Malcolm Keenor Trophy Match 5 results
Taff’s Well 2 v 3 Mackintosh Sports
Cuesaders Z 4 v 1 Trecenydd Snooker
RBL Warriors 2 v 3 Cathays Cons
Plate Match 5 results
Mackintosh Snooker 4 v 1 Canton Libs
Fairwater Cons 3 v 2 Savoy
Rumney British Legion v Bye
Breaks
Ben Griffiths 45 (Fairwater Cons)
Mackintosh Sports and Cuesaders Z are the Malcolm Keenor Trophy finalists after both sides won their final group games to seal the top places in the group.
Cuesaders Z went into the night knowing that they had to win and hope other results went their way and got off to a flying start to go 2-0 up and put the pressure on the other sides in the group. That lead doubled to 4-0 with Cuesaders knowing a win for Dave Reynolds in the final frame against Chris Garwood would put them through to their first final since 2017, but Garwood won it to make the result 4-1 and leave Graeme Prance’s side waiting to hear of the result at Taff’s Well.
Mackintosh went into the match knowing a win would put them through and they duly won 3-2 but had to work hard in an closely-fought contest with Kevin Brown’s side knowing a win would mean they joined the Mack in the final. Brian Rees won the opener against Rhys Carpenter with a solid performance, before Rob Hayes levelled things after he beat Ronnie Allen on the colours. The next was the frame of the night as Jason Hewett faced Nick Jones with both players knowing would put their side in a strong position for qualification. It was a tight affair and went to the black with both players missing chances, but Jones held his nerve with a full-length pot to put Taff’s Well 2-1 up.
At that point in proceedings, both sides knew that Cuesaders Z had beaten Trecenydd Snooker 4-1 so even a 3-2 defeat would have been enough for Taff’s Well but Khurram Khan’s fluent potting display against Jimmy Llewellyn took the match to a deciding frame. Some excellent matchplay from both Clive Marsh and Kevin Brown meant the frame went to the colours with both players benefitting from snookers, but Marsh sank the pink to win frame and seal Cuesaders’ place in the final.
Cathays Cons beat RBL Warriors 3-2 in the other match in the group with Dave Earls winning the opener against Nick Davis, before Jason Veal’s defeat of Danny Wardle made it all square. Dan Jones beat Ken Linsey to put Cathays 2-1 ahead, but captain Chris Johnson levelled the match after he beat Darren Gill in a high-scoring encounter, with Dave Standage winning the decider versus Mike Watts.
Fairwater Cons and Savoy went into their Plate match knowing only a big win for the Barry side would result in them not qualifying for the final and with only three players the result was almost sealed before the match started. Mark Bennett won the first for Savoy though against Twm Sion Jones, before Geoff Sheppard made it 2-0 after his win over Steve Flanagan, but Ben Griffiths produced a 45 break in the last frame against Jeff Lane to seal the win 3-2 and qualify in second place, with Mackintosh Snooker beating Canton Libs 4-1 in the other match in the group.
