Tuesday, 28 November 2023 / Published in Billiards

Ross wins Timmy Murphy Memorial

The Timmy Murphy Memorial handicap tournament was played at Celbridge Snooker Club on Sunday, 26th of November 2023. After a day’s play, which saw many interesting games and several surprise results, the trophy went to Ross Doyle (Dun Laoghaire), a fitting reward for the consistently high standard of play he showed throughout the day.

Play started at 11.00am, all rounds being 90 minutes, handicapped. First round eliminations were Robert McCrum (Portmarnock), Annette Newman (Carlow), Aonghus McAnally (Portmarnock), Brendan Devlin (Celbridge) and Northern Ireland player Keith Savage, who made the trip south in Timmy’s memory.

The semi finalists in the top half of the draw were Dun Loaghaire brothers Wayne and Ross Doyle. Wayne gained his place in the semi final with a well contested quarter final win over Joe Doheny (Borris-in-Ossory) while Ross had an equally well contested quarter final win over Keith Savage. In the semi final, both brothers played excellent high scoring billiards, Ross, with breaks of 81 and 63, managed to maintain his handicap start and despite a superb break of 129 by Wayne, the highest of the day, Ross was able to claim his place in the final.

The semi finalists in the bottom half of the draw were Lloyd Myers (AOH Cork) and John Kehoe (Enniscorthy). Lloyd progressed to the semi final by taking his quarter final against Annette Newman, who has now become a regular and most welcome player on the billiards scene, her game visibly and impressively improving in successive events while John had a good win in his quarter final against Kilkenny veteran and six times Irish Champion Larry Drennan. In the semi final there was never very much between the two until, with about fifteen minutes on the clock John took a slender lead which he maintained to the finish.

The Final turned out to be an enthralling game. First John, who was giving away a handicap start of almost 80 points, showed early signs of making inroads into the deficit, only to have Ross respond and widen the gap back to the original difference. This was how the game progressed, every time John threatened to draw level, Ross would somehow find his touch and draw away again until, when time was called, Ross, with a lead of 90 odd points, finished a well deserved winner of the 2023 Timmy Murphy Memorial Trophy. It was an excellent and absorbing Final and we must congratulate both contestants on a great performance and a special word of thanks to Northern Ireland visitor Keith who did a splendid job as referee.

It was a great pleasure to have Lloyd Myers of AOH Cork, sponsors of the trophy, to make the presentation to the winner in memory of Timmy Murphy, a staunch and active member of AOH for very many years. By way of compensation for his duties as Tournament Director, Brendan Devlin was winner of the plate.

As always, our thanks are due to Phil Martin for the excellent playing facilities and to the staff at Celbridge Snooker Club for their help on the day.

Results (all matches 90 minutes timed, handicapped):

Pre-Quarters