Mid Sussex record their finest win since Queens Road Trophy started

The Middies took a 2-1 lead in the named doubles with Kevin Ward/Ian Janman defeating Kevin Jennings/Paul Saunders 50-13 and Mark Bright/ Chris Carter beating Richard Kinnard/James Bagley 54-42, Andy Carter/James Williams pulled a frame back for the host’s with a 54-35 win over Wayne Hamilton/Neil Smith.

The Grins retaliated strongly by taking all three drawn doubles, Les Waite/James Bagley securing a 50-16 win over Denis O’Rourke/Kevin Ward, Nigel Bailey/Bob Ashenden succeeded 49-39 against Neil Smith/Callum Tomsett and another close encounter saw John Whittingham/Jason Pelham losing 48-44 in a final black ball finish with Paul Saunders/Mick Tugwell.

With the Grins taking a 4-2 lead, the Middies came out battling in the ten singles matches. Firstly, Wayne Hamilton, who had vivid memories of a few seasons ago when he broke the pack of reds then to stand back to watch Richard Kinnard clear the table with a magnificent 108 break. Hamilton came to the green baize with fire in his belly and produced his own wizardry with the cue ball when he built a 27 break and scored heavily on his visits to the table, sweet revenge was gained with a 61-17 win. The jubilant Ian Janman followed suit building a 35 break then to move on with a comfortable 63-24 success over James Williams and it was Chris Carter who took the visitor’s into a 5-4 lead when he showed his true bottle to hold his nerve by potting a difficult final black ball in his 49-41 triumph over Kevin Jennings.

John Whittingham was up against the host’s mighty Andy Carter, Whittingham dug in but was unable to hold back Carter to lose out 73-41 and likewise, Denis O’Rourke showing his fighting spirit, was also unable to detain the evergreen Bob Ashenden by going down 62-43. This gave the Grins a 6-5 lead and it was the Middies combative Callum Tomsett who gained the equaliser with a final black ball thriller defeating Les Waite 51-40.

Kevin Ward showed his true metal when coming from behind against the host’s debutant Paul Saunders to force a respotted black, the decisive Ward sunk the black to win 61-54. In another final black ball battle, Jason Pelham showed he was a tough nut to crack when he dug in to oust Bob Ashenden 53-51.

The Grins went into the last two frames endeavouring to gain a draw, alas they found both Mark Bright and Neil Smith in tantalising form, the brilliance of Bright produced a fluent 32 break then moving on to outshine James Bagley 89-9, this followed with the creative Smith dominating his frame to beat Nigel Bailey 53-21.

The 10-6 scoreline was the best victory achieved by Mid Sussex and the match was well marshalled by referees Dennis Wakeford, Stuart Burrell and Matthew Dumbleton.