CONSERVATIVE C overcame Upton RBL B in a closely-fought contest to progress beyond the preliminary round of the Chester Challenge.
John Fergus gave Upton a good start with a convincing win over Dave Burns.
B Sharratt defeated Niall Kenyon and Jerry Banks defeated Antony Rogers on the black ball to put Upton into a 3-0 lead on the halfway mark.
It was looking bleak for Cons, but seasoned campaigner John Wells came to the rescue and beat Mike Wilks by 76 points to give his team a chance. Ian Cain pulled back another frame with an 87-42 success over Dave Nicholas.
Going into the final frame, Cons were a frame behind but 52 ahead on aggregate – which meant Cons captain Tom Donnelly would have to win to give his side victory on aggregate.
He did just that, beating Alan Coombes 68-37 to deny Upton and serve up a win for Cons.
There were some good performances in the Hargreaves Scratch Trophy, which saw Barry Charker (Christleton A) take on Ray Cheers (Riley’s). In the first frame, Charker made a 44 break but Cheers fought back well to take it to a black ball, which went in Charker’s favour. In the second frame, Charker made a break of 55 and another of 24 to give him the match.
Brian Morgan (Conservative A) put up a good display against Lea Stephens (Riley’s). Stephens won the first frame but Morgan fought back and took the second. Lea then took the decisive third with a 65 break.
Christleton A player Joey Wynne won 2-0 against Geoff Anderson (Utd Services).
