Town Championship final to be replayed (From Daily Echo)

Town Championship final to be replayed

12:10am Friday 1st April 2011

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LAST week’s Town Championship final has been declared null and void.

Mike Finn and Nick Jennings must replay the match tonight following a bitter row about the size of the balls.

After the game at Shirley Conservative Club, official scrutiny at a secret test house revealed the cue-ball used during the first frame was too heavy.

Rule 2 (a) states the balls shall be of equal weight within a tolerance of three grams per set.

As is customary after all finals in the Southampton & District Social Clubs League, the balls are weighed and measured by members of the management committee before being dispatched by motorbike courier to a laboratory in Kent.

The old method of Chris Holland throwing the cue-ball from one hand to the other was deemed by some to be unreliable.

Although the cue-ball used during frames two to five fell within the limits, the original cue-ball - which was changed by referee Derek Fry following protests by the players (and some spectators) - was found to be 0.1 gram overweight.

Chris Holland said he knew it was 0.1 gram overweight as he had thrown the cue-ball from one hand to the other before the match.

Following Finn’s 4-1 victory, Jennings’ legal team filed a protest. They maintain the 19-year-old would have settled into the game quicker if the balls had been regulation size from the off.

Jennings had thrown the cue-ball from one hand to the other before the match to check the weight. But, perhaps in a warning of what was to come, he missed.

An emergency meeting of league officials this morning ruled the match should be re-played at 7.30pm this evening behind closed doors at a secret venue.

This move follows crowd trouble during the first match. Comments like “was that a push shot, ref?” and “taxi for Finn” were considered inappropriate for a town final.

Jennings heard the news as he landed in Malta for the European Under-21 Championship. His mum Pauline immediately hired a private jet to whisk the teenager back to the UK.

Tonight’s venue is a closely guarded secret. However, an informed source close to the league’s management committee revealed that as Shirley Working Men’s Social Club always seems to get overlooked when it comes to hosting big league events, perhaps the 2011 Town Championship final could be resolved there.

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