It's all go !

Sorry i've not posted anything on here for a few months , but i have had so much going on in my life.
I've been very busy at work. I've also moved house 6 weeks ago , so i have been trying to get all organised there!
The new snooker season has started. We are currently 2nd in the league after week 6. Individually , im not having the best start to the season i've ever had , but as a team were doing really well. Im still practicing up at The Oldham Snooker Academy as the match table up there is different class! Im going up there tonight watching a player i've known for years , Andrew Higginson. He is doing an exhibition there. He's also doing really well on the circuit , he's currently ranked no.29 in the world...
Carl Bailey has been my practice partner of late. My good friend Pete Stanyer has been really busy of late playing in different leagues & he has also been very busy at work , so we've not seen alot of eachother lately , but still kept in touch. I will be attending his Bonfire party in a few weeks time.

Brandon & Steph have been behaving themselves. We've been doing allsorts when i've not been working , however we haven't been to watch our football team in a while , Manchester City. I will be getting some tickets for a match very soon. We are a little sore however after our 0-3 home loss against Arsenal at the weekend (OUCH!) Were currently 4th in the league. Im also going to get some tickets soon to go & watch Hyde Utd with my kids. I've lived in Hyde all my life , but never been to see my home town team play (shame on me i know)

There is lots & lots of stuff i've not mentioned on here tonight as it's been very hectic lately , but i will add it all now im updating my blog again!

I'll sign off for now but will update my blog regulary again from now on.

R.I.P. Alex "Hurricane" Higgins

It is with great sadness today that the news was announced that Alex Higgins has passed away. He was one of our games great Legends & will be deeply missed by our great game. My thoughts go out to his family , friends , fellow players & everyone else that knew him.
Goodbye Alex "Hurricane" Higgins & thank you for the memories. They will live on forever...

R.I.P. Alex

Inter-League Final

We lost tonight for the second consecutive year in the Inter League Championship Final.
Apart from Michael making a 50 break , the standard was poor to say the least. The less said about it the better really.
Maybe next time ...

Inter-League Semi Final

Tonight's semi final was between two teams full of experienced quality players. A close match was expected. Our opponents were Manchester & District "A" .
Our first player was a good friend of mine & fellow ex-pro Michael Wild. After a missed chance early on , Michael got another chance & knocked in a superb 86 clearance. 1-0.
Up next for us was myself. Our captain chose different tactics tonight & put his strongest players on early on instead of later. His tactics worked perfectly. I played another experienced amateur. We both had a few chances but it was me who ended out winning by 45pts. 2-0. Were now +110 on aggregate.
Next up for us was our Irish friend Jamie McCardle. He's a great potter Jamie & has had a good season knocking in some sizeable breaks in all competitions. It turned out to be a scrappy affair but ultimately Jamie won extending our lead to 3-0 & + 140 on agg.

Mid-session interval ...


It all seemed plain sailing , but snooker is a funny game with lots of twists & turns.
Our next player Darren didn't have the best of nights & to be fair his opponent played really well as he had to otherwise the match was over. There captain was Darren's opponent & he played very well winning by 80. The atmosphere changed in an instant as now from an almost impossible position they could actually snatch victory away from us. 3-1 & +60 agg.
I had a discussion with our captain & agreed to play our representative from Oldham. Saj is a very good potter & is also left handed like myself. It was a cagey opening with some good safety. There player knocked in a good 30 break for starters. We were now only 30pts infront. We couldn't possibly lose from being 3-0 up & 140 infront could we?
You bet we couldn't ! Saj dug deep & made a 45 break to extinguish any hope they had of winning.

It was a great nights snooker with lots of quality players on show. We ran out easy 6-1 winners in the end.

Our final opponents are Bolton "A" who beat the 2007 champions Urmston by the same score line 6-1.

The final will be played next Monday 26th April @ Withington Bowling Club , Derby Rd , Withington. It's a 745pm start. Anybody wanting any information or directions for the night ,send me an email.

World Championships

Today is the start of the 2010 World Snooker Championships at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. It's the first year i won't be sharing watching it with my Father but im sure you'll be watching it from above Dad. x
Aswell as the snooker starting i had a full day planned with my family. Firstly the alarm went off at 8am as we were going to the City Academy in Fallowfield where Brandon plays with children his own age on Saturday mornings from 930-1130. Snooker & Football are his favourite sports so he had the best of both worlds today!
We collected Steph on the way also as she was spending the day with us too. After we had finished at the football , we made our way over to my Mother's where we all had a bite to eat. We had arranged to go to Stockport after eating & listening to the football on the radio. City lost 1-0 in injury time & Spurs won 2-1 so it's going to be tough now finishing in 4th spot at the end of the season...
Off to Stockport we went. Brandon had some new Nike Trainers , Steph had some new Sandals & i treated myself to the Argentina National Team football t-shirt with Tevez printed on the back. Im saving it for the World Cup which starts in June. Were all really looking forward to that starting. Whilst we were out , we popped into a fancy coffee shop & all had a drink with some cakes too , happy days.
I dropped Mum off at 6pm then took Steph back to her mums. Next me & Brandon went to Roseanna's to have our hair done. He loves going there as he gets to see Rose's two lads Alex & Luca. We both had our hair done , he had a play & me and rose had a catch up on everything.
We arrived home around 9pm after a full day to say the least. We watched some snooker & eventually went to bed around midnight.

It's the Inter-League semi final Monday night. The venue is at the Barrfield Club in Salford. I will update the result on Tuesday as to how we got on ...

Inter-League Quarter Final

Tonight was the quarter final of the Inter League competition. Our captain Mike Thorpe informed me before the match started that two of our stronger players were unavailable due to other commitments so we were going to have to dig deep with a weakened team. What a topsy turvy match it turned out to be.
We lost the first frame by 40. Second up for us was Jamie. He managed to nick the win on the colours. 1-1. After the third frame we found ourselves 2-1 down & 62 behind on aggregate. Mike & myself were the remaining two players left. Which way would he play it...?
Mike put himself on fourth & what a performance he made. He potted almost everything he went for & trounced his opponent by 69pts!
The pressure was now reversed onto me going on last. We were 7pts infront now on aggregate. The previous night i had made a 120 break in my Cup competition , but with all my vast experience i've learnt over the many years i've been playing , i knew today was another day...
It turned out to be a fragmented tactical battle with a place in the semi's riding on the outcome. It was never going to be a one visit win with the balls going awkward. It turned out to be proper nail biting stuff. We both had half chances to win it on the colours even though they were placed quite awkwardly. I ended up potting a 6ft Pink into the Green pocket to seal our semi final spot!
What a great ending to a tension filled night. Roll on the semi final...

Ton-up Club

After a 10hr day at work today , i set off to Rileys Belle Vue which is just a 5 minute drive from my work place.
I was playing Adrian Ladkin in the 4th round of the Presidents Cup at 8.45pm. He was receiving +44 off me. He is capable of knocking a break in so i knew i had to keep things tight with him receiving a big start.
The first frame was a tactical battle with not much scoring. I had a 30+ break but the frame came down to the colours. I managed to pot a good Brown & Blue then a safety exchange developed on the Pink. After several length of the table safety shots by both of us , Adrian misjudged his next shot & i cut it back into the middle bag to win the first. 1-0.
The second frame i rolled back the years. After a safety exchange , i was left a long pot knowing if it went in i was right in amongst the Black area. It duly went in & i compiled a magnificent 120 break. I was always in close control around the Black spot. The table was nice & fast which suits my "touch" game. I played a crowd pleasing exhibition shot on the final Black doubling it the full length of the table which was the only ball i missed with a total clearance on.
If not next season , then the season after im going to have another tilt on the circuit as i know i can still compete at the highest level.
My game is in very good shape. I will be contacting some of my old practice partners in the near future to sharpen up my match play as well as continuing to have practice sessions with my very good friend Pete Stanyer. He's a diamond is Pete & a very accomplished player in all Cue Sports

Inter-League tomorrow night , would be nice to knock another ton in then too ...

I've added a picture of Adrian & Me here taken about 8yrs ago.