Week six of the South London & Kent Pool Alliance summer season and New Eltham New Stars of Tier Two West are the only team with maximum points, although there are two other teams still unbeaten. 

Bottom played top as New Stars travelled to Fox & Hounds with 17 points between the two sides. 

So it was somewhat of a surprise when the first two sets were extremely close and matched each other, with New Stars taking the first, third and fourth frames to win them, 3-2 for a, 2-0 & 6-4 lead.

This all changed in the last set when New Stars whitewashed it to take maximum points and stay unbeaten at the top of the table on maximum points.

Given the, 3-0 & 11-4 triumph it was surprising that New Stars only had two unbeaten players, Paul Rivers and Dave Jandu, both scoring hat-tricks.

 Just two points above Fox are Farmhouse, who also suffered a defeat this week to Bellegrove A. 

Bellegrove showed their dominance from the start, with Paul Williams, Joe Hills and Alfie Southby winning the first three frames to give them the first set.

Farmhouse fought back with Nick Brown and Barrie Blake taking the last two frames of the set to bring them back to within one.

Bellegrove repeated their feat from the first set by winning the first three frames of the second.

Again, Brown prevented the set whitewash, but this time John Skuza won his only frame and the last frame of the set to give his side a, 2-0 & 7-3 lead.

Petrine Pearce secured the bonus point for Bellegrove with frame eleven, then the next four frames were shared, giving Bellegrove a, 3-0 & 10-5 triumph.

Brown was the shining light for Farmhouse, winning all three of his frames, with Paul Williams doing the same for Bellegrove. 

This result keeps Bellegrove in second place, nine points behind New Stars and four points ahead of Academicals. 

Academicals were in fourth but leapfrogged their opponents, Eltham Terrace Rack Pack after beating them, 2-1 & 9-6. 

Even after only six weeks it looks like New Stars are favourites for promotion, whilst Farmhouse and Fox & Hounds will be battling it out for the wooden spoon. 

Unbeaten and top of Tier Two East are Rugrats, who this week beat New Eltham New Boys. 

Andy Durack got New Boys off to a great start, winning the opening frame, but Dylan Suggars and Shane O’Reilly put Rugrats in the lead.

Greg Fothergill tied the match before Aaron Shephard secured the set for Rugrats.

Rugrats did the damage in the second set by whitewashing it for an,8-2 lead to secure the bonus point.

Suggars, O’Reilly and Ashley Henson made it nine in a row for Rugrats to give them the last set and maximum points.

Durack prevented the set whitewash by winning  his and his team’s second frame of three.

Jimmy Maloney won the final frame making the overall score, 3-0 & 12-3.

It was a fantastic all round team performance from Rugrats, with four unbeaten players, Suggars and O'Reilly with hat-tricks and Shephard and Maloney scoring a brace each. 

Hot on Rugrats heels are Bellegrove Flyers, who beat Falconwood Club this week, 2-1 & 8-7 to go two points behind the league leaders.

Despite some of the talent on display, this match lacked quality and ir was with a lot of luck that Flyers took the first set,3-2 however, Falconwood could quite easily have won it, 4-1. 

Lady Luck deserted Flyers in the second set and Falconwood did win this one, 4-1 to take a, 6-4 frame lead into the final set. 

With all still to play for in the final set, Flyers had to find something and fast and they did just that, winning it, 4-1 to nick the win overall. 

Sandwiched between Flyers and Falconwood are Bell Ya Later and their fantastic start to the season continues after they beat bottom team Hurricanes Reborn, 3-0 & 10-5 this week. 

Jade Holmes made a lovely pot on the black to give Bell Ya Later the start they needed and Reece Stewart followed suit with an amazing black to the middle pocket. 

They went on to take the first set, 4-1 and they continued to pile on the pressure with Jo Williams and Paul Thomas winning frames six and seven. 

Hurricanes Captain, Kevin England pulled one back, but luck wasn't on their side, as Stewart played another amazing frame to clinch the set, which Bell Ya Later took, 3-2. 

The first four frames of the final set were shared to send it into a deciding frame, which Angie Hobbs won in a tactical battle to give Bell Ya Later maximum points. 

Stewart had a great night winning all three of his frames and he was joined by teammate Thomas, who did the same. 

Hurricanes are rooted to the bottom, winless with only one point, but they are learning and I'm sure results will start to turn around. 

With only six points separating the top three, there is going to be a good battle for promotion from this division. 

In SLKPA Tier Three The Com Men made it two wins in a week, after they beat Downham Tavern A Team, 2-1 & 9-6 at the beginning of the week and 7-Ups at the end of the week. 

However they had to share the points with 7-Ups as although they won, 2-1 in sets, 7-Ups won more frames, 8-7. 

These results elevated Con Men into second place, just two points behind Cue-Ologists, who beat Plough & Harrow,3-0 & 10-5 this week to maintain their unbeaten record.  

Downham Tavern A Team are on the same points as Plough, but are rooted to the bottom, as they are still winless after losing to Eltham Terrace Tigers, as well as The Con Men this week. 

Tigers have Jon Ly, Dan Frost and Chris Unwin to thank for their, 3-0 & 11-4 triumph, as they all scored hat-tricks. 

As a result Tigers leapfrog Downham Tavern Terrors by one point into fourth, as they lost, 2-1 in sets to Bexleyheath Raiders, but scored more frames than them, 9-6 to secure the bonus point and share the points. 

The race for promotion from this division is intense, as only four points separate the top five and three of those teams are locked together on 16 points. 

The bottom three in the SLKPA Elite League are separated by just one point and all three suffered defeats this week. 

Rock bottom are Eltham Terrace Nuthouse however they did pick up a point against top of the table, Bellegrove in the, 2-1 & 9-6 defeat. 

The other two sides, Bears and Duke of Northumberland suffered heavy losses, with Bears going down, 3-0 & 11-4 to Pickwick, whilst Duke suffered slightly more losing, 3-0 & 12-3 to Sharks. 

That just leaves the one we've all been waiting for between two of the favourites for the title, Hotshots and Terry's Allstars. 

As expected, this was a close and tense affair by two of the top teams in the league.

Allstars started slightly better with Rob Taylor taking the opening frame however, Ryan Francis, George Covington and Danny Kelliher won the next three frames to give Hotshots the first set.

Allstars, then won four frames in a row to give them the second set and a, 5-3 frame lead.

Hotshots were not lying down and won the last two frames of the set to tie the match at one set and five frames all.

The last set went right down to the wire with the first four frames being shared.

Kelliher faced Stacy Redman in the match deciding frame, which Redman held his nerve to win and give Allstars a, 2-1 & 8-7 victory. 

Given how close the game was, each side only had one unbeaten player, with George Taylor winning both his frames for Hotshots however, Allstars' Dean Passer went one better with a hat-trick. 

This result puts Allstars into second place on the same points as Bellegrove, who are ahead by having won one more set. 

Hotshots are only two points behind the top two in fourth, with Sharks sandwiched in between. 

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.

 

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