Queen’s Hall are crowned Rodgers Cup champions

Queen’s Hall are crowned Rodgers Cup champions

2 November 2022

AFTER three years in the doldrums following Covid-19, billiards fans were delighted to be back in the Dan Rice Hall on Sunday night for the season’s first final, the Rodgers Cup, between hosts Drumaness and cup holders Queen’s Hall. 

The Queen’s Hall team were victorious after narrowly defeating Drumaness 410 to 370 in what was a fitting final.

MC Robert Pollock did the draw, pairing sponsor Gary Rodgers against Alastair McDonald; Marty Singh against Tommy Hunter and Seamus McGivern against league new boy George Ferguson. 

Ally started well against Gary with an opening 30 break before both players got bogged down in the first hundred. 

He added a further 36 break to run out a 200 to 132 points winner, which would have been more but for Gary’s tidy 38 break late on. 

On the other table, Marty was struggling against Tommy, whose opening 41 break coupled with a further 32 and an unfinished 31 saw him an easy 200 to 92 points winner.  

These results meant Queen’s would take a 26 point lead into the last match.  Seamus started superbly with an opening 35 break as George simply couldn’t buy a score. 

With a 90 point lead on the table and 64 overall, it looked like the trophy would be heading back to Drumaness. 

However, George had other ideas and a sudden burst of breaks including 24, 30 and 25, saw him roar back into contention.

Seamus couldn’t respond and before long a simple two-point cannon saw George reach the required 175 point mark for a Queen’s Hall victory. 

Pollock presented the Rodgers Cup to captain Ally McDonald before everyone enjoyed the post-match refreshments.

Both finalists had avoided being entered into the preliminary round, as an unlucky Crossgar outfit proved no match for St Pat’s.

In his first game of the year, Brian Gordon did well to get 35 on the board as Christian Kirk eased to the 200-point finishing line. 

Sean Burns was in contention until Dom Halligan hit a cool 49 break on his way to a 200 to 112 points win. 

Robert Pollock couldn’t keep up with Tommy Cupples, as some fantastic red ball potting saw him complete the St Pat’s clean sweep in a 200 to 158 points victory.

However, having dispatched Crossgar with ease in the preliminary round, St Pat’s found Queen’s Hall a stiffer challenge in the semi-final and lost out 436 to 391.

Dom Halligan couldn’t quite shake off Keith Savage in the first match and his 200 to 161 points win was in fact a one-point loss after handicap adjustment.  

Tommy Cupples and Alastair McDonald were evenly matched throughout, but McDonald kept going to the finish to run out a 200 – 178 points winner, despite breaks of 28 and 22 by Cupples. 

These results left Queen’s in pole position, 98 points up going into the match between Christian Kirk and George Ferguson. 

Kirk knocked in breaks of 52 and 53 in his 158 point tally, however, a 28 by Ferguson saw him reach 105 and secure a place in the final for Queen’s Hall.

Meanwhile, Drumaness carried their early season league form into their semi-final cup meeting with St Michael’s and ran out 504 to 475 winners. 

Gary Rodgers played through his back pain and got 151 points on the board to Colin Flanagan’s 200, giving his team a good start.  

Mark Boyd has been a revelation at the three-ball game this year and he ousted Matty Fegan by 200 points to 115, leaving Drumaness 71 points ahead with talisman Marty Singh up against Bobby Douglas in the last match-up. 

Singh was nowhere near his best but Douglas couldn’t quite capitalise as his 200 to 158 points victory was still 29 short for the potential upset.

This in turn set up the highly anticipated final showdown between Drumaness and Queen’s Hall, with the latter lifting the Rodgers Cup on this occasion.