Barker House Farm received a good crowd for the Roses Pool, a great spectacle with the men’s and women’s side by side on Friday evening. Lancaster, captained by Steph Laba, Mike Logan and Matthew Caunce, fielded two very competitive sides. Ben Caborn played first for the men and went 1-0 up, but defaulted on the black in the second frame and slipped to a somewhat unlucky 2-1 defeat.
In the second game, Pendle captain Ciaran Roach was given very little chance at the table and to the crowd’s dismay, York took a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile on the ladies’ table, Sophie Lau played a faultless first game to put Lancaster into the lead, before Fylde’s Harriet Edwards and Arielle Planchette were both beaten to give York the lead on both tables.
Grizedale’s Alex Smith was next up for the men and in a close game, managed to find the edge and put the red rose back on track in the match. His good work was followed by Danny Lowe who displayed some good tactical play and tied the game up at 2-2.
Pendle fresher Filsan Tarsey made her Roses debut with a convincing first frame win, and after a slight wobble to lose the second, she walked through the third to tie the ladies match – doubling in the black while snookered, to leave both games tantalisingly poised at 2-2. By this point, the crowd was becoming increasingly boisterous with both games closely fought.
Lancaster had contrasting fortunes in the 5th games, as Pendle’s Gemma Pollock showed good potting ability, as she full table doubled her last red to leave her on the black in enigmatic style. On the other table Adam Hobbs was soundly beaten as York took the lead in the men’s game. From here, Lancaster’s women took the initiative.
Molly Chambers – after walking on to Molly’s Chambers by Kings of Leon – put the girls in front. Captain Steph Laba was beaten by easily York’s best potter, but Graduate College’s Hayat Kara played very well to seal the victory for Lancaster in the eighth game, later solidified by vice-captain Charlotte Baker to leave an impressive final score of Lancaster 6, York 3.
Co-captain Matt Caunce, representative of England students, won his match convincingly to tie the men’s game up at 3-3 and the stage was set for captain Mike Logan. Pendle As vice-captain and England International, he reached the semi-finals of the BUCS men’s singles and in his final Roses, looked to be on top form. In the first frame, York broke, and after a series of good pots, controversially fouled by touching a ball with his finger. Enter Logan, with seven balls on the table cleared up with the first visit, leaving the black over the pocket, which he potted with his second visit amid chants of “you need a miracle” from the Lancaster supporters.
In the second frame Logan was disappointed not to pot off the break, but with the crowd behind him, he gave his opponent little chance. The York player was clearly rattled and Mike Logan took the frame easily to the joy of the crowd to put Lancaster in command. Next to the table was Dean Stoker, in the eighth game of the match. It appeared the pressure got a little too much though and after some lazy shots from both players, York managed to tie the game at 4-4.
By this point, it had passed midnight, and we were into the sixth hour of pool. Chris Kirby displayed some lovely tactical play to ease into his match and take the first frame, to leave Lancaster one frame away from the win. However, it wouldn’t be so easy, after a second long tactical frame, Kirby missed a simple black after a small clearance and handed York the frame.
After nearly seven hours of high intensity pool, it all came down to one frame. Kirby started emphatically and dominated with a lovely clearance. Unluckily, he didn’t have a potting angle on the black, yet nearly fluked it while his opponent still had seven balls left on the table. He did leave it in the jaws, and smothered the York player out of the frame to win for Lancaster, final score: Lancaster 5, York 4.
