Fegan roars back from the brink of defeat to pocket singles title
Nick Fegan was crowned winner of the Portsmouth Snooker League’s scratch singles competition.
Fegan clinched the title after coming from 3-1 down to defeat Matt Paffett 4-3 in a see-saw final.
Paffett took the opening frame and although Fegan drew level with a break of 33, some good safety play and a 35 break put Paffett 2-1 in front.
Paffett then clinched frame four on the black to stand on the brink of victory.
Fegan, however, began his comeback with a brilliant clearance before a break of 30 made it 3-3.
Fegan then took the lead in the decider with a 34 break and went on to secure the frame on the pink.
Paffett went one better, though, in the scratch pairs, joining forces with Jamie Farrow to edge out Wayne O’Driscoll and Andy Boulton from Craneswater 3-2 in the final.
Post Office duo Paffett and Farrow went 1-0 and 2-1 ahead, aided by a run of 44 from Paffett in frame three, only for O’Driscoll and Boulton to twice peg them back.
Paffett/Farrow held their nerve in the decider, leading throughout the frame to claim victory.
Fegan also featured in the handicap singles final, although this time the Emsworth
potter lost out at the hands of Craneswater’s Grant Vernon.
Conceding a 40-point start in each frame, Fegan twice fell behind (despite making a 32 break in the opening frame) but hit back to level on both occasions after winning frames two and four on the blue.
Vernon made his 40-point start tell in the decider, though, as he got in first and surged ahead to seal a 3-2 victory.
The one final which didn’t go to a last frame shoot-out was in the handicap pairs as Copnor partnership Ryan O’Sullivan and Tony Norfolk beat Boulton and O’Driscoll 3-1.
O’Sullivan/Norfolk clinched the opener on the pink and went 2-0 up despite a break of 30 from Boulton.
Boulton/O’Driscoll got a bit of rhythm as they won the third frame, but O’Sullivan and Norfolk sunk blue and pink to get over the line in the next.
The over-50s final was an all-Copnor affair as Steve Green took on team-mate Dave Glover.
Although Green won a tense opener by just two points, Glover made a good start to pocket the second frame and then won the third on a re-spotted black to lead 2-1.
Green replied to claim the fourth on the brown before claiming a decider which ebbed and flowed to triumph 3-2.
Post Office defeated Cowplain Misfits to be crowned Peter Rook League Cup champions after another closefought final.
Paffett got the ball rolling for Post Office as he won his match 2-0, but Russell Bevan levelled it up for Cowplain with the help of a 34 break.
The subsequent games were all drawn so the outcome went down to the last match and Paul Hollyer stepped up to the plate to ensure the silverware went to Post Office.
The three title winners in the winter league were Emsworth A (Division One), Emsworth B (Division Two) and Broadoak (Division Three).