Cardiff Open Plate Singles
Clive Marsh 2 v 3 Luke Haines
Congratulations to Canton Libs’ Luke Haines as he defeated Roath Cons’ Clive Marsh 3-2 in an exciting Cardiff Open Plate Singles final at County Conservative Club.
The opening frame featured lots of tight matchplay with neither player wanting to give away any easy chances, before Haines took advantage of a good opportunity to establish a lead following a 22 break. A fluked snooker then helped him build a lead heading into the colours and after potting the yellow, green and brown he only need the blue for the frame. However, Marsh potted a tremendous long blue only for the cue ball to finish behind the black denying him an opportunity to pot the pink, and he failed to hit the pink off one cushion leaving it on for Haines to secure the frame.
Another cagey start in the next frame led to a re-rack with lots of balls in the baulk end and both players either rolling into the pack or clipping off them on to the top cushion. The frame re-started and the first real chance fell to Haines who established an early lead courtesy of another 22 break. Marsh slowly managed to get back on terms with some solid safety play and excellent single ball potting to go into the colours seven points ahead, before he potted green to pink to level the match at 1-1.
The next frame was dominated by a series of foul and miss incidents for both players which saw the frame swing both ways, with Haines establishing an early 25-point lead. More prolonged safety as in previous frames saw Haines preserve most of his lead going into the colours, before more penalty points against Marsh followed by Haines fluking the brown put him 19 up on the blue, which he potted to take a 2-1 lead.
Marsh knew he needed to win the next and he showed great confidence and potting ability to establish a 20-point lead early on. He then put together a solid 26 break around the pink spot to extend his lead to 46 points with three reds left and the concession soon followed to make it 2-2 and take the match to a deciding frame.
A hard-fought and well-contested final reached its conclusion as the decider started again with solid matchplay, although Haines managed to establish a narrow lead. Marsh was unable to take advantage of his first good chance as a crucial miss on a red into the middle allowed Haines to take a 22-point lead into the colours. It looked like Haines was on the verge of victory as Marsh left the yellow over the pocket, but Haines to followed the yellow in with the cue-ball to create a frame-winning chance for Marsh. He potted yellow and green but knew he still needed the remaining colours to snatch victory, so opted to play a safety on the brown which gave Haines a potential double into the middle. With the blue in the middle of the table, Haines took the gamble and sank the brown but didn’t manage to land on the blue, so elected to play off it and snooker Marsh behind the pink. An awkward escape with rest saw the cue-ball go past the pink and hit the black to leave Marsh requiring snookers, but after a few safeties Marsh left the pink over the green pocket which Haines stroked in to clinch the Open Plate title.
Darren Gill
