St Patrick’s lift cup

St Patrick’s lift cup

17 April 2019

ST Patrick’s lifted the Breen Cup following a scintillating display against Crossgar in the final.

Earlier, they beat Queen’s Hall 354 to 445 in a re-arranged semi-final, preventing their opponent making it to all four cup finals in one season.  

On that occasion Christian Kirk needed all his experience – not to mention an unfinished 81 break - to oust Alastair McDonald (40 and 32 breaks) by 200 points to 114.  

Similarly, Chris Johnston needed late breaks of 42 and 20 to get the better of Chris Scantlebury, 200 to 131.  After handicap adjustment, there was only 10 points between the teams as Liam Campbell and Keith Lemon squared up for the decider.  

The individual handicaps might have suggested Lemon as the likely victor, but Liam had other ideas. Captain Oliver McGuigan was full of praise for his man’s dogged performance, as Campbell romped home by 200 points to Lemon’s  119. 

This kept St Pat’s in the hunt for one last tilt at silverware this season, as they faced holders Crossgar in the final.

Donated by the Breen family in 1956, the Thomas Breen Memorial Cup is one of the most coveted in the league and, in a repeat of the 2018 final, Crossgar and St Patrick’s were the last two teams standing.  

Gary Rodgers supervised the draw as a good crowd gathered for the match in Drumaness last Sunday.

Robert Pollock was paired with Chris Johnston and John Weston with Christian Kirk in the first two match-ups.  

Pollock and Johnston didn’t exactly set the table on fire, but the ‘Ards man was always in front as he ran out the winner at 200 points to 99.  This was a narrow one-point handicap win for Johnston, but it was a different story for Kirk on the other table.  

An opening 56 break by the 2018 individual champion set the tone as Weston struggled to get going early on. 

A 22 break by Weston briefly threatened a turnaround, but further breaks of 26 and 32 by Kirk saw him back in control as he eased to a 200 to 97 points win.  

With Crossgar conceding 50 points owing to their McAllister Cup win, the first two results meant the match was effectively over, so that the last game between Kenny and Liam Campbell was not required.  

Main league sponsor Gary Rodgers presented the magnificent trophy to Liam Campbell, who praised the immaculate playing conditions on the newly-re-covered Drumaness tables and commiserated with losing captain Weston.  

John congratulated St Pat’s on their worthy win before everyone enjoyed the post-match refreshments.

Meanwhile,  the 2019 league individuals have been progressing over the last few weeks and, after some super billiards in the early rounds, the quarter final pairings are: Darren Oldroyd (Drumaness) v Colin Flanagan (St Michael’s), Kenny Campbell (Crossgar) v Christian Kirk (St Patrick’s), Marty Singh  (Drumaness) v Seamus McGivern (Drumaness), Gary Rodgers (Drumaness) v Darren Dornan (Drumaness). The semi-finals and final promise more of the same and were scheduled to be played last night in Drumaness.

CROSSGAR 196

ST PATRICK’S 400