Holley is the hero for Gremlins
IN WHAT was surely the tightest finish ever seen, La Villette Hotel Gremlins have won the T&C Roofing Premier Division by a single point, with victory coming in the penultimate frame of the decider against the Sledgehammers.
Adrian Holley held his nerve with a brown to pink clearance that took La Villette to the five frames they needed – made more crucial by the fact that John Skillett was comfortably ahead in the last.
Benefiting from a five-point head start, La Villette started strongly with Martyn Desperques making breaks of 70 and 85 against Glenn Le Prevost not only to secure the aggregate prize, but break the back of what they required.
Adam Shorto matched Desperques’ 2-1 win to tie the score up at half-way, but he was left to rue not making the most of a 40 break when Darren Hughes stole their second on the black.
Danny Marquand and Skillett looked to take the game away from La Villette, especially when the latter’s respotted black against Seb Priaulx extended their lead to 6-4 – and it soon became clear that he would complete a seventh 3-0 win.
That left everything hanging on the outcome of the adjacent table, with Marquand gaining the early initiative.
He could not capitalise on it, though, and when Holley deposited the pink, La Villette’s long wait for the title was over.
Ex-Service Stunners repeated their third-place finish by winning the last two frames to stave off Imperium Strokers’ challenge.
It has been quite a recovery from a Stunners side who lost six of their first eight matches to lie bottom, and this was to be their only back-to-back win of the season.
Roscoe Cloarec and Gary Le Noury provided the impetus with a pair of 2-1 wins, but three frames from Colin Gilbert and Dave Gilmour left the match hanging in the balance. Ross De Carteret and Paul Le Sauvage delivered the telling blows though, winning their frames 62-21 and 67-46 respectively.
Ex-Service Hot Butts enjoyed their best result in picking up 10 frames against RAF Reds.
It was a sorry end to the season for the relegated side, who missed out on three black-ball frames as Jamie Le Cheminant and Tristan Ozanne made it 6-0.
Scott Bradford compounded matters by adding a 3-0 win of his own and the Hot Butts were heading for a full house when Clayton Le Noury took his opener 56-22.
It wasn’t to be, though, as the Reds’ best player, Graham Peel, recovered to seal his fifth 2-1 win in a row.
