Congratulations to Terry Garland and Twm Sion Jones after they defeated the Mackintosh Sports pairing of Jason Hewett and Brian Rees 3-2 after a tense and closely-fought match at Taff’s Well Ex-Serviceman’s Club.
The Fairwater Cons duo had to come from behind though after Hewett and Rees made a blistering start in the opener with Rees making 43 which was enough to put them 1-0 ahead. They continued to dominate in the second and were keeping their opponents off the table, with Hewett registering an excellent 47 break to comfortably take a 2-0 lead and with the match best of five frames it looked certain that they would add the Handicap Pairs to their long list of CDSA achievements.
The third frame saw the pivotal moment of the match with Jones getting in first, but after losing position he had a tough cut back on the black to keep the break alive although he knew a miss would leave Hewett and Rees in the balls and a great chance to win the title. Showing real nerve he potted it and went straight into the pack of reds to give him the opportunity to get back into the match, and although he broke down on 37 it was enough when added to their handicap start of 14 points to win the frame and make it 2-1.
The momentum appeared to have switched and both Hewett and Rees missed chances in the next before Jones got in again with a 35 break sealing the frame to take the match to a decider. It was a high-scoring epic with Rees breaking down on 16 after going into the pack of reds, before it was left once again to Jones who replied with a 45 break. Hewett then struck back with a 22 to bring the frame level with one red left and then a well-laid snooker gave the advantage to the Mack pair. Garland hit the snooker but left Rees with the chance of a clearance but an inexplicable kick on the yellow allowed Jones to lay a snooker which Hewett hit at the third attempt only to go in-off in the middle pocket.
With the Fairwater duo now 16 points ahead it was left to Garland to sink the match-winning colours of yellow, green and brown leaving Hewett and Rees needing snookers, but Jones sealed the match with a long pink to give him and Garland the title.
