March 1908
Inter-County Billiards Championship
Cornwall defeat Essex to retain the championship shield:

The final for this championship and the handsome challenge trophy that goes with it was played at the Central Club, Penzance, on Saturday. By Essex defeating Middlesex, they qualified to meet Cornwall (the holders). The team which represented Cornwall are the same which wrested the trophy from Middlesex last year at the National Sporting Club: Messrs. C. B. Sweet, K. Thomas, and C. L. Taylor; whilst Essex were represented by Messrs. Diehl, Curtis, and Passfield.
As is usual at these matches, when played at Penzance, immense interest was taken in the event. The spacious billiard room was packed with spectators, a grandstand being fixed for the occasion. There is not the slightest doubt but that the Billiard Association took a step in the right direction and for the good of the game generally when they decided that final for the Amateur Championship and Inter-County Amateur Championship should be played on the ground of the holders instead of in London.
The visitors were determined not to be handicapped by a long railway journey just before playing, and wisely arrived in the pirate town the previous night, and, after having a "preliminary canter" on the table, retired for a good night's rest under the roof the Union Hotel, their nerve tonic next morning consisting of a walk to the famous fishing village of Newlyn, where they saw the interesting sight of tons freshly caught fish being despatched to Billingsgate Market. The captain of the visiting team, Mr. Diehl, at the same time taking notes of all the sunshine, which he duly despatched by wire to the chief London papers.
Messrs. Diehl and Sweet contested the first game, and as these two players had met twice previously with "honours easy," winning one game each, it was naturally interesting to see who would win the rubber. Sweet was the first to get going, and soon established a substantial lead, and, when 250 was reached, he led by something like 150 points. It should be said, though, that  this was not due so much to the superiority of Sweet as it was to the "bad leaves" which came to the lot of Mr. Diehl. However, at this time, the game took a turn in favour of the Essex man, and he overhauled his opponent and passed him; in fact, Mr. Diehl, at 400, looked as though he would pull it off. The last hundred was of a very ding-dong character, and was "anybody's game" till the last shot was played, which left Sweet a winner by 39 points. The winner's, best break was 67, whilst the loser's was 53.
Messrs. Curtis and Taylor met in the second game. Both started very slowly, and a great deal of cautious play was indulged in, and it was a considerable time before either could get going. Taylor put on a nice break of 79, which established a good lead. At 250, however, there were only 35 points dividing them, and there seemed to be nothing to choose between their play. But, after this, Taylor took up the running, and, playing in his best form, ran out a winner by 189. His best breaks were 79 and 77, whilst the loser's was a 47.
Messrs. Thomas and Passfield played the third and final game, and the Essex representative had rather a large order to beat Thomas by 212. in order to make a win for his county. He tried hard, however, to keep Thomas from scoring by adopting plenty of safety tactics, which had the effect of making the game slow for a time. But the local man went out in order to get the necessary number points, and the game was called: Thomas, 500; Passfield, 252. This game was by far the quickest, as it occupied just over one and a half hour. Cornwall thus won the whole of the games, with a total of 1,501 points to 1,020, and retain their hold upon the handsome challenge shield.