Orkney Pool and Snooker Archives: Stones 1 and Sands Claim A and B League Titles Respectively

The Orkney Pool League 2018/2019 reached a thrilling and dramatic conclusion with all the final games being played on Thursday 28^th February with 2 title deciders capping off a fantastic season. With the league splitting half way through the season it gave teams more chances to claim victories or have a big say in the outcome of the league positions.

League 1

On to the final decider having already claimed victory over the Stromness Legion by 13 frames to 11 the Stones only required a Draw to win the league title for the first time in 4 seasons, while the legion needed a victory to force a playoff. The Stones Started off the better team in the deciding match going 5-0 up to put the pressure on the legion. The Stromness Legion hit back with 2 frames before the stones again took 2 more. The first session finished with a 7-5 advantage to the Stones. The second session began, and the stones mirrored the way they won the first with a convincing start winning 4 of the 5 opening frames putting them on the hill to claim the title. In the end however it was the ever-consistent Neil Cormack who had the privilege of claiming the frame which sealed the title for the Standing Stones Team. In what was one of the most exciting and dramatic finishes to a league season the Stones team will be over the moon to reclaim the title and will be looking to retain this when the League returns next year.

Skippers had a outside chance of winning the League title but had to beat the Ayre and hope that the Stromness Legion were victorious over the Stones to force a 3 way play off as all 3 teams heads to heads were identical. Skippers were coming into this game on the back of a very impressive run of results beating both the Stromness Legion and Stones by 13 frames to 11 and beating the Ayre by 14 frames to 10. Skippers have shown with this crop of players that they are not there just to make up numbers and hopefully we can see them push for the title again in years to follow. The Ayre arrived into this match having just narrowly lost to the Stones and Legion respectively however a lightening fast start by the Ayre saw them 9-1 Up and saw skippers title push ended. The balance of play may not have fully respected the score line with some frames possibly going either way however the Ayre continued to battle and make the final score line 21-3 to finish the season on a high.

The Stones 2 team had a week off this week however showed that they were not there just to make up numbers. Some valiant performances against the more experienced sides showed this team has the potential to challenge the bigger teams and hopefully we can see their players continue to grow and develop under the leadership of Liam Harcus who may lead his team to title challengers.

League 2

In League 2 things were hotting up at the top with another title decider in action on the same night with the Orkney Golf club hosting the Sands to decide who would win the first Orkney B League. The teams went into the fixture equal on points however the Sands having defeated the OGC by 13-11 earlier in the season only required a draw to claim the title. The game started off at a balanced pace with frames going backwards and forwards between the 2 teams. By the end of the first session the scores were 6-6 with everything to play for. Into the second session and the nerves of both teams started to show with frames seemingly turning with every shot. Towards the end of the session the Sands reached the hill with some well taken frames however the OGC fought back to take the score to 11-11. Into the final match the OGC took the first frame which made literally the next frame the winner. The Sands player Stephen Haswell cleared the table but rattled the Black which left Ray O’Neil a difficult clearance to win the game. Ultimately Ray did clear the table well but left a difficult shot on his last ball which came close to dropping but to no avail which left the simplest of blacks for Stephen to take the title for the Sands much to their relief. The OGC can hold their heads-up high winning some very important games and on another day could maybe have won to claim the title.

The Commodore hosted Rohallion in their last game which ended in a stalemate at 12-12 but given the balance of play a draw was probably a fair result. Rohallion, led by George Brown can also hold their heads up high in their debut season with several young players getting involved in pool through his team which finished 3^rd and hopefully they can go on and improve and challenge for the title in coming seasons. The Commodore had a disappointing season by their standards however factors out with their control have caused results not to be as expected however with their group of players you can be sure that they will come back fighting and cause teams’ problems over the season.

In the Final fixture the Pomona played host to the Rugby club but unfortunately fell to defeat by 15 frames to 9. The Pomona have put a valiant effort into all their games pulling off an unexpected draw against the commodore and losing marginally to the rugby club. The Rugby Club have also had a good run in their remaining games beating eventual champions Sands in a thrilling encounter and pushing other teams close in league 2 with some impressive performances.

In the First season of the Post League Split format the league has gone very successfully with the second league allowing teams to challenge for a title as well. The format has also seen many results that on paper wouldn’t be expected but also provide more competition between the leagues. If you would like to get involved with the Orkney Pool League, please visit our Facebook page where in the run up to next season we will post updates and try to find you a team if you wish to play.