The South London & Kent Pool Alliance summer season is now nine weeks old and only one team, Bears still have an unbeaten record. 

 

Sitting top of Tier Two East, the Bears travelled to bottom team, Bexleyheath Working Men’s Club this week, with 21 points between them. 

 

This gulf showed as Bears trounced their opponents, 3-0 & 12-3 to remain top of the table. 

 

Bears have been battling with Duke of Northumberland all season for the top spot however, Duke lost their unbeaten status this week to Rugrats.

 

Looking to build on last week’s victory and rise up the table, Rugrats had an amazing start against the second placed team, with Ashley Hewson, Dylan Suggars and Pat Firth taking the first three frames. 

 

John Kinsville prevented the set whitewash, before Steve Gibson made it, 4-1. 

 

After getting Duke’s first frame in the opening set, John Kinsville also got them started in the second however, Suggars and Firth followed up their first set victories and edged Rugrats into s second set lead.

 

Paul Clements tied the set, then Gibson looked to be taking the set for Rugrats but potted the black and white in the same visit, giving it to Duke. 

 

One all in sets with Rugrats, 6-4 up in frames and Hewson made it, 7-4 to leave Rugrats a frame away from the bonus point. 

 

Clements pulled another back for Duke, before Suggars secured the bonus point with frame thirteen. 

 

In the next frame Gibson gave his team the set and the match to inflict the first defeat on the Duke. 

 

Dave Avery took the last frame for Duke to make the final score, 2-1 & 9-6. 

 

In such a tight game, Suggars was the only unbeaten player, winning all three of his frames. 

 

This result has meant that Bears have opened up a three point lead at the top of the table, whereas Rugrats have gone up one place to fourth and are seven points behind this week’s opponents. 

 

Sitting in between Duke and Rugrats in third place are Bellegrove Flyers, who this week faced the previous fourth placed team, Eltham Terrace Rack Pack. 

 

There was only one place and two points between the teams, so it was no surprise that the points were shared, with Flyers winning, 2-1 in sets, but Rack Pack scored more frames, 8-7. 

 

Flyers hold onto third place, one point ahead of Rugrats, while Rack Pack drop to fifth, still two points behind their opponents. 

 

The remaining match in the division was between seventh place Hurricane Hustlers and Bell Ya Later, two points and one place above them. 

 

Bell Ya Later were missing a few players so Hurricanes were hoping to capitalise however, that did not materialise in the first set. 

 

Reece Stewart opened the scoring for Bell Ya Later, before Joe Kane and Lee Carmen replied for Hurricanes. 

 

Alfie Cambridge won the Alfie battle against Alfie Southby to make it two apiece, leaving a first set decider between Michelle Brown and Jade Holmes. 

 

It was a good frame, but Brown was unlucky to pot the black out of turn to give Holmes the win and Bell Ya Later the set.

 

Hurricanes were stung into action in set two and Captain, Kevin England entered the fray winning his first frame.   

 

Kane and Carmen won their second frames, before Southby and Simon Byrne got on the winner’s board and completed a, 5-0 second set whitewash.

 

One set all and 7-3 going into the third set and Kane secured the bonus point for Hurricanes with the first frame of the set to complete a well-earned hat-trick.  

 

Stewart levelled for Bell Ya Later, but England completed an unbeaten brace, before Brown got her first win of the evening to avenge her opening set defeat to Holmes. 

 

Southby completed the match with a win to make it a, 4-1 set victory, with the match finishing 2-1 & 11-4 to Hustlers.

 

This victory was enough for Hurricanes to leapfrog their opponents by one more match win, after joining them on twelve points. 

 

There is a 100% record in Tier Two West however, it is at the bottom, as brand new team, Downham Tavern Terrors remain winless, after losing, 3-0 & 10-5 to Academicals this week. 

 

Academicals stay in fourth, despite the two teams above them, New Eltham New Boys and Bellegrove A playing each other. 

 

Third played second with six points between them, and the team in second, Bellegrove got off to the better start, as Jack Taylor, Peter Moult and Joe Hills won the first three frames. 

 

The two skippers met in frame four, with Michael Barnes victorious to prevent the set whitewash and put New Boys on the board. 

 

Petrina Pearce won frame five and Taylor frame six to give Bellegrove a, 5-1 lead. 

 

Alfie Waldren started the fightback with frame seven and it was continued by Anthony Lee, Mike Peka and Barnes to tie the match at, 1-1 & 5-5.

 

Taylor scored a personal hat-trick to nudge Bellegrove back into the lead, but New Boys weren’t giving up, with Waldren equalising and Barnes pushing his side back into the lead with his hat-trick. 

 

Bellegrove’s Hills once again tied the match to send it into a final frame decider, which Antony Lee won to give New Boys the, 2-1 & 8-7 triumph. 

 

This result means that the teams in second, third and fourth are separated by just four points, with New Boys and Academicals in third and fourth on the same points. 

 

Fox & Hounds stay in fifth, one point behind Academicals, after they beat the team below them, Gun Pit, 3-0 & 11-4 to open up a four point lead over them. 

 

Eltham Terrace Nuthouse stay top of the table after beating Farmhouse, 3-0 & 11-4 this week. 

 

It was a fantastic start for the seventh placed team against the league leaders, with Nick Brown and John Denahy winning the opening two frames.

 

Zoe Healy got Nuthouse on the board with frame three and victories for Trevor Biggs and Paul Doherty followed to give Nuthouse the first set by three frames to two. 

 

Nuthouse did the damage in the second set, winning all five frames for an unassailable, 2-0 & 8-2 lead to achieve the bonus point before the start of set three. 

 

Jon Syta took frame eleven to make it nine frames on the spin for Nuthouse, before Farmhouse Captain, Barrie Blake secured his team’s third frame of the night to tie the final set, one all. 

 

The next two frames were shared to send the final set into a deciding frame, which Trevor Biggs won to give Nuthouse maximum points. 

 

It was a fabulous all-round team performance by the Nuthouse with four unbeaten players, as Healy, Doherty and Syta all won two frames and Biggs went one better with three out o three. 

 

The SLKPA Elite League is incredibly close with the top six teams separated by just nine points however, the bottom two continue to fight, as this week’s results will show. 

 

Bottom team Falconwood Club visited the team two places and eleven points above them, Bellegrove. 

 

After Dec Kelly won the opening frame for Bellegrove, Falconwood reeled off the next four with some nice finishes to take the first set, 4-1. 

 

The second set was much different, as Bellegrove whitewashed it, including a break and dish from Barry Barham in frame eight. 

 

The third set started better for Falconwood, as Jamie White won the opening frame, but in a reverse of the first set, Bellegrove took he next four for a comfortable victory. 

 

However, it wasn’t as straight forward as it looked because Falconwood spurned chances to take frames and Ross Webster was unlucky, potting a yellow after cutting the black into the corner. 

 

Peter Whyte was the only unbeaten player, winning his only frame for Bellegrove in the final set. 

 

Falconwood played much better than the score suggests and were unlucky not to take further points, but it is points and wins they need, as they still sit bottom of the table without a victory. 

 

Just above Falconwood are New Eltham New Stars and they faced a tough fixture against the table toppers Sharks this week. 

 

There were twenty points between these two teams, but you would never have guessed, as the points were shared, with Sharks winning the match, 2-1 in sets, but New Stars scored more frames, 8-7. 

 

New Stars are now two points ahead of Falconwood, but eleven points behind Bellegrove above them. 

 

Sharks stay top, three points ahead of second and five ahead of third, as they played each other this week. 

 

Earlier in the season Terry’s Allstars v Hotshots was a tense affair between two top sides, which Allstars won, 2-1 & 9-6 so Hotshots were looking for revenge and the possibility to leapfrog their opponents into second. 

 

Ryan Francis got Hotshots off to a winning start, but Allstars turned that around, taking the next four frames for a, 4-1 first set lead. 

 

Hotshots fought hard and won the first three frames of the second set to tie the match at one set and four frames all. 

 

Stacy Redman won frame nine to nudge Allstars back into the lead, but Danny Kelliher took the last frame of the set to go into the final set all square. 

 

Hotshots were on fire in the last set, with Alex Lawrence, Ian Ali, Tony Wilson and Ryan Francis taking the first four frames for the set, the match and the bonus point. 

 

Tony Stork won the final and his only frame for Allstars to make the overall score, 2-1 & 9-6 a complete opposite of the score earlier in the season. 

 

Hotshots had two unbeaten players, Tony Wilson on a brace and Ryan Francis with a hat-trick. 

 

This was enough for Hotshots to overtake Allstars into second place by just two points. 

 

Fourth placed Pickwick faced The Cocked Hats in fifth, with three points between them and Cocked Hats overcame this, with a, 3-0 & 9-6 triumph to go ahead of their opponents by one point. 

 

Despite carrying on the fight it looks like time might run out for Falconwood and New Stars to avoid relegation however, the battle to see who might join them will probably go down to the wire. 

 

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.