CARDIFF & DISTRICT SNOOKER ASSOCIATION

Cathays Cons have won their second Malcolm Keenor Trophy in five years after winning a tense and exciting final against Cuesaders at Taff’s Well Ex-Serviceman’s Club.

The teams were both off +14 and were evenly matched throughout a tight contest that swung back and forth, and was only decided on the colours in the final frame.

Cathays started the final strongly with a 37 point victory for Darren Gill over Graham Jenkins courtesy of contributions of 21 and 30, but this advantage was cancelled out in the next frame by a dominant display from Graeme Prance against Dave Standage. The Cuesaders captain took early control with a 32 break and eventually won by 46 points to give the Llandaff side a 9 point advantage.

The third frame between Leon Giles and Mike Rathkey was a pivotal one in deciding the outcome of the match after Giles threatened at one point to run away with the frame. It looked like the Cuesaders cueman was about to seal a big victory after an impressive 31 but an in-off on the pink allowed Rathkey to pot the final two balls gaining 19 crucial points in the process, which restricted Giles to a 12 point win.

That gave Cuesaders a 21 point lead going into frame four which turned out to be the frame of the night between Mike Kinman and Kevin Davies. The Cathays potter started strongly and built up a clear lead, but Kinman hit back to take the frame into the colours neck and neck, where some outstanding pots by both players took the frame to the black with Davies smashing it in to claim a 3 point victory.

So it all rested on the final frame between Andrew Walkley and Cathays captain Dave Earls, who had to make up an 18 point deficit, which he managed to wipe out after a few reds. Earls continued to make telling contributions to take a 34 point lead with one red remaining and clinched the match with some lovely potting on the colours to seal his side’s victory and the title for Cathays Cons.