Saturday 17 May 2014 saw the remaining three Singles finals being played out to a conclusion at Saffron Snooker Club, below is a brief report on each final.
Scratch Plus Singles Final – Nick Selvey v Andy Webb
In the afternoon Nick Selvey and Andy Webb locked horns in the Scratch Plus Singles final and the match was nip-and-tuck all the way through with Selvey initially going 1-0 up [59-15], only to lose the next two frames [52-62, 19-34] to go 2-1 down. Selvey dug deep to level the match at 2-2 [59-46] in a close frame, and managed to continue momentum to also win the final frame 78-51 and the match 3-2 overall. Congratulations to Nick in what has been an up-and-down season for him, and commiserations to Andy who by contrast has had an excellent run of form this year and knocked in the joint highest break of 46 in the tournament.
Dan Lewis officiated.
Handicap Singles Final – Steve Parradine v Joe Fanthorpe
With neither player not known for their quick style of play, this match was always going to keep the table light on for a couple of hours! Joe ‘raced’ into an early lead after the opening frame took around one hour to take the frame [71-49], and Steve ‘quickly’ replied after the second hour had passed to level at 1-1 [67-46]. After a brief comfort/buffet break, the match resumed and Steve ground out frame three 68-55. With his nose in front, momentum seemed to swing his way and Steve secured victory 74-40 in frame four to win the match 3-1 after around four hours of play and to take the Handicap Singles title. Both players showed incredible stamina and the match was played with a lot of grit and determination. Congratulations to Steve who has had his best ever season in the league and richly deserves his ‘Three Player Division – Player of the Year’ Award. Commiserations to Joe who had a fantastic second half in the league and won the President’s Cup plate.
Mark Cooper refereed and Stewart Hart scored the match.
Scratch Singles Final – Jonathan Wells v Darren Edmonston
Given the form both players have shown in the second half of the season and commencing at 6.30pm in a best-of-seven final, many had thought that by 9pm we would have a winner…however for the first time in league history the Scratch Final went the distance not only in frames, time (4 hours), but right down to the final black!
With both players struggling to find their form, frames were traded all the way through the match. Darren took the first frame after a lengthy safety exchange [71-37, breaks DE28] and Jonathan levelled at 1-1 [69-41, breaks JW32, DE30]. Jonathan then took the lead in the match 2-1 [58-37] and the players took a 15 minute comfort/buffet break to collect their thoughts.
On the re-start, an in-off on the black by Darren forced a re-spotted black which he coolly potted to take the frame [72-65, breaks JW46, DE25]. Darren continued the momentum winning the next [63-23] to lead 3-2 and one frame away from victory, but a nicely constructed break of 52 by Jonathan once again levelled the match at 3-3 [78-6, breaks JW52].
With a final frame decider in play Darren again seized the initiative but in going down to the colours and trailing after potting the blue, Jonathan need pink and black for victory. In potting the pink, Jonathan tried to move the black off the side cushion but narrowly missed it and instead attempted a double to the corner pocket which came very close. Further attempts by both Darren and Jonathan eventually ended with Jonathan dispatching a mid range black into the corner pocket for a deserved 4-3 victory. On the night both players didn’t play at their best by any stretch of the imagination and it was one of those matches apart from the final ball there was nothing to separate the two players. Congratulations to Jonathan in winning the Scratch Singles title once again, the last time being in 2004/05. Darren is also a former winner from the 2008/09 season.
Dan Lewis officiated.
The DMC Leisure Saffron Walden & District Snooker League would like to thank Saffron Snooker Club for providing the tables for these finals, and to Dan Lewis, Mark Cooper and Stewart Hart for their officiating duties.
DMC Leisure North Essex Snooker League www.snooker-league.org 
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