Aidan Murray won the 5th Senior Billiards in the Ivy Rooms on Sunday 4th March beating Eugene Hughes 225-198 in the final.
The fifth tournament of the Scratch Billiards series was played at the Ivy Rooms Snooker Club in Carlow on Sunday, 4th of March 2012. Aidan Murray, having appeared in all but one of the finals this season, claimed his third win of the season to draw ever closer in ranking points to the season’s No 1 player, Eugene Hughes.
In the quarter finals in the top half of the draw, current Champion Larry Drennan (Kilkenny) and current No 1 in the rankings, Eugene Hughes (Carlow) had decisive wins over Celbridge players Brendan Devlin and Robert McCrum respectively. In the semi final, Larry and Eugene shared level points to about the half stage mark, neither player managing to break away from his opponent. From this point, Eugene’s game got stronger, scoring freely when at the table, while for Larry, the opposite was true. A succession of unkindly leaves and breaking down when the opportunities arose left Larry 150 points behind when time was called.
In the two preliminary rounds in the bottom half of the draw, promising young Dun Laoghaire player Wayne Doyle and Borris-in-Ossory man Joe Doheny won through to the quarter final stage, Wayne with a decisive win over Kevin Christie (Portmarnock), which included the day’s high break of 108, and Joe with a good win over Dun Laoghaire veteran Victor O’Gorman. Wayne maintained his good form into the quarter final where he led from start to finish. The other semi finalist in this half of the draw was Aidan Murray (Wicklow), who had a solid quarter final win over Aonghus McAnally (Portmarnock). The semi final was a close scoring game, both players scoring well when at the table. A timely break of 72, occurring at a crucial point towards the closing stages of the game, gave Aidan a margin that was just too much for Wayne to overcome.
The Final was an intriguing and gripping game between two of the country’s leading billiard players. Both players made a slow start, neither scoring significantly, even when opportunities presented themselves. Towards the latter stages of the game, a timely break gave Aidan a 45 point lead, which he defended with a safety stroke. In the safety exchange that ensued, red tucked under the baulk cushion, white and yellow tight on the side cushions, Eugene was the first to succeed in potting a difficult white to leave a double baulk. After a miss by Aidan, and with just under 2 minutes left on the clock, Eugene brought the balls into good scoring position. Instead of getting on with it, Eugene, seemingly unaware of the time, spent time deliberating over each stroke, leaving him still 20 odd points in arrears when time ran out.
The next Scratch Billiards round of the season takes place at the Ivy Rooms, Carlow on Sunday, 18th March 2012. Entries will be accepted before 10.30am on the morning of the event.
Our thanks are due to Jim Leacy for the excellent facilities at The Ivy Rooms and Marian and staff for their help on the day.
Results (all matches 400 up, 90 minute time limit):
