Week 1 results
Canton Libs 2 v 3 Taffs Well
Cathays Cons 1 v 4 Fairwater Cons Mack
Rumney British Legion 4 v 1 RBL Warriors
Fairwater Cons 5 v 0 Savoy
Mackintosh Snooker 5 v 0 Roath Cons
Beech Tree Hotel v Bye
Breaks
Alan Hurley 65 (Fairwater Cons Mack)
Mark Bennett 46 (Savoy)
Kevin Jones 38 (Taff’s Well)
Graeme Prance 35 (Rumney British Legion)
Fairwater Cons have started the 2022-23 season in style after a comprehensive 5-0 win over Savoy put them top of the table as they look to make it a hat-trick of CDSA league titles.
The first frame was a quality encounter between Twm Sion Jones and Mark Bennett, with Jones establishing a healthy lead early on. Bennett hit back with an excellent 46 break and found himself 13 points ahead on the pink. However, he presented Jones with an opportunity which he took to force a repotted black, and then a safety error from Bennett gave Jones the chance to cut the black into the middle which he took to make it 1-0.
Last season’s Player of the Year Ben Griffiths then made it 2-0 after beating Colin Lane following a decisive snooker which gave him 16 points in fouls, before Steffan Davies sealed the win with victory over Jeff Lane. Fairwater captain Steve Flanagan won an entertaining frame on the black against Lee Greening to make it 4-0, whilst one of last season’s form players Terry Garland comfortably beat Geoff Sheppard to complete the whitewash.
Joining them at the top of the league at this early stage is Mackintosh Snooker after they beat new boys Roath Cons 5-0. Wins for Jerry Connors over Phil Storer and Carlos Schiazza against Presley Cornock put them 2-0 up, before Mike Nessbert beat Andrew Champion to give them the win. Billy Connors and Nathan Dunne then registered wins against Lee Cornock and Alan White respectively to give last season’s Division One champions the perfect start to the season.
Mackintosh Sports may have moved to Fairwater Cons but it hasn’t affected their form as they begun the year in fine style with a 4-1 away to Cathays Cons. Jason Hewett won a very close opener on the black, before a superb 65 break from Alan Hurley sealed the next, although a missed red denied him the chance of a 100 clearance. Cathays hit back in the next as Dave Earls comfortably won the third frame against Jacob Boyle, before Khurram Khan defeated Darren Gill on the black. Cathays can count themselves unlucky as another black-ball frame saw captain Ronnie Allen beat Dan Wardle to seal the win for his side.
Taff’s Well and Canton were also involved in a very tight match as four frames went to the last ball or two, with a 38 break from Kevin Jones not enough to win the frame against Ed Topham. Tom Cross and Rory Wigmore faced each other in the next with the Taff’s Well stalwart winning on the blue to level things up at 1-1. A scrappy frame in the next saw Jimmy Llewellyn win on a respot against Luke Haines to put Taff’s Well 2-1 up, but Declan O’Callaghan’s win over Kevin Brown took the match to decider where solid potting from Rob Hayes won the frame and match against Canton captain James Wigmore.
The Rumney derby saw a reinforced British Legion side, thanks to their acquisition of a few Cuesaders players, beat the Warriors 4-1 to get their season off to a very positive start. A 35 break from Graeme Prance was enough from him to beat Simon Takata in the first frame, before Tony Parkin made it 2-0 after he defeated Nick Davis. Warriors’ captain Chris Johnson’s win over John Huggins got his side back in the match, but Paul Chichester sealed the win after he beat Dave Richards and Andy Magill finished things off for the Legion with victory over Mike Watts.
