Olympic BC B continue to lead the way after the latest round of matches in the top flight of the Ormskirk & District Amateur Snooker League. This week they ended their evening with a 4-2 away success over Stanley Club A and this result sees them now lead proceedings by just a single point from their closest and only realistic rival for the league title. This match saw Olympic B's skipper, Paul Williams, in good touch again with a nice break of 38 in his frame win.




Southport Conservative Club remain in second position but have closed to that one point behind the pace-setters and, most importantly, have a match in hand over them in their quest for their record-breaking sixth successive Division One crown. This time around they recorded a 6-0 away demolition of Olympic BC A. This was, amazingly, their fifth 'perfect' result of the current campaign as we just past the halfway stage. This match also saw Southport's captain, Gareth Hibbott, in terrific form again with a brilliant break of 67 to see him grab this week's 'Break of the Week' prize.
Gareth's break began early in the frame as he was left a reasonable opportunity by his opponent. He floated a tricky red ball into the middle pocket at a real acute angle to gain brown ball position. After potting the brown ball he gained position on a choice of reds between the blue and pink ball area with the black ball tied up near the top cushion. Gareth then proceeded to pot the next six reds with either blue or pink balls with precise potting and top class positional play as he played two excellent shots developing some more reds in the process and this saw him quickly reach forty six. A further awkward red was precisely dispatched into a tight centre pocket to get onto the pink ball. That pink ball was potted along with a further two reds and pinks as he reached the penultimate red of the frame. Gareth tried to screw this second last red in whilst trying to disturb the black and the last red as they lay together but very unfortunately jawed the red and the break sadly came to an end on sixty seven but it was still a very classy contribution by him.
Gareth joined the Ormskirk League at the commencement of the 1999-00 season and represented Southport SC every year since its sad closure just after the conclusion of the 2011-12 campaign. With Southport SC, Gareth won the First Division Title on no fewer than seven occasions, four Kenney Cup triumphs within the space of five seasons including a hat trick of wins and two Le Rose Cup successes. Gareth then joined Les Dodd SC and has helped his side capture the Division One crown for the last four seasons but they moved to their current home in Southport Conservative Club early last season. On a personal note, Gareth has the huge distinction of recording a run of 73 matches unbeaten, spanning over three and a half years starting on 12th October 2010 and ending 4th February 2014, an astounding fact particularly in one frame matches. Gareth has also been Individual
Champion of the League four times in 2007-08, 2009-10, 2013-14 and again last season. He

has also been Pairs Handicap Champion on four occasions, including the last two years, with his partner Andy Booth. With the invention on the UK League Snooker Tournament by site founder, Richard Ormiston in 2009, Gareth has been an ever present in the team representing the Ormskirk League and he has been an invaluable member of the team as he has helped us capture the Title an amazing three times. In 2010 in Manchester and again in 2012 where we triumphed at the superb South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester and again last November at The Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds were he won the 'Player of the Tournament' award with a magnificent ten wins from ten matches played. He represented the team again last November for the ninth time and is one of two players in our squad who has played in every year of this terrific tournament. This year as defending Champions we
just failed by the narrowest margin possible to qualify for the knock-out stages. Gareth also won the ApolloBet.com Merseyside Snooker Open in 2016, a very prestigious event steeped in history. Finally, Gareth now owns an amazing fourteen spaces on the Ormskirk League's Centurion Plaque and no one will be surprised if he adds to that this term.
Maghull RBL A engineered their ninth victory of the campaign with a 4-2 home triumph at the expense of Aughton Institute A. This outcome sees them continue in third place in the league table but do find themselves twelve points off the pace but I am sure they will continue to push to the very end of the season, the Aughton A outfit remain unchanged in sixth in the league proceedings. This match saw Maghull A's Chris Connolly in great nick with a classy half century of 57 in his frame victory.
Upholland Social continue in fourth spot but suffered only their third reversal this term as they, rather surprisingly, were beaten 4-2 at the hands of struggling St Cuthberts in a week were they reached the Kenney Cup final. The result sees the Upholland side drop four points behind the team directly above them in the standings and the Halsall outfit close to just two points adrift of the team directly above themselves in their endeavour to climb out of the relegation zone.
Aughton Institute E completed their night's work with a 4-2 success over Maghull RBL B and this latest win was their ninth of the season after a very slow start to proceedings. This outcome sees them unchanged in fifth slot and close to four points off the fourth placed team with an important match in hand over them. The match saw Aughton E's Robbie Wilson continue his awesome run of form of late with a fine break of 38 in his frame victory.
The other match played this week saw two of the bottom three sides clash in Skelmersdale Wardens A and Scarisbrisck NSC and it saw them share the spoils after a 3-3 stalemate was reached at the end of the contest. The Scarisbrick outfit will probably feel the slightly happier team as they battled back from 2-0 down early in the encounter.
Rainford X SSC sat out their free week this particular week.
Other notable breaks this week were – D Hartley (Southport Conservative Club) 47 &
C Hoare (Southport Conservative Club) 32.
The Division One merit table sees Scarisbrick NSC continue top of the pile after a draw this time around and increase their advantage to five points, they now sit on 96 points. Olympic BC A continue in second position despite a very heavy defeat this week and they lie on 91 points. Rainford X SSC now occupy third spot after sitting out their free week this time and are on 89 points. The fifteenth week updated table can be found below.



The following matches need to be played no later than the end of February 2018...
Maghull RBL B v Aughton Inst E (Originally Scheduled Date - 12th September 2017)
Maghull RBL B v Southport Con Club (Originally Scheduled Date - 17th October 2017)
Skem Wardens A v Aughton Inst A (Originally Scheduled Date - 5th December 2017)
Division 2
Aughton Institute D continue to march on towards that maiden Second Division title as this time around they reached double figure for wins with their tenth triumph of the season. They ended their evening with a solid 4-2 away victory at the expense of Farmers Club and this result sees them extend their advantage to four points and hold an all important match in hand over the two sides directly below them.
Aughton Institute B went into battle with Skelmersdale Wardens B and the predictable close match occurred as there was never more than a frame in the contest and at the end of the evening the spoils were shared in a 3-3 stalemate. The Aughton B outfit continue in second position and the Skelmersdale B side remain in fourth slot but they do have an important match in hand over the two teams directly above themselves. The match saw Aughton B's Jim Hodge in solid form with a good break of 22 in his frame success.
Aughton Institute C sealed their seventh win of the current campaign as they overcame Stanley Club B 4-2 although they will be a little on the disappointed side as they held a 4-0 lead in the contest but the Burscough outfit battled to take the last two frames. This outcome sees the Aughton C side unchanged in third place in the league standings. The match saw Aughton C's captain Dave Ball in fine nick as he compiled a really nice break of 33 in his frame victory.
The other match played this week saw Stanley Club C overcome Skelmersdale Wardens C 4-2 to seal their second win in their last three matches and third success in the current season. The match also saw Skelmersdale C's Jason Hornsby in good touch with a good break of 20 but unfortunately wasn't enough to capture his frame as he was defeated on the final black ball.
The following match need to be played no later than the end of February 2018...
Skem Wardens B v Aughton Inst D (Originally Scheduled Date - 19th October 2017)