The second tournament of the Senior Billiards series was played at The Ivy Rooms Snooker Club, Carlow on Sunday, 11th of October 2015, the format being 400up with a 90 minute time limit. Aidan Murray (Ivy Rooms) having opened his season in emphatic style by taking the season’s first tournament, continued in this vein by sweeping almost unstoppably to victory in the season’s second round, scoring 50-plus breaks in every game, including two magnificent centuries and winning every match almost unchallenged.
Early round eliminations were Robert McCrum (Celbridge) and Tommy Denieffe (Kilkenny), bowing out at the hands of eventual winner Aidan Murray (Ivy Rooms) and Larry Drennan (also Ivy Rooms) respectively.
The semi finalists in the top half of the draw were Aidan Murray and John Kehoe (Enniscorthy), Aidan having a convincing quarter final win over Larry Drennan, scoring the day’s high break of 142 in the process while John, having had a close quarter final match against Brendan Devlin (Celbridge), gradually drew clear towards the end of the game to secure his place in the semis. In the semi final, Aidan continued in unstoppable form, scoring breaks of 66 and 70 unfinished, to claim his place in the final.
The semi finalists in the bottom half of the draw were Eugene Hughes (Baltinglass) and Wayne Doyle (Q Club, Wicklow), Eugene emerging the winner in a closely contested quarter final match against Rodney Goggins (Wexford) while Wayne had a good quarter final win over Joe Doheny (Borris-in-Ossory). By contrast to his quarter final match, which he won by a mere20 points, Eugene, having led for most of the semi final, lost by the same 20 point margin to a late challenge by Wayne.
In the final, Aidan was first to show, putting in an early break of 88. After a couple of no-score visits by Wayne, he found himself over 100 points adrift of a free-scoring Aidan. Trying his hardest to catch up, Wayne seemed constantly to fall victim to his over-ambitious attempts to redress the balance, either by missing the occasional “easy” shot while trying to maintain position or taking on a difficult one when position went awry. Aidan seemed not to have such difficulties and could afford to ease off the pedal a little. Although he struggled against a loss of form from the start, Wayne was gradually closing the gap but his efforts proved to be too little, too late, leaving Aidan as the well deserved winner on the day.
The next Senior Billiards round of the season takes place at The Ivy Rooms Snooker Club, Carlow on Sunday, 15th November 2015. The format will be seeded draw 90 minute timed. 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.
Results (all matches 400up, 90 minute time limit):
Pre-Quarters
Aidan Murray (Brk: 136) 366 -v- 90 Tommy Denieffe
Larry Drennan (Brk: 51) 380 -v- 260 Robert McCrum
Quarters
Aidan Murray (Brk: 142) 308 -v- 188 Larry Drennan
Brendan Devlin 241 -v- 320 John Kehoe
Rodney Goggins (Brk: 58) 256 -v- 276 Eugene Hughes
Joe Doheny 224 -v- 400 Wayne Doyle (Brk: 63, 51)
Semi-Finals
Aidan Murray (Brk: 66, 70Unf) 343 -v- 143 John Kehoe
Eugene Hughes 267 -v- 287 Wayne Doyle
Final
Aidan Murray (Brk: 88) 267 -v- 206 Wayne Doyle
