Who will complete Shield quarter-final line-up?

JUST two places remain to be filled in the knockout stages of the Charity Shield, the opening competition in the Keith Williams Snooker and Pool table services-sponsored Ballymena and District Snooker League season.

With a round of matches to go, six teams have already qualified for the last eight. Parochial Hawks, the first team through, were joined by Dunloy United , Dunloy Galaxy, Dunloy Cowboys , Minnesota A and Fountain Aces.

In Group A the week's top game was between Parochial Hawks and Dunloy United in the Parochial clubrooms.

Martin Crawley gave the visitors the early advantage defeating Danny McGarry in the straight frames before Paul Kelly doubled the advantage with a similar win over John Martin.

Niall Martin brought the Hawks back into the contest with a black ball win over Dunloy captain Michael Crilly in the deciding frame of their match.

The final match turned into a tense battle between Pat McNally and Brendan McTaggart. The Dunloy man took the opening frame on the black only for Pat to take the second frame again on the black.

Brendan, however, made sure that United got the victory taking the deciding frame by 63-49 to give Dunloy three points and edge them ahead of the Hawks on frame difference at the top of Group A.

In the Dunloy clubrooms Dunloy Cowboys also qualified for the next stage with a 4-0 victory over the visiting Minnesota B side.

Randal McDonnell Jnr gave the home side their first point of the night with a straight frames win over Jordan Millar.

Raymond McDonnell then doubled the North Antrim team's advantage as he squeezed past Andrew Hutchinson on the black ball in the third frame decider.

Randal McDonnell, having edged past William Dobbin in the opening frame, then had a more comfortable victory in frame two before a good night for the home team was completed when John Joe O'Neill saw off Stephen McFall in straight frames in the final game.

Dunloy Cowboys 4, Minnesota B 0: (50] Randal McDonnell Jnr 2, (20] J Millar 0 (68-13, 81-49); (40] Raymond McDonnell 2, (15] A Hutchinson 1 (54-74, 59-50, 67-63); (20] Randal McDonnell Snr 2, (30] W Dobbin 0 (61-59, 58-36); (50] JJ O'Neill 2, (15] S McFall 0 (63-23, 81-45).

Parochial Hawks 1, Dunloy United 3: (60] N Martin 2, (45] M Crilly 1 (65-24, 25-59, 55-53); (45] D McGarry 0, (15] M Crawley 2 (57-82, 50-59); (60] J Martin 0, (55] P Kelly 2 (24-65, 25-64); (55] P McNally 1, (35] B McTaggart 2 (66-73, 56-55, 49-63).

Standings: Dunloy United, played 3, points 9; Parochial Hawks 3-9; DUnloy COwboys 4-8; Minnesota 'B' 3-4; Parochial Lions 3-2.

In Group B Dunloy Galaxy maintained their 100 per cent start to the season with a 4-0 success against Minnesota Strikers.

The visitors will probably feel the result was a bit harsh considering that Galaxy won four out of five black ball fights during the match.

Chris Connor took the opening frame for the hosts in his match against Matthew McFall but it appeared the Minnesota youngster would draw level when requiring only one of blue, pink or black to seal frame two. Unfortunately for Matthew it was Chris who potted the remaining three colours.

Galaxy's talented Miceal Murphy then secured another point for the Dunloy side with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Bill McKane. Again the Strikers player had the chance to take the win but unfortunately the potential frame-winning third frame black jiggled in the jaws of the pocket leaving Miceal with the simple pot for victory.

Trevor Alexander and Bobby Darragh then fought out no fewer than three black ball fights. Trevor took the opening frame on a respotted black before seeing a match winning pot on the black in frame two hit the jaws of the corner pocket and rebound over a middle to allow Bobby to square the match.

Bobby had a small lead at the colours in the decider but Trevor pulled off a couple of good snookers allied to some good pots to take an 11 point lead with three colours left. However, as with the earlier games, the Minnesota man couldn't complete the job and a good long pot on the black by Bobby gave him victory. Paul McQuillan earned the fourth point for Galaxy without lifting his cue as the Strikers were forced to travel with only three players.

In the Fountain club Minnesota A also maintained their perfect start with a 4-0 success over host Fountain Jokers.

Brian Hannaway and Rodney McFall had straight frame wins for the visitors over Ryan Goulding and Joe Bingham respectively.

David McClintock and Dean Greer completed the maximum points haul for Minnesota with wins in the deciding frames of their games with David Goulding and Callum Lindsay.

The result leaves Jokers having completed their group games anxiously awaiting the results of the last round of games with their qualification hopes depending on how Minnesota Strikers do in their final game.

Fountain Jokers 0 Minnesota 'A' 4: (50] R Goulding 0, (10] B Hannaway 2 (47-96, 62-74); (35] J Bingham 0, (10] R McFall 2 (55-63, 33-57); (50] D Goulding 1, (10] D McClintock 2 (83-75, 47-82, 58-78); (50] C Lindsay 1, (35] D Greer 2 (64-34, 57-70, 44-64).

Dunloy Galaxy 4, Minnesota Strikers 0: (55] C Connor 2, (60] M McFall 0 (62-34, 53-50); (30] M Murphy 2, (25] B McKane 1 (52-22, 62-85, 58-50); (50] B Darragh 2, (35] T Alexander 1 (61-68, 53-50, 65-58); (45] P McQuillan w/o (35] N McElroy.

Standings: Dunloy Galaxy, played 3, points 10; Minnesota 'A' 3-9; Fountain Aces 3-5; Fountain Jokers 4-4; Minnesota Strikers 3-2.

MINNESOTA HANDICAP

Denver Campbell was the winner of the Saturday handicap competition at Minnesota Snooker Club, beating Greg McCartney by two frames to one.

In the semi-finals, they had accounted for Trevor Bell and Gary Clarke, who had fired a 96 break in an earlier round.