Was pleased the other night to discover that one of our subscribers had uploaded the MySnookerStats from the Yorkshire County final between Wayne Cooper and David Grace, pitting Bradford versus Leeds. This was to be Grace’s final act as an amateur following his successful promotion (back) to the professional ranks through the recent Q School, but he was up against a strong opponent in Cooper, himself a three-times winner of this county title.
On this occasion, after an uncharacteristically nervy start from both players, it was Grace with the greater firepower, as he clinched the first with a 63, before compiling a splendid 123 clearance for the second. I’m sure at least a few of you will remember a tweet from him (@daveg147), soon after, mentioning his “cheeky 123″!
The third frame provided Cooper’s best chance to get on the board when, seemingly in control of the frame, he missed an easy last red and Grace made no mistake as he stepped in to pinch it with a green and all the colours. Grace closed out the match in the next, combining a 41 with some solid safety play, which had Cooper in all sorts of difficulties.
How do we expect Grace to fare this coming season? Well, by our measure, he’s certainly got the game to do well!
| Wayne Cooper | 0 – 4 | David Grace |
|---|---|---|
| 70% | Pots | 84% |
| (33/47) | (91/108) | |
| 70% | Posn | 87% |
| (23/33) | (77/89) | |
| 70% | Safe | 88% |
| (37/53) | (43/49) | |
| Frames | ||
(   ) 14, (  ) 5 | 19-91 25:17 | 6 (), 1( ), 5 ( ), 63 (  ) |
| 0-131 14:14 | 8 (), 123 (   ) | |
| () 1, ( ) 1, ( ) 11, ( ) 28, ( ) 8 | 55-61 28:59 | 1 (), 1 ( ), 13( ), 8 ( ), 31 ( ) |
| () 1, ( ) 20, ( ) 10 | 31-76 23:44 | 41 (), 6 ( ), 3 ( ) |
For the record, the MySnookerStats app doesn’t come with built-in match reporting. We owe a debt to Kevin Firth (on scoring) and to Richard Bakes for his coverage in the Telegraph and Argus – Cooper denied fourth county snooker title.