Big victories in SLKPA Tier Two East

 

The biggest win came from Rugrats, beating Bell Ya Later, 3-0 & 14-1, which was surprising considering the teams were sitting fifth and sixth in the table with just one point between them. 

 

The Rugrats felt they had not been playing to their potential this season, after relegation from the Elite League last season, they are sitting ten points behind the top two, so they knew they had to pull their fingers out. 

 

And pull their fingers out they did, winning the first set, 4-1 with Reece Stewart preventing the set whitewash. 

 

There was some fortune though, as Joanna Williams went in off after potting a lovely black against Pat Firth. 

 

In the second set there were no heroes for Bell Ya Later, with Rugrats whitewashing it, although Stewart did come close to his second frame of the night, but like Williams in the first set, went in off after a nice double on the black. 

 

The last set was also a whitewash, meaning Rugrats had won the last eleven frames in a row for an almost perfect performance. 

 

Almost perfect, as they did lose one frame, with Dylan Suggars, Ashley Hewson, Pat Firth, and Steve Gibson all scoring hat-tricks. 

 

Bell Ya Later were unlucky though and the score line flattered Rugrats however, they hope this result will kickstart their season and they begin to rise up the table. 

 

Despite the massive victory, they didn’t rise this week, staying in fifth on the same points as Eltham Terrace Rack Pack, after their own huge, 3-0 & 11-4 triumph over Bexleyheath Working Men’s Club. 

 

Bexleyheath stay bottom seven points behind Bell Ya Later, two places above them. 

 

Also winning, 11-4 were second placed Bears however, second bottom Hurricane Hustlers fought back to nick a set and a point. 

 

This match was played at Eltham Terrace because Bears home venue was unavailable, so any hopes of a loss of home advantage were quickly quashed, as Bears punished errors ruthlessly with clinical clearances to whitewash the first set, 5-0.

 

The second set began better for Hurricanes with Captain, Kevin England getting them on the board by winning the first frame he played.  

 

Gary Mason and Jeff Bailey both won their second frames to edge Bears into the lead in the set, before Alfie Southby replied, to level the set at, 2-2.  

 

Michelle Brown stepped up for Hurricanes and although fortuitous on the black, it was deserved for excellent play throughout the night and surprisingly snared Hurricanes the second set, 3-2.

 

Bears were looking for one frame to win the bonus point and England handed it to them after some misfortune, going in off following a fine cut on the black to also give Mason his hat-trick. 

 

Dean James and Paul Cobbold wrapped up the set for Bears, before Southby got Hurricanes first frame in set three with the penultimate frame.  

 

Jeff Bailey, who was on fire all night, completed his hat-trick to make it, 2-1 & 11-4.

 

As well as Bailey and Mason being unbeaten, Gary Heath also won his only frame of the night. 

 

Bears and Duke of Northumberland were tied on 22 points at the top of the table, but Duke were ahead by two frames won. 

 

Given Bears big win, Duke needed something big themselves however, they were playing the top two’s nearest rivals, Bellegrove Flyers. 

 

With five points between the teams this was always going to be close, and it didn’t disappoint as Duke ended up, 2-1 & 8-7 victors. 

 

Despite the victory, Bears leapfrog Duke into pole position by just one frame won and both Bears and Duke are seven points ahead of Flyers. 

 

In SLKPA Tier Two West three of the four matches also had the winners reach double figures in frames. 

 

The biggest win came at the bottom of the table, with sixth place Fox & Hounds beating bottom team Downham Tavern Terrors, 3-0 & 11-4.

 

Although there was only two places between the teams there was also a thirteen-point difference and Tommy Bowden and Pete Davies got Terrors off to a great start, winning two of the first three frames, but Kerry Wyatt and Glen Ward took the last two frames to give Fox the first set, 3-2. 

 

Alan Dolan and Neil Shelton made it four in a row for Fox, before Davies pulled one back for Terrors. 

 

Mel Barnes won the set for Fox then Kerry Wyatt took the tenth frame to make the overall score, 2-0 & 7-3. 

 

Dolan secured the bonus point with frame eleven then Shelton and Ward won the next two frames, giving Fox maximum points. 

 

Davies recorded his hat-trick to prevent the set whitewash, before Kerry Wyatt won the last frame to give her team a, 3-0 & 11-4 triumph.

 

Terrors had Davies to thank for keeping them in the game and winning three of his team’s four frames, also scoring hat-tricks for Fox were Dolan and Kerry Wyatt. 

 

Terrors stay bottom, but Fox go up one place after Gun Pit were beaten, 2-1 & 10-5 by second place Bellegrove A. 

 

In the first half of the season, Gun Pit were the only team that Bellegrove lost to, so they were out for revenge. 

 

However, things didn’t start well for Bellegrove, with the first four frames being shared, before Charlie Mehmet won the deciding frame to give Gun Pit a, 3-2 first set lead. 

 

The second set was all Bellegrove, with Paul Williams, Joe Hills, John Skuza and Peter Moult all winning to give them the set, before Lionel White pulled one back to make the overall score, 1-1 & 6-4 in Bellegrove’s favour. 

 

Mehmet made it, 6-5 but the same four that were victorious for Bellegrove in the previous set were again winners in this set to gain the revenge that Bellegrove sought. 

 

It was a wonderful team performance by Bellegrove, with Hills, Skuza and Williams all winning two of their three frames, but Moult went one better with an unbeaten hat-trick. 

 

Despite only losing one game all season, Bellegrove are still second, as Eltham Terrace Nuthouse have the same record, but are two points ahead of them after this week’s victory over third placed Academicals. 

 

The first set was incredibly close, with the first four frames being shared, sending the set into a final frame decider, which Chris Bracey won to give Academicals a narrow, 3-2 first set lead. 

 

Scott Reeves and Paul Doherty won the first two frames of the second set to push Nuthouse back into the lead, before Greg Phillimore tied the match, 4-4 in frames. 

 

Trevor Biggs and Shane Hutley took the last two frames of the set to level the match, 1-1 in sets and put Nuthouse,6-4 up in frames. 

 

Reeves, Doherty and Leighton Aston made it five in a row to give their team the final set, the match and the bonus point. 

 

Like the previous set, Phillimore prevented the set whitewash for Academicals, before Hutley took the last frame, making the final score, 2-1 & 10-5. 

 

After winning the first frame for Academicals, Tony Gear didn’t play again, so was unbeaten however, Nuthouse had two unbeaten players, Doherty on a brace and Reeves winning all three frames. 

 

Academicals have dropped one place to fourth, as New Eltham New Boys leapfrog them after beating second from bottom, Farmhouse. 

 

There was three places and eight points between these teams, but you would never have guessed after this week’s result. 

 

The first set swung one way then the other, with Anthony Lee winning the deciding frame to give New Boys a, 3-2 first set lead. 

 

The second set also went to a deciding frame and this time Nick Brown won it to give Farmhouse the second set and tie the match at one all in sets and five all in frames. 

 

New Boys seized the imitative in the third set, with Greg Fothergill, John Allen and Anthony Lee taking the first three frames to give their team the set, the match, and the bonus point. 

 

Brown prevented the set whitewash for Farmhouse, before Michael Barnes took the last frame to give his side a, 2-1 & 9-6 triumph.

 

There was a shining light for Farmhouse, as Brown was the only unbeaten player, winning all three of his frames. 

 

New Boys are now in third, six points behind Bellegrove and one ahead of Academicals while Farmhouse are still seventh, nine points ahead of Terrors and eight behind Gun Pit. 

 

There was only one massive victory in the SLKPA Elite League and that was between New Eltham New Stars in seventh and fourth placed Hotshots, with twelve points between them. 

 

The first set was extremely close, with Dave Jandu and Steve Pearce helping New Stars take a, 2-1 lead however, Tony Wilson and Ryan Francis won the last two frames of the set to give them a, 3-2 first set lead.

 

Hotshots went on to win the next ten frames, making it twelve in a row to give them a massive, 3-0 & 13-2 trouncing. 

 

There was a trio of hat-trick heroes for Hotshots, with Alex Lawrence, Tony Wilson and Ryan Francis all winning three frames. 

 

This result lifted Hotshots into third, on the same points as Terry’s Allstars after they had a difficult match against The Cocked Hats this week. 

 

Cocked Hats got off to a great start, with Shane O’Reilly taking the first frame, but Richie Mitchell and Nick Steadman won the next two to put Allstars, 2-1 up. 

 

Steve Dixon tied the match, before Dean Passer won the deciding frame, putting Allstars, 3-2 ahead. 

 

Mitchell and Phil O’Kane quickly made that, 5-2 before Chris Hobbis pulled one back for Cocked Hats. 

 

Steadman secured the set for Allstars, and Elliott Giles won frame ten to bring the score back to, 6-4. 

 

It looked like Allstars were going to run away with it, as Mitchell and Stacey Redman won frames eleven and twelve, giving them the bonus point.

 

However, Cocked Hats were still fighting and Hobbis, George Covington and Giles won the last three frames to give them the set, making the final score, 2-1 & 8-7 to Allstars. 

 

Hobbis’ hat was cocked the most, as he was their only unbeaten player, winning both his frames, while Mitchell was the star for Allstars, with an unbeaten hat-trick. 

 

Cocked Hats stay in fifth, four points behind their opponents, whereas Allstars and Hotshots are now four points behind the league leaders, Sharks who travelled to bottom team Falconwood Club. 

 

Sharks rode their luck a little winning each set, 3-2 for an overall, 9-6 win and maximum points on the night. 

 

Falconwood raced into a, 2-0 lead but Sharks pulled it back to, 2-2 and then came the pivotal deciding frame of the first set. 

 

Falconwood’s Jamie White was on a clearance against Vu Son, but when down to his last yellow he tried to force the ball into the pocket to gain better position on the black. 

 

He missed the pot and lost the resulting safety exchange to lose the frame and the first set. 

 

The second set was almost a carbon copy, with Falconwood going, 2-0 up only to be pulled back to 2-2, which included a frame between White and Sharks’ Jeff Laporte that lasted an hour, before Laporte won the battle. 

 

In frame ten, Vu Son was on a clearance against Paul Baker, he got out of position when the cue ball was literally hanging over the centre pocket and no one knew how it didn’t drop. 

 

Somehow, from this position Vu Son went on to win the frame and the set. 

 

Falconwood went, 1-0 up in the third set, then frame twelve proved to be crucial when Falconwood’s Akar Necati had the first attempt at the black, which rattled in the jaws.  

 

Then Bruno Silva also rattled the black, but this time it hung over the pocket and dropped, levelling the set for Sharks. 

 

Sharks went on to win the next two frames for the set, before White took the final frame for Falconwood to restore some respectability to the score. 

 

Considering there was 17 points between the top and bottom teams of the division, this was an extremely close match and Falconwood can consider themselves unfortunate to come away with nothing. 

 

However, there was some consolation for Falconwood, with Ian Stringer winning all three of his frames. 

 

There is now only one point between Falconwood and New Stars at the bottom however, Bellegrove just above them are ten points clear. 

 

This week Bellegrove travelled to Pickwick in third and earlier in the season these two were battling it out in the top three, but over the last few weeks Bellegrove have dropped off the pace, although they were only three points behind their opponents before this week. 

 

This was a real topsy-turvy game, with Pickwick taking the initiative by winning the first four frames, before Tom Haworth put Bellegrove’s first frame on the board to prevent the set whitewash. 

 

Pickwick looked to be turning the screw when Jamie Davis won the first frame of the second set, to put them, 5-1 up however, Bellegrove won the next four frames, to level the match at, 1-1 & 5-5. 

 

Everything to play for going into the final set and James Couch won frame eleven to make it five in a row for Bellegrove and put them in the lead for the first time in the match. 

 

Pickwick were not going down without a fight and Dave Pile and Paul Dawson won the next two frames to edge them back into the lead and put them on the hill. 

 

Haworth took the penultimate frame to send the match into a final frame decider. 

 

The two Captains, Pickwick’s Paul Slater and Barry Barham for Bellegrove battled it out for the winning frame, which eventually went to Slater giving Pickwick the 2-1 & 8-7 victory. 

 

This match was so close that there was only one unbeaten player, Bellegrove’s Haworth on three frame wins. 

 

Despite the victory Pickwick have dropped from third to fourth but are only one point behind Hotshots and Allstars above them and three points ahead of Cocked Hats in fifth. 

 

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.