Isle of Man snooker players compete at Home Internationals

The Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds hosts this year’s Home Internationals recently when the Isle of Man Billiards and Snooker Association fielded teams in the men's and masters (over-40s).

The men were represented by Darryl Hill, Conor Mahon, Dollin Mercer and Nialls Wilson, the latter making his international debut.

They started in style in what was to be the highlight of the weekend from a Manx perspective, claiming a 7-5 victory over a very strong Northern Ireland A.

Hill was the man of the match in defeating Joel Connolly 3-0, but all four contributed towards what was possibly the island’s best international result to date.

Against up-and-coming prospect Connolly, Hill turned it on with a 77 break in frame one. He then went two up and, with the match score at 6-5 to the IoM, a 65 from Connolly in their last frame looked enough to give Northern Ireland the draw.

Hill needed to clear all the remaining six reds and colours, and somehow pulled it off to claim the match-winning point.

The other points came from Mercer who lost 2-1 to the free-scoring Sean Gray. The latter hit breaks of 46, 46, 46 and 49 but Mercer’s 18 clearance to nick frame two was crucial.

Mahon had never won a frame at this level before but very nearly claimed his match after taking the opener and hitting a 42 break in the decider, before narrowly losing 2-1 to Declan Lavery.

A special mention for Wilson, a 2-1 victor on debut. He made a 25 clearance to pinch frame one by a point. Extremely focused on the table despite all the distractions, he looked at ease, even after missing. A blue ball pot effectively gave him frame two before opponent Declan Hughes took the last.

Next up were Wales A and perhaps it was a bit much hoping for another win on the same day, but regardless of a 9-3 loss it was still a day to remember. The points scorers were Mercer who won 2-1, while Hill lost a close encounter by the same score.

Scotland were the opponents in the final group match, with the winners guaranteed to make the semi-finals.

Mahon found a young player very much in form, Amaan Iqbal, whose relentless potting meant it was soon over, 3-0 in 40 minutes.

Mercer fared better against his brother Azaan where, despite being 65 behind, the islander had a shot on the black for frame.

But he was distracted by movement, should have got up off the shot but didn’t and missed. Soon 2-0 down, Mercer never gave up and picked up the last frame on the pink.

Wilson also lost 2-1, having had chances in frame one. Opponent Jamie Thomson got the snooker he required on colours in the last but missed an easy black, before Wilson thumped it in from distance for a deserved point.

Hill won 2-1 over Tam McLeod after an easy win in frame two (50) but frames one and three were tight battles. Hill cleared the last three balls for the opener, then in the last he got the required snooker on the pink, but McLeod potted it.

Therefore, Scotland progressed as 8-4 winners but nevertheless a great effort from the islanders who finished third out of four in their group and, in reality, only a couple of pots from forcing a sudden-death frame.

Dropping into the plate knockout, the men's tournament ended with a 5-1 semi-final loss to Northern Ireland B. The match was soured by some dubious behaviour around the table from the NI team.

On a positive note, Wilson once again picked up a frame and the scoreline was closer than that, Mercer losing on the black and Mahon also within one pot of claiming another.

The masters team of Peter Kirkham, Chris Dagnall, Paul Smyth and Paddy Delaney started their campaign with a chastening 12-0 drubbing against pre-tournament favourites England A, who included ex-pro Wayne Brown in their quartet.

The islanders battled hard but missed a few, the 5am start to the day probably not helping!

Kirkham reflected after that defeat ‘things can only get better’ and indeed they did slowly. Another defeat, 9-3 to Wales B, followed but this included a 2-1 win for Smyth over Rhodri Morgan on the final pink, while Kirkham picked up the other point.

The Welsh team also had an ex-pro in their ranks, David Donovan, who finished off Delaney in style with a 108 break.

The masters finished their final group game with an excellent 7-5 win over Scotland. Kirkham won 3-0 with a top break of 45, but Smyth was unable to deliver on this occasion, going down 3-0.

Pleasingly, the only players from both squads without a frame over the weekend so far both managed it here. Delaney lost 2-1, but a 35 clearance to take frame two was to prove crucial.

Dagnall finally came good: with the match poised at 5-5 and his the only game in play, he put the Isle of Man ahead with a black-ball win, then in the last frame hit a very timely 35 to seal the match and a 3-0 win for himself.

The result also left them third in their group, possibly the first time both IoM teams have managed this feat in the same year, although there was to be no repeat of 2025 where the masters reached the plate final.

With two tables in use in a race to five, the IoM were soon 4-0 down to Northern Ireland but Delaney and Kirkham made the final scoreline respectable as NI won 5-2.

Delaney stunned his opponent, producing some excellent late pots to win on the black, while Kirkham had his best frame of the weekend to win comfortably.

Congratulations go to both teams on their efforts: the men’s victory over NI A was undoubtedly the highlight, but it was also nice to see all squad members picking up frames.

There were plenty of positives, including two of the younger players, Wilson winning on debut and Mahon having more success second time around. Also a word for Delaney who, at the tender age of 77, showed he can still mix it at this level.

Last but not least, well done to travelling referee Dave Kelly who was rewarded for his hard work of three days on duty at every session and given the honour of officiating the men’s championship final on the arena table.

Ultimately, the winners of the men’s championship were England 7-1 over Wales A, while in the masters championship England B defeated England A, 7-4.

MIKE CROOK