Week 21 results
Mackintosh Sports 3 v 2 Taff’s Well
RBL Warriors 3 v 2 Mackintosh Snooker
Cathays Cons 2 v 3 Fairwater Cons
Savoy 4 v 1 Canton Libs
Trecenydd Snooker 5 v 0 Rumney British Legion
Cuesaders Z v Bye
Breaks
Brian Rees 75 (Mackintosh Sports)
Mark Bennett 57 (Savoy)
Twm Sion Jones 41 (Fairwater Cons)
Jason Veal 36 (RBL Warriors)
Jason Summerhayes 35 (Savoy)
The closest title race since 2014 is going all the way after last season’s top two both won 3-2 to take it to the final week. An amazing night of drama started well for Mackintosh after a 75 break for Brian Rees in the opening frame against Nick Jones, although a missed black cost him the chance of a 117 clearance. They followed that up with a close win on the colours for Jason Hewett against Rhys Carpenter to make it 2-0 and when Clive Marsh beat Glyn Jones in the third frame they were strong favourites as they heard the news at Cathays Cons where champions Fairwater were being made to work very hard in their match.
Another impressive performance from Twm Sion Jones in the opening frame against Mike Rathkey gave them an early lead, but Darren Gill levelled things after an attritional win over Terry Garland. A nail-biting, hour-long third frame was settled on the black after Steffan Davies looked like putting Fairwater ahead, but after potting the frame-ball pink he inexplicably went in-off and a full-length double by Dan Jones gave him the win to put Cathays 2-1 up.
At that point in the evening, Mackintosh had the destiny of the title in their hands but a superb pink and black from Kevin Brown won the frame against Khurram Khan, and Jimmy Llewellyn followed this up with a win over Ronnie Allen on the colours to make the result 3-2 and leave Mackintosh waiting to hear the result of the Fairwater match.
Facing the prospect of losing the game and handing Mackintosh a huge advantage going into the final week, Fairwater showed why they are reigning champions in a remarkable frame between captain Steve Flanagan and Dave Earls. A snooker on the green looked like giving Earls the frame and potentially ending Fairwater’s chances of another title but a missed brown gave Flanagan a lifeline and eventually he sank the black taking the frame to a re-spot. After some tense safety, Flanagan managed to cut the black into the middle pocket and avoid the in-off to take the match to a decider.
Two of the players of the season faced off as Ben Griffiths played Dave Standage knowing a win would give him the individual rankings title and keep his side alive in the title race. Standage opened up a 30-point lead early on before some solid potting saw Griffiths chip away at the lead, but a great plant by the Cathays stalwart set up a chance to win the frame and deal a hammer blow to Fairwater’s chances. Looking like the frame and match was his Standage missed the brown giving Griffiths the chance he was hoping for and he didn’t disappoint with one of the best clearances of the season under huge pressure to pot brown to black and win the match 3-2 and keep his side alive with the match ending at 11:45pm.
After a night full of pressure and tension, the outcome of the Premier League title will be decided at Rumney British Legion where only a 5-0 win for Mackintosh will be enough for them to win the crown on games won as the points total will be level. However, any slip up will hand the league to Fairwater who at various points during their match must have thought their chances were over, but they showed tremendous resilience to set up an incredibly exciting last week of a brilliant season.
In the other matches taking place this week, RBL Warriors beat Division One champions Mackintosh Snooker 3-2, with Jason Veal’s 36 break being the highlight. A 57 break from Mark Bennett got Savoy off to a great start as they defeated Canton Libs 4-1, whilst Trecenydd Snooker won 5-0 against Rumney British Legion.
