CARDIFF & DISTRICT SNOOKER ASSOCIATION

Congratulations to Taff’s Well A after they won the 2018 Malcolm Keenor Trophy with a comprehensive victory over Canton Libs A in the final.

The match took place at Fairwater Conservative Club and was the fourth time the sides were facing each other this season after Taff’s Well’s win in the group stage earlier in the year. However, Canton were without their star man Kishan Hirani after his exploits at the recent Q School event.

The draw saw Will Williams on first against Luke Pitman and the Taff’s Well player quickly built on his 15-point handicap to take control of the opener. He then took advantage of a fluke to make a 21 break and eventually win by 63 points to give Taff’s Well the early lead.

They extended their advantage in the next as Cardiff Open runner-up Steffan Davies continued his good form to comfortably beat Shaun O’Connell by 66 points and put his side in a very strong position after two frames.

Up next for Taff’s Well was Suraj Singh against Canton captain Steve Flanagan, who had some bad luck early on by twice going in-off to allow Singh to build a lead. The Taff’s Well youngster then showed some of the flair that has been evident all season to pull away and win by 107 points.

So the lead for Taff’s Well was now 236 points, which meant the two remaining frames had to see huge wins for the 2016 winners. The fourth frame was the closest of the night but went the way of Taff’s Well again with Kevin Jones defeating Lee Cornock by 23 points to give them an unassailable lead of 274 points going into the final frame.

The last frame of the evening was undoubtedly the most entertaining as both Steve Rees and Twm Jones fought it out despite the result already being decided. Some exhibition shots and interesting decision-making ensured an entertaining night ended in good spirits with Jones producing the best individual performance of the match, but it was in vain as the concession came on the green to give Taff’s Well A the victory by 228 points.