Aidan Murray won the 2nd Senior Billiards Event held in the Ivy Rooms on 4th November. His opponent in the final was Wayne Doyle.
The second tournament of the Scratch Billiards series was played at the Ivy Rooms Snooker Club in Carlow on Sunday, 4th of November 2012. Aidan Murray (Wicklow), having made a good start to the season by getting to last month’s Final, advanced his position in the rankings by taking the season’s second scratch tournament title.
The semi finalists in the top half of the draw were Aidan Murray (Wicklow) and Aonghus McAnally (Portmarnock), each having had good wins against Ross Doyle (Dun Laoghaire) and Brendan Devlin (Celbridge) respectively. In the semi final, Aidan was always in command and, despite some good scoring from Aonghus, which included a 67 break, Aidan’s response, including the day’s high break of 98, easily saw him through to the final.
The bottom half of the draw saw a similar pattern to the top half, all matches being easily won by significant margins. The only exception was perhaps the quarter final between Wayne Doyle (Dun Laoghaire) and Larry Drennan (Kilkenny) where first Wayne led by 100 points, then Larry, in recovering from the deficit went almost 100 ahead. As the game progressed to the final stages, scores were back level. In the run to the finish, Wayne was first to get an opportunity, which he took to good effect, taking the game by 40 points. The other semi finalist in the bottom half of the draw was Cork veteran Timmy Murphy, having first seen off Robert McCrum (Celbridge) and Joe Doheny (Borris-in-Ossory) by good margins. In the semi final, however, Timmy’s energy, no doubt affected by his current programme of medical treatment, ran out and, exhausted, he had no alternative but to concede to a youthful Wayne when the game was still at an early stage.
In the Final, Wayne was first to show, quickly bringing his score to 96 before Aidan had scored more than 20. Never to be put off by such a situation, Aidan gradually closed the gap and then, with a couple of 50-plus breaks, established a solid lead. Facing Aidan in this form, and trying to cope with a series of very poor leaves when he came to the table, Wayne fell further and further behind, while Aidan forged ahead. Playing as he was, it was perhaps only fitting that Aidan ran out the second Final of the season with a stylish unfinished break of 73.
The next Scratch Billiards round of the season takes place at the Ivy Rooms, Carlow on Sunday, 25th November 2012. The format will be seeded draw 90 minutes timed. 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, no time limit):
Pre-Quarters
Timmy Murphy 400 – 271 Robert McCrum
Joe Doheny 400 – 333 Victor O’Gorman
Quarters
Aidan Murray 400 – 315 Ross Doyle
Brendan Devlin 320 – 400 Aonghus McAnally
Timmy Murphy 400 – 279 Joe Doheny
Wayne Doyle 400 – 360 Larry Drennan
Semi-Finals
Aidan Murray (Brk: 98) 400 – 232 Aonghus McAnally (Brk: 67)
Timmy Murphy 52 – 120 Wayne Doyle (Brk: 75)
