Right On Cue

Dave Stirk rolled back the years with an impressive performance to beat Yorkshire under-19 champion Damian Wilks in the BRADFORD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP quarter-finals.

The Undercliffe Cricket Club player raced into a 3-0 lead before Wilks, of Manningham Ward Club, found his form to pull two frames back.

But Stirk held his nerve well and won the match in the next frame, his 4-2 victory securing a place in the last four next month.

The deadline for matches to be played in both the singles and pairs competitions is April 17.

Stirk was also in action for Bradford No 1 in the YORKSHIRE INTER-DISTRICT LEAGUE as they drew at Sheffield No 1 over the weekend.

Sheffield came to Thornton Conservative Club earlier in the season and were the first side in a number of years to beat Bradford 6-0.

That was a defining moment for a Bradford team who have struggled to find any consistency to push the leading sides this year.

Wayne Cooper was in prime position to give Bradford the lead in the return match but an untimely kick gave home player Kev Breeze a chance, which he duly took with a 32 break.

Cooper put the second frame out of sight, making a break of 35 to level the match, but Stirk then tackled David Birley and the Sheffield player took both frames, making a 32 break along the way.

Looking down the barrel of another big loss, Bradford’s Kevin Firth made a 35 to win his first frame against seasoned campaigner Mick Sanderson and also took the final frame to ensure Bradford gained a sixth draw of the season.

In the process, Firth gained some extra confidence ahead of his last-16 appearance in the English Seniors Championship at the Willie Thorne Snooker Centre in Leicester on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Bradford No 2 needed valuable points to help steer them away from the bottom half of the table but slumped to a 6-0 defeat against title favourites Leeds at the Northern Snooker Centre.

Boover Singh played Richard Binns and led by 22 points with one red remaining but the Leeds player laid a snooker which Singh was unable to get out of, a miss being called an amazing 14 times.

Binns then cleared the colours in the second frame to put the hosts 2-0 up, after which Kuldesh Johal took both against Gareth Green, the highlight being a break of 50 in their second.

The final pairing saw Hanif Rafiq take on in-form Paul Goodall, who made a break of 50 in the first frame and a 60 in the second to complete a whitewash for Leeds.

Bradford No 1’s final match is at home to Castleford No 2 on Sunday, April 18 at Undercliffe Cricket Club, while Bradford No 2 take on Sheffield No 1 at Manningham Ward on Sunday, April 11, followed by a trip to Castleford No 2 on Sunday, April 25.

Latest table (played nine unless stated): 1 Leeds 35pts (8), 2 Sheffield 2 33, 3 Sheffield 1 31, 4 Bradford 1 30 (11), 5 Bradford 2 24 (10), 6 Castleford 2 24 (10), 7 Castleford 1 21.