Thirteen is unlucky for some, but not for Blackheath Sports Club, as after thirteen weeks of the South London & Kent Pool Alliance winter season they have put their first league victory on the board. 

Blackheath were still looking for their first win of the season and this week they hosted bottom of the first division, Bell Ya Later, with just one point between them. 

Blackheath got off to a great start with, Neil Shelton and Alan Dolan winning the opening two frames before Alfie Cambridge pulled one back for Bell Ya Later. 

Kerry Wyatt and Joe Kane took the last two frames of the set, giving Blackheath a, 4-1 first set lead. 

Blackheath went on to win the first four frames of the second set, making it six on the spin to give them the match before the end of the second set. 

Paul Thomas won frame ten to prevent the second set whitewash. 

Angie Hobbs made it two in a row for Bell Ya Later before Shelton recorded his hat-trick and Glen Ward achieved an unbeaten brace to make the overall score, 10-3. 

The last two frames were shared, giving Blackheath their first win of the season, 11-4. 

Blackheath remain one place above Bell Ya Later but are now eight points clear of them. 

There was another all-bottom half of the table clash as Eltham Terrace Rack Pack in seventh hosted sixth placed New Eltham New Boys, with just five points between them.

Rack Pack joined New Stars on 90 points with a, 10-5 victory however, New Stars stay one place ahead with one more win. 

At the top of the table Duke of Northumberland went to Downham Tavern Terrors, three places and eleven points above them however, this match was much closer with Duke edging it, 8-7. 

Cue-Ologists were in second and hosted eighth placed Academicals, 25 points ahead of them and this was an excellent match with the first nine frames being incredibly tight and tactical. 

Greg Phillimore bucked the tactical trend with an excellent reverse dish in frame ten, then in the thirteenth teammate and Academicals captain, Gary Mason performed a break and dish. 

Despite this, the match still went to the wire and Chris Gaunt held his nerve to win the deciding frame, giving Academicals the, 8-7 triumph. 

Bears were in third, two points ahead of Bellegrove Flyers in fourth and they extended this lead with a, 10-5 victory. 

This result was enough for Bears to leapfrog Cue-Ologists into second by just one point, sitting seven points behind Duke at the top. 

Flyers also dropped one place to fifth, with Terrors jumping over them by two points. 

It was first versus second in the Premier Division, as Hotshots visited Rugrats with 13 points between them and the league leaders got off to a perfect start, whitewashing the first set, 5-0. 

Dylan Suggars faced George Taylor for the second time in frame six, but there was the same outcome, giving Hotshots six on the spin. 

Pat Firth didn’t play in the first set and Rugrats might wish he did as he won frame seven to put Rugrats first frame on the board. 

Two of the next three frames were also rematches from the first set, with Jimmy Maloney playing Ryan Francis and Steve Gibson facing Danny Kelliher and, in both cases, Hotshots prevailed, giving them the set. 

Richard Chapman won the remaining frame of the set, making the overall score, 9-1 giving Hotshots the match before the end of the second set. 

Ashley Hewson won the first frame of set three however, Hotshots won the last four frames for an overall, 13-2 thrashing. 

It was a fantastic performance from the league leaders, with a hat-trick of hat-trick heroes, Francis, Chapman and Kelliher. 

Rugrats hang on to second, but Hotshots have not only extended their unbeaten run to eleven but also their lead at the top to 24 points and they have a game in hand. 

Sharks had the opportunity to close the twelve-point gap between them and Rugrats, as they travelled to bottom side, Bellegrove A and they managed to cut it down to five points with a, 9-6 victory, and they have a game in hand. 

Fourth played fifth as Bellegrove faced Pickwick with fourteen points between them, and Bellegrove extended that to 17 points with a, 9-6 victory, to stay five points behind Sharks. 

Eighth placed New Eltham New Stars hosted Eltham Terrace Nuthouse in seventh, with just one point between them, and this match was every bit as close as their positions in the table suggest, as it went right down to the wire, with Nuthouse edging it, 8-7. 

As Falconwood Club didn’t have a game, both Nuthouse and New Stars leapt over them in the table, with Falconwood dropping from sixth to eighth, although they do have a game in hand. 

White Hart were at the bottom of SLKPA Division Two and still looking for their first win of the season however, this week was a good opportunity to do this as they hosted Bexleyheath Raiders, just two places and ten points above them. 

This game went right down to the wire, but it wasn’t to be for White Hart with Raiders narrowly winning, 8-7 to leave White Hart as the only team in the league still looking for a victory. 

First played third as Eltham Terrace Tigers took on Farmhouse, with sixteen points between them. 

Tigers’ Captain Stephen Unwin lost the first frame however, his team went on to win the next eight frames in a row to give them the win before the end of the second set. 

Farmhouse took the tenth frame, but Tigers won the first four frames of the last set, before Farmhouse prevented the set whitewash with the last frame making the final score, 12-3. 

It was a fantastic result for Tigers considering how close the teams are in the table, with John Ly, Lee Gladdish, and Gary Smith all leading the way scoring hat-tricks. 

Sandwiched between Tigers and Farmhouse were Hurricanes Reborn and this week they hosed The Con Men, three points behind them in fourth. 

Hurricanes got off to a great start with Luke Knight winning the opening frame in quick time and that was quickly followed up with wins from Ben Walsh and Arif Salih to give Hurricanes a, 3-0 lead. 

The Con Men rallied round taking the last two frames of the set to bring it back to, 3-2. 

Derek Powis produced a great clearance to level the match, but Robyn Parlett and Knight played very well to put Hurricanes two frames ahead. 

Once again, The Con Men fought back, taking the last two frames of the set to tie the match at one set and five frames all. 

Powis completed an unbeaten brace to put The Con Men in the lead for the first time in the match however, it was Hurricanes’ turn to fight back with Kevin England fortuitously winning frame twelve and Salih taking the next to put their team back in the lead, 7-6. 

Louis Rankin completed his hat-trick to tie the match at seven all and send the match into a final frame decider. 

The Con Men Captain Reiss Wright won his third frame of the night to give his team the victory by 8 frames to 7. 

Both teams have now broken through 100 points, with Hurricanes still in second however, Con Men have leapfrogged Farmhouse into third, two points behind Hurricanes. 

Goodfellows in fifth played Plough & Harrow, three places and 31 points below them and this match went to form with Goodfellows winning, 9-6. 

As Sundridge Park didn’t have a game, Goodfellows have extended their lead over them to 18 points. 

Plough & Harrow remain second bottom, but White Hart have joined them on 60 points, with Plough staying ahead by winning more games. 

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

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