Everything to play for in race for league title

Everything to play for in race for league title

16 April 2025

THE BMF Snooker League season is coming to its conclusion and with just three games remaining, we still do not know who will triumph. 

Drumaness Allstars currently lead rivals Drumaness Heads by three points, with Ballykinlar and St Mary’s A continuing to give chase, leaving it all to play in the final three games. 

A large, five-point gap separates fourth place St Mary’s and fifth place Drumanesss Fifths from Darragh Cross.

DRUMANESS ALLSTARS................4       

ST MARY’S A..................................2

THIS win keeps Drumaness Allstars at the top of the table, as St Mary’s remain in fourth position. 

Brendan Coiley is starting to show some good form and now has back-to-back wins to his credit. 

Colly Hughes had no answers to Coiley’s scoring power when Drumaness got off to the perfect start. 

Newcastle’s John Magee won one back for St Mary’s, with Eamon Ferris making a few uncharacteristic mistakes and allowing him to snatch the frame on the colours. 

A frustrated Ferris smashed the balls open in the second frame and, this time, he was able to capitalise with a 65-break and put Drumaness further ahead at 3-1. 

Owen Maguire pulled another frame back for St Mary’s, beating the talented Paul Lindsey by a margin of 81-71. 

Another very close frame came to a head on the final black and despite conceding 49 points on handicap, Lindsey managed to snatch the last frame with a clearance of 27, ensuring the Allstars kept a firm grip on the leaderboard and an eye on the league trophy. St Mary’s will need three one-sided wins in their last three outings if they are to have a chance of league success this season.

ST MARY’S B...................................1                 

DRUMANESS HEADS......................5

DRUMANESS Heads remain in second position and with their bye week coming up, this win has been crucial for their continued league campaign. 

Northern Ireland champion Darren Dornan and Johny McQuade shared the opening two frames in the first match. 

Dornan, with 22 frame wins, is still on course for player of the year and will be practicing hard to see if he can defend the national championship in a few weeks time. 

St Mary’s night started to fall apart after this, as Steve Madine beat Kevin McQuade 2-0. Madine had breaks of 34 and 35 to give the Heads a 3-1 lead, before Ryan Dornan wrapped up the night for Drumaness, beating Ryan Murphy 2-0. 

The Heads are now on 50 points, three points behind the Allstars, and will need two more big wins, as well as other results going their way.

DRUMANESS POTTERS..................4          

BALLYKINLAR................................2

LIKE previous years, Ballykinlar are letting things slip in the final stages of the league campaign. 

Recent consecutive defeats, in an otherwise great season, may be the set-back that costs them a chance for title glory. 

Now five points adrift of the league leaders, and still in third position, there may be time to turn things around, but there will be no margin for error. 

The match got off to a bad start for Ballykinlar, as Micheal Philips got the better of his match against Philip Codd. 

Philips was a comfortable winner in the first frame and although Codd managed to claw the handicap back in the second, a loose safety shot on the pink allowed the Potters’ man to pot pink and black to steal the frame. 

Des Sweenie followed with a win over Dale Baker Jr, firing the Potters into a 4-0 lead, much to the dismay of Ballykinlar. 

Gareth Magorrian managed to keep the visitors in the title race with a 2-0 win over Jordan Wade, a very important two points that prevented the whitewash.

DARRAGH CROSS...........................2   

CROSSGAR......................................4

CROSSGAR secured what is only their third win of the season when they travelled to face Darragh Cross — something that is reflected in their league position.

The defeat saw Darragh Cross ped to fifth place and 12 points behind the league leaders and with both sides out of contention, they can certainly do damage to the progress of other teams. 

Brian Gordon and Daryl McLaughlin shared the opening two frames in a close-fought contest. 

Robert Pollock has shown good form in his last few outings and was a 2-0 winner against Charlie Murray, claiming the second frame on a re-spotted black and giving Crossgar a 3-1 lead. 

Finbarr McLaughlin eased through the first frame against Micheal Pollock, but the second frame had all the drama, as an outrageous fluke on the final black proved to be the match winner for Crossgar.

The century break bonus for minus handicap players and half century bonus for plus players is still a great incentive to go out and try for the big breaks. 

Eamon Ferris currently has two century breaks to his credit, while Dessie Sweenie holds the highest break for the plus handicap players.

Drumaness Fifths had a bye this week.