Summer 2022 week 10 match reports
Top four tussle in Elite League
Week ten of the South London & Kent Pool Alliance and the top four teams in the Elite League all faced each other, with six points separating them.
Sharks are currently in pole position and this week they faced the team in third, Terry’s Allstars.
This was an incredibly close game between two of the top sides in the league, with each set being won by the odd frame, 3-2.
The first set swung to and fro, with the first four frames being shared, sending it to a final frame decider, which Nick Steadman won to put Allstars, 3-2 ahead.
Eno Idiong levelled the match for Sharks, but Stacy Redman nudged Allstars back into the lead.
Bruno Silva and Rahat Munim took the next two frames to give Sharks the second set, tying the match in sets but putting them one frame ahead, 5-4.
Steadman won frame ten making it all square going into the final set however, he couldn’t make it three out of three, but Idiong could, to put Sharks one frame ahead again.
Silva also scored a hat-trick, giving Sharks a, 2-0 final set lead, needing just one frame from the last three for victory.
Paul Cook dragged Allstars back into the match with frame thirteen and Redman became the third player to score a hat-trick and send the match into a final frame decider.
Allstars’ Rob Taylor faced Munim from Sharks and it was Munim that held his nerve to give his side the 2-1 & 8-7 victory.
This result has increased Sharks lead over their opponents in third from five to seven points.
There was another tight match in the top division between The Cocked Hats in fourth and second placed Hotshots, with only three points between them.
Cocked Hats got off to a great start with George Taylor and Chris Hobbis winning the opening two frames.
Danny Kelliher and Neil Hall tied the match for Hotshots, before Richard Chapman won the deciding frame to put Hotshots in the lead, 3-2.
That rocked The Cocked Hats and they rallied with Shane O’Reilly joining Taylor and Hobbis in the winner’s corner to win the first three frames of the second set to take it and put them, 5-3 ahead overall.
Hall and Chapman both won their second frame of the night to level the match at one all in sets and five all in frames.
Ryan Francis, Tony Wilson and Kelliher made it five in a row for Hotshots to give them the final set, the match, and the bonus point.
The last two frames were shared, giving Hotshots a, 2-1 & 9-6 triumph.
As you would expect there was only one unbeaten player, Hotshots’ Chapman, who won all three of his frames.
Hotshots stay in second, three points behind Sharks, but Cocked Hats drop one place to fifth, with Pickwick joining them on 22 points, eight behind the league leaders however, Pickwick have two more victories.
This week Pickwick hosted bottom team Falconwood Club, still looking for their first win of the season and this was another week where they may reflect on what might have been.
Both teams exchanged frames in the first set but the Pickwick ran out 3-2 winners to take the first set.
Ian Stringer won frame six for Falconwood and then the away side had several chances to win frames which came and went.
In the seventh frame Jamie White was on course for a break and dish but rattled his last red from close range; frame eight saw Ross Webster have the first sight of the black and in frame nine Brett Crawley had two visits on the black, but alas Falconwood lost all three frames and the second set to trail, 6-3 overall.
They showed great character though to win five of the last six frames, which included good clearances by Stringer and White, to clinch the third set 4-1 and earn the bonus point with an overall, 8-7 frame win.
Picking up two points, Falconwood would have hoped to close the gap on New Eltham New Stars above them however, they had a great result against Bellegrove.
Although there was only one place between these two teams before this week, there was also eleven points, but this game was much closer than this suggests.
The first set swung both ways before Steve Pearce won the deciding frame of the set to give New Stars an early, 3-2 lead.
The second set was not as close, as Ben Worden, Dave Jandu, Steve Knight and Len McCullough made it five on the spin for New Stars, giving them a shock, 2-0 & 7-3 lead by the end of the second set.
Dan Heinink closed the gap to, 7-4 but Jandu secured the bonus point for New Stars.
They were now looking for maximum points, but Bellegrove won the last three frames to bring the score back to, 2-1 & 8-7 to earn a point.
Although the bottom three haven’t changed places, there are now three points between Falconwood and New Stars and nine points separating them and Bellegrove, with Cocked Hats just three points ahead of Bellegrove.
After reporting last week that top of Tier Two East, Bears were the only team to have an unbeaten record, it must have put a jinx on them, as they lost to third place Bellegrove Flyers this week.
It was a close game that could have gone either way, as each set was won, 3-2 to give Flyers a, 3-0 & 9-6 triumph.
As a result, Bears have dropped to second because Duke of Northumberland beat Bell Ya Later, 3-0 & 12-3 to leapfrog Bears by only one point, with Flyers five points behind Bears in third.
Bell Ya Later stay in seventh but Hurricane Hustlers open up a four point gap over them, after they scored maximum points with a, 3-0 & 10-5 victory over Bexleyheath Working Men’s Club.
Hurricanes were looking to build on last week’s victory, and they were aided by an apologetic Bexleyheath side turning up with just three players.
However, the three Bexleyheath boys battled hard, with Dave Faulkes and Tony Hodsdon winning their frames in the first set making it, 2-2 going into the deciding fifth frame.
Michelle Brown played Steve Redout in a very nervy frame, where both had chances to win, with Redout going in off trying to pot the black, and then unluckily the black also dropped, to hand Brown the win and Hurricanes the set, 3-2.
The second set was slightly easier for Hurricanes taking it, 4-1 with the only thorn in Hurricanes’ side being Faulkes securing his second frame.
It was, 2-0 & 7-3 going into the third set, but with the two forfeit frames Hurricanes had already secured the bonus point, then Joe Kane won the first frame of the set to effectively win the match.
Once again though Bexleyheath battled back through Hodsdon and Faulkes, who completed an accomplished hat-trick.
Joining the unbeaten Faulkes was Hurricanes’ Kevin England scoring an unbeaten brace and teammate Kane, who also recorded a hat-trick.
Hurricanes took all the spoils, but the score didn’t reflect how tough the match was and who knows what the score could have been if Bexleyheath had a full team and credit has to go to them for their battling attitude.
The final game of the division was a mid-table clash, as fifth placed Eltham Terrace Rack Pack hosted Rugrats in fourth, with one point between them and Rugrats started well, with Dylan Suggars winning the opening frame.
However, Rack Pack dominated from there on, winning the next nine frames on the spin, to not only take the first two sets but also secure the bonus point before the start of the third set.
Suggars won his second frame of the night with frame eleven and Aaron Shephard gave Rugrats their third frame win, to give them a, 2-0 lead in the final set.
Andy Mounger and Tony Frost tied the set for Rack Pack with their hat-trick winning frames, to send the set into a deciding frame, which Pat Firth took to give Rugrats the set and a point.
The 2-1 & 11-4 triumph was enough for Rack Pack to leapfrog their opponents into fourth by just one point.
In SLKPA Tier Two West three of the matches were between teams next to each other in the table, with the top two, the bottom two and fourth and fifth facing each other.
The bottom two teams met this week, as Farmhouse hosted Downham Tavern Terrors, with nine points between them, but Tom Bowden got Terrors off to a good start winning the first frame.
However, that would be the only frame they would win in the first set, as Farmhouse took the next four frames for a, 4-1 lead.
Nick Brown and John Denahy made that, 6-1 with the first two frames of the second set.
Charlie Martin and Pete Davis levelled the set for the Terrors, sending it into a deciding frame, which Steve Carpenter won to give Farmhouse a, 2-0 & 7-3 lead.
Farmhouse were looking at one frame for the bonus point, but Terrors were fighting, and Bowden, Dean Parish and Martin won the first three frames of the set to take it and give their team at least a point.
Denahy won the penultimate frame to give his team the bonus point, before John Hatfield took the last frame for Terrors, making the final score a respectable, 2-1 & 8-7.
Denahy was the only unbeaten player, winning all three of his frames.
Terrors are still winless at the bottom however; they will feel they are getting close to their first victory after this result.
At the top of the table second placed Bellegrove A played Eltham Terrace Nuthouse in pole position and the first set was as close as you would expect, with the first four frames being shared.
Shane Hutley took the deciding frame to give Nuthouse the first set, 3-2.
Paul Williams pulled one back for Bellegrove, but Nuthouse started to pull away with Dave Sparey, Hutley, Paul Doherty and Trevor Biggs winning the next four frames to give their team a, 2-0 & 7-3 lead.
Jon Syta made it five in a row to secure the bonus point for Nuthouse, before Williams pulled another back for Bellegrove.
It wasn’t to be Bellegrove’s night though, as Nuthouse won the last three frames for a, 3-0 & 11-4 victory and maximum points against their nearest rivals.
Despite the large margin of victory there was only two unbeaten players, Hutley and Biggs, who both scored hat-tricks.
This result extends Nuthouse’s lead at the top to nine points, but it is no longer over Bellegrove, as New Eltham New Boys beat Gun Pit, 3-0 & 13-2 to overtake them by one more match won.
Fifth placed Fox & Hounds faced Academicals in fourth with only one point separating them, so this was always going to be close.
The first set didn’t disappoint, with the first four frames being shared, before Melissa Barnes won the deciding frame to put Fox, 3-2 ahead.
The second set started in the same vein, with each team winning one of the first two frames.
However, Barnes kickstarted a run of three frames on the trot, with Glen Ward and Kerry Wyatt also winning to give Fox a, 2-0 & 7-3 lead.
Gary Mason and Chris Gaunt made that, 7-5 with the first two frames of the third set, before Ward won his third frame of the night to remain unbeaten and secure the bonus point for Fox.
Barnes scored a personal hat-trick to send the set into a deciding frame, which Dean Williams won to make the final score, 2-1 & 9-6 and give Academicals a point.
This score was enough for Fox to overtake Academicals into fourth place by just one point.
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.
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