black Tuesday

[Mike Langdon]

A very sad end  to the match (Pegasus v Arnold 30/10/07)

First of all i would like to apologise to Arnold B and Mapperley who had they're match inturrupted by the heated discussion which took place over the rule break in the final doubles frame. Sorry.

the whole situation should have and could have been avoided on several occasions and for me left a sour taste in my mouth. 

1. For me the ref who called the decision and therefore obviously knew what was going to happen should have mentioned that you must play in the same order when Scott and Chris were discussing who was going to take the first shot on the black.

2. Once again when Chris was obviously playing the shot there was the opportunity to mention it.

3.  Once the foul was called I tried to say ' come on it's been a great match it's a sad way to finish let's just play the re-spot again' and i can honestly say hand on heart with the other on keyboard that had the decision been on the other foot that is what i would have agreed to, as for me that would be the correct and sporting behaviour.  Yes the ref was correct in his ruling but come on! surely the gentlemanly thing to do was to mention it before we made the error. I'm sorry to say this but my perception of Arnold CD has been tarnished by this event which to be honest was a pretty sad night for the Nazareth House Snooker League.

Mike (Pegasus)

[Steve Butler]

1. For me the ref who called the decision and therefore obviously knew what was going to happen should have mentioned that you must play in the same order when Scott and Chris were discussing who was going to take the first shot on the black.

2. Once again when Chris was obviously playing the shot there was the opportunity to mention it.

I wasn't there so obviously it's difficult for me to know the whole circumstances but as someone disconnected from the incident I can only refer you to the official rules that the league plays by:

SECTION 5. THE OFFICIALS

1. The Referee
(a) The referee shall
(i) be the sole judge of fair and unfair play,
(ii) be free to make a decision in the interests of fair play for any situation not covered adequately by Rule,
(iii) be responsible for the proper conduct of the game under these Rules
(iv) intervene if he sees any infringement of these Rules
(v) tell a player the colour of a ball if requested, and
(vi) clean any ball upon reasonable request by a player.
[size=18](b) The referee shall not[/size]
(i) answer any question not authorised in these Rules,
[size=18](ii) give any indication that a player is about to make a foul stroke,[/size]
(iii) give any advice or opinion on points affecting play, nor
(iv) answer any question regarding the difference in scores.
(c) If the referee has failed to notice any incident, he may at his discretion take the evidence of the marker or other officials or spectators best placed for the observation or may view a camera/video recording of the incident to assist his decision.

[Mike Langdon]

Steve - I'm not questioning the rule book and have stated the referee made the correct decision.  All I'm saying is i feel some of the spirit that our league is played in was lost last night by the referee not mentioning it beforehand.  OK according to the rules the referee is not able to do this but this is not the crucible and how many times have you asked the ref how many points are required, how many left on the table etc? I did last night before taking on a shot and was told that my opponent needed snookers so in this league yes there is communication between referee and players.

Mike (Pegasus)

[Steve Butler]

Fair enough - like I said I wasn't there so it's difficult for me to comment.  I hope it hasn't caused too much ill feeling though and you can look forward to the rematch.  You're still top of the league (I think!).

[Mike Langdon]

No worries there mate. We don't feel hard done by as Arnold tied the game fair and square and overall a draw against the champs is a good result.  It's always important not to lose these matches so i guess both clubs will be happy. 

Mike