Police seize the title in a play-off thriller

The incredible finish came at the end of a title-deciding play-off, in which momentum swung endlessly between the Police and their opponents, Norton Social A.

Victory for the Police was finally sealed, when Kevin Franklin rolled the black into the centre pocket to beat Norton's Adam Ness and clinch victory in only the second play-off in the division's 36 year history.

Around 70 spectators, who crammed into Amblecote Institute, were not disappointed by a game in which the snooker was occasionally brilliant, often error-strewn, yet always compelling.

The play-off was required after both teams had finished level on points and, true to form, there was little to choose between them over the course of five thrilling frames.

Victory was determined by just a handful of pivotal shots. Ashley Aston got Norton off to the ideal start with a win over Gavin Sloan.

It came in the opening frame, his opponent missing the final pink when he looked on course to clinch it.

The Police's Pete Gibbons quickly levelled things up at 1-1, a snooker which yielded 12 points proving pivotal in his win over Steve Mason.

But Norton were soon back ahead, Rob Pitt playing some of the most fluent snooker of the evening and hardly giving his opponent Maria Catalano a chance.

Andy Smith then looked favourite to clinch the match and the title as he led 58-20 against Eliott Bastable with only the colours remaining.

The latter, however, was able to lay two difficult snookers as Smith's attempts to win the frame kept hitting the jaws of the pockets.

The Norton man then went in-off with an attempted pot on the green.

Bastable was then presented with the chance to clear up, which he duly did, winning the frame 58-57 and sending the match into a decider.

Veteran Franklin began as favourite against Ness but did not have things his own way.

With the frame down to pink and black, an uncharacteristic error by Franklin, as he tried to double the pink, presented Ness with an opportunity but while he potted the pink, he rolled too close to the black.

Both failed with attempted pots before Franklin cut the black into the centre pocket to clinch the match and the title. The cup was presented to their captain, Carl Southwick, by league president Mike Pritchard.

The title victory was far from the only success of the week for the Police, who enjoyed considerable success in the individual competitions.

Bastable claimed the Premier Division Individual title with a 4-1 final victory over Catalano, adding to the honours he achieved in 2009, 2011 and 2012 before a three-year break from the league.

A 32 break gave him the first frame after Catalano had left three blacks in the jaws of the pockets, though his opponent then quickly recovered with an impressive clearance in the second frame to draw level.

Bastable, however, finished things off in style, going back ahead with a break of 85 before breaks of 41 and 73 in the fourth and fifth frames respectively earned him a 4-1 win.

Franklin, meanwhile, continued his dominance of the Singles Handicap by lifting the trophy for the fifth time in the competition's eight-year history.

He overcame Kingswinford Conservatives' Alan Jeffries 3-0 in the final, which was held at Amblecote Institute.

Receiving a 66-point start, Jeffries looked certain to take the opening frame, only for Franklin to clear the colours.

The latter then took the second frame on the pink, before playing well enough to force a concession on the colours in the third frame.

Franklin and the Police squad were, however, denied a clean sweep after Pockets' Tony Kidd upset the odds to triumph in the Over-45s Individual Handicap event.

For Kidd, the league's secretary and assistant secretary, this was a significant win.

His 3-0 victory handed him not only the Eric Martin Memorial Cup but also a first win over Franklin after 30 years of trying.

The two players, with more than 66 years of service to the league between them, had come through a field of 31 entrants to reach the final at Stourbridge Old Edwardian Club.

Taking advantage of a 39-point start in the first frame, Kidd began well, surviving the inevitable comeback from his opponent to win after going 28 ahead off the last red.

Franklin made a fine 38 break to take the lead in the second frame but Kidd managed to take the last three reds and the first three colours to make it 2-0 and put him one frame away from victory.

Success then looked assured when he went 60 points ahead with just 59 remaining on the table in the next frame.

But Franklin, never a man to be ruled out, took three blacks with four reds he potted before skilfully laying a number of snookers.

He looked certain to clear up but missed a thin cut on the pink to middle.

It gave Kidd, a former team-mate of the late Martin, the chance to claim his third title and denying Franklin what would have been a fourth crown in just six years.