By Roger Stephens

CORNWALL COUNTY POOL - PREMIERSHIP INTER LEAGUE (WEEK 14)

Bude 25 East Cornwall 11

PREMIERSHIP newbies East Cornwall travelled to Week St Mary on Friday, March 14 to take on a Bude team who came runners up in the league last year.

Matches were a four set of nine frames format making it best of 36.

In the first set, the Bude boys showed their class immediately taking the first set 9-0 courtesy of wins for Gary Hodgson, Stuart Baker, Aaron Nash, Patrick Phelan, Tim Cottle, Jordan Masters, Damion Braund, Andy Pollard and Lee Thomas, beating Darren Hooper, Olly Rounsevell, Luke Penhaligon, Brian (Reedy) Reed, Marc Pacey, Darrell Hidson, Steve Eastley and Mark Stevens in that order.

Set two didn’t get any better for the visitors when they went down 8-1 with Hodgson, Baker, Nash, Phelan, Cottle, Masters, Pollard, Thomas beating Reedy, Hooper, Rounsevell, Penhaligon, Stevens, Pacey, Gerry Markwell and Eastley.

The only one to drop a frame for Bude was Braund, going down to Darrell Hidson. Match score 17-1 and the match almost won by now, a steep learning curve for the premiership newcomers.

The East Cornwall side suddenly woke up and started the third set with a flourish taking the first 5 frames.

Easts captain Luke Penhaligon led the revival beating Gary Hodgson, team mate Brian Reed followed suit taking out Stuart Baker and Darren Hooper beat Aaron Nash to keep the momentum going.

Next up was Olly Rounseville who proved too good for Patrick Phelan, it was the turn of East Cornwall’s Steve Eastley to make it five in a row by beating Tim Cottle. Jordan Masters stopped the Easts charge when he took out Mark Stevens.

Marc Pacey clinched the third set when he beat Damion Braund. Andy Pollard and Lee Thomas took frames 8-9 beating Hidson and Markwell and in the process of clinching frames 19 and 20 and the match.

Fourth set and with the match gone, the visitors had nothing to play for except pride and boy did they show some.

In a see saw set Bude’s Gary Hodgson got the home team off to a good start when he beat Olly Rounseville, but back came East with Penhaligon playing a captains part taking out Baker. Bude hit back when Nash beat Reedy before Hooper beat Phelan to level things up at 2-2.

One had the feeling this was going all the way to the last frame. However, the hosts had other ideas and Cottle, Masters and Braund secured the next three frames, taking out Markwell, Eastley and Stevens to clinch the fourth set.

Pacey and Hidson took the last two frames off Pollard and Thomas for the visitors to emphasise how hard fought the second half of this contest was.

With a final score of 25-11 it was the hosts Bude who came away with the spoils. But credit has to go to East Cornwall who showed fighting spirit in the second half of the match which will hopefully give the team confidence in the season to come.

East Cornwall’s next game sees them up against Launceston at Newmarket Inn on Friday, March 28, while Bude will be returning to The Orchard at Week St Mary to face Mid-Cornwall on the same evening. Both games begin at 8pm.