The 51st snooker season of the DMC Leisure Saffron Walden & District Snooker League concluded on the evening of Saturday 18 May 2013 with the finals of the Handicap Singles and Scratch Singles being played and the presentation of the trophies won during the season.

At 4.45pm the Handicap Singles final kicked off with Pat Manley (Newport Ex Cons) taking on Peter Saville (Dunmow Club).  With Pat having a handicap of -6 and Peter -1, the match was virtually a scratch affair.  Both players have pedigree in the tournament with Pat a previous winner in the 1991/92 season, and Peter a runner up in 1996/97 and 1998/99.  In frame one, Peter struggled to find the sort of form which saw him reach his third final and with Pat finding his range early on, he soon eased to a 1-0 advantage.  In frame two Peter found his range and secured the frame with a double on the pink.  Peter started well in frame three but Pat eased ahead to take a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five match and needed just one frame for victory.  Peter led in frame four but after being snookered twice by Pat, he gave away 28 points in fouls with the miss rule being called.  Despite this with both players needing blue and pink, Peter had first chance but in missing a chance on the blue handed the advantage back to Pat who calmly secured victory by potting the blue and pink.

At 8.15pm, the Scratch Singles final took centre stage with Adam Ingram aiming for a 7th title, and last years runner up, Michael Cushion looking to go one better and secure his first Scratch Singles title.  In the first frame, Michael started well with a good opening break but a rattled missed black ball allowed Adam to score enough points to draw level and continue to secure the first frame.  Adam dominated the play in frames two and three and at the interval look ominously comfortable with a 3-0 lead.  Adam continued well in frame four and although Michael looked as if he could start a comeback as Adam missed a straight forward pot on the pink for the match, but after a short safety exchange and snookers,  Adam slotted in the pink and black to secure a 4-0 victory and pick up an incredible 7th Scratch Singles title.

Following the conclusion of the Scratch Singles final, the trophy presentations took place.  Our Life President, Dan Lewis compered and Des Cooper of DMC Leisure, our league sponsor presented the trophies to the various winners.

To make a snooker season a success involves a lot of people giving up their free time to make it work, and this year the Committee are due a big thank you namely Dan Lewis (Life President), Cathy O’Neill (League Secretary), Adam Ingram (Tournament Secretary), Peter Saville (Vice Chairman/Treasurer/Website Administrator), Stuart Turner (Assistant Tournament Secretary), Mark Cooper, Stewart Hart and Bob Lovell.

In addition to the Committee, without the support of Saffron Snooker Club and DMC Leisure, the league would not be able to hold events such as the President’s Cup and the Trophy Presentation / Finals Evening.  We must also thank all the league venues who provided snooker tables for all the semi finals and finals this season, and to those individuals who gave up their time to referee and score the various matches.  Finally, without the support of  local businesses through sponsorship of our tournaments, we would not be able to offer the level of prize money and the quality of trophies that we have all come to expect, so again a big thank you to our sponsors Bullet Brickwork (UK) Ltd, Bushwood Accountants, Binder Loams, Tees Solicitors, GJM Plumbing Repairs, Hexagon Consulting and DMC Leisure.