25/1/12- The Uke turned out a tidy young team and deserved their 5-4 win against us tonight. They didn't buckle under pressure and they took their chances well. The Bottom Club put up a decent result and regained the leagues top spot on aggregate. It'll be an interesting run-in.

19/1/21- Monthly meeting tonight. Singles and doubles KO's have been drawn and are on the above links. Next pool meeting is at 7.30pm on Thursday 9th Feb 2012 at the Squirrel.

Team KO to be played on Weds 1st Feb as follows:

Hatfeild Arms v Bull & Badger
Ravenfield Arms v Bottom Club

Also, the Saxon v Squirrel league match has been re-arranged for the same night.

15/12/11-
Just a note about games that go on and on. There is a rule to prevent excessively long games.(which seems to have been removed when I updated the rules recently. I'll find it somewhere.)
For games that appear to be in a stalemate position, with no progress being made over a period of time to be determined by the referee. The Referee should get both players(or pairs) together. They should then be instructed that they have 3 visits each in which to make some progress. At the end of those 3 visits each, the referee may then make the decision that sufficient progress has not been made. He may then re-rack the balls. Same player to break. Start the frame again.
In practical terms, if no-one has potted a ball for over ten minutes and no-one appears to be moving the game on, then the ref has this option. I've done it and caused mayhem, but we can't stand there all night watching 2 players tapping up. Just be confident in the decision and try to be fair to both players/teams.
The evening is about the complete enjoyment of all the players in both teams, which includes getting home at a reasonable time for work or whatever in the morning.

6/9/11- Following the AGM, we will be basically playing the same rules as last winter. Old EPA(2 shots carry), with the same rule as last winter for deciding colours if you've potted a ball on the break. ie. you get a choice if you pot a ball off the break. You remain on them as long as you've potted one of them.

IMPORTANT BIT:
The only further alteration is on the break rule. Instead of 2 balls having to hit a cushion on the break, 4 balls now have to hit a cushion. Failure to do so is a foul(re-rack and 2 shots, you're on the first legal ball potted).
The most important difference, is that if you make a fair break, but go in-off with the white. Then it's a non-standard foul, which is simply "one visit".

The rule makes it fair for both players, in as much as you can give the pack a bang, but don't give the game away by going in-off and giving 2 shots. The rule works well and compliments the deciding colours rule nicely.

It's all about promoting an open, positive and more enjoyable game. Afterall, the game is about potting balls.

I'll be getting the rules out and fixtures to the captains by this weekend. Any problems, let me know.

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For previous news, click on the title.

Dinnington League is affiliated to the EPA via Derbyshire.

Mark Singleton had a brilliant run in the England trials last Friday, winning 5 straight matches and only dropping 2 frames. He only had one more match to win, but just couldn't get over the line to make the squad. It was an superb effort and I'm sure that he'll get more chances in the future.

18/12/11- Final match of the year- Dinnington v Riddings. Riddings were unbeaten. We had drawn a match, so needed to beat them to win the league. A draw wouldn't be good enough. Clearly everyone was up for the match and the atmosphere was charged. The Riddings lads brought some supporters in a reet nice minibus but were locked out when they arrived. We like to go in through the back door from time to time.
The match started and Riddings played very well to go 5.0 up and we deserved to be losing tbf. We were being outplayed. But a crucial error occured. Someone in their group suggested that a whitewash was on the cards. Oh dear. Taking the piss. We are not ones to roll over easily(although Ben might) and we started to claw some frames back. We eventually rattled off 8 frames on the bounce to go 8-5 up. We thought we'd broken their spirits, or our secret weapon of mass destruction was having its effect. Sam Smiths at £1.85 a pint!
Anyway, the Riddings crew were not done with and they won the next 2 frames to go 8-7. The atmosphere was banging at this point. Best match we've have in the league.
In any case we had enough resolve to put the match to bed and run out 10-8 winners. Banging night, great atmosphere and well pleased to be Derbyshire County Pool Association Inter League Champions.

9/10/11- The Dinnington Cue Craft team went into the KO finals in hopeful mood, having put some practice time in over the last couple of weeks. Some went down early to compete in the individual amateur event, John Waller doing the best and getting to the last 32.
The event got under way with the round robin. 3 teams playing each other and the best team going through, to get 96 teams down to 32. Dinnington weren't hard pressed to win their matches 13-5 and 9-3 and cruise into the KO stages.
Surrey Warriors stood in our way, but only briefly as we dispatched them with minimum of fuss, 10-3 and off the curry house for our traditional Saturday evening eating session. A tikka massala and cheesey nan was no match for these semi-pro eating champions. That too was dispatched with nothing more than a swig of Cobra lager and a loud belch. Return to the venue and 5 minutes in the adult entertainment room. Couldn't do with too much of that and to bed, vowing never to eat bananas again.
Sunday morning arrived all too quickly and we set off to do our best. Last 16 and the money stages. Witney Snooker went 2-0 up on us, but the lads pitched in well and beat them off comfortably 10-4.
Quarter finals against Wigan. Again we went 2-0 down, then 4-2 down. Unphased, we put together a string of good finishes to win 10-5. Large portions.
Semi finals. Now we'd been here in 2008 and lost. It was a bitter sweet experience but we wanted more this time. Our wins had all been comfortable and the powers that be decided to put us onto the live stream tables. 3 tables at a time on a live feed down the internet and people were starting to contact us with messages of good luck. Even one of my kids dragged herself away from the Eastenders omnibus to watch. We were in danger of becoming famous for 15 minutes.
We had watched our opponents, Waterloo winning their previous match. They were looking very good. However, this was their Waterloo and we decided not to go 2 frames down this time. We won our frames in impressive fashion, none more so that Bradders in the photo. If any picture could sum up the emotions that you go through playing pool at this level, then this is it. He'd just gone a couple of inches out of perfect position. We needed this black to put us into the final. So far, that had been a step too far in previous events. Bradders overheard a spectator tell his opponent to "Chalk it up. He'll miss this." But Brad had missed nothing all weekend and he wasn't going to start now. Long diagonal black, centre of the pocket. Like a rat down a drainpipe. GET IN THERE!!!!!!!

The final. Our nemesis, Trent Trophies A awaited. 5 times winners of the event. They include England Captain Lee Kendall, 2 x world champion Gaz Potts, current world champion Adam Davis, World Masters finalist Rob Wharne, England under 21 captain Liam White, professional Jimmy Croxton and titles galore amongst the rest of the team. Talk about tough to beat. Our last 2 meetings had resulted in us losing 10-1 and 10-4. Trent Trophies had not dropped more than 4 frames to a team all weekend. But that said, we'd not dropped more than 5. Bring it on.
Still on t'internet over 3 tables. If you missed, you lost. If they broke and dropped a ball, you were unlikely to get a shot. Such was the standard. But it's the same for everyone. Jimmy Winsborough facing Gaz Potts. Break and dish for Jimmy. Now Gaz might be a double world champion, but you just can't beat that. Unfortunately it must have made him cross, because Gaz did the same to Glen McKay 5 minutes later. It was nip and tuck the whole way through. Half time- 5-4 down. We were running them closer than anyone had done for a long time. But I've never seen the lads in better form and we were only 8-7 down. The last 3 frames were on at the same time. We were so close I could smell it, although that could have been the curry. But we just could not get over the winning line. The Trent lads showed their class with an amazing performance to finally beat us 10-7. We had frightened the pants off them and done ourselves proud. I'd lost my voice and ached all over from jumping around like a nutter. I've never been prouder since my kids were born and enjoyed it all so much. Our opponents were gracious in victory and know that we're gunning for them in the next event in April. Get ready!
Squad picture at the top, from left the right- Aggie Bailie, John Carwell, Jimmy Winsborough, Terry Stevenson, Mark Lancashire, Ian Bradley, Ben Clayton, Capt-Glen McKay, Andy Herriott, Vince Ley, John Waller, Mark Singleton.

The 2011 league fixtures are shown below;
27-Feb-11 Q-Room, Derby 8 Dinnington 10
20-Mar-11 Dinnington 11 Ilkeston United 9
17-Apr-11 Long Eaton 6 Dinnington 12
8-May-11 66 Club 2 Dinnington 16
10-Jul-11 Dinnington 14 Rother Valley 4
7-Aug-11 Ashbourne 6 Dinnington 12
4-Sep-11 Dinnington 15 Ilkeston Colts 3
2-Oct-11 Stapleford CC 7 Dinnington 11
20-Nov-11Chesterfield Charity 6 Dinnington 12
18-Dec-11 Dinnington 10 Riddings 8

There will also be a change to the team name, to "Dinnington Cue Craft." As a local manufacturer of cues and associated equipment, we are pleased to be supported by such a high quality company. Most of the interleague team already uses Cue Craft cues and cases and are pleased to be involved with them. See www.cuecraft.com for their full range of cues and equipment.

5/11/11- Champ of champs finals at Yarmouth. To cut a long story short, Hatfeild Arms played well on the whole, getting to the last 16. The lads came up short against a team that I felt we would have beaten on another day. But that's pool. Still we made a good weekend of it and are already preparing for next seasons assault on the events.

19/9/11- In the Champ of Champs event, the Hatfeild side played a qualifier against the Steelmelters from Mosborough. At 5-2 down, we looked like going out of the competition. However, a spirited fightback saw us claw back to 7-6 up, then 7 all. A one frame decider and putting Ben Clayton on was a no brainer. We lost the toss and after the break, it looked like he wouldn't get a shot. But his opponent faltered on his last 2 balls and let Ben in. The clearance could only be described as absolutely outstanding. 8-7 winners and off to Great Yarmouth for the National finals.
In the singles event, Glen McKay was our representative and in the first round he beat Andy Herriott in a 5-4 scrappy nail-biter. Through to the 2nd round of local qualifying and he played a lad from West Leeds. Glen put up a far better performance and played a really solid match. Glen made no mistakes and took the frames out when he got the chance. Winning 5-1(the 1 being a break and dish), he's off to the national finals played alongside the team event in November. Hopefully we can do some damage down there.