3-man Hotshots triumphant

They only had three players for the second week running, but it didn’t seem to bother them this week as they came away with a, 2-1 & 8-7 triumph against Rugrats. 

This victory seemed even more unbelievable when Rugrats won the first three frames, two of which were byes. 

If Hotshots were to win this match their three players had to win all their remaining frames and Neil Hall, Ryan Francis and Richard Chapman did just that. 

They put the pressure on themselves in the final set by giving Rugrats the first two frames, but their three players showed their class and saw the game through, which included a dry dish from Francis in the deciding frame.

Chapman and Francis had to fight for their three frame wins, but Rugrats’ Mark Burton scored a hat-trick without even picking up his cue!

Rugrats are still winless, sitting in seventh after three games, with Hotshots in fourth place. 

Just above Hotshots in second and third are Bull Tavern and Cocked Hats, who played each other this week. 

The match ended in the most unusual score line, with Cocked Hats winning, 2-1 in sets, but Bull scored more frames, 9-6 meaning that the points were shared. 

Sharks are on fire this season, on top of the pile and they continued their early good form by winning the first four frames, with Nuthouse’s Danny Kent preventing the set whitewash. 

The first three frames of the second set went one way then the other, with Nuthouse taking a, 2-1 lead. 

Eno Idiong sent the set to a deciding frame, with Alex Biggs beating his former teammate Jon Syta to give his new team a, 2-0 & 7-3 lead. 

Biggs couldn’t make it two in a row and give Sharks the bonus point, losing to Lee Suggs however, Vu Son did secure the bonus point, winning frame twelve. 

Sharks failed to collect maximum points though, as Nuthouse won the final three frames, to take the last set, 4-1 making the final score a more respectable, 2-1 & 8-7. 

Despite not winning the match, Nuthouse had two unbeaten players, with Shane Hutley winning both his frames and Danny Kent going one better with all three. 

Vu Son also recorded a hat-trick for Sharks, with his Captain, Rahat Munim performing a break and dish to send his team two points clear at the top. 

The other game in the division between Rose Inn and New Eltham New Stars also finished, 2-1 & 8-7 in New Stars favour. 

Stephen Pearce performed a break and dish for New Stars, with his teammate, Jeff Schofield winning all three of his frames. 

All four matches in SLKPA Tier Two East finished, 3-0 with big frame scores. 

Academicals picked up their first win of the season, with a, 3-0 & 12-3 victory over Bexleyheath Working Men’s Club, to leave them rooted to the bottom. 

They had three unbeaten players, with Dean Williams scoring two from two and Gary Mason and Tyler Donovan winning all three of their frames. 

Happy Hustlers remain two points above Bexleyheath, after they went down, 3-0 & 11-4 to Falconwood Club, who have hit pole position in the division. 

Bellegrove Flyers join Falconwood on three wins out of three, but are one point behind them after this week’s, 3-0 & 13-2 triumph over Sidcup Working Men’s Club. 

Richard Marsh and Keith Smith were the only ones to drop frames for Flyers, with Jason Brunton, Mark Porter and Alan Boltwood all scoring unbeaten hat-tricks, with Boltwood’s on his debut. 

Sidcup have dropped to fourth, with Bears leapfrogging them into third, after their win over New Eltham New Boys. 

Bears won the first three frames to take the opening set. 

Dan Tattersall prevented the set whitewash, before Shane Burnett won frame five, for an early, 4-1 lead. 

Dean James made it, 5-1, but Tattersall and Michael Barnes won the next two frames to pull it back to, 5-3. 

The last two frames of the set went to Bears to give them the set and take them to the hill. 

Two Garys, Heath and Mason put them over the hill, but Tattersall, with his third of the night and Greg Fothergill tied the set to send it to a deciding frame.

The final frame was a repeat of frame five, with Burnett beating Barnes to give his side a, 3-0 & 10-5 victory. 

Tattersall scored three of New Boys’ five frames, with Burnett also scoring a hat-trick for Bears and he was backed up by Gary Mason, who won both of his frames. 

SLKPA Tier Two West still have two unbeaten teams in Eltham Terrace Rack Pack and Pickwick, but they are sitting in second and third, as they have played one match less than top of the shop, Bellegrove. 

Rack Pack were not in action this week, but the other two faced each other in what started off as a very tight match, with the first two sets shared, as well as the first ten frames. 

1-1 & 5-5 so all to play for going into the final set, but Pickwick rattled off all the last five frames to take the lion’s share of the points, with a, 2-1 & 10-5 victory. 

Dave Pile was in great form for Pickwick, winning all three of his frames.

Bellegrove A made it a double loss for the club this week in a close match against Fox & Hounds. 

The first two frames were shared, but Fox won three in a row to take the first set, 4-1. 

Bellegrove, then strung three of their own frames together to win the second set and tie the match overall at, 4-4 

However, Clive Forrest and Kerry Wyatt won the last two frames of the set to reinstate a two-frame lead for the Fox. 

Neil Shelton made it three in a row to take Fox to the hill. 

Peter Moult prevented them from taking the bonus point however, that delay only lasted for one frame, as Melissa Barnes won frame thirteen. 

Bellegrove won the penultimate frame to take the match into a final frame decider between the two skippers, which Kerry Wyatt won to make the final score, 2-1 & 9-6. 

Petrina Pearce was the only unbeaten player for Bellegrove, winning both her frames, but Fox’s Kerry Wyatt and Clive Forrest went one better with unbeaten hat-tricks. 

This win puts Fox just one point behind their opponents in the table. 

The last game was between the bottom two teams, Farmhouse and Hustlers Daves and the fight for the wooden spoon looks like going to the wire, as you couldn’t separate the two teams. 

The first set was extremely close, swinging one way then the other, with Farmhouse winning the deciding frame for a, 3-2 first set lead. 

The second set was a much different affair, as after Dean Fowler put Farmhouse two frames in front, Daves won the next four frames to make it 1-1 in sets and, 6-4 to Daves in frames. 

Chris Homer made it five on the bounce to put Daves on the hill. 

The next frame went to Farmhouse, but Mel Ma secured the bonus point for Daves. 

The game was not over though, as the set point was still up for grabs and Steve Carpenter won the penultimate frame to send it to a final frame shoot out, which Steven Jeffcoate won for Farmhouse.

The points were shared with Farmhouse winning, 2-1 in sets and Daves scoring more frames, 8-7. 

Steve Millson won his only frame for Farmhouse with Daves’ Lionel White scoring an unbeaten hat-trick. 

For more information on the SLKPA, including league tables visit our website at www.slkpa.com or contact our Secretary, Paul Gafa on 07443 456662 or secretary@slkpa.com with any queries.

The league is always looking at potential sponsors and any interested parties can also contact Paul Gafa.