Lancaster men’s pool team lost a topsy turvey tie against York. The way side had started terribly, going 2-0 down before recovering to lead 3-2. However, they could not maintain the advantage and eventually subsided to a 5-4 loss.
The first game saw James Stone take on York’s ‘man to watch’, England university pool team captain Mike Walsh. The first frame was very open which favoured the superior potting of Walsh. Stone started the second in fine style and looked to be favourite to level; until once again Walsh capitalised with some quality play. Despite the 0-2 score line Stone was certainly not disgraced; indeed had he played to a similar standard against any other opponent, he may well have tasted victory.
In the second tie bar sports all rounder Nick O’Malley faced off against York’s George Hogg. With the standard of both players so high it was only likely to take one mistake to end the frame, and so it proved as O’Malley pounced to punish a Hogg error in clinical fashion. Unfortunately that was as good as it got for O’Malley as he made errors of his own and failed to capitalise when Hogg dropped his game; the final result 2-1 to Hogg.
With Lancaster 2-0 down it was down to the ever reliable Richard Floyd to take to the table. He lived up to his reputation with a commanding 2-0 victory during which his opponent, Andy Wywel only played three shots.
With the vital win secured, Dan Worthington faced off against Sam Wass. The Lancaster man held his nerve in the deciding leg and narrowly pulled through to put his side level at 2-2 in the contest.
John D’Ambrosio continued the good work of his teammates against Mat Robson. After going 1-0 behind he regained composure and improved his potting accuracy and claimed the next two frames and put Lancaster 3-2 ahead overall.
Terry James was next to play for Lancaster, who were now within two games of victory. Despite this incentive, he was unable to take advantage and his opponent Mungo Pay raced to a 2-0 win and levelled up the contest at 3-3.
Similar fates became of Graeme Gibson and Alex Perry as they both lost 2-1 and allowed the momentum to turn massively in York’s favour, as the overall contest slipped away from Lancaster. Both men missed chances and were quickly punished by their opponents.
For the final game Lee Osborne knew he was playing for pride with Lancaster already 5-3 down. Despite this indignity, he played an excellent game of pool to hammer his opponent Luke Fleet with a convincing 2-0 score line.
Captain Lee Osborne will no doubt rue a difficult middle period of the match where a run of three unanswered losses cost his side dear. However, he can take comfort from the strong performances elsewhere in the bar sports competition
The exhibition college select pool resulted in a better result from a Lancaster perspective. The side managed to overcome York 5-4 after the event was carried over to the Sunday after the fracas at the darts on Saturday evening. Danny Conelly won the final game 2-0 and Jake McManus also performed admirably in a 2-1 win, despite riding his luck slightly. When this event counts for points in a couple of years time, it seems Lancaster will be well placed to capitalise.
By Matthew Todd
