England v Jersey result

[NigelS]

Well 2 years ago we won by a point (23-22), and this year history repeated itself as we again won by one point (17-16)

It was an absorbing match going right down to the wire, and a lot of closely fought matches.

Heres a run down of what happened

Session 1
Dennis Atkins v Harry Barbet
Phil Collins v James Jeanne
Kevin Tunstall v Grame Le Monnier

Harry started off with 10k against Dennis who came back with 3k. Phil Collins, on debut, took a handy 5k lead into leg 2 against James Jeanne. KT took a leg against the break against Grame Le Monnier and would start leg 2 with a big lead
England 2 Jersey 1

Session 2
Chris Reeves v Grameme Marrett
Tony Walsh v Nigel Ryall
Chris Reeves started with the break and got 2k start and then pegged another break giving Graeme Marrett a chance. When Chris got back on he was 1k down with not much time left. He cleared the balls with some cracking shots and sunk the 100 to win the leg by 30. Nigel Ryall only opened with 2k but got the break back and beat Tony Walsh by 11kish
England 3 Jersey 2

Session 3
Steve Mariner v Nick Barnett
Nigel Senior v Steve Ahier
Steve Mariner left the one up short early on but got the balls back and won by around 10k. Myself and Steve Ahier played on a very hard table and I scored a grand total of 0, Steve Ahier got 9k but it was with 5 goes on the break showing how tough the top was.
England 4 Jersey 3

Session 4
Paul Sainsbury v Keith Vibert
Leon Beer v Graham Bisson
Geoff Jukes v Dennis Helleur
Steven Sheard v Mick Eouzan
Paul Sainsbury took time to settle as he had a couple a small breaks but eventually took a handy lead over Keith Vibert into his second leg. Leon lost a close break game against Graham Bisson. Dennis Helleur put in a big score against Geoff Jukes (11kish). Steven Sheard, another player on debut, had a scrappy opening game against Mick Eouzan (on the same table I played Steve) and would be around 3k down with his break to come. At half time the scores were....
England 5 Jersey 6

Session 5
Dennis Atkins v Harry Barbet
Phil Collins v James Jeanne
Kevin Tunstall v Grame Le Monnie
Dennis held on for a point against Harry, but couldnt chase down a 7k defecit. James Jeanne never gave Phil a chance in leg 2 with a superb opening break, to take a 2-1 win. KT took all 3 points against Grameme Le Monnier with a fine captains performance.
England 8 Jersey 9


Session 6
Chris Reeves v Grameme Marrett
Tony Walsh v Nigel Ryall
Chris finished his debut in style with another win on the 100 hole! With a defecit of only 30 Graeme Marett started with a superb 6k, only for Chris to come back with a great 6k break to take a 3-0 win when a 1-2 loss looked likely. Tony Walsh couldn't catch Nigel Ryall's big lead and also lost his break game at the death after defeding a 2k lead for much of the leg. This gave Nigel a 3-0 win.
England 10 Jersey 11

Session 7
Steve Mariner v Nick Barnett
Nigel Senior v Steve Ahier
Steve Mariner was in great form and took a big 3-0 win after Nick Barnett missed early on his break game. It was my break game against Steve Ahier and I could only go off with 300 as my one up ended with the white resting on the white peg. Steve Ahier played a great shot to get the break back and then broke down on 5,700. I had another go at the break and did a bit better with 1,500 leaving me 4k down. Fortunately I got the break back again with some 4.5 minutes left and went hell for leather including one shot off the side cushion to hit a ball by the 100 hole, and won the leg by 1,000 and thus giving England a 1 point lead going into the final matches.
England 13 Jersey 12

Session 8
Paul Sainsbury v Keith Vibert
Leon Beer v Graham Bisson
Geoff Jukes v Dennis Helleur
Steven Sheard v Mick Eouzan
Graham Bisson and Dennis Helleur completed 3-0 wins over Leon Beer and Geoff Jukes, and England were looking in serious trouble. Paul Sainsbury needed a 3-0 win and played brilliantly to catch a slow 3,800 start by Keith Vibert, as Paul only had time to make 5k in reply, but it was enough. For England to win Steven had to beat Mick Eouzan by more than 3,500 to take a 2-1 win. Steven, who told me he had never made over a 6k break in the Jersey competition before handled the pressure brilliantly to open with just over 6k. It was a lead he held onto to the end of the game. Steven also made the break by potting 50s, considering he always splits in Jersey makes the break even more inpressive.

A really cracking match which could have gone either way. Our players on debut were superb, Steven Sheard, Chris Reeves and Phil Collins all played very well. Also some great performance from more the experienced players, KT, Steve Mariner and Paul Sainsbury. The Jersey players had some excellent performance as well, James Jeanne's fightback especially good.

The England Ladies won 12 - 3 against Jersey ladies, all England ladies winning their games. The team was Pauline Withey, Sue Mariner, Jean Over, Michelle Baden and Sue Atkins. Well doen to them.

I am sure someone will post the scores later, and I believe their may be some youtube videos on the way, me singing wake me up before you go go, and Paul Sainsbury playing air guitar with his cue.

[SirKT]

Well done Nige, only one slight mistake.
In the Phil Collins v James Jeanne match, James did break down after he caught Phils score from the first game but unfortunately Phil couldnt get the balls back and James did to record the win.

Mens scores

HARRY BARBET 10160 & 1040 DENNIS ATKINS 3060 & 2250
2 - 1
JAMES JEANNE 3490 & 10840 PHIL COLLINS 8100 & 330
4 - 2
GRAEME LE MONNIER 1930 & 160 KT 9680 & 13060
4 - 5
GRAEME MARETT 3580 & 6370 CHRIS REEVES 3610 & 6520
4 - 8
NIGEL RYALL 12100 & 3080 TONY WALSH 100 & 2620
7 - 8
NICK BARNETT 280 & 2230 STEVE MARINER 11550 & 10230
7 - 11
STEVE AHIER 8960 & 5670 NIGEL SENIOR 0 & 6700
9 - 12
KEITH VIBERT 930 & 3840 PAUL SAINSBURY 5670 & 5430
9 - 15
DENNIS HELLEUR 10590 & 6980 GEOFF JUKES 0 & 1220
12 - 15
GRAHAM BISSON 5190 & 9580 LEON BEER 3510 & 350
15 - 15
MICK EOUZAN 4800 & 2250 STEVEN SHEARD 1130 & 7110
16 - 17

I`ve been England captain for some time now and seen some fantastic performances over the years but this one rates among the highest.
To take such an inexperienced team away from home and take on without doubt a very powerful Jersey side could have been disastrous. Withdrawals from the original eleven (Jim Millward, Mark Turner & Chris Saville) meant that the 3 reserves selected all had to play.
This meant we were starting with three new caps, average age of about late twenties,for an International.
What a challenge!!!!!

This put a little more pressure on some of the "veterans" in the team and one or two did struggle with the tables which appeared to be a little more like they used to be set up, needing plenty of right hand side on the one up shot.
It nearly played into Jerseys favour as messrs Jukes, Walsh & Beer were comprehensively beaten 3-0.
Steve Mariner & Kt capitalised on early mistakes by their opponents for 3-0 victories.
Dennis Atkins grabbed a vital point in his 2-1 defeat. Nigel Senior valiantly tried to catch Steve Ahier on probably the hardest top in the hall and eventually ground out another valuable point.
Newcomer Phil Collins made another crucial point against Jeanne junior but was unable to stop the Jerseyman from taking the 2 points.
I know these 3 players will be disappointed with their defeats but i can`t emphasize enough how important those one pointers are, as the result proved.
Fledgling number two, Chris Reeves played arguably the match of the night. Chances a begging in the first with Chris potting the last ball to win by a small 30. Reserve Graeme Marett (replacing the sick Bob King) opened with 6370 only for Chris to chase him down and come off a small 100 in front. Graeme felled a peg when clearing the few balls left and Chris was left to pot the last ball for an amazing 3 points. Fantastic!
Two of the last 4 games looked out of reach and that meant we needed four points from the other two.
Paul Sainsbury admitted himself that he wasn`t cueing very well in his first leg but still managed a good lead. Keith Vibert opened with a slow 3840 and Paul switched into overdrive to catch his score, coming off as the bar dropped with a 1600 lead and all 3 points.
So who was left to get the other 2 points? Sheard of course, Steven that is.
Mick Eouzan set up a 3700 lead in the first leg with Steven failing to make any inroads on the tricky top.
Leg 2 - Steven opens with a brilliant 6600 on a table that certainly didn`t play to his strengths. Mick did retrieve the balls but broke down still 2k behind. Steven showed his bottle to hold off his opponent under immense pressure to help England to another narrow victory.
With the quality coming through in these youngsters, I think the trophy is ours for a few years to come ;)
Well done team !!!!

The ladies scores will go on tomorrow, i`m going to bed. Late night don`t you know 8-)

Congratulations to captain and team on a fine display, and from the sound of it, some heroic performances.

[Chris_Sav]

Well done all, wish I could have been there. :'(

Sav

[davemay]

This result shows the wisdom of selecting the younger players for them to gain experience under the most extreme pressure.
Although the 3 reserves probably did not expect to play, although 1 probably did, with the help and advice of KT, Steve Mariner, and Paul Sainsbury in how to hold yourself together in this situation shows the strength in depth of the game at the top level.
Well done to all ( both England & Jersey ) for a top class performance.

[SirKT]

Here are the Ladies scores as promised

ZOE JEANNE 1130 & 2810 JEAN OVER 3340 & 980
1 - 2
JILL BARBET 4690 & 2270 PAULINE WITHEY 3700 & 5740
2 - 4
CHRISSY DOUGHERTY 1260 & 450 SUE MARINER 4160 & 6900
2 - 7
HEATHER HAMON 1980 & 300 CHELLE BADEN 680 & 3950
3 - 9
JUNE HOPWOOD 1170 & 1830 SUE ATKINS 1630 & 3180
3 - 12

Another comprehensive victory for the England Ladies. Nice to see Sue Atkins & Chelle Baden given the chance at International level again.
Chelle couldn`t quite get to grips with her table in the first leg but totally outplayed her opponent in the second
Soos played really well for her 3 pointer.
Chrissie Dougherty must have wondered what had hit her after Sue Mariner put 11k past her over the 2 legs for another 3 pointer.
Young Zoe Jeanne (14 i think) looks to have a bright future at the game (boyfriends & school permitting). She really gave Jean a fright only going down by 380 over 2 legs but still took a leg off the England number two.
The match of the night was undoubtably captain Pauline v Jill Barbet. It was difficult for me to follow the Ladies matches in as much detail as the Mens, but i think the scores show what a great match this was, 9440 - 6960 to Pauline.

It was a shame that Jersey told us that they would probably only have 5 ladies, as on the night we discovered they had actually 6.
Although our original fifth selection declined to play and our first three reserves also, we could still have picked a longer list in case something like this would happen.
After Chelle Baden, we could have added Alison Norman & Caroline Retfalvi for the sixth place.

Anyway, Jersey did have a Mens reserve, Tim Ringsdore. So as to give him & Jackie Clarke(the Jersey captain) a game, I asked Keith Sheard & Hayley Tunstall if they`d like to play. Both consented , so the Hotel table was used. Thank god it wasn`t used in the main match, believe me, it was hard.

Here are the scores

Tim Ringsdore 3930 & 4330 Keith Sheard 1740 & 0

Jackie Clarke 1300 & 1420 Hayley Tunstall 1300 & 1080

To be fair to Keith, playing that top without his own cue wasn`t very nice and could never get going.

Hayley on the other hand did have hers and gave their captain a stern test, holing the 100 in the first leg for a draw.
Thanks to them both for being good sports

The next International will hopefully be in June against Guernsey.
To be confirmed

[NigelS]

KT (or anyone from Guernsey) do we have any news re Eng v Guernsey - (number of players, venue etc)?

[milko]

I would also like to congratulate both England mens & ladies teams on some fine performances, it was good to be there and be able to watch others perform well under extreme pressure.
Well done to the youngsters in the side, Chris had a great comeback to win 3-0, Phil had a fine first leg, but was up against another talented youngster in James Jeanne, who also played well with an excellent 2nd leg. To say that I was proud of my son Steven is an understatement, to see him get the vital points with that near 7,000 break in the last game nearly brought me to tears....... Terrific. The captain was pleased as well, as he gave him a big hug afterwards. :'( :'( :)

Well done to both captains, Pauline & Kevin on helping your teams to two great victorys & unlucky Jersey, as it takes two teams to make a great match.


Keith.

[Mario]

Pics on the Sx web site...
www.sussexbarbilliards.com/England/jersey_v_england_international_2007.htm

Nige, don’t give up the day job!

[NigelS]

Cheers Steve.....

X Factor here I come!

[Mark James]

nigels said:

Cheers Steve.....

X Factor here I come!

Come back Dicko, all is forgiven!

Well done, Kev et al.

[H&J]

BB report starts 9 mins in.

www.channelonline.tv/videoplayer/reportsport.htm

Nice one, Harry and Jill.
Best bit of footage on bar billiards that I've seen so far.

I didn't see Harry miss a shot the whole time he was on there - nor Dennis Atkins for that matter. ;)

[NigelS]

bean said:

BB report starts 9 mins in.

www.channelonline.tv/videoplayer/reportsport.htm

Cool, look at the intensity of Steve Ahier's face whilst scoring :)

Is there anyway of saving the video clip to your own computer?

[NigelS]

markjames said:

Come back Dicko, all is forgiven!

Maybe me and Dicko could form a duet and go for the BBC show "Just the 2 of us"

We could be the new Robson and Jerome :D

[NigelS]

tommo said:

Nice one, Harry and Jill.
Best bit of footage on bar billiards that I've seen so far.

I didn't see Harry miss a shot the whole time he was on there - nor Dennis Atkins for that matter. ;)

You would not have Tommo, Harry kicked off with 10k, Dennis made 3k in reply. So just one shot missed by the pair in the first leg.

[SirKT]

Who was that handsome brute in the red waistcoat & dick........ ie bow ? ;) :P
Shame we can`t get TV companies over here to show some interest

[David.G]

I just wish to add my congratulations to both men and womens teams for their terrific win in jersey. I know this reply is a little late. But I've only just started to use the forum. Never the less It was a great result. Well done to the two captains Kevin and Pauline. Their leadership is both emense and invaluable.