Top played bottom in the South London & Kent Pool Alliance Tier Two East, as New Eltham played hosts to Bellegrove A and they didn’t expect what was to come, after the bottom side had previously given them their hardest game so far this season.

In fact the two previous games between the two sides this season have finished, 2-1 & 9-6 and, 2-1a & 8-7, so when they ran out, 3-0 & 15-0 winners it surprised most people.

New Eltham were determined not to let it be so close this time, so it was a mixture between their great pool and Bellegrove’s poor display that brought about the total whitewash.

The five stalwarts of New Eltham, Paul Elford, Dean James, Barry Barham, Dec Kelly and Peter Whyte all won their three frames, with James’ being his first of the season.

New Eltham are now four points ahead of their closest rivals, North Heath Social Club, who this week beat Eltham Terrace Rack Pack, 2-1 & 9-6.

They regained second after Royal Oak could only muster a point against CSC Mr’s & Miss Q’s, putting Royal Oak and North Heath level on 24 points.

The match looked to be going in Royal Oak’s favour, winning the first three frames but CSC took the next five and went on to win the second set, 4-1 to have an overall, 6-4 lead going into the final set.

The first four frames of the final set were shared, giving CSC the bonus point but Royal Oak could still win the match in sets however, Fred Cook secured the final frame decider to give CSC the, 2-1 & 9-6 triumph.

Lim Morina was unbeaten for the Oak for the second week running, winning both his frames, but Cook and Jamie White went one better for CSC with hat-tricks.

The match between Sharks and Fox & Hounds in SLKPA Tier Two West got off to a close start, with Sharks taking it by the odd frame, 3-2 but it all fell apart for Fox after that, losing the next two sets, 4-1 and 5-0.

Alan Dolan, Kerry Wyatt and Neil Shelton were the only winners for Fox in the, 3-0 & 12-3 defeat, whereas Sharks had four unbeaten players, Kevin Dempsey, winning his only frame, Jeff Laporte and Chris Mackenzie both scored two, with Eno Idiong recording a maximum three frame wins.

Sharks are now five points clear of Rose Inn, who stay second after a remarkable victory over Crayford Social Club Rugrats.

I say remarkable because Rose Inn only had four players and each of those four players won in the first set to take a, 4-1 lead.

Rugrats came back in the second set, winning the first two frames, however Rose equalised but the lack of a full team proved costly, as they had to forfeit the last frame of the set, giving it to their opponents, 3-2.

Rose Inn secured the bonus point with the first two frames of the final set but again Rugrats fought back and tied the set at two all.

This time Rose saved a player for the final frame, their Captain, Neil Mundy who beat Steve Gibson to give his side the, 2-1 & 9-6 victory.

It was a great all round team performance from Rose Inn, with Dean Greaney-Parr, Con Delaney and Leighton Aston all winning two of their three frames but Captain Mundy led from the front with a hat-trick.

Woolwich Wolfpack are just two points behind Rose Inn, after they beat Bellegrove Superstars, 3-0 & 10-5 to leave them winless at the bottom of the table.

It’s tough in the top division, with the top three in the SLKPA Elite League separated by just two points and the bottom three by three.

There was a first versus second local derby, as Hotshots played Eltham Terrace Club A and it was the league leaders who got off to the better start taking the first three frames for the set, before Andre Cox finished off a great clearance and Neil Hall completed the whitewash.

Dean De'Araujo took out a good clearance to give Terrace a, 2-1 lead in the second set but Steve Krishnan equalised before Dan Heinink took the last frame to give Terrace the second set, although Hotshots were, 7-3 up in frames.

Terrace took the first three frames of the final set to not only win the match in sets, 2-1 but also to bring the overall score back to, 7-6.

Krishnan won the next frame to give Hotshots the bonus point but Heinink won the last frame making the frame score, 8-7 in Hotshots favour.

So points were shared but it wasn’t enough for Terrace to keep second, as Allstars beat Eltham Terrace Rovers, 3-0 & 11-4 to leapfrog Terrace by one point.

It was a wonderful win for Allstars, who played like stars with three players on unbeaten hat-tricks, Stacey Redman, Paul Cook and Tony Halpin, with Cook’s including a break and dish and they were supported by Ritchie Mitchell on two out of three.

Rovers are now bottom of the table, with Eltham Terrace Nuthouse just two points above them and Hustlers Simply Lovleh one above them.

Nuthouse had a marathon of a match against Pickwick, which took four hours, on the stopwatch and went right to the wire.

The Pickwick had their roll of the ball, winning the first two sets, 3-2 giving them a, 6-4 lead going into the final set.

Nuthouse took a, 3-1 lead in the final set to not only give them the set but also level the match in frames, seven all, but Joe Kane dashed their hopes of the bonus point by taking the last frame, his third of the night, to save Pickwick’s bacon, (not for the first time this season), and give them the, 2-1 & 8-7 triumph.

Matching Kane’s hat-trick was Louis Wilbourne and he was supported by Jon Syta, who won two of his three frames.

SLKPA Tier Three leaders, New Eltham Club must have thought they scored the biggest victory of the week when they beat Lord Kitchener, 3-0 & 14-1 but I’m afraid that honour went to their sister side, New Eltham with their whitewash.

New Eltham Club got off to the perfect start, with Captain Jeff Bailey recording a break and dish on his way to three out of three.

They went on to take the next nine frames to win the first two sets without reply, securing the bonus point in the process.

Lord Kitchener did manage a frame in the final set but it wasn’t enough to stop the rampant New Eltham Club.

Joining Captain fantastic Bailey on an unbeaten three out of three was, Jamie Phillips, Paul Cobbold and Gary Mason.

New Eltham Club are now four points clear of Bexleyheath Working Mans Club, after they had a tough game against Happy Hustlers.

Bexleyheath won the first two sets by the odd frame, 3-2 with Happy Hustlers taking the last set by the same score for an overall, 2-1 & 8-7 Bexleyheath win.

Academicals in fourth closed the gap to New Eltham Social Club above them to four points, after a, 2-1 & 8-7 triumph over them.

Each set was won by the odd frame, 3-2 with Academicals taking the first two and New Eltham Social Club the last.

In the last game Red Barn didn’t have it all their own way against bottom team, Real Hustlers, as they took the first set, 3-2 but Red Barn went on to win the next two sets, 4-1 for an overall, 2-1 & 10-5 triumph.

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