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00:00Game shot.
00:30Now then, just slipped out for a minute from the biggest bonanza of sporting skill I've ever clapped eyes on.
00:37Down here at the Queen's Hotel in Leeds, we've got 60-odd of the best players I've ever seen in my life.
00:42None of your Charlton and your Geoffrey boycotts, mind you.
00:45This bunch of ads are kings that those sports you get up and down the land in every pub.
00:49There's one fellow who's shown up from Scunthorpe in a ten-gallon Stetson hat,
00:52and he's floating coins around in the best game of show vaping I've ever happened across.
00:57And there's two of the cockiest blokes, students playing table football, as though they were Giles and Bremner.
01:02So let's get cracking. We've got those 60 in there.
01:05The first prize in each game is 100 quid.
01:07That's for shove apony, bar billiards, skittles, table football and darts.
01:11Now remember, all you lots out at Trent, this is real darts on a Yorkshire board.
01:15No trebles, no fluky shots, just a hell of a lot of skill.
01:231939 scored.
01:24Look out for this character, John Walker of Hull.
01:27Third in the news of the World Championship last year, he's after 48 to finish.
01:31He's the double.
01:34Oh, that's the double. It's in the same bed.
01:37And it's there! Oh, unbelievable!
01:40And the finishing power, the finishing power of John Walker really is too much to be believed.
01:47Bet you didn't know that the North's best skittle players come from Barnsley, like this young'un here.
01:51And his skittle play has deteriorated slightly in the last minute or so.
01:56Here he goes.
01:57That's a better one. That's a flopper.
02:00That is a flopper. All nine down.
02:02And that's... Dennis Jones looks philosophical in the background because that could be an important throw.
02:08Let's see what he can do now. Two more throws he has.
02:12And very unlucky. Very unlucky. Eight this time.
02:16And that's 18. And that's good for...
02:18Philip Senior, hammering the older generation there, a right young upstart.
02:22But note on them two students I were on about, Eric Crane and Steve Kelly.
02:26They seem to spend their whole time playing table football and they reckon they've never, ever been beaten in a serious competition.
02:36Degree, the other having failed his degree, is now working for a tougher candidate in Leeds.
02:40See that? A cracking call.
02:48Now try this for size.
02:49You've probably seen bar pilliards, snooker with bunkers.
02:53And there is some very nifty kill work going on in there.
02:56I'll tell you.
02:583-8. 3-8 to do earnest.
03:00Ryder's back on again.
03:01And he dropped a red in the 50-hole, which is worth 100.
03:06And he's a chance of using the red as a cue ball.
03:09And again, it's double.
03:12No, that's just a single 50.
03:13He's going to, I think, in off red.
03:17Oh, and the black skittle's over.
03:19That wipes out his total score.
03:21All his score goes for a burden, right from the beginning.
03:25Finally, to another game with a really delicate touch.
03:28Buffalo Bill from Scunthorpe.
03:29He's a top Shuv Apenny player.
03:31A star of the sliding small team.
03:33So is Alan Brown.
03:34Star of the Durham Shuv Apenny League.
03:38Seen him play before.
03:39And Alan Brown is really rubbing it in now.
03:44He's just played a very fine shot.
03:471, 2, 3, 4.
03:54That's a very, very, very fine shot.
03:57Four coins back.
03:58And look out for them Durham Mafia lads.
04:01I hear they're just a bit good at nudging them in.
04:04Let's cook a kick-off with the darts.
04:06We've got 16 of the best players in the north here.
04:09We're down to the last eight.
04:10And it's Charlie Ellis of Bradford on the board.
04:12He's already wiped the floor with Maurice Reid from Hull,
04:15who's a real top oiler.
04:16Now Charlie's up against Les Mills from Hull,
04:18who am a Jack McDonnell from Whomwell this morning.
04:215-0-1, straight off.
04:22Finish on the double.
04:23Dave Lanning doing the talking.
04:25King of Bradford darts, he's the first to throw in this final quarterfinal.
04:29Here he goes, into 20.
04:32Charles Ellis, one of the most professional and dedicated dart players in the north.
04:3660.
04:36Bang.
04:36He plays for the George in Clackheaton Road.
04:40And this is Les Mills, one of the great figures in darts in Britain and in the north.
04:44Former News of the World champion in 1965.
04:4641.
04:46The proper from Hull.
04:4741.
04:48They're settling down.
04:49They're finding their feet.
04:50They're finding their aim.
04:50They're finding their length here now.
04:52This is Ellis.
05:02He's cool.
05:02He's calm.
05:03He plays for up to £250 a game.
05:06And for that sort of money, you've got to be calm.
05:08But Mills is nobody's fool.
05:10He's been around.
05:11He's seen the game.
05:12And he's as steady as a rock.
05:16And there's not much in this one.
05:17At the moment, Ellis just 20 in front.
05:20But a long way to go yet.
05:21A long way to go yet.
05:22And anything can happen in this game of darts.
05:24What a lovely picture.
05:25What a study in concentration.
05:26What an absorbing game this is.
05:29Bang.
05:2959.
05:29He's come downstairs.
05:31He's come downstairs there and fooled everybody.
05:34But still, there we go.
05:36This is Mills.
05:37There's Mills.
05:3960.
05:4060.
05:41Very, very steady.
05:42Remember, this is 3-5-0-1.
05:45Straight in.
05:46Double out.
05:46The Yorkshire board.
05:47No treble ring.
05:48So any score 60-wise is a good'un.
05:53And Ellis is...
05:5420.
05:54I don't know what happened there.
05:55He certainly lost a flight.
05:57But one was outside.
05:58Only 20 scored.
05:59Not very good.
06:00This is Mills.
06:01Mills with a chance to establish a little bit of a lead.
06:0320-40.
06:0560.
06:0560.
06:0660.
06:07Very good.
06:08Very nice.
06:09Look at that score.
06:0960-60-60.
06:11Very, very pleasant.
06:12Pretty to watch.
06:14This is Ellis.
06:16Ellis, the man who likes to play for the big money.
06:19And there's big money about here today.
06:2160 scores.
06:24This is Mills.
06:26In the 20.
06:2840.
06:30It's lovely stuff.
06:31It's lovely steady stuff.
06:33And that is 60 again.
06:35And his scores really are beautifully consistent.
06:37But Ellis is still far from being out of touch.
06:42He's still very much in this game.
06:44And we've seen previously...
06:4660.
06:46He's a dedicated and absolute deadshot finisher.
06:50But...
06:50Mills.
06:51There's Mills.
06:55There's Mills.
06:55Lives on the great food estate in Hull.
06:57Been playing darts for 25 years.
06:59And that was a nice 80.
07:00And his scores are steady and getting better.
07:02And he wants 140.
07:03And Ellis here wants 182.
07:05And a big one would be useful.
07:07There's 20 of them.
07:09That looks like 60 of them.
07:11Oh, that looks like another one.
07:1460 scored.
07:15What happened there?
07:16What happened there?
07:17What happened there?
07:17One of them fell out.
07:18No, it was...
07:19It was just 60.
07:21Just 60, I say.
07:22You tried doing it.
07:23I know I couldn't.
07:24Here we go.
07:25He's come downstairs.
07:2624.
07:27To try and keep the score nice and even.
07:29That's his worst score.
07:30Ellis.
07:30Now, Ellis on 122.
07:34102 left.
07:3782.
07:39Gone.
07:40He scored.
07:4280 scored.
07:43And that's good.
07:43Darts are named.
07:44Mills with the pressure on.
07:45Mills with the pressure on.
07:46That's five.
07:47That's not very good.
07:50What's that?
07:51Is that 65?
07:52Yes, it's 65.
07:5442.
07:55He'll go for a 10 or a 6, I think.
07:56Go over there.
07:574 o'clock.
07:5710 or a 6 he's going to go for.
07:59That's 10.
08:00Two 16s he wants.
08:01Down there.
08:05Oh, one on the wire there.
08:07Got on the wire now.
08:08Now we have Les Mills and Les Mills.
08:09Mills requires 51.
08:1051.
08:13Go for a 19, I think.
08:14He's got it.
08:15He wants two 16s.
08:16Over there.
08:18Bang.
08:18That's a nice lay.
08:20Oh, he seemed to lose his concentration.
08:23Seemed to lose.
08:24Now it's the first man in double 16.
08:26And the first up is the man that looks like the Viking war god.
08:30Here he comes.
08:30Ellis on 16s on the wire.
08:32Very close.
08:34And another one very close.
08:36Bang.
08:37Oh.
08:37Very close.
08:39And you just cannot give away this sort of chance.
08:42Mills on 16.
08:4332 required.
08:44Nice on the wire.
08:45Oh, two eights.
08:47Two eights.
08:48One up.
08:49And what's that?
08:49I can't see.
08:50I can't see.
08:52It's shielded.
08:53And again.
08:5416 required by Ellis.
08:55Ellis.
08:56Ellis.
08:56Ellis.
08:57Looking calm.
08:58Looking confident.
09:00Just outside.
09:03Just inside.
09:04Yes.
09:06Yes.
09:07Is it there?
09:08No.
09:08It's outside.
09:09Run on the wire.
09:10Double eight.
09:11Both on double eight.
09:12The tension here is fantastic.
09:14And it's all over because Mills has got it.
09:16First leg to Mill.
09:17Lots more darts like that.
09:18And better.
09:19In part two.
09:20Meet Vera Puberescheck.
09:22Landlady of a pub in Bradford.
09:23And a demon bar billiards player.
09:25City in a tick.
09:34Welcome back to our tribute to the heroes and heroines of the taproom.
09:51Now, you know the thing with bar billiards is to score regular.
09:54Two hundred, fifty and one hundred holes.
09:56And pick up all you can on the easy holes at the top.
09:59But it's a whitewash if you knock a skittle over.
10:00So let's see how John Smith of Ekman Dwight goes about dealing with the only lady in the Indy All League competition.
10:06Vera Puberescheck of Bradford via the Ukraine.
10:09Commentator is Keith Macklin.
10:11In the midst of all the men, Mrs. Vera Puberescheck.
10:16The landlady of the Bowling Green Hotel at Bradford who came to Britain from the Ukraine in 1948.
10:22And she's playing John Smith who has been playing bar billiards for the last four years at his local, the George Hotel at Ekman Dwight.
10:29This is John Smith in play and scoring straight away.
10:37Every time the red goes down, it's worth double.
10:40The nearest hole covered by the black skittle worth two hundred.
10:44And he's going there for the two fifties.
10:48Scoring three hundred already.
10:50If you knock a skittle down, you lose your score.
10:51If you knock the black skittle down, you lose all your score.
10:55Knock a white skittle down, you lose the score for that particular break.
10:58Three hundred and fifty.
10:59Just breaking in, Keith, to make sure everybody knows we've got eight of the best bar billiard players in the league here today.
11:06John Smith and Vera are at the bottom of the draw.
11:08But the fellow to look out for is Taffy John up there, a headmaster from Pontefract.
11:12Anyway, John Smith's going very well on the break now, building it right up.
11:15So back to Keith's commentary.
11:16So John Smith, building up a good score.
11:29John Smith is a clamp stover in the break lining industry.
11:32Going for the fifty-hole, got it with the white, which is worth fifty.
11:40If he'd got the red as well, that would have been another hundred.
11:42John Smith, five thirty.
11:43Vera, Portisleff, zero.
11:47And he's made it at the top.
11:48That's the thirty-hole.
11:49So John Smith getting quite a prolific score.
11:59We've had one score of over nine hundred already from the favourite for this event, Taffy John,
12:04the host of the auction television bar billiard's title.
12:08And as you can see, he can use a red as a cue ball.
12:10Oh, there, and that is the tragedy that happens at this game.
12:14You're building up a massive score.
12:15You knock over a white skittle and you go back to the end of the break,
12:19or rather the beginning of the break, and that's nil.
12:22So, Mrs. Vera Pobreshek,
12:25formerly in a displaced person, a Ukrainian,
12:29came to Britain in 1948.
12:32Has one son who's a haulage contractor and a daughter who teaches in a school in Birmingham.
12:36Well, not a big break by Mrs. Pobreshek.
12:38Vera Pobreshek, one hundred.
12:40Wood, John Smith, zero.
12:44John Smith.
12:46John Smith for the George Hotel at Heckman-Dweig,
12:48who was building up for a big break last time,
12:51won in October a white skittle.
12:53Twenty.
13:04Fifty.
13:06That's the thirty-hole, the one on the outside of the top.
13:10And this is quite a skilful technique.
13:18The score doesn't build too quickly,
13:20but if you're on the table, your opponent can't get on.
13:25One hundred and ten.
13:26And with a match of just over ten minutes' duration,
13:29it is theoretically possible to stay on the table all the time.
13:33Well, John Smith isn't going to do this this time.
13:35John Smith, one hundred and ten.
13:38Vera Pobreshek, one hundred and ten to one hundred.
13:42So, Mrs. Vera Pobreshek, the landlady of the Bowling Green Hotel, Bradford,
13:46is in play.
13:48Eight-two.
13:49Mrs. Pobreshek plays this game with customers,
13:57if they've nobody else.
13:57She could be in trouble.
13:58No, she got two hundred there.
14:00If she'd hit the black skit, that would have been curtains,
14:02but the luck was with her.
14:05Oh, she's got into a fall.
14:07I asked her how she pronounced her name,
14:09her Ukrainian-sounding name,
14:11and she said, well, just call me Vera.
14:12Three hundred and sixty break.
14:19Four hundred and sixty to Vera Pobreshek.
14:21One hundred and ten to John Smith.
14:24So, Vera Pobreshek in the lead.
14:30John Smith.
14:32Well, a short trip to the table for John Smith.
14:35I wonder if he's been a bit disarmed
14:37after that tremendous first break
14:39that was wiped out when he hit a white skittle.
14:42Two hundred and twenty.
14:44The red dropped in the one hundred hole.
14:50Going again.
14:52Four hundred and ninety.
14:52Well, twice consecutively, though.
14:55Really good shot.
15:00It's rolling for her.
15:02Four hundred and ninety.
15:10Five hundred and ninety.
15:11So, this lady, formerly
15:13in the displaced persons camp.
15:18Home.
15:19The Ukraine.
15:20But now, of course, Britain.
15:24She's travelling.
15:25Break incomplete.
15:27Vera Pobreshek, four sixty.
15:29John Smith, one hundred and ten.
15:32Two ways of playing bar billiard.
15:34Vera, who has a bash and loses big scores,
15:36and John Smith, gentle and steady.
15:38We'll show you next week who won.
15:40But now to the game that really amazed me
15:42in this competition.
15:43Table football.
15:44I've told you about Crane and Kelly,
15:46those two lead students.
15:48They reckon they're unbeatable,
15:49and I've got to confess that they can dribble
15:51that little ball like Stanley Matthews used to.
15:53But he were modest.
15:55These two comics have just said to me,
15:57waste of time was coming,
15:58Freddie should have posted a check to us.
16:00They're on the left playing with the dark blue men,
16:02and Rackle Elliott and Angelo DeMurrio.
16:05Two low-clots from Sheffield are on the right
16:08playing with the lighter yellow men.
16:09Remember, the winner is the first team to score six goals.
16:12Keith Macklin, once again, is your commentator.
16:18Best of eleven, first to reach six.
16:20There are the favourites,
16:21Eric Crane and Stephen Kelly
16:22of Leeds University Students' Union,
16:24unbeaten in three years of the Students' Union.
16:27They're already one up, one nil.
16:29One goal in and out to the blue team.
16:32So, a great start to Crane and Kelly on blue.
16:35And against them, Rackle Elliott,
16:36who claims to be the coach of Crane and Kelly,
16:39and Angelo DeMurrio,
16:41Italians domiciled in Britain.
16:44Angelo DeMurrio married, in fact, to a Sheffield girl.
16:47It's Crane and Kelly the favourites,
16:48hammering that and bouncing it off the table,
16:50leading one nil.
16:53There they are, Rackle Elliott on the left,
16:55DeMurrio on the right.
16:56One down at the moment.
16:57Ball being moved across from side to side
17:01to try to lure the defence line out of position.
17:03It's DeMurrio on the tremendous whiplash shot there
17:06by Crane and Kelly,
17:06and one by DeMurrio and Elliott,
17:09making an attempt to come back.
17:14That went down the sidelines.
17:18So it's the blues, Crane and Kelly,
17:20who are the favourites.
17:21And that seemed to creep in.
17:22One goal to the yellow team.
17:23Yes, indeed.
17:24One, one.
17:25So DeMurrio and Elliott, one, one.
17:27Right.
17:29Technique of this game to move it from side to side
17:31and even behind them.
17:33You can fool the defence by putting it behind you.
17:36Ready for a shot.
17:36It's Crane and Kelly in possession.
17:38Now, one, one.
17:39They won't want to lose that proud, unbeaten record.
17:41And nothing would please Elliott and DeMurrio more
17:43than to win it.
17:43And they're in possession.
17:44Three frontline men, a missed shot there
17:46and a tremendous shot by the blues.
17:47It's so quick.
17:48Faster than ice hockey, this.
17:51In the backs, you can shoot from any part of the table.
17:54Crane, an economic student.
17:55Kelly.
17:56Oh, and that crept in.
17:57One girl at the bottom.
17:58They're a rather lucky one, that.
18:00Crane and Kelly, there they are,
18:02going 2-1 ahead.
18:03A lucky goal.
18:04So it's 2-1.
18:09Crane and Kelly wanting to build up a big lead.
18:12They're holding on to this proud, unbeaten record.
18:14They're so cocky, they don't think they can be beaten.
18:16Now, notice that.
18:17They've moved it past the defence,
18:18drew the defence out of position and have it.
18:19One girl at the bottom.
18:20So it's 3-1.
18:22So Elliott and DeMurrio have got to come back quickly.
18:24Three goals to one.
18:25And that looked quick, too.
18:26One goal to the yellow team.
18:28So DeMurrio and Elliott hitting back very quickly
18:31and they've changed position.
18:32Hold it right.
18:33DeMurrio has gone to the front line
18:34and Elliott moved to the back.
18:36A nice tactical switch.
18:37And it's all tactics, then.
18:38It's a much more skilful game than one might imagine.
18:41You move from side to side,
18:43you put the ball behind you,
18:44suddenly release a shot
18:45just when the defence is lulled into a sense of false security.
18:48And, as I've said, you can hit it from anywhere.
18:50Even the goalkeeper can score in this game.
18:52You can push it back to the goalkeeper,
18:53as they try to do then.
18:55Moved into the back line.
18:56The wrists moving the players back and forth,
18:58covering every inch of space.
19:00If one line covers one half of the goal,
19:02the other line covers the other.
19:04It's 3-2.
19:06And it's the Blues seeking that fourth goal.
19:09Crane and Kelly can't be too happy with merely a 3-2 lead.
19:12Now, notice the pause and the shot.
19:14One goal at the bottom end of the blue team.
19:17Beautifully taken goal.
19:194-2.
19:19And they'll change round now.
19:20They should, in fact, have changed round when the aggregate was five.
19:23Referee David Pope moving around now.
19:254-2 for Crane and Kelly, the favourites.
19:30You can't spin these players all the way round.
19:32The plastic men must not be spun all the way round.
19:34It must be more a flick of the wrist.
19:36There's the drop ball, as one might say in senior soccer.
19:40And now the favourites, Crane and Kelly, in the light men, the yellows.
19:44And going for two more goals.
19:45There they are that would give them the victory.
19:47The ball off the table.
19:49Referee, there's DeMauro and Elliott.
19:53Elliott again at the top.
19:55And two more goals in the top goal.
19:58There's one of them.
19:59That's 5-2.
20:00So Crane and Kelly want just one more goal to move on and confirm their establishment as favourites in this competition.
20:07They are the holders of the Yorkshire Television Table Football Trophy.
20:11And they're leading 5-2 and in the driving seat there.
20:14But that went off.
20:15So what can DeMauro and Elliott do?
20:16Despite the fact that Elliott is the coach of these two boys, they're teaching him a thing or two now.
20:22Crane and Kelly thumping that one.
20:24Didn't go in.
20:26Back to the goalkeeper.
20:27Pushing it out to the back line.
20:29And then moving it up into the middle.
20:31Attempt for a shot in the front line.
20:32Notice the way it's moved up.
20:345-2.
20:35DeMauro and Elliott really in trouble.
20:36Push back to the goalkeeper.
20:37A back pass.
20:38Then to the back line.
20:40And a sudden shot.
20:42The goalkeeper having to get across quickly and cover them.
20:44You really have to be very supple of wrist and eye.
20:46A good shot from the middle line.
20:50That's 5-3.
20:52But they're really in trouble.
20:53They're up against it.
20:54They must stop.
20:55These two now in the yellow.
20:57Crane and Kelly from getting one more goal.
20:59It's 6-up.
21:00The best of 11.
21:01Crane and Kelly.
21:03The bluff and counter bluff of these two teams.
21:05They've played each other many times before at the Students' Union.
21:08And that almost crept through.
21:09That really was a slider.
21:11Sly one, really.
21:12Back in the back line.
21:15Notice how very slow, very sleepy.
21:17And then suddenly a flick of the wrist and the ball goes flying up the table.
21:21In the attack, Crane and Kelly wanting one more goal.
21:24Trying a shot there, almost caught off guard by that.
21:28The wrist saw was moving, but not haphazardly.
21:30Crane and Kelly know each other's game so well.
21:33And as one set of men moves over to cover the left, someone else's wrist pulls across the
21:38men to cover the right.
21:40Moving across from side to side, then hitting it forward.
21:42Battle of tactics.
21:43Much more tactics that one might feel.
21:45Primaro and Elliott.
21:47They know they can't concede one more goal, otherwise they've had it.
21:50All the scoring must come from them.
21:52But it's in the court of Crane and Kelly.
21:54Their middle line.
21:55Pretty congested, but they found a way through there.
21:59And then held behind.
22:00But of course you can go over the top.
22:01There's the wrist.
22:03Working in concert in unison all the time.
22:06Moved across the back line.
22:07Still waiting for this winning goal from Crane and Kelly.
22:10They're liable to shoot every instant.
22:11And the Blues up against it.
22:12Here's a chance of a shot.
22:13And that again off the table.
22:16You need power.
22:17Crane and Kelly there.
22:18You need power to hit it as hard as that.
22:19I had a go before this game started.
22:21You need tremendous pressure to hit it as hard as that.
22:25Still Crane and Kelly in position.
22:28Trying to find a way through.
22:29Still the wrist moving it across.
22:32Into the middle line.
22:33A pass.
22:34Pushed through beautifully to the front line.
22:36That was a bit of a mishap.
22:37It's still in the front.
22:38Now the defence of DeMaro and Elliott.
22:41There's Crane and Kelly.
22:42And they of course realise.
22:44DeMaro and Elliott looking a little more strained.
22:46As well they might do.
22:47They're 5-3 down.
22:48But this last goal is a long time of coming.
22:50And that was a shot by DeMaro and Elliott.
22:53Back to the goalkeeper.
22:54Who can either shoot or push it up.
22:55He pushes it up.
22:56Moved over.
22:56And a shot from the back.
22:57And I said his guys won that.
22:59Again the movement from side to side.
23:035-3.
23:04There's a shot by Crane and Kelly.
23:05And a terrific one in riposte from DeMaro and Elliott.
23:10Into the middle line.
23:11Into the front line.
23:12Crane and Kelly looking for this winner.
23:14Setting it up.
23:15And a shot.
23:16And what a fusillade of shots going in on DeMaro and Elliott's goal.
23:19It's the yellows looking for the winner.
23:20The six that will make them the winner.
23:22Look at this.
23:23Side to side.
23:23The defence scattering across like Scaldi.
23:25Catch.
23:26There's a goal.
23:27So Crane and Kelly the favourites through 6-3.
23:29Back to over.
23:35Takes years of practice to get as good as that.
23:38So there you are.
23:39Crane and Kelly through into the next round.
23:41The semi-finals of our indoor league.
23:43In the next five weeks we've got the best matches.
23:45And of course the finals in all the sports we've shown you.
23:48So next week look out for our marvellous darts match.
23:50John Walker from Hull against the Lincolnshire champion.
23:52And Keith Naylor from Scunthorpe.
23:54Shove apenny and choke your cues for the finals of our bar billiards.
23:58I'll see you then.
23:59I'm out.
24:00I'll see you then.
24:26You
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