Corks AOH side Lyodd Myers, Sonny Stack, Kevin O’Leary, Donacha Breathnach and Tim Murphy jnr
WHEN the two top league sides met last week it was a game of huge interest and it was a match that really lived up to its billing as Youghal CYMS ‘A’ and the Crucible went all the way to the deciding frame and all the way to the last ball as Greg Casey defeated Youghal’s Brendan Cooney on a black ball game giving the Cork City side a notable victory away from home.
This was the very last league game of 2011 as the Cork Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) Cork League takes its traditional winter break and when the league resumes in mid January the Youghal men will travel up to the Crucible for part two of this epic battle.
Both the Crucible and Youghal CYMS ‘A’ have already qualified for the semi finals of the league, the question now, is what two teams will join them there?
Three sides are battling for those two remaining semi final spots, with Youghal CYMS ‘B’, the AOH and Douglas ‘A’ all in the mix.
When the CBSA Cork snooker league returns on the 12th of January Douglas ‘A’ will play against the AOH at the ‘South Side’ venue and it will be a very important night for both teams. If the AOH win that one they will almost certainly qualify and it would be expected that the AOH will take all five points on offer during the last two weeks of the league when they play Douglas ‘B’.
That means that it could all come down to the last evening of the league when Youghal CYMS ‘B’ play at home in the ‘Market House’ in Youghal against Douglas ‘A’. There is still a lot of permutations to be played out, but the team that wins between the AOH and Douglas ‘A’ on the resumption of the league in Douglas will be in the strongest position.
As for Youghal CYMS ‘C’ and Douglas ‘B’ this was the first year that Douglas ‘B’ were involved with the CBSA Cork snooker league and it is a huge learning curve and a big step up in standard to deal with, but it is the only way that players will improve to a higher level, Youghal CYMS ‘C’ took a lot from last season and have a couple of victories under their belt this year.
Results from Week 11 CBSA
AOH 8 – 6 Douglas A
Shane O’Mahony 2 – 1 David Cremin
Lloyd Myers 2 – 1 Derek O’Neill
Kevin O’Leary 1 – 2 Tony Moore (58, 68)
Donncha Breathnach 2 – 0 Karl Busteed
Sonny Stack 1 – 2 Gerry O’Sullivan
Youghal A 7 – 8 Crucible
Brendan Cooney 0 – 3 Greg Casey
Adrian Landers 1 – 2 David Cassidy
Derek Aherne 2 – 1 Ryan Cronin
Christopher Cooney 2 – 1 Cian Corcoran
Ger Kelly 2 – 1 Ciaran Cronin
CBSA League Table
Played Won Lost Points
Youghal CYMS ‘A’ 11 10 1 25 (Q)
Crucible 9 9 0 23 (Q)
Youghal CYMS ‘B’ 10 4 6 10
Douglas ‘A’ 9 4 5 10
AOH 9 4 5 9
Youghal CYMS ‘C’ 8 1 7 3
Douglas ‘B’ 8 0 8 0
Remaining Fixtures in the CBSA Cork snooker league
January the 12th
The Crucible v Youghal CYMS ‘A’
Douglas ‘A’ v The AOH
Youghal CYMS ‘C’ v Douglas ‘B’
February 2nd
The AOH v Douglas ‘B’
Douglas ‘A’ v Youghal CYMS ‘B’
Youghal CYMS ‘C’ v The Crucible
February 9th
Douglas ‘B’ v The AOH
Youghal CYMS ‘B’ v Douglas ‘A’
The Crucible v Youghal CYMS ‘C’
Last week the draw for the most eagerly anticipated event in club snooker, the ‘Munster Snooker Club Championships’ took place in Fermoy at the Wagon Wheel pub and the draw between five seeded clubs and twenty other sides was fairly kind to the eight CBSA teams involved.
One group has four Cork sides involved, the Crucible, Youghal CYMS ‘C’, The AOH and Fermoy CYMS were all drawn together, with the New Vic ‘C’ side making up the fifth spot in Group 3.
What this means is at the very worst case scenario one Cork side will progress into the knockout stages.
One major problem this year is that the dates do clash with the National under 19’s, under 21’s and Masters ranking points event in the Ivy Rooms in Carlow, but with a weekend free on February the fourth, I am reasonably confident that the powers that be at RIBSA will take a good look at the situation.
Draw for Munster Team Championships, Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney, January 20th – 22nd
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
New Institute ‘A’ (1) Co. Tipperary New Vic. ‘A’ (2) Limerick Crucible S.C. (3) Cork
Ennis S.C. Co. Clare New Institute ‘B’ Co. Tipperary New Vic. ‘C’ Limerick
St. Johns, Limerick Cue Club ‘B’, Kerry Fermoy CYMS
Blackwater S.C, Waterford Youghal CYMS ‘B’ AOH, Cork
Carrig on Suir S.C. Waterford Cappaquin S.C Waterford Youghal CYMS ‘C’
Group 4 Group 5
Waterford S.C.(4) ‘A’ Youghal CYMS ‘A’ (5)
Thurles S.C Co. Tipperary Waterford ‘B’
New Vic. ‘B’ Limerick Douglas ‘A’ Cork
Cue Club ‘A’, Kerry Norris’s S.C. Waterford
Douglas ‘B’ Cork Cue Club ‘C’ Kerry
