17th November 2007
The West of England Billiards & Snooker Foundation Silver Waistcoat tour rolled into Rileys, Plymouth for the second stage. Players came from afar a field as Taunton and Salisbury in order to compete against the some of the best under 21 players in the region in pursuit of the West of England Championship crown.

Group A saw event 1 winner Grant Cole (Plymouth) start in fine form winning 2-0 against Haydon Pinhey (Plymouth), just 11 years of age. Pinhey, who recently qualified for the last 16 in the English under 14 championship, found the going tough against seasoned Silver campaigner, Cole recorded a 75 break to win the second frame. In Cole’s second match he was up against Mark Green from Salisbury. The first frame was close. With Green leading and looking to take the frame he made a mistake to let Cole in to take the frame on the colours. In the second frame Green ran out of position when on just 14 points, this allowed Cole to clinch the frame and match 2-0 with a superb 80 break. Cole continue to pot freely in his next match against tour debutant Daniel Stevens, Plymouth by winning the first with a 74 break and the second with a 47.

Stevens was next up for ‘the Pocket Rocket’ Pinhey. The first frame could have gone either way but it was Pinhey that finished the stronger with a 22 clearance to take a 1-0 lead. Pinhey kept the potting going with a number of modest breaks in the second frame to with his first tour match 2-0. Plymouth duo Mitchel Grinsted and Tom Kevern where the next pairing. Kevern started the stronger taking the first frame comfortably and looked like winning the match in the second until he failed to capitalise on a match wining chance. This allowed Grinsted to sink the pink to level at 1-1. After a close start to the final frame Kevern seized on a chance to clinch the match with a 49 break to win 2-1.

Mark Green from Salisbury made quick work in dispatching Stevens from Plymouth 2-0 but found Grinsted in his next match a tougher opponent. These two players often have close matches and this proved par for the course. Green won the first frame with a fine 49 break only for Grinsted to battle in the next to level at 1-1. In the deciding frame Grinsted looked to be in control with a 21 lead on the colours before he missed using the rest to let Green in the clear the colours to win 2-1. Kevern faced Pinhey in the next match and after losing the first frame 101-12 Pinhey looked dejected. However, he kept it together to win the second frame to level 1-1. With confidence restored Pinhey took his chances in the final frame to record a fine 2-1 win. This put Pinhey in a strong position to qualify with two wins but despite being full of confidence he found seasoned campaigner Green too strong in his next match losing 2-0. It was crucial for both Kevern and Stevens to win their match as both were fighting to secure a qualifying position. It was Kevern that dug the deepest running out a 2-0 winner. Cole won his last match against Kevern 2-0 to top the group without dropping a frame, the other qualifiers where Kevern, Green & Grinsted.

Tom Casey, Plymouth opened group B against Matthew Atasoy, one of two players Taunton. Casey played solidly to win 2-0. Next up were Plymouth team mates and real prospects for the future, Tom Vanstone and Branton, last months runner-up. It was honours even after the first two frames went the distance. The decider proved the same with both players sharing the lead and squandering chances to score heavy, such was the tension. It was Branton that stumbled over the line to win the match 2-1. Vanstone had little time to ponder over what might have been as he was back on the table against Atasoy. In a close fought contest Vanstone edged out Atasoy 2-0. Next up for Atasoy was travelling companion Ben Holley. With both players knowing each others game one could expect a close contest. This was far from the case as Atasoy opened up with a 74-0 points victory in the first followed by another quick frame to win 2-0. Casey’s second match against Holley was another quick-fire match as Holley fresh from defeat turned it around to make light work of Casey with modest breaks in the thirties to win 2-0. Branton was Casey’s next opponent and Branton was quick into his stride winning the first frame followed quickly by the second to win 2-0. Branton’s next opponent put up sterner opposition as both players displayed excellent safety play before Branton nicked the first frame to lead. The second frame was a repeat of the first with Branton wining the match 2-0. With 3 defeats Grinsted was in need of a win, he did not disappoint as he beat Stevens 2-0. Casey won the first frame against Vanstone on the colours only for Vanstone to level after a titanic battle on a re-spotted black. Vanstone kept the momentum as he won the deciding frame to win 2-1. Qualifiers going into the knock out phase were group winner Branton followed by Vanstone, Atasoy & Holley.

In the Knock-out stages Atasoy repeated his earlier victory over Holley before he was destroyed by Grinsted who found some excellent form with breaks of 74 & 60 in the semi final. Grinsted had a narrow 2-1 victory over Green to meet Holley. In the other semi final Branton was also in break building form with breaks of 65 & 39 against Cole. In the previous round Kevern took Cole to 2-1 and Branton beat Vanstone 2-0. The final brought together two of Plymouth’s finest young prospects Branton and Grinsted. There were no breaks of note but the match went all the way with Branton going one better than last month by wining 2-1 to win event 2.

The Tournament Director reported "It’s good to see players from Salisbury and Taunton competing on this tour. Anyone interested in pitting there skills against the best in the west should contact the WEBSF via the website www.websf.co.uk". The next event will be held at the Victoria Snooker Centre, Plymouth on Saturday 2nd February 2008.

Report by Wayne Branton