Shooters are Orme Shield Champions. – By Derek Kiely | Pics: YOL

SHOOTERS are back with a bang with a huge win in what many snooker aficionados in Cork consider to be the most important tournament of the year the ‘Orme Shield’.

The Blackpool Club have just re-opened their doors and one of the newest items to be put on show will be the highly prized Orme Shield after a simply scintillating weekend of top class snooker in the most atmospheric club in the land at the ‘Market House’ the home of Youghal CYMS.

The brilliantly run event began last Thursday night and finished last Sunday evening when the Shooters ‘A’ side defeated the Youghal CYMS ‘B’ side in a nail biting final.

The three person team event has been around for over half a century or more and in all its different formats down through the years in recent decades the three person team event has taken an even higher place in the hearts of all who play the game in Cork.

Shooters will host the ‘Shooters Cork Open’ on Saturday the 28th of April and with the likes of Irish number one Rodney Goggins from Wexford who is just one of many top players in the country ready to make the trip to Leeside it will definitely be one of the top snooker events on the Irish snooker calendar and one man playing out of the Blackpool venue is definitely the man to beat at the moment.

Gary Bracken is already the ‘Cork Close’ champion and had a 133 clearance in the Orme Shield final last Sunday and he along with many other talented rebel cue men will certainly have a say in the outcome of the first Cork Open snooker championship since the 1980′s.

The weekend in Youghal will again prove the point that this is the only venue where the Orme Shield can be played. The condition of the tables, complimented by all who played over the four days, the large crowds of spectators that filled the room for all the matches along with that very special atmosphere that brings out the very best in all who play at the venue.

The very best certainly can be attributed to the runners up of this years Orme Shield the Youghal team of Derek Aherne, Ger Kelly and Christopher Cooney who sensationally saw off last years winners the Crucible in some style to make it through to the final on Sunday.

This was a significant scalp and goes to show you that The standard of play in Cork is high and nobody should ever take anyone else for granted ever!

The semi finals were certainly different, Youghal breezed past the Crucible, but the other semi final between Youghal CYMS ‘A’ and Shooters ‘A’ was extremely tense. Youghal looked all but out when Brendan Cooney fought his way back to force a re-spotted black in the deciding frame, David Forde of Shooters was to pot the black denying the host club to have an all Youghal final.

The final was fascinating with Derek Aherne up against Tomas Grainey, David Forde playing Ger Kelly and Gary Bracken up against Christopher Cooney.

Aherne v Grainey: Frame 1, Solid performance from the Youghal man as Aherne leaves Grainey needing snookers on the colours. Frame two, was another fine performance from Aherne who closed the frame out to need just one more frame with a great pot on the brown. Frame 3, Aherne finished off his match after a series of strange snooker escapes towards the end, Youghal were one match up and Aherne never looked in any danger at all.

Cooney v Bracken: Frame 1, after Bracken knocks in a 52 break, Christopher Cooney shows maturity beyond his years and comes back to win the opener. Frame 2, saw something really special from the Cork Close champion as he knocks in a wonderful top competition clearance of 133 to a standing ovation. Frame 3, was a great frame, Cooney rattles the pink into the jaws of the green pocket, but Bracken clears to take the frame. Frame 3, Bracken is comfortable in this frame and Cooney concedes the frame and the match is tied at one all.

Kelly v Forde: Frame 1, Excellent first frame for the Youghal man as Forde concedes at the green ball. Frame 2, Forde comes back strong with impressive play leaving Kelly in need of snookers so the Youghal man concedes the frame. Frame 3, Forde is on fire and knocks in a century break to take the lead. Frame 4, Kelly shows tremendous courage and wins the frame with at the Brown ball. Frame 5, Forde is off to a great start with a significant early lead, but Kelly is still in with a chance, but Forde pots the crucial balls to win the match and the Orme Shield for the Shooters ‘A’ side.

Shooters owner John Paul Crowley said afterwards “I am thrilled with the win, it really is great to be back and doing so well. I know the significance of winning this trophy and it will hang proudly on our wall at ‘Shooters’. We are proud to have won such a prestigious event and I want to compliment Brendan Cooney and everyone at the Youghal CYMS for hosting and outstanding Orme Shield championships”.

Finally for this week in Billiards, congratulations to Lloyd Myers of the AOH club who last Sunday received his Republic of Ireland International waist coat for the RIBSA Senior Billiards team to play Northern Ireland this month and also congratulations to Derek O’Neill of Douglas who made it to the last eight in the ‘National Billiards Championships’ in Carlow last Sunday.

THE CRUCIBLE SNOOKER CLUB wiped away the disappointment of losing the Cork Snooker League final by winning the prestigious Orme Shield last weekend ( March 26th/27th 2011) in their first outright team victory which was well overdue.

The last major Cork snooker event of the year was played at Youghal CYMS last weekend where the famous Orme Shield was played out for the first time in over a decade.

Youghal CYMS the holders of the Orme Shield which they won in the 147 Club in Blackpool have held the famous trophy on their wall ever since, due to the fact that it hadn’t been played for since.

The re-introduction of the tournament coincides with the new found appetite for the game in Cork City and County on the year the Cork Snooker League resumed, so the standard was high, the facilities and the atmosphere superb it was a feast of great snooker in this three person team event.

The action started last Saturday morning where Douglas 1 beat Youghal 4, the AOH 1 side beat their club mates the AOH 2, Youghal 1 beat Douglas 3, Shooters 1 beat Crucible 3, Youghal 3 beat Youghal 5 and Crucible 1 beat Youghal 2, Shooters 2 and Douglas 2 got walkovers from Crucible 2 and Fermoy into the quarter finals.

The quarter finals were played Saturday morning and victories for AOH 1, Youghal 1, Shooters 1 and the Crucible 1, meant that the top four sides in Cork would meet in the semi finals.

Youghal CYMS played the AOH at 1pm last Sunday and it was a game that went on for quite a bit, eventually the home side came out on top, with wins for Adrian Landers and Derek Aherne over Timmy Murphy and Llyod Myers respectively, with Brendan Cooney of Youghal and Shane O’Mahony locked at one frame each.

The Crucible saw off Shooters in the other semi final extracting some revenge for the league defeat to the Blackpool based club in the Cork Snooker League final a few weeks ago, setting up a mouth watering final.

The final was to prove to be a classic as the Crucibles David Cassidy sunk the black ball to defeat Adrian Landers 3-2, Ryan Cronin won his match 3-1 against Youghal’s Derek Aherne and Greg Casey was 2- 1 up against Brendan Cooney.

Greg Casey told Evening Echo Sport “This is a huge win for us and it’s the first team event we have won and believe you me not many sides could come to Youghal CYMS and beat them in their own club, because they are a very good and experienced team and we are thrilled to win the Orme Shield. The facilities here in Youghal are first class, the tables were excellent and it’s not even like leaving home, because you are treated so well and looked after brilliantly. It’s great to see snooker back in Cork and the re-introduction of the Cork Snooker League, because it has everyone playing competitive snooker all the time which is great for the game and when you add in Killarney along with the Cork Close, snooker is buzzing in Cork and it will only get better”

Casey along with David Cassidy will be travelling to Malta this coming Friday to compete in the first ever ‘European under 21 Snooker Championships’ and with players like Vincent Muldoon from Galway and Jason Devaney from Ballina in Co. Mayo the Republic of Ireland snooker team looks very healthy indeed.

The senior and masters international teams flew out from Dublin Airport at 7am this morning to Malta as their competitions in the European Championships begin tomorrow morning.

The compliments were flying around the rooms of the Youghal CYMS last weekend and rightly so as everything was in perfect order throughout and there is no better venue for a tournament like the Orme Shield than Youghal CYMS, it has a special atmosphere that just reeks of snooker and all of which is good in the game.

Youghal CYMS President Brendan Cooney said “It was a great weekend and I want to thank everyone that came and played or watched over the two days, I would like to thank the Cork Billiards and Snooker Association to let us in Youghal CYMS host the event and I want to pay a special thanks to the referee’s over the weekend and of course I want to congratulate the Crucible Snooker Club on their victory, they are a super bunch of lads and well done to them”.

In Billiards news there is talk that there will be a Cork Billiards tournament organised soon. Billiards is a fantastic game, especially for snooker players,it’s a game of extreme skill and crucial positional play, so it will be good to see the plain and spot on the green baize in Cork again soon.

 

Orme Shield Results

Saturday the 26th of March

Round 1

Douglas 1  bt Youghal CYMS 4

AOH 1   bt AOH 2

Youghal CYMS 1 bt Douglas 3

Shooters 1  bt Crucible 3

Youghal CYMS 3 bt Youghal CYMS 5

Crucible 1  bt Youghal CYMS 2

Shooters 2 and Douglas 2 were awarded walkovers.

Quarter Final

AOH 1   bt Douglas 1

Youghal CYMS 1 bt Shooters 2

Shooters 1  bt Douglas 2

Crucible 1  bt Youghal CYMS 3

Sunday the 27th of March

Semi Final

Youghal CYMS 1 bt AOH 1

Crucible 1  bt Shooters 1

Final

The Crucible   bt Youghal CYMS 1

SHOOTERS Snooker Club are the 2011 Cork Snooker League champions after a stunning performance at the AOH last Thursday night (10th March 2011) where they defeated the Crucible Snooker Club, by thirteen frames to six frames in the best of 25 frames league final.

At one stage the team from Blackpool were an astonishing seven frames ahead after just nine frames played and with the experienced players like Anthony O’Connor and Gary O’Sullivan in top form, it was easy to see where the cup was heading after just one hour of play.

There was a huge attendance present for the final on Morrison’s Island at the famous AOH Club and the tables were in magnificent condition due to the excellent work of Finbarr O’Connor and the atmosphere was really superb too, which all added to the occasion.

One spectator present said “It reminds me of the late 70’s and the early 80’s when snooker was huge in Cork and you couldn’t get in the doors of many of the clubs on finals night, it is great to see that atmosphere back again”.

The final couldn’t have started any better for Shooters with Gary O’Sullivan establishing an early two frame lead against Greg Casey.

O’Sullivan has played very well all year for Shooters and looks a certainty for the Cork Inter-County Snooker Team who will play in National Inter-County Championships this April.

Alongside O’Sullivan was Anthony O’Donoghue who had a re-match of the Cork Close Final taking on the Crucibles David Cassidy who he beat on that occasion in his home club Shooters earlier this year and again the former 147 man was on top leading by two frames to nil after just 35 minutes of play.

Ryan Cronin of the Crucible got an early frame for the favourites, but the lead was short lived as Shooters Gary Bracken rattled off three frames in succession to lead 3-1 on what is definitely the AOH’s toughest table.

Things got tougher for the Crucible when O’Donoghue and O’Sullivan clinched another frame each and the target of 13 frames for victory was getting closer and closer for the Blackpool outfit.

Everyone was expecting the usual Crucible fight back, but all credit to Shooters they battled for every point and didn’t give an inch.

Ryan Cronin, Casey and Cassidy then all clinched a frame each for the Crucible and Shooters nerve was tested, but when O’Donoghue and O’Sullivan closed out their matches with winning frames the writing was on the wall for the Bandon Road men.

 

David Forde of Shooters was locked at one frame all with Daniel O’Regan, leaving the Crucible the almost impossible task of having to win all their remaining frames to claim victory and when on table two Tommy Greaney of Shooters who played against Tony Moore of the Crucible doubled the blue into the corner pocket to secure the all important winning thirteenth frame, he had the final say in this year’s league,.

Ironically for the Crucible, Shooters served the Crucible a rare league defeat on the opening day of the Cork Snooker League, back on the 7th of October 2010 and then last night again they had it over their City rivals on the last competitive game of the season.

Shooters owner John Paul Crowley told the Evening Echo “It is great to see Cork Snooker back after such a long absence and I think that little bit more experience our lads had paid off tonight. After 30 years of being involved in snooker myself I think it was the best night of snooker for quite some time and the standard in Cork is getting higher every week and when you look at the Crucible they are a fantastic side, full of young International talent and to beat them was a great achievement for my team. Tonight reminded me of the great nights that the late Liam O’Connor put on in Cork and with so many young people now playing the game again it is great for the future of Cork Snooker and I am thrilled and proud that our club has won the league in our first year”.

Shooters now hold the two top titles in Cork Snooker with the league title secured and Anthony O’Connor’s ‘Cork Close’ success before Christmas. Now the Blackpool side look like they will be entering a second side into next year’s league along with the ‘Cue Club’ from Killarney who want to be part of the re-emergence of Snooker in the City and County of Cork.

Cork Snooker League Secretary Tim Murphy told the Evening Echo “I must give tremendous thanks to all the players in our league this season and as far as I am concerned, in my 58 years involved in the game this was one of the best final’s I have ever seen. I want to thank the AOH who made their club available to us and compliment the condition of the tables”.

The next event on the Cork Snooker calendar is the very highly respected ‘Orme Shield’ three person team event, which will be held over two days at Youghal CYMS on the 26th and the 27th of March. The closing date for the number of team nominations is the 15th of March and no teams will be accepted after this date.

The entry fee for the Orme Shield is just €20 paid on entry and teams of three, plus one substitute must be named by the 23rd of March.

Next week on Cork Snooker we catch up with Cork’s two Irish Internationals heading for Malta and the International Team Manager and International referee from Cork Don O’Donoghue.