ROBERT ARMITAGE and Tony Clegg are the Leonard Oldham Pairs champions after beating frequent winners Robert Read and his partner Andy Boothroyd in three straight frames.

The first frame was a close affair which went down to a black ball game, but when Armitage opened up the second frame with a good break, it was always going to be difficult for Lindley WMC’s Read and Boothroyd to hit back as they were chasing the frame.

The third was a cagey affair with a lot of safety play before the Marsh Liberal Club duo wrapped up the title.

It was the second title to go Armitage’s way after he had earlier lifted the Billiards Handicap crown despite giving away a bundle of points start on handicap.

Springwood’s Paul Rayner beat Meltham Lib’s Colin Hawkins in the first semi-final, while Armitage (Marsh Lib) gave Paul Mortimer (Springwood BC) 190 start, but with the help of a 62 break, won by the slender margin of five points to get into the final.

There he showed why he is one of the top players in town at both billiards and snooker, producing a break of 103 to defeat Rayner 200-126.

Berry Brow Liberal Club took the Three Man Team Knockout beating Springwood BC A 2-1 in the final.

Matthew Steer (17) gave the Brow a perfect start when he beat Ben Whitehouse (12) in the opening frame, and the second frame also looked to be going their way when Alan Muff (6) led Trevor Roper (owes 20) by 20 points at the green.

However, Holme Valley champion Roper cleared the table to level the match and leave it to the deciding frame between Rick Steer (scr) and Bob Armitage (33), which again went to a black ball finish before Steer clinched it for Berry Brow.

The John Needham Plate final went the way of Top Spot A, who beat Syngenta B 3-0, although it could easily have gone the other way, with all three frames going to the black. M Nestor beat C Mann, C Dyson beat M Saeed and S Ali beat I Dyson.

Milnsbridge’s Cath Lawson retain her ladies title by beating Moldgreen Con’s Karen Roberts 2-1.

Tomorrow at Newsome WMC it’s the snooker championship final, with Read aiming to extend his tally of wins against Simon Stockwell.