Aidan Murray from Wicklow wins the 6th RIBSA Senior Billiards event of the season in the Ivy Rooms Snooker Club on Sunday. In the final Aidan beat Rodney Goggins from the 147club in Wexford to win his second in a row. Well done Aidan. The format was a timed event, all rounds being played to 90 minutes. Aidan Murray of the Ivy Rooms, winner of last month’s event and previously not having won a ranking tournament since December 2012, was back to his winning ways by taking the sixth tournament title of the season with an emphatic win in the Final. The day was tinged with sadness at the recent passing Timmy Murphy, one of the country’s leading players and a most popular and well liked fellow competitor. A minute’s silence was observed in his memory.
With a relatively small entry of 10, the two who bowed out at the pre-quarters stage were the No 3 seed Larry Drennan (Kilkenny) and Aonghus McAnally (Portmarnock).
The semi finalists in the top half of the draw were current No 1 in the rankings Wayne Doyle (Dun Laoghaire) and current double champion Rodney Goggins (Wexford). Both progressed to the semi final with convincing quarter final wins against Liam O’Brien (Borris-in-Ossory) and Brendan Devlin (Celbridge) respectively. From the outset the semi final looked like a one-sided affair, Wayne getting away quickly to amass a 100+ lead. Although slower to get into scoring play, Rodney consistently reduced the deficit to bring himself within striking distance of the game. When he eventually drew level, there was less than one minute left on the clock, and in the remaining seconds Rodney had two more scoring strokes to finish 4 points clear when time was called.
The semi finalists in the bottom half of the draw were Joe Doheny (Borris-in-Ossory) and Aidan Murray (Ivy Rooms), Aidan having had a solid quarter final win against Robert McCrum (Celbridge) while Joe, having come through a closely fought preliminary round against the No 3 seed Larry Drennan had an equally close quarter final game against John Kehoe (Enniscorthy). The semi final in the bottom half of the draw was very similar to that in the top half, Joe getting away to an early lead which he maintained for the first hour of play. A timely 64 break showed that Aidan was not prepared to give in easily and, having reduced the deficit to a mere 6 points, took the lead for the first time in the game with a decisive unfinished visit to win by 26 points.
In the final, Aidan was first to show, scoring well when at the table, quickly amassing a 100 point lead. Rodney struggled to respond, repeatedly finding himself trying to cope with the difficult leaves resulting from Aidan’s safety game. A succession of no-score visits and low-score visits where Rodney failed to bring the balls properly under control, allowed Aidan to draw ever more clear, eventually to dominate the final thus claiming a well deserved tournament victory. At the presentation, Aidan expressed sadness on behalf of all present at the recent loss of our very dear friend and dedicated his win to the memory of Timmy Murphy.
The next Senior Billiards will be the National Championships, 150up format, to be played down to the last two, which will be held at The Ivy Rooms Snooker Club, Carlow on Sunday, 22nd March 2015. Entries will be accepted before 10.30am on the morning of the event.
As always, our thanks are due to Marian Leacy for the excellent playing facilities and to all at the Ivy Rooms Snooker Club for their help on the day.
Full results below
Prelim:
Larry Drennan 316 v 339 Joe Doheny
Aonghus McAnally 199 v 221 John Kehoe
Quarter-Finals:
Wayne Doyle (Brk: 50, 90, 102) 467 v 288 Liam O’Brien
Brendan Devlin 166 v 343 Rodney Goggins
Joe Doheny 299 v 272 John Kehoe
Robert McCrum 202 v 307 Aidan Murray (Brk: 50)
Semi-Finals:
Wayne Doyle (Brk: 52, 59) 264 v 268 Rodney Goggins (Brk: 54, 53)
Joe Doheny 263 v 289 Aidan Murray (Brk: 64)
Final:
Rodney Goggins 137 v 282 Aidan Murray (Brk: 63)
