The first report we have of the Huddersfield Billiards Championship is the quarter final draw, which shows that Jack would play his old team mate from Meltham and the Huddersfield Inter-District League team reserve, Cyril Cadwell. Despite being behind 200 – 250 after his home leg at Paddock, Jack went on to beat Cyril away at Meltham 300 – 150 and win the match 500 – 436. Jack reached the final to defend his title by beating the 1944 champion, Fred Moorhouse, at Lindley Liberal Club in a mediocre semi-final which saw him win 500 – 331.
In the final Jack met the Almondbury Liberal Club player Willie Mills, who had been a reserve in the Huddersfield Inter-District side for a few years. Willie, with three small breaks, led 71 – 36 in the early stage of the final but Jack came back with 32; only for Willie to go ahead with a break of 44. Jack, again with a good break of 71, led 165 – 130 and would not be behind for the rest of the match. A couple of breaks of 35 gave Jack a lead of 251 – 171, but Willie reduced that with a break of 40. However he was well behind at the interval, 300 – 213. Jack’s average at this point was exactly 13. Jack took his unfinished interval break of 14 to 40 and Willie replied with a break of 50. Jack then had seven visits to the table where he scored well to lead 428 – 278, at which stage it was just a question of the size of his winning margin. He followed a break of 45 by Willie with a fine 90, the highest break of the night, and eventually ran out with a 61 unfinished to retain his title by 600 – 411. His average for the second half was 15.7 to give him a match average of 14.2 compared to Willie’s of 10. Jack’s victory as the score suggests was a comfortable one, and he never looked in real danger of defeat. As usual, he played the red ball very well and built his breaks on this form of scoring. Altogether Jack has now appeared in ten Huddersfield Championship finals, five at billiards and five at snooker, and has won seven of them, winning four snooker titles and this, his third billiards title.
Jack was 2 frames to 1 up against J. Greenwood of Cowcliffe Liberal Club, after his first leg of the Huddersfield Snooker Championship first round match. He then went on to win the second leg. In the second round, Jack played Raymond Wade of Newsome and was leading 2 frames to I after the first leg, and again went on to win. He was 2 frames to 1 down in his quarter-final match against holder Harold Smith but went on to win and reach the semi final. Jack had a good victory in the semi-final against Jack Firth by 3 frames to nil and now has a chance of the double with reaching the Billiards Championship final earlier in the week.
He would meet Bob Rae, of Paddock C. and B.C., in the final, who he beat in the billiards final last year – meaning Bob has a chance to avenge his defeat. Bob Rae, as well as being a snooker and billiards player, also played cricket and has been the “professional” at Paddock cricket club for some years. He had only recently moved to Primrose Hill. He won his first and only Huddersfield title with a comfortable 3 frames to nil victory, as Jack seemed to struggle to find the “feel” of the table. The match was played at D.B. Tractors Sports and Social Club on the second night of the Huddersfield Billiards Week, meaning Jack would at least have chance to gain some consolation on the next evening when he played in the billiards final.
The finals, which were part of the fifth “Billiards Week” since the War, were held at Meltham Hall. For the past two seasons it was held at Almondbury Liberal Club and before that at the Dyers’ and Finishers Club. This year, however, great efforts have been made to make the occasion a success, and one of the biggest improvements from previous years is that tiered seating will be available for three hundred people. This means that everybody will have an excellent view of the matches.
In the Halifax Billiard Championship Jack outclassed A. Rothera in the first round, beating him by 600 – 131, with breaks of 79, 56 and an unfinished 128. He meets H. Varley in the second round. As can be seen from the report here, Jack and Harold’s presence in Halifax is far from appreciated by many of the local players as the newspaper reporter “HALF BUTT” keeps reminding us. He goes on to suggest that a handicap would encourage more players of lesser ability to enter the competition. The little headline of their “star” Albert making his lowest ever score of 34 is just about visible.
The second round draw had Jack against H. Varley who he beat, but we do not know who he beat in the quarter final to go forward into the semi-final against Trevor Bottomley – who had beaten Harold Burkinshaw in the second round. Again we do not know the scores but Jack will be in his fourth final in consecutive years, and will try to retain his title. His opponent in the final is Albert Birkby who he had played many times in the Halifax competitions and also in the English Amateur Area games. Albert has figured prominently in this championship and took part in the final nearly 20 years ago, but has never won it.
Jack was in great form for the final and the paper says “that when this occurs there is no local player that can approach him”. He created another record in the Halifax League by scoring two breaks over a hundred in the final and ran to game with an unfinished 65. The reporter asked Jack at the interval how he liked the playing conditions and he expressed his great satisfaction, saying that everything was ideal. He expected to complete his second century of the match when the game resumed, as he was in play with 61. He not only topped the century again but ran to 157 before coming out. His previous big break on his fourth visit to the table had been 109. With other breaks of 43, 53, and 65 he had little difficulty in retaining his title, with an emphatic 500 – 109 victory. Albert was in an unenviable position of being a spectator for most of the match and couldn’t get into the game. Jack therefore added the Halifax title to his Huddersfield title as he had done the previous year, and as Harold Burkinshaw had done two years before.
The first mention of the Halifax Snooker Championship is when Jack had to withdraw from the second round due to him being unable to complete the match in the stipulated time, presumably because of his other commitments.
There are no reports of the Halifax Charity Tournament apart from a mention that a quarter final game ended in a tie delaying the semi final draw. It would seem to indicate that Rastrick didn’t enter a team this year, as they are not mentioned at all. If that is the case it is probably because of the scratch handicap they receive every year, while others have 300 – 400 lead in each leg which is a huge amount to overcome.
Results in the first round of the Halifax Blind Competition and the draw for the second round do not mention Rastrick, so I wonder if that is the same as the Charity Tournament.
Jack Mellor 