Charity Shield finalists confirmed (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Cannons and 'Font reach the final

12:00am Friday 8th February 2013 in Andover

The first week back in the Test Valley Billiard League after the Christmas break saw the semi-finals of the Charity Shield being played. Four times winner of the Shield, the Cannons travelled to Chilbolton to take on the Cuemen. Up first was Philip Langley against George Carpenter, which was a rematch from the first league game of the season. George started well, potting some excellent long reds, which put Philip under pressure but he wasn’t going to be beaten again and played some beautiful billiard shots to make up the handicap difference. George continued with his own game and getting a few rollers on the way but it wasn’t enough as Philip played through to the finish line and defeated George 100-92. Cuemen’s Dean Turner was hoping to repeat his thrashing of Ian Carpenter from the first league match but it wasn’t to be as Ian held on to take the victory and give the Cannons a slight advantage going into the last game. The Cannons’ captain Kevin Robson only needed to score 92 points plus his handicap to get them through to their fifth final in six years, but he was up against the unbeaten Jay Ponting. Kevin started well, showing how much he had improved over the years, taking on more billiard shots as he went. On the other hand, Jay struggled to get into his usual groove and Kevin took advantage of this and powered on to take the win 100-58.

In the other semi-final Andover Wolves hosted Mottisfont, and with both teams at the opposite end of the league table it wasn’t looking promising for the home side. Full story in Friday's Advertiser