The Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds was once again the setting for this year’s Home International Snooker event, back after an absence of three years.

The island’s men’s team were drawn against England A, Scotland and Wales B in the group phase, whereas the Masters (for players aged 40+) took on England, Republic of Ireland A and Wales B.

The top two teams would join the top two from another group to play for the championship, whereas those teams placed third and fourth would drop into the cup competition.

Representing the Isle of Man in the men’s team was Darryl Hill, Jamie Wilson, Tom Miller, Peter Kirkham and Peter Crellin. The latter three were part of the Masters squad as well, alongside Chris Dagnall, Paul Smyth and Mike Crook.

After a very early start for the boat, the men’s team were first to compete at 7pm against a strong-looking Wales B who soon had three frames on the board as Ben Fortey with breaks of 63, 103 and 77 blew away Kirkham in only 30 minutes.

But it wasn’t all one-way traffic as Hill hit back with a 2-1 win which included a 55 break, Miller lost out narrowly 2-1, but a great win by Wilson 2-1 left the final score Wales B 7-5 Isle of Man.

A top effort against a team that ultimately would make the championship final and nearly a memorable win as, with the last three frames in play, the island were leading 5-4.

The Masters team went on even later at 9pm against the small matter of England. A very long day ended 10-2 in favour of the English but had three black ball frames gone the other way it would’ve been a lot closer.

The Manx points scorers were Kirkham who lost very narrowly to former world No.63 Simon Bedford 2-1 and Smyth lost 2-1, all tight frames on the black.

Day two

The Masters were back in action early on day two against a very strong Republic of Ireland A quartet but a decent night’s sleep saw the Manx team in good form.

Miller won on the livestream Star table 2-1 against Mark Tuite, the 2014 European Masters champion and quarter-finalist this year, while Crellin won 3-0 on the table used for the 2006 world final and Dagnall picked up a vital frame in his 2-1 defeat.

With a 6-6 draw already guaranteed, Smyth was 2-0 down needing a snooker on the final blue in his third frame to get the island over the line.

Against all odds he achieved this: even though snookered himself on the final blue, he escaped and potted it, then got the snooker required and took pink and black to give the Masters team their first ever Home International win - IoM 7-5 RoI A - a result that will be remembered for a long time.

Later on, the men’s team were far from disgraced in losing 8-4 to England in their second match. Containing one ex-professional and three other strong young players, Hill and Wilson both picked up a frame in losing 2-1.

Miller took a second victory on the day, 2-1 over a potential future star in Ryan Davies. Kirkham couldn’t quite come to terms with the Star table, set in its own mini arena, losing 3-0 to ex-pro Jamie Curtis-Barrett.

In the final match of day two, the Masters team couldn’t hit the heights of earlier on but it has to be said Wales B were very good indeed.

Dagnall lost 3-0 and so did Crook on debut who found the going very tough, failing to score a point in frame one as his opponent opened with a 33 break and followed up with a 54. Smyth took the opener in his match but his opponent then moved through the gears, scoring heavily to win 2-1.

Crellin had the ‘privilege’ of playing on the livestream arena table and, although he lost similarly 2-1, he didn’t disappoint the viewers with a gutsy effort and deservedly took the last frame. Final score - Wales B 10-2 IoM.

Day three

Day three saw the end of the group stages and started with the men’s team taking on Scotland.

Hill and Miller both had 40+ breaks but lost final-frame deciders and Kirkham picked up a good 2-1 result, while Wilson’s opponent had breaks of 50 and 80+ and barely gave him a chance.

Final result Scotland 8-4 IoM - this and other results left both of the Manx teams dropping into the cup competition.

Sadly there was no more glory for either of the teams in the cup where the winning team was the first to five in two-frame matches with a one-frame shootout in the event of a 4-4 draw. The men’s team lost their semi-final 5-2 to the Republic of Ireland, Hill and Miller scoring points.

Then, playing for third or fourth place against Wales C, it ended in a 5-1 loss, with Hill winning the only frame with 40 and 30 odd breaks. Crellin, eligible for both teams, lost one of his two frames on the black while making his men’s debut.

The Masters Cup semi-final ended with the Republic of Ireland B winning 5-2 against the Isle of Man. Kirkham lost his first frame on a re-spot black, but hit some form in the second to level and a couple of 20+ breaks helped Crellin claim a 1-1 draw and take IoM’s other point.

Day four

The resultant third/fourth place Masters play-off was the island’s last match of the weekend early on day four.

Crellin, with a lovely 56 clearance, went on to draw his match 1-1. A quiet evening of nine-ball and lemonade seemed to have helped Dagnall as he returned to form with a 2-0 win, while Crook lost 2-0 but Smyth dug in and once again won a vital frame, the final one in play to force a one-frame shootout.

Crellin was rightly nominated to play for the Isle of Man up against his earlier opponent. Sadly, another victory for the Masters team wasn’t to be as the Scottish player knocked in a lovely 50 break. Final score - IoM 4-5 Scotland.

KELLY IMPRESSES

The greatest achievement over the weekend from a Manx perspective was that of referee Dave Kelly.

He was kept very busy because of a shortage of refs and impressed the senior officials so much he was awarded the honour of taking charge of the main arena livestream table for men’s cup and the main championship final itself.

Not bad for someone in only his second year officiating and first off-island trip! Refereeing is not just about re-spotting the colours and racking the reds, it can be a very demanding job as Ken Kinrade can vouch for - he also kindly assisted the officials on numerous occasions.

The cup final itself finished Scotland 7-2 Republic of Ireland and England B ran away with the championship final in impressive fashion by defeating Wales B 7-1.

So in the end it was effectively the wooden spoon once again for both Manx teams but, considering the pool of players available in the island compared to the other home nations, this was still a very creditable performance where six of the eight players scored at least one individual match win. Hopefully they will be back next year for more.

The players are grateful for the sponsorship of ProSearch, the support of Isle of Man Sport, the Noble Suitor for making the players’ smart waistcoats, and not forgetting team manager Ken Kinrade who kept everyone in order and also drove the team together with Paul Smyth.