. POM - Robert Graham.

Diamond Duffers 1, The Inbetweeners 5: Paul Francey got the away team off to a flyer with a 2-0 win over Steven Douglas before Steven Mitchell doubled the match score when he beat Mattew Peacock in straight frames and in game three it was a similar story when Philip Houston had a 2-0 win over Ryan McGerr.

Diamond pulled one back through Ryan McCarroll who defeated Ryan Logan by a 2-1 scoreline. The last two games both went to the Inbetweeners by 2-0 scorelines their winners being Gary Ormandy and Gareth Rowe who defeated Jason Olgilvy and Steven Anderson. POM - Ryan McCarroll.

Moat Mad Dogs 0, Ballee 6: In the first game Ricky Moore won the first frame against David O’Nell but David turned it around and won the next two frames for a 2-1 win.

In game two Drew Sloan had a win in straight frames against Allan Agnew. James Millar also had a win in straight frames aginst Richard Bamber and KD Crabbe also had a win in straight frames against Keith Agnew for a 4-0 lead for the Ballee.

Aaron Browne defeated William Wilson by a 2-1 scoreline and in the last game Alastair Law defeated Sheree Agnew Tuffs by a 2-0 scoreline to complete the whitewash. POM - Ricky Moore.

Michelin Masters 3, Meatballs 3: In the very first frame Pat McAnally completed an eight-ball clearance against Chris Penny who then won frame two but the winner was Pat when he won the last frame.

Ryan Foster doubled the lead for the Meatballs when he beat Brian Hanna in straight frames but Michelin replied through David Armstrong who came from being one down to defeat Alan Davidson by a 2-1 scoreline.

Meatballs restored the two game lead when Barry McLarnon defeated Rick McMaster by a 2-0 scoreline. Back came the Masters when they won the fifth game through Alan Armstrong who beat David O’Sullivan in straight frames and in the final game Jimmy Knowles defeated Dee Irwin by a 2-1 scoreline to earn a draw. POM - Jimmy Knowles.

Connolly’s A 5, The Coach 1: Gary Clarke got the home team off to a good start when he beat Cliffy Allison in straight frames. Mark Campbell doubled the match score when he defeated David Gillespie also by a 2-0 scoreline. In game three Joey McNally beat Alan Balmer by a 2-1 scoreline after he had lost the first frame.

The next two games were both won in straight frames by Keiran Butler and John McAllister who defeated Darren Gilmore and Davy Carlisle to make the match score 5-0.

Coach avoided the whitewash when Frazer Young defeated Peter Kyle by a 2-1 scoreline. POM - Frazer Young.

Social Club 0, Diamond Dazzlers 6: The away team took the first game in straight frames through Ian Boal who defeated Derek Dunlop. In the second game Adrian Rourke also won in straight as he defeated Marc McMullan by a 2-0 score. The next three games were all won in straight frames by the Dazzlers, their winners being Chris Gordon, Robert Artt and Malcolm Graffin who defeated Eddie Fleck , John Fleck and Ross Hill by 2-0 scorelines to make the match score 5-0 for the Dazzlers. In the final game Brendan O’Mullan rounded it all off with a 2-0 win over Albert McBride for a final score of 6-0 for the Diamond Dazzlers. POM - Brendan O’Mullan