Eltham Terrace Rovers and Bellegrove Social Club have been battling all season so far for pole position in the South London & Kent Pool Alliance Tier Two West and this week Rovers took the advantage after a huge win against Pickwick Academicals.

Earlier in the season it was a close, 2-1 & 8-7 to Rovers but this didn’t seem to be on the cards this time as Rovers raced to a whitewash, 5-0 first set victory, which included a break and dish from Ryan Francis in frame two.

However, Academicals fought back and won the first two frames of the second set but Rovers turned on the gas again and won the set,3-2 and went on to take the last set by the same score for an overall 3-0 & 11-4 triumph.

Gary Mason fought hardest for Academicals with two wins out of three but Rovers had three unbeaten players, Geoff Evans won his only frame, Kevin England recorded two frame wins but Dean Rider went one better taking all three of his frames.

This gives Rovers a two point cushion at the top as they took advantage of their sister team, Eltham Terrace Nuthouse beating Bellegrove Social Club.

It was a close match going into the final set after both teams had won a set by 3 frames to 2 but Nuthouse took control in the final set, winning it 4-1 for an overall 2-1 & 9-6 victory to bring them five points behind their opponents.

Tony Hodsdon was the only unbeaten player for Bellegrove, winning his only frame with Martin Luff and Jason Brunton each taking two of their three frames, as did Shane O’Reilly for Nuthouse but Dave Sparey and Craig Jones remained unbeaten with hat-tricks.

Fox & Hounds ensured Greyhound Elite remained winless with an emphatic 3-0 & 11-4 victory over them.

They took the first and third sets quite easily by 4 frames to 1 but the second set was a bit more of a competition with Fox edging it, 3-2.

The score could have been a lot worse for Greyhound without James Fickling, who was unbeaten and won three of his team’s four frames.

Fox managed three unbeaten players themselves, with Kerry Wyatt, Clive Forrest and Neil Shelton all winning their three frames.

Royal Oak opened up a six point lead at the top of SLKPA Tier Two East after a narrow, 2-1 & 8-7 victory over third placed Bellegrove A.

Each set was won by the same 3-2 score with Bellegrove winning the first, meaning Royal Oak had to come from behind to take the last two sets and the match.

Royal Oak Captain, Paul Clements led from the front and he was joined by John Kinsville on unbeaten hat-tricks.

Glenmore Arms upset second placed Crayford Social Club Rugrats with a, 2-1 & 9-6 win over them.

This was a game which literally swung one way then the other, as Glenmore took the first set,4-1 but Rugrats tied the match in sets and frames by winning the second set by the same score, then Glenmore recovered and won the final set, again by four frames to one to take them into fourth in the table.

As I mentioned there are now six points between Royal Oak and Rugrats but six points also separate the rest of the division after Eltham Terrace Rack Pack picked up their first victory of the season.

Saying that they only managed to share the points against North Heath Social Club, as Rack Pack won 2-1 in sets but North Heath scored more frames, 8-7.

Alex Thompson top scored for Rack Pack with three frame wins and he was supported by Tony Frost and Steve Unwin, who both won two of their three frames.

Rack Pack have now shared the points in five of their eight matches but this is the first they have won in sets and therefore their first win of the season, technically.

From a team picking up their first win we go to one that is unbeaten in seven and top of SLKPA Tier Three, Rising Sun.

This week’s 2-1 & 8-7 victory was surprisingly close considering they were playing bottom team Foots Cray Social Club, who were nineteen points behind them before this match.

They increased their lead at the top to eight points after Crayford Social Club 2, in third place beat Rose Inn in second, to go just two points behind them.

Crayford did the damage in the first set taking it, 4-1 but Rose rallied round and won the second set, 3-2.

Rose took a 2-1 lead in the final set but Steven Aldridge and Luke Matthews won the last two frames to give them unbeaten hat-tricks and their team the triumph by 2 sets to 1 and 9 frames to 6.

Orpington Sports Club closed the gap on Plumstead Radical Club to just one point, after a 2-1 & 8-7 victory over them.

In the SLKPA Elite League, second placed Hotshots went down to a 2-1 & 9-6 defeat against Glenmore Arms B in fifth.

It was all square at a set and five frames each going into the final set but Glenmore finished the stronger, taking the final set by 4 frames to 1.

Bellegrove took advantage of Hotshots slip up by beating Pickwick 2-1 & 9-6 to join Hotshots on 21 points, although Hotshots stay second by virtue of winning five more frames than Bellegrove.

This game was a similar story to the previous one, with both teams taking a set by the same score but Bellegrove won the first four frames of the last set to win the match that Pickwick felt should have been theirs after the first two sets, had they taken their chances instead of throwing them away.

Bellegrove had three unbeaten players, with Paul Donohoe winning his only frame and Kevin Smith and Craig Mallinder both scoring a brace, with Smith’s including a break and dish in frame thirteen and Paul Slater did the same for Pickwick in the sixth frame.

Falconwood Club also took advantage of Hotshots misfortune to create a three point lead at the top of the table, after they were victorious in the battle of the Falconwood against their sister team, Falconwood Social.

It wasn’t much of a battle in the end as Falconwood Club won the first and third sets by 4 frames to 1 but they did have to come from 2-1 down in the second to win the set and give themselves a comfortable, 3-0 & 12-3 triumph.

It was a great all round team performance with each of the seven players chipping in with at least a frame, however Stacy Redman and Alex Lawrence won all three of their frames and Lawrence junior, Oliver won both of his.

Royal Oak Addicks pick up a point but remain winless after Eltham Terrace Club A visited them and came away with a 2-1 & 9-6 win.

Addicks scored their point in the final set, taking it 3-2 after Eltham had won the first two sets, 4-1 and 3-2.

Dan Heinink, Paul Shrimpton and Dan Vowles all scored two out of two for Eltham to help them keep hold of fourth place.

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 with any queries.

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