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The 2009/10 Open Singles Final will see 6 Times Champion Kevin McIlroy (Midget 'C') play Martin Rowland  (Oracle 'A') pictured after both comfortably won their respective Semi-Final matches 4-0. The Final will take place at the League's Finals & Presentation Night, venue tbc

McIlroy will also feature in the League Doubles final as he and partner Pete Maconochie, the defending champions, narrowly defeated Wootton's Yousif Shahab & Luke Ingram 3-2 in their Semi-Final clash. Oracle's Mark Pitfield & Lei Xiao will be their opponents after they too won 3-2 in a nervy Semi-Final against Steve Cooper & Shaun Talbot (Midget 'A'). Due to McIlroy's participation in the Singles Final, the Doubles final will take place on 2nd May 2010 at Oracle Snooker Club

The league's Ladies Singles will once again be an "OPEN" competition and is provisionally expected to take place on 2nd May 2010, details will be released shortly. Both The Ladies & Open Singles Champion will qualify to represent the league in the EPA Champion of Champions Event along with the League Champions in the Team Event

 

 

Oxfordshire Men Double Title Triumph

Oxfordshire’s Men’s ‘A’ and Seniors’ (40+) County Pool Teams produced stunning performances to win their respective events at the EBPF National County Pool Championships in Selsey, West Sussex last weekend. Oxfordshire ‘A’ led by John Kinsey won the event for the first time, beating defending champions and tournament favourites East London 14-8 in a pulsating Final. 

Oxfordshire got off to a sticky start narrowly losing 14-12 to local rivals West Berkshire in their opening group match and with both fancied Middlesex and the reigning champions coming up; things would need to improve for Oxfordshire to reach the Semi-Finals.

Despite trailing, next up, Middlesex 7-4, Oxfordshire fought back to win 14-11 with several excellent individual performances. South Derbyshire took on an Oxfordshire side now firing on all cylinders and where quickly dispatched 14-8. With East London beating West Berkshire it was imperative that Oxfordshire won their remaining two matches to ensure a Semi-final Spot. 

With an unusual air of confidence flowing through the team, Oxfordshire began the match with East London in devastating style. Wins from the opening trio of Jamey Street, Adam Brown and Matty Challen put Oxford 3-0 up in as many minutes. Further quick fire wins from Jimmy Cairns and Andrew Gee quickly added to East London’s troubles and were clearly rocked by the speed of an Oxfordshire early 6-1 lead. They never recovered and an amazing 14-5 victory ensued.

With only victory over Bristol in their final group match standing in the way of a Semi-Final spot, Oxfordshire struggled to dispatch an already eliminated Bristol side clearly playing for pride. A superb performance from Pete Maconochie and a very calm winning frame by Marcus Guise soothed their supporters’ nerves as Oxfordshire won the match 14-11. Oxfordshire topped their group finishing ahead of East London on frame difference. Joining them in the Semi-Finals were Derbyshire and Berkshire. 

The Semi-Final against Derbyshire was a very tense affair but the vocal support for Oxfordshire was a huge influence in the result. Adam Brown produced another excellent individual performance as Oxfordshire trailing 13-12 levelled the match at 13-13 with only Pete Maconochie left playing. After a tense 45 minute frame and following a foul from his opponent, he held his nerve to clinch a 14-13 victory. 

The Final was a rematch against East London who defeated Berkshire 14-11 in the other Semi-Final. If there was any extra pressure on Oxfordshire it did not show as the opening trio once again opened up a 3-0 lead. This time however, East London responded winning seven of the next eight frames to lead 7-4 before Marcus Guise and Andrew Gee won crucial frames to reduce the deficit. Frames were traded until a crucial five minute period saw Oxford snatch four wins in frames, in which they were not favourites to win, as unforced errors started to creep into East London’s play. With Oxfordshire leading 12-8, Pete Maconochie made another clearance under pressure to put all eyes on Jamey Street who won the match with another calm clearance. A fantastic performance backed up by terrific vocal support from the rest of the Oxfordshire squads.

Oxfordshire's Seniors led by England International Malcolm Lewis, also won the inaugural Seniors’ (40+) event. Despite a shaky start losing to favourites Derbyshire ‘A’ and Middlesex, excellent wins over Essex and a 11-2 demolition of Derbyshire ‘B’ saw them reach the Semi-Finals. Lewis who had struggled for form in the group matches sudden rediscovered his touch and inspired his team to a stunning 11-5 Semi-Final victory over Derbyshire ‘A’.

Oxfordshire initially struggled in the Final against Middlesex. With Kevin McIlroy playing in both Oxfordshire Finals the playing sequence of the team was disrupted and they soon found themselves trailing 5-1. Oxfordshire fought hard to reach parity and finally levelled the match at 8-8 with wins successive from Lewis, John Bland, Chris Webb and McIlroy. Brian Carroll then gave Oxfordshire the lead for the first time. Further wins for Webb and Bland saw Oxfordshire over the line to win the title

Also representing Oxfordshire at the Finals where the Men’s B Team, Ladies Team and two Youth Teams. 

The Men’s ‘B’ side led by Ash Penny-Larter went to the competition in high spirits having won the regional qualifying group but an opening defeat to Berkshire put them on the back foot. They recovered to beat Warwickshire, Essex and Middlesex but they missed out on a semi-final spot on frame difference. ‘B’ Team player Tom Williams reached the last 16 of the Individual Men’s Singles event

Oxfordshire Ladies, managed by Shelley White, had a mixed bag of results. They put in a strong performance against the two strongest teams in their group, beating both East London and West Berkshire.  However, other losses meant the team just missed out on a semi-final spot on frame difference.  Stephanie Meidinger put in a noteworthy performance, winning 80% of her group games.  The ladies also experienced success in the singles, with team captain Nicki Hoskins reaching the Semi-Final.

Oxfordshire sent two Youth Teams to the event. The Youth ‘A’ Team, managed by Tim Crysell, made the Semi-Finals comfortably but lost to their big local rivals Berkshire. Peter Debanks the top Oxfordshire player. The ‘B’ team, managed by Colin Hooper, won 50% of their matches but sadly failed to make the Semi-Finals - Thomas Gaughan topping their stats. Oxfordshire also had 5 players in the last 16 of the Youth Singles. Both Andrew Gee and Rhys Freemire made the Quarter-Finals showing yet again Oxfordshire has a bright future