Cue stars do Moray proud at Scottish County Snooker Championships in Glasgow's Q Club
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MORAY'S top snooker players came within a frame of reaching the final of the Scottish County Snooker Championships.
Glasgow's Q Club venue hosted the premier national team event in the country, with Moray sending a team of ten into battle last weekend.
The tournament turned out to be a rollercoaster ride for the Moray team with a variety of ups and downs along the way.
Moray cruised through the group stage fixtures against Paisley and Glenrothes, recording 9-1 and 8-2 victories respectively.
This was followed by narrow defeats to defending champions Aberdeen and to Ayrshire by 6-4 scorelines in both matches.
The performance against Aberdeen really merited at least a draw which would come back to haunt the Moray team following the final group stage fixture against Cumbernauld B.
Moray steeled themselves for that fixture knowing that a win would see them qualify for the quarter finals.
The lads duly stepped up and delivered a 6-4 win which took them through.
What was left to be decided was group places and this meant a blue ball shootout, bizarrely against the team they just beaten.
Once again the Moray team came up with the goods to dispatch Cumbernauld B for a second time, albeit in a different format, by 6 pots to 2.
So, for the second consecutive year, Moray advanced to the quarter finals and once there were able to comfortably overcome a stoic Dumfries side 6-2.
Reaching the semi-finals for the very first time, Moray would face former champions Edinburgh.
The match started very well for Moray as they built a 3-2 lead but Edinburgh fought back to lead 5-4.
The final frame went back and forth down to the final black with Moray needing a win to force a blueball shootout for a place in the final.
Moray vice-captain Simon Bremner gave absolutely everything but just fell short in that final frame which meant his team bowed out of the competition in the last four.
Adam Macleod, who won six out of seven of his frames, said: "Overall, this was a fantastic team performance and every single member of the team contributed to a super weekend.
"There is a slight thought to what might have been but the overriding emotion is that of pride in what has been achieved on the back of a growing snooker scene in our part of Scotland."
Moray stats for the Scottish championships:
Stephen Hepburn 6 wins in 7 frames
Adam Macleod 6/7
Neil Owen 6/7
Alex Cooper 5/7
Mark Bell 4/7
James McKenzie 4/7
Ali McDonald 4/7
Gary Pope 3/7
Simon Bremner 2/7
William Ross 1/7
