CARDIFF & DISTRICT SNOOKER ASSOCIATION

Malcolm Keenor Trophy Match 5 Report

Group A
Caerphilly Cons 2 v 3 The Cons
Canton Libs 2 v 3 Mackintosh Snooker
Rumney British Legion v Bye

Group B
Taff’s Well 3 v 2 Fairwater Cons
RBL Warriors 3 v 2 Roath Cons
Fairwater Cons Mack v Bye

The semi-finals in the Malcolm Keenor Trophy and CDSA Plate have been decided after a very tense night in all four group matches. Taff’s Well have won Group B after they defeated Fairwater Cons 3-2, with RBL Warriors just falling short of a semi spot after they could only manage a 3-2 win against Roath Cons. Fairwater Cons Mack take the other place in the last four where they face Rumney British Legion who had already won Group A with the only 100% record in the competition.

Both sides went into this match knowing only a win would do and Taff’s Well made a strong start after Rob Hayes won an entertaining opening frame on the colours against Twm Sion Jones. The longest frame of the night saw Ian Purnell edge a close frame against Steffan Davies, with Purnell winning after an excellent blue saw him dislodge the pink from the side cushion and he cleared to make it 2-0. Kevin Brown made a very good start in the next against Rob McKenna to establish a 30-point lead and was still comfortably ahead on the colours, but a superbly-laid snooker on the pink was missed by Brown and McKenna cleared to keep his side in the match. Fairwater were buoyed by that win and Shaun O’Connell made a very good break early on against Rhys Carpenter to move into a sizeable lead, but the former Cardiff Open winner hit back to take the frame to the colours, with O’Connell potting the blue to take the match to a decider. The final frame saw both players miss a couple of chances early on but some fluent potting from Jimmy Llewellyn saw him move ahead and leave Huw Thomas needing snookers on the final red which brought the concession and the win for Taff’s Well, with Fairwater settling for a place in the Plate.

Taff’s Well’s opponents in the Malcolm Keenor Trophy semi-finals will be Mackintosh Snooker after Canton Libs were only able to field three players in their final group game. However, Canton won the opener after Luke Haines defeated Mike Nessbert on the black, before Craig Bolton sealed the match win with victory over Tony Chick, and James Wigmore won a consolation frame against Nathan Dunne to make it 3-2.

The CDSA Plate semi-final line up was decided on the final ball of the final frame in The Cons match against Caerphilly Cons with both sides progressing despite Martyn Evans’ side winning 3-2. A 30 break from The Cons captain wasn’t enough to win the opener against Dai Rideout, but a superb performance from Dave Earls levelled the match after beating Dan Bridle before Dave Standage made it 2-1 after defeating Ieuan Simms. A comfortable win for Mike Pardoe against John Hicks took the match to a decider between Dan Wardle and Ciaran Paul, with The Cons winning it after Paul unluckily went in-off in the green pocket after playing safe on the black to clinch a semi-final spot ahead of Canton Libs.

RBL Warriors missed out on a place in the last four of the Malcolm Keenor Trophy after falling just short in their match against Roath Cons. Chris Johnson’s side knew a 4-1 win would be enough to progress and Nural Khan’s win over Lee Cornock put them 1-0 ahead. Clive Marsh levelled the match after he beat Simon Takata, before Dave Richards and Jason Veal both won comfortably against Andrew Champion and Alan Wright respectively to seal the match win at 3-1. The final frame was a high-scoring encounter but Phil Storer won on the black against Chris Johnson to leave the Warriors with the consolation of a Plate semi against Fairwater Cons.