Fourth time lucky

Three times Jones failed to pot a single ball on a two-shot chance with his bottom-of-the-table side leading 2-1 and his match against Richard Boreham poised tantalisingly at one apiece.

But on the fourth occasion he sunk his last yellow. And after nudging the black off the cushion, Jones rolled it in to send his teammates into dreamland.

“That’s not like me,” he said minutes afterwards. “Normally when you have two shots you clear up.

“(Boreham) had nowhere to go because I had both pockets covered.”

And he added: “Tonight, obviously he wasn’t on the form that he normally is.”

Jones, who was born in Carnarvon but lived in Shropshire for 25 years, played for the Hedge End A snooker team many years ago.

Skipper Kelvin Kellaway reckons this season’s experience will stand his side in good stead for 2012/13.

“Next season we’ll have a pretty good foundation,” he said. “I like managing the side. But I don’t want to finish bottom.”

The former A team player opted to take control of the newly-formed second side last summer.

“I didn’t play a lot for the A team because there were better players,” explained Kellaway, an engineer. “There were a few players extra that wanted to play and I said to Stu (Seaborn) that I’d take over as captain of the B team.”

Getting used to world rules and adapting from playing socially to league pool is taking its time.

Hedge End B are bottom of the league with two wins out of 12.

Pete Dummett, 34, who played league pool in his native Newcastle, said: “A lot of players are just going for the pot all the time whereas you’ve got to think your way around the table.

“There’s some very good players around.”

But Jones insisted: “We’ll get better.

“If you took all the best players from the club, you’d have a good team. But then it’s not fair on the B side.”

Kellaway added: “Every game we’ve played, we haven’t been humiliated. The only team we’ve lost 5-0 to is the team (Romsey Comrades B) that’s going to win the league.

“We’re good enough to beat the two teams above us.”

One can only imagine the celebrations if Hedge End B do finish their debut season third from bottom.

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