Stars top the tables

It was a great start this week by the New Stars against Rugrats Guardians, winning the first three frames before Ross Webster prevented the whitewash in frame four. 

Steve Knight won frame five to give New Stars a, 4-1 lead. 

It then went from bad to worse for Guardians, as no one could prevent the whitewash in the second set, giving New Stars the victory before the end of the set.

Dave Jandu made it seven frames in a row for New Stars, putting them, 10-1 ahead.

Dave Beshaw and Webster strung back to back frames together  for Guardians to put them, 2-1 up in the set, but it just wasn’t their night, as New Stars won the last two frames for an overall, 12-3 triumph. 

Despite the large margin of victory there were only two unbeaten players, Jandu and Knight who both scored hat-tricks. 

New Stars knock Pickwick off the top spot, who this week lost to Eltham Terrace Nuthouse. 

The first set swung one way then the other, eventually going to a deciding frame, which Shane O’Reilly won for Nuthouse. 

O’Reilly made it back to back victories with the first frame of the second set, but Pickwick levelled the score with wins from Paul Slater and Paul Dawson. 

Jon Syta, then tied the set for Nuthouse, but they had the edge, 5-4 overall and Dave Sparey won frame ten to give them the set and a, 6-4 lead. 

The final set was another topsy-turvy affair, with Louis Wilbourne sealing the victory for Nuthouse in the penultimate frame, with his only frame of the night, before Ash Hall won the final frame to give Pickwick the last set, 3-2 making the final score, 8-7 to Nuthouse. 

This was a match where both teams fought hard and many frames became scrappy, but rising above this was Syta, winning all three of his frames. 

Nuthouse are now in fourth just two points behind their opponents and one point behind Pickwick’s sister side, Academicals who also lost, 8-7 this week. 

Academicals were playing another side from Eltham Terrace, Rack Pack and they started well, winning the first two sets, 3-2 but Rack Pack rallied round and won the last set, 4-1 with Chris Parlett taking the deciding frame to steal the victory. 

Rack Pack’s Dave Avery was man of the match, winning all three of his frames. 

Both Fox & Hounds and Bellegrove A recorded their first victories this week, both winning, 9-6 and both joining Rack Pack on fifteen points. 

Bellegrove A beat Falconwood Club, whereas Fox were victorious over Bellegrove’s sister side, Just Bellegrove.

It was Just Bellegrove who started better, winning the first two frames but Fox fought back, taking the last three frames  in the set, with Clive Forrest winning the deciding frame. 

Tom Wyatt made it, 4-2 but Peter Gray and Richard Marsh tied the match for Bellegrove. 

Tom’s daughter and Fox Captain, Kerry Wyatt nudged her team ahead but Forrest couldn’t work his magic in the second set deciding frame, losing out to Jason Brunton.

Five all going into the final set and Marsh put Bellegrove one up with his third frame win, but it all fell apart for Bellegrove after that, as Fox took the remaining four frames to win the match, 9-6. 

Marsh was not the only unbeaten player on the night, as Kerry Wyatt also scored a hat-trick.

Carrying on where they left off last winter season and hitting the top spot of the SLKPA Premier Division are Allstars, who beat newly promoted Rose Inn, 11-4 this week. 

Joining Allstars at the top on 21 points are Eltham Terrace Club A after they beat Rugrats by 10 frames to 5. 

The damage was done in the first set, with Terrace initially going, 2-0 up and finishing the set, 4-1 in the lead. 

Rugrats battled hard but never really recovered however, they did send the remaining two sets into deciding frames, with Ian Cruwys losing out to Dan Foley on both occasions. 

Foley also won in the first set to make it three out of three on the night and he was joined by team mate Dave Rawlinson on the same score. 

Hotshots make up the trio of unbeaten teams in the top division after they just edged their match against Bull Tavern. 

As expected this was a very close game, which was reflected in each set being won by the odd frame, 3-2.  

Bull took a, 2-1 lead in the first set, but Andre Cox levelled the score and Ryan Francis won the deciding frame. 

Hotshots quickly increased their lead to, 5-2 with the first two frames of the second set. 

Tony Bailey pulled one back for the Bull against his former team however Steve Krishnan restored the three frame gap, before Joe Kane brought it back to, 6-4. 

Bull Tavern battled back in the third set, winning the first three frames to take the lead, 7-6 but that was short lived, as Krishnan won the penultimate frame to send the match into a final frame decider. 

Kane faced Danny Keliher, just like the previous set, but this time it was Keliher who triumphed to give his side the, 8-7 victory. 

Despite ending up on the losing side, Bailey and Adam Coppen were the only unbeaten players, both scoring a brace. 

These two teams are now level on sixteen points in the table but Hotshots are third, as they have one more victory. 

Outside of the top five, both Sharks and The Fox secure their first victories of the season, with Sharks beating newly promoted Crayford A, 10-5 and The Fox squeezing an, 8-7 triumph over Bellegrove. 

Bellegrove got off to their customary slow start and like last week lost the first set, 4-1.

The first two frames of the second set were shared, so if Bellegrove were to come back they had to dig deep and Barry Barham provided some inspiration, following up his break and dish last week with another this. 

Some nice clearances from Dec Kelly, Peter Whyte and Paul Elford followed, but it wasn’t quite enough and Bellegrove lost, 8-7 for the second week in a row. 

New Eltham New Boys top the SLKPA second division despite losing, 8-7 to Royal Oak, who are still unbeaten after two matches. 

Sitting in third and also unbeaten are Sea the Angles, but they have only played one match, slaughtering their sister side, Anglesea Arms, 14-1. 

Anglesea Arms did themselves no favours by turning up one player short, but Sea the Angles were ruthless and recorded their biggest ever victory. 

They won the first set, 4-1 and it really should have been a whitewash, as Jade Holmes had a great chance on the black, after a mistake by her opponent. 

Despite this, Sea the Angles went on to whitewash the next two sets, with seven of their players remaining unbeaten, as Donna Mullins won her only frame and Angie Hobbs, Reece Stewart, Dan Brown, Claire Stork, Jo Williams and Danny Campbell won two frames each. 

This was a big achievement for Sea the Angles and they hope they can continue this form  into the rest of the season. 

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.