Darryl Hill and John Kennish fought out the 2019-20 island championship final for the third season in a row last week.

Hill had qualified with a narrow 4-3 victory over previous winner Sean Corkish in the semi-finals and Kennish 4-1 against Peter Crellin, himself a finalist a few years back.

Douglas Snooker Bar was the venue for this year’s final sponsored by Roy Gelling, with reigning champion Kennish appearing in his sixth consecutive final taking on past winner Hill in the best-of-nine frames match.

The referee for the evening was Simon Gardner and Dave Kelly was on the scoreboard.

The first frame was typical of such events as there was considerable safety played, intermixed with a variety of missed opportunities by both players, but in the latter stages Hill knocked in a nice 33 which eventually proved to be enough to take the opener.

The second frame was a similar affair but the quality of the safety play improved as players started to get a feel for the table and there were numerous snookers and successful escapes made.

Any chances only resulted in small breaks but Hill slowly built up a lead of 40 points before Kennish responded with a 20 break off the final few reds to get himself back in the frame.

Snooker after snooker was played with regular misses being called against both players but it still left Kennish needing all the colours.

The frame started to turn his way when he was playing out of a snooker and then fluked the yellow before Hill went ’in-off’ with the green left over the pocket which his opponent duly potted and took the remaining balls to level the match.

Frame three started well for Hill as he got first chance but could only make 17 before Kennish grasped the opportunity and hit a nicely-crafted 33 break, but once again broke down when everyone would have expected him to make much more.

There followed several more unexpected misses from both players but critically it was Hill who took control of the frame with some excellent snookers which gave him the opportunity to pinch the frame.

There was a slow start to frame four but eventually Hill made a 28 break to lead by 38 points and, while there were still nine reds left on the table, Kennish could not find the opening he needed to drag himself back into the frame and still trailed by 43 points with only 43 on the table.

Kennish took the penultimate red with a black and then fluked a snooker on the final red which was left over the hole. Hill escaped but left his opponent a chance which he took with a black, followed by the yellow and green, but he hampered himself on the side cushion and subsequently missed the brown.

Hill then took the brown, meaning Kennish needed snookers before Hill got over the line with the blue and pink to lead 3-1 going into the interval.

After the break, frame five continued with more safety and missed opportunities by both players but Kennish managed a 20 break to lead by 39-11 with four reds left.

Hill got an opportunity but could only make 17, only for a poor safety shot from Kennish the last red to give him a further lifeline and Hill duly made a 19 break, potting the colours up to the pink.

Yet again Hill left his opponent with a chance that normally he would have dispatched with ease but on this night nothing seemed easy and he left the chance for Hill which he took to lead 4-1.

The sixth frame started with a tremendous long red from Kennish from which he made a 22 break but again it should have been much more.

Kennish slowly built up a lead of 35 points and both players had chances to change the position but, with only the last red on the table, Kennish’s lead had been reduced to 22 which was further reduced when Hill sank a blue to trail by only 16.

Despite further safety from Hill, it was Kennish who would see out the frame when he took the remaining colours up the pink when the frame was conceded.

A scrappy start to frame seven was made by both players but Kennish made what was the highest break of the night so far with a 34 and, thanks to numerous missed opportunities, Hill needed snookers with the last red remaining on the table.

Not only that, but Hill found himself in a snooker and a failed escape followed by a few pots from Kennish was enough for him to take the frame and make the match score 4-3.

The eighth frame was very tight, with neither player wanting to give anything away.

Kennish seemed well placed to make a significant contribution but, when playing the brown into the middle pocket, it just barely brushed the side of the pocket which threw it out and was to prove very costly.

This miss handed Hill an easy red starter which he took and went on to make the highest break of the night with a 53 and lead by 44 points with only three reds left on the table.

A loose safety from Hill handed Kennish a lifeline but he could only manage a break of seven before handing the initiative back to Hill and this time the latter did enough to clinch the frame and match 5-3 to win his fifth island championship.

Thanks go to sponsor Roy Gelling, the officials for the evening Simon Gardner and Dave Kelly, and to Greg and Bob Cowell for the venue and the excellent half-time food.

KEN KINRADE

l Also played recently, John Kennish once again faced Tom Miller in the final of the 2019-20 Robbie Corkish Masters, open to players aged 40 and above.

This year Kennish retained his title with a 4-2 scoreline. Both players had qualified with 3-1 victories in the semi-finals against Paul Smyth and Peter Kirkham respectively - the latter had taken the notable scalp of Sean Corkish 3-1 in the quarter-finals.

Congratulations go to Kennish and many thanks to Douglas Snooker Bar for the kind use of its facilities for both semi-finals and the final. Also thanks to the officials on each night.