YESTERDAY may have been William’s day but today we salute a 56-year-old lorry driver from Locks Heath.

The phrase ‘you have to scrape him off the table’ perfectly suits Steve Gardiner, the unlikely player of the season for Super League outfit Sarisbury Social A.

Forced out of the first team by youngsters like Mike Finn, Alex Dunkley and Dan Hildyard, Steve resigned himself to seeing out his days in the lower leagues.

But when two of Sarisbury’s teams amalgamated last season following the departure of the young guns to pastures new, Steve was recalled to play against some of Southampton’s top players.

And he struggled.

Steve said: “What it made me do was watch (the top players) at closer quarters and realise you don’t actually have to hit the ball as hard as I was hitting it. It was more about getting position and stroking the ball in.

“I changed my glasses halfway through last season and it really takes a long time to re-adjust.”

This season has seen a remarkable turnaround.

Steve has lost the fear of losing. And now he can’t stop winning.

He has won 22 frames out of 52. He has drawn three times with the 2001 Town Champion Mark Benzey (Chandlers Ford Central) and drawn against former teammate Hildyard (Woolston Cons A), Kevin Ridout (Shirley Social), Stewart Crosswell (Churchills) and Terry Azor (Chandlers Ford Central). He has beaten Jason Hildyard (Churchills) and, towards the end of the season, Dave Lovejoy (Churchills A).

And he said: “I started off quite slowly.”

Team captain Neal Blake revealed that Steve does not allow nightshifts to affect his snooker.

He said: “He books a day’s holiday, practises at lunch time and turns up as keen as mustard, waiting for the doors to open at 7pm.”

Steve started his career at Shirley Social but joined Doug Scott at Sarisbury Social about 15 years ago when he moved to his present house.

“It’s a lovely club,” he said. “I reckon we’ve got the best tables in the town.

“I’ve always liked to compete at a high level. I want to carry on playing for as long as I possibly can.”

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