Just back from a trip to Doncaster to see the Rams lose their first league match in five outings this evening at the Keepmoat Stadium, a bit of a disappointing performance after some great showings in recent weeks but maybe not a total surprise as our main playmaker Kris Commons was out injured with a calf strain. With the only like for like replacement in the hole just behind the forward line, Giles Barnes, currently on loan at Fulham it was hard to see who was going to come up with the magic to keep us firing on all cylinders and so it proved, though goalkeeper Stephen Bywater will probably feel he should have had the home team's winning goal on reflection.
So it was double misery on the sporting front for me this week as our snooker team slumped to a third successive defeat in the local league, this time 4-1 with myself having a bit of a nightmare too. It was one of those frames where everything that could go wrong did, and everything my opponent came up with turned into a bed of roses, though in fairness the way I was playing I may not have won anyhow even if Lady Luck had dealt me a better hand. One bright spark was that our new recruit knocked in a nice 31 break to banish memories of his premature concession the week before, the acid test now is how his temperament holds up the next time he's twenty behind.
On the betting front I came out of the Welsh Open snooker nicely ahead and the early stages of the World Championship qualifiers have started off OK with wins for Tony Knowles (2/7) against Ali Bassiri, Wayne Cooper (3/1) against Scott Mackenzie and Daniel Wells (6/4) against Li Hang, the latter two on final frame shootouts, which I dont seem to have had the best of luck in this season so nice to see it changing at least for the time being.
Stephen Craigie after being well in contention at the interval, couldnt keep it going against Lee Spick however and was the first loser. Robert Stephen and David Grace, two of my other picks at the odds, could soon be joining him as they will need to claw back from very difficult positions tomorrow.
I've also got Jamie Jones and Kuldesh Johal in the match odds tomorrow both at 6/4 starting out against Atthasit Mahitti and Jin Long respectively. Hoping to get up to the Institute of Sport at Sheffield at some stage tomorrow to see some of the action, as indeed I will be doing next week for the final round of matches before the Crucible itself.
Nice to see old Tony Knowles as a non tour qualifier upsetting the odds with a fine 10-9 win over Stefan Mazrocis, there was no fluke in the win either as apart from a couple of frames near the end when the Dutch-Latvian found his breakbuilding touch, the old stager had mostly been outscoring him fairly convincingly.
I've also had one last crack at trying to break the "to qualify for the last 32" market - at least this time there were a selection of bookies pricing this up instead of just one so maybe there was a bit more value flying about though whether I have found it is another matter.
Picked eight in the end - in price order Judd Trump 11/10 (seems to just have Lee to beat), Ricky Walden 11/8 (looks between him and Hamilton), Michael Holt 13/8 (might have a bit too much for Dominic Dale), Gerard Greene 7/4 (decent odds against out of form Ken, though the latter in Championship League action this week, keep em peeled), Andrew Higginson 2/1 (must have a chance against the likes of Judge), Barry Pinches 4/1 (found a bit of form recently after a poor start to the year, has Gunnell and S Davis to beat), John Parrott 4/1 (Swail maybe overrated by the oddsmakers after he reached the Welsh final, his breakbuilding was still modest) and Andy Hicks 7/1 (maybe value with some books keeping Jimmy tight in anticipation of a few of his fans bets). Of course there are other players I havent mentioned who could also upset the applecart for any of those above but just listing who I thought were the main protagonists.
The Championship League also reconvenes on Monday at Crondon Park with Groups 5 and 6 being played off this week - new arrivals this time are Matthew Stevens, Mark King and Ken Doherty who come in to join the remaining players from the last round John Higgins, Jamie Cope, Mark Williams and Barry Hawkins.
After saying I wasnt going to get involved until the semi finals, I'll probably still take the opportunity to price up the league matches after all, have done a bit of re-thinking and hopefully might be able to tweak the betting strategy to become more successful in this. Last year I did OK in it but went into it in a bit of a half hearted way this season from a betting angle and therefore no surprise the bookies have come out on top so far. Then again it all depends on whether the price is right!
There was an embarrassing moment on the greyhounds last weekend, if you recall I had spent most of the week complaining about a reserve carrying my money against my wishes when it replaced my original selection in a race at Coventry. Eventually I succeeded in getting my stake refunded yet this week the same reserve Kenpo Star was actually going head to head with my original selection Swift Ninja again at the same track.
Needless to say the reserve finished in front of it which maybe shows I had the better deal last week after all if only I'd seen it, though in fairness Ninja is a dog that has to lead as he seems to possess all the trackcraft of an elephant on ice when he has to run in and around other dogs.
The Golden Jacket at Crayford (the final of which is tomorrow) also only spawned one qualifier for me in Lorrys Options with the other three who were all drawn in the same heat biting the dust with ante post favourite Midway Skipper who had no luck in running being one of them.
In the supporting card, I've also given a chance to Special Liberty who showed a decent turn of foot when winnning on one of the Sky cards recently and also Nebuchadnezzar who I backed for the Springbok but this longer trip should be more suitable on reflection, he also has the 6 box this time and as he usually goes right, this at least might have the effect of keeping him on a straighter route.
Unluckiest loser of the weekend for me was undoubtedly Barefoot Bryan in the Joe Dunne Memorial puppies final, he looked all set to take the prize when as a renowned strong fininsher he was a length behind leader Oakfront O Seven at the final bend and surely odds of 1/4 would have been looking generous at the time. However to my disbelief both dogs took the exact same line from the bend and my selection ran right up the backside of the leader, losing all momentum until it was too late when he rallied strongly but to no avail.
Another big event in Ireland starts tomorrow with the Tote Gold Cup heats, I've picked out four in the ante post market, Slip The Lark (8/1), Ballymac Bondi (25/1), Swords Prince (33/1) and Priceless Johnno (66/1 e/w).
I've also had a couple of small dabbles on the Derby, I missed best price on both but wanted to see the connections confirm that the Blue Riband event was in their plans before parting with any cash, so once again I've been tempted by the aforementioned Slip The Lark who doesnt know how to run a bad race and also a dog I saw in the flesh at Nottingham last week annhiliating his field, Head ItOn Ellis, who admittedly is a bit inexperienced but has plenty of talent. These were available at 50s and 100s the day before I backed them but the confirmation of their plans sent the prices tumbling before I could get on but 40s and 66s is still something to get excited about if they are in contention at the business end. Suppose at this stage of proceedings though you're just happy if they actually make the race.
Finally in the aussie rules football I lost Richmond Tigers from my NAB Cup outright picks when they were beaten by Collingwood Magpies this weekend, I had half anticipated this though by adding Essendon Bombers at 7/1 who seemed to face a slightly preferable match with Brisbane Lions, though they did ultimately make quite hard work of it, only winning by two points at the end. A plus for Essendon is that they had lots and lots of injuries last year so they are almost certainly better than what they could manage last time around , they too must face Collingwood now so hoping they can fare better than the Tigers in that respect.
All the best for now
Rick
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