WITH five of the eight Cornish pool teams (Men’s A and B, Seniors, Under 23’s and youth) having qualified through their South West region the previous season, the players recently made the long trek to Great Yarmouth, home of the National Pool Finals to compete against the best in the country.

The week also saw individual trials for players to win a place in the England squads.Launceston’s young Matt Ryall had already qualified for England at youth level in recent weeks, a massive achievement for the county. At adult level, North Cornwall had a few entries trialing including Jamie Zambuni (also Launceston), Gary Hodgson (Bude), Andy Pollard at seniors level (Bude) and Andy Barratt (Padstow).

Barratt and Zambuni held their own and both got fairly deep in to the trials but came up just a bit short. It was Pollard and Hodgson who both came within a whisker of earning that waistcoat.

Firstly Pollard, looking superb throughout the competition, earned a one-off best-of-five match against England re-trialist Harris Ali to see who would make the senior squad. A tactical first four frames were shared between the two players, but the final frame saw Ali break and clear up without Pollard having a shot and deny Pollard a final chance.

Hodgson had an equally consistent day which was spread over 14 hours, winning his way to a final showdown against Cheshire’s number one Dave Cobey, another best of five to see who would make the prestigious England squad. Another tight affair went to 2-2, the final frame was cagey but Cobey took a controlled finish out and deservedly won his England spot.

The A and B Cornish squads failed in the quest for trophies. The seniors squad lost the first round to winners Leicestershire, but went on to win the KO Cup, beating Lancashire 15-9 in the final.

The Under 23s got through to the Intercounty Cup final, but narrowly lost 11-9 in the decider.

The Juniors (pictured below) which included young Ryall, Harry Goodearl (Bude), Eddy Lindsay (Bude) and Archie West (Bude), have so much enthusiasm and is a great spectacle to watch. Some awesome pool saw the youngsters make the Inter County Cup final after a 23-21 semi-final win. In the final they just came up short losing 23-18 against Warwickshire, but can hold their heads high with a well-earned runners-up spot.