A sensational showing saw Stuart Atkin finally get his hands on the Spalding and District Snooker and Billiards League’s top prize at the annual finals weekend.
Playing in his fourth Snooker Scratch final at Springfields Events Centre, Long Sutton potter Atkin beat best friend and team-mate Sean Swinburn 4-3 in a sensational Saturday night showdown.
The 49-year-old also made the weekend’s best snooker break of 58 en-route to clinching what was a popular victory in the final frame.
There was also a masterclass from top talent Rob Childs in the Billiards Scratch final on Sunday morning, as he soundly defeated rival Mick Cooper 486-185.
The Crowland cue ace clinched a landmark tenth win in the competition (all since 1998) in emphatic fashion, making a stunning 85 break in the process.
Perhaps the big shock of the weekend came in Sunday’s traditional Norey Cup finale, as Services B denied Pyramid F a fifth-successive triumph in the most exciting game of the 12 finals.
The Spalding side went into the clash as underdogs, but won a titanic tussle in the seventh frame as Craig Fitter defeated Jason Green 89-20.
Vince Fitter and Kev Fitter also played their part, with the latter taking a frame off Alfonso Palumbo, who had top scored with a 49 break.
The weekend’s action got under way on Friday night, with Pyramid A beating club rivals Pyramid B 600-535 in an all-Bourne Billiards Shield final.
Eric Wyer (R50), John Clapton (R90) and John Twell (R50) all bagged frame wins for the A to make it a clean-sweep, despite breaks of 23 and 20 from Darrell Read (R50).
Saturday saw Donington talent Neil Reynolds (O20) beat Shane White (O30) 200-171 in the Billiards Handicap final.
White did, at least, make a fine 32 break in defeat.
Next up was the Snooker Senior Masters, with Holbeach’s Denis Hix getting the better of Joe Garland 2-1.
Reynolds then got his hands on his second trophy of the day .
He joined forces with Chrissy Allwood (team handicap O56) to beat Hollie and Stuart Atkin (O14) 136-80 in the Snooker Mixed Pairs finale.
That was followed by the Snooker Knockout Cup, which saw Division Two team Holbeach B knock off the top flight’s Boundary B 3-2.
Zac Rowlett (O7), Ben Harding (O7) and Phil Coaten (O14) claimed the crucial frame wins for them.
The Ladies’ Snooker final at Sunday lunchtime proved a close contest, with Long Sutton’s Susan Lefley (R21) defeating Whittlesey potter Kay Skutela (R28) 2-1 to lift the trophy for a third time.
Donington duo Pat Taylor and John George (R35) then beat club-mates Nigel Brasier and Peter Keal (O14) 115-92 to get their hands on the Snooker Pairs gong.
Following on from that was the Snooker Handicap, which saw scratch player Garland see off Carl Parnell (O35) in straight frames 2-0.
It was also 2-0 in the Snooker Scratch Pairs final, with Pyramid’s Green and Dawkins too strong for Donington’s Scully and Brasier (73-25, 77-27).
Green made a 31 break in the process.
The league’s fixtures secretary Susan Lefley felt it was a fantastic weekend.
She said: “It was a really successful weekend with a great display of snooker and billiards. The finals were also well attended on all three days and nights.
“Thanks to everyone who came to watch and help. We tried to modernise the event a little bit and I’m pleased we’ve had some positive feedback.”
