Catz boost hopes of Cuppers success
Mark Priest lines up a red during his victory over Minesh Tanna
St Catz.............10 Worcester..........2
As pool cuppers got underway this week, the top seeds began their respective campaigns in fine style. Merton, tipped for glory by The Oxford Student two weeks ago, demolished opponents St Anne’s 11-1. St Catz also retained their league form, overcoming Merton II 10-2, whilst a solid performance from Mansfield saw them cruise past Magdalen II by 9 frames to 3. On Tuesday night, Catz played hosts to rivals Worcester at Colours pool club, in their second game of the crusade.
Despite the fantastic form of the home side, Worcester could easily have proved a tricky encounter. As it turned out, however, the superior quality and tactical ability of a strong Catz side came to the fore as they eased past their opponents 10-2. Whilst the scoreline fairly reflects St Catherine’s dominance, the opening exchanges were close enough to draw a few anxious looks from captain Danny Binnington.
A tight first frame between Chris Lormor and Jacob Stevens was concluded with a superb pressure pot down the rail. Had Lormor missed, the table would have been left wide open for Stevens to put Worcester in front. At 1-0 up, however, Catz still seemed a little shaky. Mark Priest uncharacteristically jawed a couple of pots, allowing Dan Nelson to take control of the second frame. Eventually it was a missed snooker attempt which allowed Lormor to clear up his remaining yellows and the black.
Even Dunstan Barnes, the OUPC secretary, seemed a little off colour to begin with. In a scrappy encounter, he was finally gifted two shots after an unfortunate foul. His experience showed, however, as he comfortably dispatched the black to send St Catz into a 2-1 lead. From here on in, the home side seemed to recall the form which saw them perform so well last term.
Priest redeemed his earlier loss, albeit with the help of a slightly fortunate positional shot on the black, and Barnes executed a perfect five ball clearance to send Catz into a 4-1 lead. Lormor claimed his second frame of the match, this time at the expense of Lucian Weston, and one began to wonder whether Worcester would even get another frame. Unfortunately this query was resolved at the expense of Catz newcomer Darius Bradbury, who lost out in a tight game with Nelson.
A missed clearance allowed the Worcester player to knock in a simple black, and recover the scoreline to 5-2. Bradbury seemed to settle down in his next frame, however, as he comfortably saw off the challenge of Worcester captain Jack Milln. Despite Milln’s audacious attempt to nudge the white out of a snooker without his opponents noticing, the ensuing two shots allowed Bradbury to secure a sixth frame for the home side.
Andy Wright and Daniel Binnington played superbly to cap off a deserved victory for St Catz, both winning their two frames. Whilst the latter’s attacking play is in stark contrast to his team mate’s tactically defensive style, both proved equally effective in overcoming their disenchanted opponents. Upon confirmation of a fantastic triumph for his side, Binnington commented, “As captain it’s always nice when a difficult decision comes off.
I’m glad to find the decision to drop Kapadia for Bradbury proved fully justified after today’s brilliant performance.
9th Feb 2006