Gloating out as Platt's men stroll to sixth win

INTER-ISLAND wins are always sweet, but there was sympathy and certainly no gloating from the Guernsey squad who soundly beat the old enemy 9-1 to register a sixth straight snooker 'Muratti' success. Jersey cueing is in the doldrums and arguably the best ever Guernsey team know it. They also want to be tested far more than they were on Saturday evening at a smoky Ex-Servicemen's Club.

Only Ian Platt, the captain, dropped a frame and his remarkable record of six captaincies, six wins, provoked a comment of: 'I'd gladly drop the only frame every season if it means winning'.

Platt was in no mood to gloat, though.

'Jersey aren't as strong as they used to be. When you had the likes of Gary Britton, Karl Le Fevre, Softley and Canavan it would have been a real test.

'Their top league now has four teams of two players, so they have only eight players to pick from.

'We want to be pushed.'

While Jersey are reduced to fielding a 78-year-old - admittedly a very good one in Mick Mahrer - Guernsey have a young quintet which bears comparison with any of the CI's best inter-insular teams of the past.

And in Martyn Desperques they have the real class act.

While his colleagues struggled to find their best form, Desperques rounded off the victory with a 65 break in his second frame against Bob Bradshaw.

It should have been many more and probably well into three figures and Desperques wore a look of disgust as he missed a straightforward pot with six reds still on the table.

'It should have been a ton,' said Desperques, whose potting and cueball control were superb in that second frame.

'It was a poor shot on the blue, but I should not have been where I was at the end of the day,' he said.

Desperques has rolled in two century breaks in practice in the previous 24 hours and his 65 was comfortably the highest of the evening.

Few found any rhythm for long, not least Guernsey and CI champion Adam Shorto who scraped a 2-0 win over Jeremy Goggan after looking all but buried at 36-36 down with the final three colours on the table.

But Goggan kindly went in off the blue in attempting a pot, Shorto doubled the blue into the centre, sunk a long pink and after playing safe on the black was soon back at the table to pot it for the victory.

Guernsey had been given a flying start by two-frame wins for John Skillett and Ady Holley.

Skillet beat Mahrer, who despite his age finished third in the Jersey aggregates, in two uninspiring frames, while on the adjacent table Holley stole the first from Bob Kilpatrick and duly improved to claim the second for good measure.

Kilpatrick, who won the Jersey side's only frame in the 'Upton' and was their solitary winner in the team billiards, led 52-27 with just one red and the colours left.

Holley suddenly found form, cleared to the pink and when Kilpatrick missed a long pot on the same ball, he stepped in to not only sink it himself but also take the black.

Platt and Jersey champion Ian Gould shared their two frames, the Guernsey captain registering breaks of 30 and 36 in easing home in the first.

Gould, who looked Jersey's best player, comfortably took the second.

With just two frames from Desperques and Bradshaw to come, Guernsey led 7-1 and had the trophy in the bag.

Bradshaw gave a good account of himself in the first particularly, reeling off blue, pink and black to earn a respot.

Desperques went first and when the Jerseyman gave him half a chance, he stepped in to clinch it.

The previous evening Desperques had romped to a 500-391 win over Guy Hayes in the CI billiards final.