Moray Snooker Superleague finale sees Adam MacLeod land Premier League title while Banff's Graham Podlesny wins Championship crown
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Elgin's Ex-Service Club hosted the conclusion to the Moray Snooker Superleague's Premier League and Championship competitions.
The event, sponsored by Ian Mackenzie Joinery tourney saw the league phase completed a week earlier, setting up the play-off stages.
Premier League table-toppers Adam MacLeod (Moray) and Andy Gerrie (Aberdeen) went right through to the semi-finals.
For the right to play MacLeod, Kenny McPherson (Aberdeen) took on Ali McDonald (Moray) in the play-off match. It was the Elgin-based player who took charge from the start and stormed to a 5-2 victory.
Battling for the second semi-final place against Gerrie were Gary Pope (Moray) and Davie Thomson (Aberdeen).
Again it was the Moray player who won through as Pope went ahead early on, and although Thomson retaliated with a nice 54 break he went down 5-2.
A high break of 60 helped MacLeod to a 5-1 win over McDonald in the first semi.
Gerrie raced into a 4-1 lead before Pope threatened a comeback, pulling back two frames before the Aberdeen man edged to a 5-3 success.
The final was surprisingly one-sided with MacLeod reeling off six unanswered frames to claim the Premier League trophy.
Down a level into the Championship, the league phase was dominated by Stephen Hepburn (Moray) and John McAleaney (Inverness) but neither could take up their semi final spots on finals day due to circumstances beyond their control.
So both play-off matches, the first between Mark Bell (Moray) and Neil Stirling (Huntly), and the second between Graham Podlesny (Banff) and Alan Taylor (Moray) were effectively the semi-final ties.
Bell won the first 5-3, going 4-1 up before Stirling stages a mini-comeback. It was a different story in the second match as Podlesny wasted no time in defeating Taylor without the loss of a single frame.
The Championship final was fought out in contrasting fashion to the Premier one, as a lengthy affair went the full distance.
Bell edged in front, only for Podlesny to hit back and eventually it reached 5-5 with the necessity for a tense deciding frame.
After six solid hours of snooker, it was Podlesny who edged his way to the title to earn the trophy as well as promotion to the Premier League next season.
Entries are now open for the Moray Snooker Handicap Trophy.
