Guernsey wins new format billiards

A new format for the team billiards inter insular proved an instant success for the Guernsey team and, just as importantly, to the eight players who played four matches of 45 minutes duration. The previous format of five individual matches had waned in both interest and intensity, but there was a buzz about the North Social Club for all three hours of play across the four tables.

With two points for a win and one for a draw, the demand to score as heavily as possible for the whole match was there in case of a tie after all 16 were played, and that was immediately evident as Martyn Desperques opened his evening with the best break of 58. It was a productive first rotation for Guernsey, made possible by Mark Jeffreys’ win in the dying seconds of his match against Peter Robinson.

Guernsey’s 6-2 lead was overturned in the next round as Malcolm Malzard sprung a surprise on Desperques, and only Adrian Holley, with a break of 34, stopped the home team from falling behind. At 8-8, Guernsey held a marginal 956-948 scoring advantage, which they extended into the next rotation. Desperques and Holley were driving Guernsey forward with big wins, but Jersey were clinging on, mainly through their island champion, Martyn Le Gallais.

Into the final round, Desperques made breaks of 49 and 51 to move out of sight of Le Gallais, but all three other matches were close to create a tension rarely seen in a billiards inter insular. As the clock ticked down to the final minutes, the impressive Holley and Ian Le Maitre found some breathing space, and with Jeffreys edging Malzard 118-115 in his third tight encounter of the evening, Guernsey could celebrate a 20 points to 12 success.