Traynor triumphs on Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series debut

Benny Traynor

The Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series broke off with another Series debutant taking the spoils for a second week running. Although no player has won a series event twice, last week there were three previous event winners – Paddy Clarke, Peter O’Hagan and Dominic O’Connor – all gunning down maximum points.

However, in the end it was the well-known Dundalk pool player Benny Traynor who showed a great display of pool and earned the precious 10 points by pipping Clarke in an exciting final.

Traynor had no easy run to the final, needing to beat Event 2 winner Peter O’Hagan and last week’s runner-up Tony Greenan.

Clarke also had a tough semi final, coming from behind to progress against last week’s winner Dominic O’Connor.

The final started very slow. Both players were focusing on the position of their balls in play. However, an unforced error from Paddy, in which he lost the white late in the frame, let Benny finish his reds and black to get the early lead. 1-0.

Rack two was broke by Traynor but he came up short and Paddy had the choice of the table. This was an important rack in which Paddy produced some excellent cue ball positions by potting all seven reds. The black ball up towards the top right pocket just wouldn’t drop though. Still, Benny had a lot of work to do but the easy snookering of Paddy meant with two visits to the table, Traynor potted all eight balls and stretched his lead to 2-0.

Rack three was smashed hard by Clarke, sinking two balls of each colour. Choosing yellows, he continued slowly between shots. And five more yellows and the black meant Clarke had preformed a brilliant break-and-run display to get the score back to 2-1.

Rack four again was high paced. Traynor broke, potting a red, but was badly hampered near the baulk cushion and he was forced to give Paddy another chance. Paddy wanted his second title, playing a few important defensive shots before he knocked in an expressive seven yellows. A long rail shot for the black would have been the clearance of the night had it dropped but it would take Clarke a few visits later before he evened up the score for what would be a great last rack. 2-2.

Clarke broke off the deciding fifth rack scratching the cue ball and leaving Traynor with a great chance to call the shots. With just one shot available from the foul, Traynor didn’t have much space to work with from the baulk. His fourth shot went well wide of the pocket smacking into a loose yellow and dropping into the middle. Traynor held his hand up to apologise for his fortune but surely continued on to finish the rack and claim the Event 5 Title. A good solid victory for Traynor, though it took maybe one important piece of luck.

The 8-Ball Pool Series takes a week’s break this Friday due to some Series players travelling to the Irish Pool Open in Tullamore. The 8-Ball Series would like to wish Dominic O’Connor, Barry Keane, Ciaran Lavelle and JP Toner the best of luck in their group matches on the Irish Tour.

Event 6 of the Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series will be on the Friday 30th January where it is expected that another highly competitive field will aim to get closer to the Grand Prize! Players are reminded tables are available free for practice from 6pm and the tournament starts at 9pm. Stay connected to the Series News by following The Sportsman’s Bar on Facebook.

Dominic clinches latest event in the Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series

Event 4 Armagh and Louth Players compete at The Sportsmans Bar Dundalk

Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series Event 4 winner Dominic O’Connor

The Sportsman’s Bar hosted the fourth event in the Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series last Friday.

With lots of new players joining the series from the Armagh League, ranking points were becoming very hard to come by. However this week both Paddy Clarke and Peter O’Hagan were absent giving other players a great chance to get the maximum points. Both players were joint top on series points before the event started at 9pm.

Dominic O’Connor joined the tour this week and came through a Preliminary Round in strong fashion. The Sportsman’s Raven player then advanced through the quarter final coming from behind to beat Emmett Fearon and convincingly knocking out Ciaran Lavelle 2-0 in the semi final. On his debut, Dominic reached the final of event 4 and looked like nothing was going to stop him winning.

On the other side of the draw, former Northern Ireland home international player, Tony Greenan, also looked very strong from the start. Another debutant to the series, he produced great pool winning his quarter. His competitor Patrick McArdle did nothing wrong in the second semi final, but it was Tony who advanced by producing an amazing break-and-run to the delight of the crowd watching.

That left Dominic and Tony to go head to head in the final, which enjoyed great support.

Dominic won advantage from the lag-off and broke to start the match which was best of five. After potting two reds he switched over to the more spaced out yellows but on letting Tony get his first visit to the table and only five reds left, there was a lot of space for him to work with.

Tony got down to the black but a tight cut left it hanging over the middle bed. Dominic showed he had the fire for the final when he knocked in all five yellows and black to get the first peg on the board. 1-0.

Tony broke off rack two and continued on potting. On his first visit to the rack he again made it down to the black and this time instead of dropping it to level the match he again rattled the pocket leaving it tight to the back cushion. Tony showed lots of frustration watching Dominic pot all six of his reds with great positioning for the black. O’Connor stayed focused at the task in hand potting the eight-ball and taking a two frame lead in the Event 4 final. 2-0.

Rack three was again broken by Dominic. He pot three reds after that and hoped to leave the situation awkward for Tony by leaving the cue ball right down near the baulk cushion. This didn’t stop Tony potting a splendid long shot, giving him some hope to claw a rack back. Four yellows on and one to go Greenan needed something special to develop the black off the middle of the top cushion. The yellow juggled back out and the white knocked the black closer to the pocket. Dominic now had a superb chance to finish it up, which he did in great fashion, potting all four reds and coming off three cushions to line up for the black. Both players shook hands but it was Dominic O’Connor who won the final 3-0 to shoot up the rankings to fourth overall.

With the Dundalk 8-Ball Pool Series just halfway through its calendar there is plenty of time for players new and old to compete in the event for points. All players are welcome to register on the night and the tournament starts at 9pm. Tables are available free to practice from 7pm.

Full details along with weekly reports are available on the Sportsmans 8-Ball Event Page on Facebook and spectators are more then welcome to attend with no door charge. Event 5 will take place this Friday January 16th.

8-Ball Series Event 4 Finalists, Dominic O’Connor and Tony Greenan