MARTYN DESPERQUES completed a hat-trick of Channel Islands titles on Friday in a match worthy of the occasion. The thrice Guernsey champion maintained his record of having beaten his Jersey counterpart each time he has reached the CI final, but his opponent at the Ex-Servicemen’s Club, Karl Le Fevre, gave him an intense battle.
‘It was certainly the best game I have had for a while,’ was Desperques immediate reaction after his 4-2 victory.
‘A few little mistakes crept in from both of us, but there were a few nerves around and generally it was a high-quality match.’
The visitor was more than gracious in defeat.
‘I play to win, but I enjoyed the match and Martyn is a good player - he deserved it tonight,’ Le Fevre said.
An epic first frame set the tone for an enthralling match in which Desperques’ undeniable natural talent was pitted against a cool, skilled battler in Le Fevre.
The Jerseyman was first into the balls before Desperques struck back with a break of 29 only for Le Fevre to reply with 24 of his own.
After a little more jostling, the scores reached 38-all when Desperques fluked a snooker and his opponent gave away 12 in fouls.
It became more desperate for Le Fevre as the Sarnian then rolled up behind the black to lay another snooker from which he earned a further 16 points - a sequence that ended only because the Caesarean needed his own.
But from 75-38 down, Le Fevre played one of the shots of the night to set up his required trap and Desperques needed five attempts to get out of it, conceding 22 in the process.
Still, though, the jostling went on and it came down to 81-all with pink and black remaining.
Desperques sunk the former to edge ahead, but after a brief safety battle it was Le Fevre who held his nerve to cut the black into the green-corner pocket for the frame.
Having been in such a strong position, it was a disappointment for Desperques to lose the opener.
However, he did not panic one little bit and a break of 27 soon set him on the way to levelling the match as he took the second by a comfortable 45 points.
The drama returned in the third.
Breaks of 29 and 21 had seemingly put Desperques in full control as he opened up a 50-point lead, but Le Fevre kept plugging away and reduced his arrear to 22 until a missed yellow stopped him in his tracks.
The Guernseyman knocked in that colour but missed the straight green that would have made the frame safe.
Le Fevre looked set to snatch another frame as he cleared to pink to come within six points of his opponent with the black on.
However, at the most inopportune of times, he got a horrendous kick on it and a grateful Desperques stepped up to take a 2-1 advantage into the interval.
The home player was odds-on to claim three on the bounce after the resumption as he produced the best break of the night, worth 60, at the start of the fourth.
But it says so much for Le Fevre’s character that he kept fighting for everything throughout the frame and got his rewards.
A break of 22 helped him to chip away at his opponent’s lead and once down to the colours and both having missed the green a couple of times each, he finally sunk it to gain the upper hand.
The remaining colours followed, including a wonderful pink down the rail using the rest, and they were level once more.
Yet Desperques proved his class in response.
He totally dominated the fifth frame with breaks of 36 and 45 to move within one of another CI title and the home support now had the feeling he was not going to be denied.
After a superb long red to open up the sixth frame, Desperques rolled up behind the green for a snooker that yielded 26 points.
Le Fevre would reduced the deficit to six at one stage, but when he made a mistake to end a lengthy safety battle, Desperques capitalised with a break of 35.
From 62-21 down, the Jerseyman prolonged proceedings in his tenacious style, but eventually he missed a difficult cut on the brown and Desperques was champion once more.
‘I was eager to get it over with. I should have been 3-0 up at the interval really and the frames I lost were both on the black, but Karl is a good player and you cannot give him a chance, otherwise he will punish you,’ said the winner.
‘I lost a frame after having a break of 60 and that showed that in every frame he just kept on coming at me.’
Le Fevre also maintained the mutual respect both players so obviously have for each other.
‘I was always chasing - Martyn was always that five per cent ahead of me and that’s because he is a good player.
‘But I enjoyed the night. I have returned this year - it being six years since I last played in the league - and I was happy to reach this final. I would like to thank both islands’ associations and Channel Blind Company for making it possible for me to be here.’
Article posted on 23rd April, 2007 - 12.00am
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