Wallace falls at final hurdle during Masters title defence

PATRICK Wallace’s defence of the Drumaness Masters title ended at the final stage on Wednesday night of last week when teenage starlet, Joel Connolly claimed a 5-2 victory in the decider to claim the Jimmy McGivern Memorial Trophy.

The 17-year-old Belfast lad knocked in breaks of 61, 84 and 57 en route to dethroning his Dungannon opponent who was only a slight favourite going into the decider after Connolly had thumped reigning Northern Ireland champion, Darren Doran 5-1 in the last-four with a scintillating display of attacking snooker.

Wallace, too, showed glimpses of his best during his semi-final success over Brockagh’s Fergal Quinn, who won the previous NI Ranking tournament at Belfast’s Blackstaff club just a few weeks earlier, knocking in a break of 103 and a 49 clearance for a 5-2 triumph following a nervy start from both Tyrone men.

And after the final, during which Wallace, a former World Championship quarter-finalist, never really got going, the 55-year-old was keen to congratulate his rival, who won his first NI Ranking tournament on the night.

“This, in my opinion, is the best tournament in the calendar. I absolutely love coming to this tournament and conditions are second to none. Joel, you couldn’t have picked a better tournament to win your first one and I’m really, really pleased for Joel, he’s a great player but he’s a brilliant lad and he’s a credit to his family. He really deserves it,” he said.

En route to the final, Wallace, who needed to win the event to maintain his place at the top of the rankings, sneaked into the last four with a 4-3 win over Armagh’s Declan Hughes, a 59 break sealing victory in the decider after he had fallen 2-0 behind. The Dungannon man had earlier enjoyed 3-1 wins over Leonard McConaghie and Connell Doherty.

And Quinn reached the semi-finals by continuing the fine form which saw him finally break his ranking tournament duck by winning at Blackstaff last month. He beat Belfast’s Maurice McCusker (3-2), Ballycastle’s Sean Gray (3-1) and Hugh Murdock (4-1), from the host club, to progress, and included a 141 total clearance, which ultimately won him the £100 high-break prize.

Meanwhile, other Tyrone players in action during the Drumaness Masters included Castlederg duo Dermot McGlinchey and Gary Arkinson. McGlinchey beat Paul Currie 3-2 in the last-32 but lost 3-1 to Darren Doran in the next round, while Arkinson lost 3-0 to Paul Lindsay in the last-32.

The event was the first in the newly-announced Triple Crown Series. There are 25 per cent of bonus ranking points available for it and for the European Qualifiers, which will take place after Christmas, while the third and final event is the season-ending Northern Ireland Championships, which will have an extra 50 per cent of points on offer.